The Advancing Ohio’s English Learners (AOEL) project webpages are now live! Start at the AOEL landing page, from which you can explore the 3 resources created by our team:
Please note that ODEW is still making some last-minute adjustments to the English Learners with Suspected Disabilities webpage in the Instructional Roadmap. All other pages are published.
The Advancing Ohio’s English Learners (AOEL) project team has multiple sessions at the 2023 Ohio TESOL Conference. The Activity 3 Instructional Guide session is Thursday, November 9, at 11 am. We will give an update on the project and elicit input from the audience on supplementary resources, videos and lesson plans they would like to see and/or share.
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.
My advisee Jin-Wei Hung has been awarded the International Research and Scholarship Grant for his dissertation research ‘Language Socialization and Academic Adaptation of Chinese Heritage Language Learners in Study Abroad Context’. This grant is awarded by OSU’s Offices of International Affairs, Enterprise for Research, Innovation and Knowledge, and Student Academic Excellence.
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.
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.
Dr. Monique Mills and I will present a live webinar Perceptions of Narrative Quality in School-Age African American English (AAE) Speakers on December 22. The audience is school-based Speech-Language pathologists who work with African American children. We will explore variation in narrative practices common within AAE-speaking communities and discuss widely held beliefs about narrative language and its variation, how these beliefs affect clinical practice, and insights from research into how SLPs can expand our narrative language assessment practices to be more inclusive of culturally based narrative variation.
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.
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.
The Ohio Department of Education has funded Advancing Ohio’s English Learners (AOEL), a project for which I am a co-PI. The purpose of AOEL is to create a comprehensive system of supports for English learners and their families whose school learning and engagement have been negatively impacted during the coronavirus pandemic. Belinda Gimbert (Education Studies) and Melissa Ross (Center on Training and Education) lead the four-part project. Peter Sayer and I will lead Activity 3, the development and dissemination of digital resources for K12 educators who work with English learners.