Nasrin Kowkabi

Dr. Nasrin Kowkabi

Lecturer

Academic Coodinator, UBC – Ritsumeikan Academic Exchange Program

she / her / hers


nasrin.kowkabi@ubc.ca PCN 3027 English, Persian/فارسی
Research and teaching areas:

Critical literacies/pedagogies

English as an additional language

Instructional approaches

International issues/perspectives

Language Assessment

Language Ideologies

Online pedagogies

Second language reading and writing

Biography


I am an applied linguist and second language writing specialist with a background in Teaching English as an Additional Language (TEAL). As an immigrant settler and lecturer in the Department of Language and Literacy Education (LLED), I acknowledge with respect that I work and learn on the ancestral, traditional and unceded lands of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓-speaking xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people, on whose territory the Vancouver campus of the University of British Columbia is situated.

I earned my M.A. in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) from Shiraz University, Iran, and my Ph.D. in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) from UBC examining source use perceptions and practices of local and international students at graduate levels (2019). My major research interests include Second Language Writing Pedagogy, Source-based Writing, Socio-pedagogical and Critical Approaches to Literacy, Language Assessment, and International Education. I have been teaching graduate and undergraduate students in TESL and Teacher Education Programs in LLED and UBC-Ritsumeikan Academic Exchange Programs. I am also the Academic Coordinator and the Coordinator of Academic Writing Courses in UBC-Ritsumeikan Programs. In my research and teaching contexts, I am committed to inclusive and demarginalizing education.

Projects


Online Orientation Modules to Promote International Students’ Academic Success Current

2021

Faculty of Education Advancing Learning Transformed Grant
Co-Investigator; PI: Reginlad D’Silva; GRA: Masaru Yamamoto, Julie Lin

Examining our practices in supporting English as an Additional Language (EAL) learners’ online learning during the pandemic Completed

2020 – 2021

LLED Research/Scholarship Grant
Co-Investigator; PI: Reginlad D’Silva; GRA: Zhuo Sun

Processes of academic source-based writing in graduate school: A socio-pedagogical approach to students’ interactions with source texts Completed

2013 – 2019

UBC Merit-based Doctoral Fellowship
Principal Investigator; Supervisor: Ling Shi

Intertextual authorship in university writing across disciplinary and cultural contexts Completed

2013 – 2015

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)
Co-investigator; PI: Ling Shi; Co-investigators: Anna Dong, Ismaeil Fazel

Awards


UBC Faculty of Education Sessional and Lecturer Faculty Teaching Prize, 2023

UBC Contract Faculty Travel Award, University of British Columbia, Canada, 2019

UBC-Ritsumeikan Program Travel Award, University of British Columbia, Canada, 2016

TESOL Professional Development Scholarship, TESOL International Convention & Language Expo, Toronto, Canada, 2015

LUMCIRA Harold Covell Memorial Scholarship, Office of Graduate Programs and Research, Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia, Canada, 2014

Outstanding Student Paper Award, Symposium on Second Language Writing (SSLW), Arizona State University, Arizona, 2014

Department of Language and Literacy Education Travel Award, University of British Columbia, Canada, 2013

Ibn Battuta Award for Field Research, University of British Columbia, Canada, 2012

Courses


ASTU/EDUC 210: Global Citizenship

LLED 200: Introduction to Writing in Academic and Professional Registers

LLED 201: Critical Reading and Writing in Academic and Professional Registers

LLED 211: Field Research in Social Processes of Inclusion and Exclusion – Discourse Perspectives

LLED 212: Introduction to Language Communities and Variation in Language Practices

LLED 221: Language Maintenance and the Integration of Immigrants in Canada

LLED 315: English as a Second Language – Secondary: Curriculum and Pedagogy

LLED 360: Classroom Discourses and Teaching English Language Learners – Secondary

LLED 399: Practicum in Teaching English as a Second Language

LLED 478B: Introduction to Teaching English as a Second Language – Language Assessment

LLED 489A: Applied Linguistics for Teachers – Part One

LLED 489B: Applied Linguistics for Teacher – Part Two

LLED 526: Second Language Assessment: Conceptual and Empirical Approaches

LLED 573A: Theories of Second Language Acquisition

LLED 574: Theory and Research in Teaching Second Language Writing

Selected Publications


Shi, L., Fazel, I., & Kowkabi, N. (2018). Paraphrasing to transform knowledge in advanced graduate student writing. Journal of English for Specific Purposes, 51, 31-44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2018.03.001

Kowkabi, N. (2016). Review of Writing for Peer Reviewed Journals: Strategies for Getting Published by P. Thomson and B. Kamler. TESOL SLWIS News.

Kowkabi, N. (2014). Review of Language, communication and the economy: The sixteenth volume of the book series on Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture, by G. Erreygers and G. Jacobs. Journal of Language and Politics, 13(1), 202-204.

