Artanti Sari and I have a new article in the International Journal of Bilingualism. ‘Learning Qur’anic Arabic in a virtual village: Family religious language policy in transnational Indonesian Muslim families‘ examines how two Indonesian Muslim families in the United States used digital technology to support their children in learning Qur’anic Arabic in translocal and transnational contexts in which to connect with family, friends, Qur’anic Arabic educators, and voluntary kin. Our article is part of a special issue on sacred language learning, guest edited by Bene Bassetti.
literacy socialization
ICEM talk with Dr. Zulfa Sakhiyya
Dr. Zulfa Sakhiyya and I are invited speakers at the 9th International Conference on Education in Muslim Society, August 14-15. This year’s theme is ‘Integrating Multiculturalism and Literacy in the Educational Landscape’. My department had the honor of hosting Zulfa as a Fulbright Scholar last year. Our ICEM talk, ‘Faith literacies in multilingual context’, grows out of our collaborative exploration of Qur’anic schooling in diverse settings.
AAAL 2024 colloquium
Monique Mills (U Houston) and I organized a colloquium for the 2024 meeting of the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) in Houston. We were joined by Amy Lerman(The Parish School) and Jeannette Alarcón and Eunjeong Lee (U Houston) in our discussion of Supporting Black Children’s Language, Literacy, and Joy: Creating Space for Researcher-Practitioner Dialogue.
BAAL 2023 symposium
Artanti Sari and I are presenting today at the 56th Annual Conference of the British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL) at the University of York. We are part of the symposium ‘The Learning of Sacred Languages’, which features papers from a forthcoming special issue of the International Journal of Bilingualism, edited by Bene Bassetti. Our paper examines the use of digital spaces by transnational Indonesian-Muslim families to support their children’s Qur’anic Arabic language and literacy development.
U Cambridge workshop
End of this month I will be a panelist and participant in a workshop focused on Language Learning in/as Religious Education. Dr. Artanti Sari and I will present together on Qur’anic Arabic learning in digital spaces. The workshop is the 3rd part of a series of events hosted by the Cambridge Interfaith Programme at the University of Cambridge. We will reflect on approaches, methods, and next steps in the research and teaching of religious languages. We will discuss the core questions: (1) What have we learned about how and why people teach and learn religious languages? (2) What do we do with that learning? (3) How does interdisciplinary discussion about such research impact our own work as teachers and/or researchers? This workshop will be of interest to educators, researchers, and practitioners of religious languages and literacies. We welcome participation and insights from attendees drawing from their own experiences with religious languages and literacies. This hybrid workshop takes place, Monday, 27 March, 2023, 13:15 to 16:45 GMT. For more information and registrations, click on the link above.
U of Cambridge Interfaith Week webinar
As part of University of Cambridge’s 13th World Interfaith Harmony Week programming, we are holding a webinar Language Learning in/as Religious Education on February 2, at 15:45 GMT. I will join Adel Mozammel (Darul Ihsan School), Anastasia Badder (Cambridge U), Jo-Ann Myers (Leo Baeck Institute), and Youmna Helmy (Cambridge U) to explore how religious communities draw on language as a semiotic resource aimed at specific goals, and how different methodologies can reveal aspects of the aims, processes, factors, and outcomes of sacred language learning and use. The event is free, just register in advance to get the Zoom link.
Supporting Black Children’s Language, Literacy, and Joy
Dr. Monique Mills and I the organizers of Supporting Black Children on Their Paths to Greatness: Language, Literacy, and Joy. This is a series of virtual convenings that bring together a small group of people to create a collaborative space for sharing strategies that work well in advancing research, educational practice, advocacy, and dialogue and collaboration between researchers and practitioners. Each convening includes one or more talks by members of our emerging community of practice, as well as opportunities to discuss and to get to know one another. In 2022-2023, we meet roughly once a month, and each convening has a theme.
Sessions at AAA 2022 in Seattle
I am participating in 2 sessions at the 2022 Meeting of the American Anthropological Association in Seattle. The panel ‘Using Anthropology Of Language And Literacy To Address Equity In Unsettling Times’ brings together educational anthropologists who draw on anthropological theory and methods to examine the teaching and learning of language and literacy, drawing on theoretical frameworks that challenge dominant understandings. The round table ‘Refugee Education Across The Life Span In Unsettling Times’ showcases research on/with the language and literacy dimensions of the refugee experience.
Seminar for U of Cambridge UK Inter Faith Week
I will be part of a virtual seminar ‘Language Learning in/as Education’, hosted by the University of Cambridge as part of the upcoming UK Inter Faith Week. The seminar will feature talks by Dr. Anastasia Badder (University of Cambridge) and Dr. Jo-Ann Myers (Leo Baeck College), and responses from Dr. Farah Ahmed (University of Cambridge) and me. We will explore the nature of ‘progress’ n Progressive religious contexts and the significance of language and literacy learning for religious community identity, focusing on Jewish and Muslim educational contexts. The seminar will take place on Zoom on Wednesday, 16 November, 12:30 – 1:45pm (UK time). Check out the short article on InterFaith Week events and a recording of our panel.
ASHA Editor’s Award for LSHSS article
An article I co-authored with Monique Mills, Rong Cong, Somin Kim, and Bethany Frick has been honored with the Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools 2022 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Editor’s Award. An Editor’s Award is given by the editor-in-chief of each of the ASHA journals for the article that the editor-in-chief and editors feel meets the highest quality standards in research design, presentation, and impact for a given year. Our article Perceptions of Black children’s narrative language: A mixed-methods study is open access, so check it out!