Toward Trauma-Informed Care in TESOL: A Multimodal and Multisemiotic Approach

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Trauma is a crucial but often neglected topic in discourses surrounding Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), and the causes and impact of the traumatic experiences are underexplored. In this symposium, we are calling for more research on trauma-informed teaching and learning in TESOL. Through our multimodal and multisemiotic demonstration of trauma, we intend to foster dialogue, education, and further research on trauma-informed care in TESOL. The four papers included concern the various aspects of trauma and present illuminating cases regarding how certain ideologies like linguistic racism could cause traumatic pain to TESOL teachers and learners, thus highlighting the importance of trauma-informed care and healing.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Semiotics in Education: Signs, Meanings and Multimodality

Chairs

• Chunhong Liu, Simon Fraser University

• Amy Yicun Jin, Simon Fraser University

Papers

• The Semiotics of Trauma: A Review of Trauma and Its Hidden Injuries in ESL/EFL Education - Chunhong Liu, Simon Fraser University

• “Please Teach Me like A Kindergartener”: Multimodality for Resilience in A Community Adult Literacy Program - Amy Yicun Jin, Simon Fraser University; Chunhong Liu, Simon Fraser University

• “You Don’t Look Like A Professor”: The Traumas Encountered by An Instructor at A Canadian University - Xiangying Huo, University of Toronto - Scarborough

• From Trauma to Transformation: Cultivating Care and Resilience in the English-medium instruction - Bong-gi Sohn, University of Winnipeg; Pedro L dos Santos, Kwantlen Polytechnic University

Discussant

• Angel Mei Yi Lin, The Education University of Hong Kong