Fazel, I., & Kowkabi, N. (2013). Students’ source misuse in language classrooms: Sharing experiences. TESL Canada Journal, 31(1), 86-95.

Sadighi, F., & Kowkabi, N. (2006). The relationship between the use of language learning strategies and teaching methods: A case of Iranian EFL learners. How: A Colombian Journal for Teachers of English, 13, 47-63.

Selected Presentations


Kowkabi, N., & D’Silva, R. (Nov. 2022). Strategies for enhancing international EAL students’ virtual learning experiences, Transformative Teaching: Focus on Pedagogy, A virtual conference by Florida State University, University of Dundee, and Zayed University. 

Sun, Z., Kowkabi, N., & D’Silva, R. (October 2021). Sustaining Teacher Presence in English as an Additional Language (EAL) Online Learning Communities. Sustainable Education Through SOTL: Practices and Cultures,The International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL) Virtual Conference 2021, hosted from University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.

Kowkabi, N., & D’Silva, R. (November 2020). Re-examining our practices in supporting English as an Additional Language (EAL) learners in online teaching during the pandemic. PENN TESOL East Virtual Conference, Eastern Pennsylvania Association of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

D’Silva, R., & Kowkabi, N. (November 2020). TESL from a distance: Tips for readapting our teaching strategies online during changing times. TESL Newfoundland and Labrador Virtual Conference, TESL NL, Memorial University, St. John’s, Canada.

Kowkabi, N. (August 2018). Dealing with source-based writing in grad school: Motivations and purposes behind source selection and source integration. Symposium on Second Language Writing (SSLW) 2018, Simon Fraser University (SFU), Vancouver, Canada.

Kowkabi, N. (May 2017). Writing from sources in a community of practices: Teachers’ perspectives. British Columbia Teachers of English as an Additional Language (BC TEAL) 2017 Annual Conference, Vancouver Community College (VCC), Vancouver, Canada.

Shi, L., Fazel, I., & Kowkabi, N. (April 2016). Textual analysis of graduate students’ paraphrasing. American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), Orlando, Florida.

Kowkabi, N. (March 2016). Perspectives of graduate teachers on their students’ source (mis)use. The Second Annual Contract Faculty Colloquium, University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada.

Lin, R., Heng Hartse, J., Kowkabi, N., Fazel, I., Sohn, B., Okuda, T., & Hwag, J. (May 2015). Studying ourselves: Collaborative data generation and analysis in a self-reflective study of a TESL Graduate Student Writing Group. LLED Graduate Conference, University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada.

Balyasnikova, N., Kowkabi, N., Moon, A., & Sohn, B. (May 2015). Difficult moments in the classroom: Navigating challenges of practice. Investigation of Our Practices (IOP) 18th Annual Conference, University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada.

Shi, L., Fazel, I., & Kowkabi, N. (March 2015). Integrating one’s own ideas in paraphrasing others’ texts. . Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) International Convention & Language Expo, Toronto, Canada.

Kowkabi, N. (March 2015). Source use in academic textual production: Dialogic analysis of instructors’ feedback on students’ practices. American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) & Canadian Association for Applied Linguistics (CAAL), Toronto, Canada.

Shi, L., Fazel, I., & Kowkabi, N. (March 2015). Paraphrasing in graduate students’ writing: The role of disciplinary content knowledge. American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) & Canadian Association for Applied Linguistics (CAAL), Toronto, Canada.

Shi, L., Kowkabi, N., & Fazel, I. (November 2014). Paraphrasing and content knowledge in second language graduate students’ writing. Symposium on Second Language Writing (SSLW) 2014, Tempe, Arizona.

Lin, R., Heng Hartse, J., Kowkabi, N., Fazel, I., Okuda, T., Sohn, B., Hwag, J., & Abdi, K. (November 2014). Becoming second language writing specialists: A self-reflective study of a TESOL graduate student writing group. Symposium on Second Language Writing (SSLW) 2014, Tempe, Arizona.

Kowkabi, N. (May 2014). Novice Writers and Source Use Practices in Graduate School. Centre for Intercultural Language Studies (CILS) 10th Annual Symposium at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada.

Kowkabi, N. (March 2014). Textual Borrowing and Citation Practices in Academic Writing: A Multiple Case Study of ESL Graduate Students in Education. Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Convention Doctoral Forum, Portland, Oregon.

Kowkabi, N. (May 2013). De-occluding Graduate Students’ Use of Source texts in Academic Writing. Centre for Intercultural Language Studies (CILS) 9th Annual Symposium, University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada.

Kowkabi, N., & Shi, L. (October 2012). Textual Borrowing in Second Language Academic Writing: A Critical Review. TESL Canada Conference, Thompson River University, Kamloops, Canada.

Kowkabi, N. (May 2012). Many Ways of Knowing: A Closer Look at the Writing Practices of ESL University Students. Investigation of Our Practices (IOP) 15th Annual Conference, University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada.