Presenter: Dr. Sara E.N. Kangas, Associate Professor in the College of Education at Lehigh University Date: March 17, 2026 Time: 10:00 – 11:00 AM PST Location: Online via Zoom
Sara E.N. Kangas, is an associate professor in the College of Education at Lehigh University. As an applied linguist, her research focuses on the school-age population of multilingual learners (MLs) with disabilities. Using ethnography and interpretive policy analysis, Dr. Kangas investigates opportunity to learn for MLs with disabilities, with particular attention to the ways in which education policies, school structures, and ideologies affect their everyday learning experiences. Her research has been funded by the Spencer Foundation and published in scholarly venues such as the American Educational Research Journal, Educational Researcher, Language Policy, and TESOL Quarterly, among other journals. Dr. Kangas’ recently published book, Promoting Equity for Multilingual Learners with Disabilities (Teachers College Press, 2025) examines and challenges the systemic inequities MLs with disabilities encounter in their schooling.
Presenter: Dr. Michi Ann Saki (Visiting Scholar from Doshisha Women’s College of Liberal Arts, Japan) Date: Tuesday, March 10, 2026 Time: 1:00 – 2:30 PM PST Location: Multipurpose Room, PCN 2012
Language, Identity, and Empowerment in School Contexts: Stakeholder Perspectives on Newcomer Youth
Abstract
This research talk presents preliminary findings from a small-scale qualitative study examining the experiences and perspectives of educational stakeholders working with newcomer youth in Western Canada. Drawing on interviews with English Language Learner (ELL) teachers, language support staff, and immigrant settlement practitioners, the study examines how these professionals seek to foster student agency and support the development of linguistic and cultural identities within school contexts.
The talk also addresses key challenges stakeholders face in this work, including expanding professional responsibilities, limited resources, and shifting educational policies. Through stakeholder narratives, the talk considers questions such as: How does students’ plurilingualism function as a resource for English language learning? In what ways does creating space for cultural and linguistic identity exploration influence student engagement and investment? How is responsibility for this work distributed across schools and support systems?
The talk concludes by reflecting on how educators and settlement professionals might more effectively promote language legitimacy and student empowerment—not only through the development of linguistic competencies, but also by affirming newcomer youths’ cultural and linguistic identities.
Time will be allocated for discussion and questions.
About Dr. Michi Saki
Dr. Michi Saki is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Culture and Representation at Doshisha Women’s College of Liberal Arts in Kyoto, Japan. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in EFL, sociolinguistics and intercultural communication studies. Her research interests include second language acquisition, education for ethnic minority children, and the intersections of language, identity, and social justice.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Marika Kunnas on receiving the AAAL 2026 Dissertation Award!
Marika’s research explores the experiences of racially minoritized people in French programs in Canada using qualitative and arts-based methods. Marika’s dissertation employed counter-stories and counter-monologues to explore the experiences of racially minoritized students in French immersion programs.
The Dissertation Award began in 2016 to acknowledge a dissertation that demonstrates research excellence, transcends narrow disciplinary fields, and has impact on and implications for the field of applied linguistics as a whole. Nomination eligibility is for those who have completed dissertations during the two calendar years preceding the award call.
More information about the award and past recipients can be found on their website.
LLINK Presents: Dr. Yecid Ortega (Artem Research Collective | Liminal Research) – Cut, Paste, Resist: Zines as Pedagogy and Research Practice
Please join us for this special LLINK: Literacy & Libraries: Investigating New Knowledgesevent featuring Dr. Yecid Ortegafrom Artem Research Collective| Liminal Research. In an era of digital saturation, the “zine” (a self-published, low-tech, and highly personal medium) offers a radical way to rethink how we share knowledge. This 90-minute workshop, led by Dr. Yecid Ortega, invites educators and researchers to step away from the screen and explore the tactile world of zine-making. We will begin by briefly tracing the roots of zines, from their origins in counter-culture movements and grassroots activism to their role as a tool for marginalized voices. Understanding why zines exist is crucial to understanding their power as a democratic medium for modern education. The heart of this session is a hands-on zine-making lab. Participants will be guided through the physical process of folding, cutting, and composing their own zine. No “artistic talent” is required, only a willingness to experiment. We will conclude with a collaborative brainstorm on how to integrate these “small acts of resistance” into your specific teaching or research contexts. Leave with a finished zine in your hand and a fresh perspective on student engagement. Please prepare colored pens, papers, markers and scissors for this workshop.
Dr. Yecid Ortega has been committed to critical, creative, anti-racist, and decolonial worldviews in research and education for over two decades. He explores the pluriversality of social, cultural, and linguistic experiences of the most marginalized communities in society. He is the founder of Liminal Research Services and co-founder of Artem Research Collective.
For more on Dr. Ortega’s work and to purchase his books, please see the following links:
This webinar is brought to you by LLINK: Literacy & Libraries: Investigating New Knowledges, designed by Dr. Amber Mooreand Dr. Melanie Wong. LLINK is a part of the online Master of Education in Literacy Education Program and the Teacher-Librarianship Program (Certificate and Diploma). Both of these programs are housed within UBC’s Department of Language and Literacy Education (LLED). LLINK is a series of multi-access events for both of these online programs that connect literacy research to practice in K-12 classrooms and school libraries. We also warmly welcome others in our larger education community to join our events.
For more information on these programs, please see:
Master of Education in Literacy Education Program:
LLINK is expertly supported by the Graduate Academic Assistant (GAA) for the Online MEd in Literacy Education Program, Yi Luo. Yi is a PhD student in LLED who is interested in children’s literature, multimodality and social justice education.
Marwa Masood (she/her/hers) is a PhD student in TESL and a Graduate Research Assistant in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia (UBC). She is a Senior Lecturer at BRAC University in Bangladesh, with over nine years of teaching experience at the tertiary level. She holds two master’s degrees, including an MA in TESOL from the University of Warwick, for which she received the A. S. Hornby Educational Trust Scholarship. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she trained teachers in Bangladesh through online professional development sessions and has since trained pre-service and in-service teachers through certificate programs and workshops. She has co-authored a research paper, presented at several conferences, and is currently working on research alongside her doctoral studies.
Research
Teacher education, critical pedagogy, critical digital literacies, materials development in language teaching.
Rumana Rafique (she/her/hers) is a PhD student in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia. Her research interests include critical digital literacies, artificial intelligence in education, narrative inquiry, decolonizing research methodologies, and teachers’ professional development.
Prior to her doctoral studies, she taught for over a decade at the University of Dhaka, Eastern University, and BRAC University in Bangladesh. She completed a Master’s in TESOL (Educational Technology) as a Commonwealth Scholar at the University of Manchester, UK, and holds a Master’s in Applied Linguistics and English Language Teaching and a Bachelor’s (Hons.) in English from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Research
Critical digital literacies, artificial intelligence in education, decolonizing research methodologies, narrative inquiry, teacher professional development
