Dr. Valia Spiliotopoulos
Biography
Dr. Valia Spiliotopoulos is a tenure-track Instructor in the Department of Language and Literacy Education in the Faculty of Education at UBC. Her research examines how content-based language learning approaches and language policy can impact bi/multilingualism and academic success. Valia is also interested in how language and learning assessment can guide curriculum redesign and student support initiatives, and the role that learning technologies play in academic writing development and educational innovation.
Valia completed Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education degrees at UBC, and began her career as a secondary French and English teacher. She went on to pursue a Master of Arts degree in French language and literature at Laval University, and a Ph.D. in language and literacy education at UBC. Although her career has focused on teaching and research in the areas of academic writing, language education and teacher education in French and English across Canada, she has led a broad range of university-level initiatives, collaborating with faculty, instructors, and TAs across the disciplines to advance assessment literacy, critical thinking skills, ethics education, technology-based curriculum and instructional development, and linguistically and culturally responsive instruction.
Before joining UBC, she was an Associate Professor of Professional Practice at Simon Fraser University where she assumed a variety of educational leadership roles; she was the Academic Coordinator of the graduate, in-service teacher education program, and Director of the former Centre for English Language Learning, Teaching, and Research. She has also served as the Associate Director of the Learning and Teaching Support and Innovation unit at the University of Victoria and as a Lecturer in the School of Graduate Studies at the University of Toronto.
Projects
Granting Agency: BC Ministry of Education, $30,000 granted
Co-Principal Investigators: Cecile Sabatier and Valia Spiliotopoulos
Granting Agency & Amount: UBC Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund Grant, $34,500 granted
Co-Principal Investigators: Valia Spiliotopoulos & David Silver
Granting Agency & Amount: UBC Teaching and Learning Enhancement Grant, $22, 000 granted
Principal Investigator: Valia Spiliotopoulos; Co-Investigators: Kirk Kristofferson, Carson Woo, David Silver, Thomas Allard
Granting Agency & Amount: BC Campus Program Development Fund, $12,000 granted
Principal Investigator: Valia Spiliotopoulos; Co-Investigator: Scott Gerrity
Granting Agency & Amount: UVic Learning & Teaching Development Grant, $14,000 granted
Principal Investigator – Gweneth Doane; Co-Investigators: Teresa Dawson, Cynthia Korpan, Valia Spiliotopoulos
Selected Publications
Journal Articles and Chapters
Spiliotopoulos, V. (2011). Towards a technology-enhanced university education. In A. Kitchenham (Ed.). Blended Learning across Disciplines: Models for Implementation. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Abraham, N. & Spiliotopoulos, V. (2009). From periphery to participation: Examining Post-secondary students’ online communication in a collaborative writing project using wikis. Readings in Education and Technology, pp. 152 – 164.
Bournot-Trites, M., Belliveau, G., Spiliotopoulos, V. Seror, J. (2007). The role of drama on cultural sensitivity, motivation, and literacy in a second language context. Journal of Learning through the Arts. 3.1, 35 pages.
Spiliotopoulos, V. & Carey, S. (2005). Investigating the role of identity in L2 writing using electronic discussion boards. Canadian Modern Language Review, 62 (1), 87 – 109.
Spiliotopoulos, V. (2003). Developing multiliteracy in adult ESL learners using on-line forums. International Journal of Humanities, 1, 1 – 15.
Spiliotopoulos, V. (2003), Fostering interactive academic writing using electronic bulletin boards. Contact: Special Research Symposium Issue, 29 (2), 48 – 68.
Research Reports
Sabatier, C., Spiliotopoulos, V, Léger, R. & Pajot, D. (2017). French as a second language and British Columbia’s second language education policy. Research report submitted to B.C. Ministry of Education.
Sabatier, C., Spiliotopoulos, V. & Pajot, D. (2016). Programmes de Français langue seconde: Examen des politiques linguistiques éducatives pan-canadiennes. Research report submitted to the BC Ministry of Education.
Selected Refereed Conference Papers/Proceedings
Spiliotopoulos, V. & Ilieva, R.(2019). Reframing faculty collaboration in support of multilingual students: Leadership perspectives and strategies. American Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAL), Atlanta, GE.
Spiliotopoulos, V. (2018, May). Transcending boundaries: Reflections on the use of plurilingualism, translanguaging, multiliteracies, and related constructs. Invited roundtable with Piccardo, E., Van Viegan, S., & Tedick, D. Canadian Centre for Studies and Research in Bilingualism and Language Planning (CCERBAL), Ottawa, ON.
Ilieva, R. Spiliotopoulos, V. & Wallace, A. (2018, March). Language faculty involved in interdisciplinary collaborations for multilingual student success. American Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAL), Chicago, IL.
Spiliotopoulos, V., Rubeli, D., & Spector, S. (October, 2017). Integrating language, content, and critical thinking in an undergraduate business course: Assessing the impact on student learning and faculty engagement. Integrating Content and Language in Higher Education (ICLHE) 2017. University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Spiliotopoulos, V. & Williams, H. (October, 2017). Integrating professional language, content, and cultural communication skills: Findings of an impact assessment. ICLHE 2017. University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Spiliotopoulos, V. (October, 2017). From ‘lone ranger’ to ‘community of practice’: Supporting faculty engagement and integrating content and language at the institutional level. ICLHE 2017. University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Spiliotopoulos, V. (2017, March). Case studies in assessing discipline-specific language/communication skills in undergraduate business programs. In The Multilingual Student in Higher Education: Exploring Assessment Issues. Panel on Language Assessment with Van Viegan S., Valeo, A. Kinnear, P. TESOL (Teachers of English as a Second or Other Language), Seattle, WA.
Spiliotopoulos, V., Van Viegan, S., Heng Hartse, J. (2016, October) Reframing the narrative of supporting students’ English language development in higher education across the disciplines. ISSOTL (International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning). Los Angeles, CA.
Van Viegan S., Spiliotopoulos, V. & Heng Hartse, J (2016, July). Towards a disciplinary literacy approach to supporting EAL students in higher education. The Multilingual University Conference. University College London, UK.
Sabatier, C. & Spiliotopoulos, V. (2016, May). Rethinking curriculum and instruction of French as a second language in B.C. CSSE (Canadian Society for Studies in Education), Calgary, AB.
Spiliotopoulos, V. & Kristofferson, K. (2015, April). Interdisciplinary Professional Learning Communities: Interweaving the language and culture of business and education. AERA (American Educational Research Association), Chicago, IL.
Gerrity, S., Spiliotopoulos, V. Lougheed, P. (2012, May). What’s in a question? Case studies in the innovative use of educational technologies. CSSHE (Canadian Society for Studies in Higher Education), Waterloo, Ontario.
Bournot-Trites, M., Zappa-Hollman, Spiliotopoulos, V. (2008, March). Elementary foreign language teacher’s development though study and work abroad. AAAL (American Association of Applied Linguistics), Washington, DC.
Bournot-Trites, M., Zappa-Hollman, S, & Spiliotopoulos, V. (2008, March). Socio-cultural identity and professional development through teachers’ international exchange. AERA (American Educational Research Association), New York, NY.
Spiliotopoulos, V. & Siedlaczek K. (2008, January). Faculty development in educational technologies: Embedding innovation into day-to-day practice. Educause Learning Initiative, San Antonio, TX
Bournot-Trites, M., Spiliotopoulos, V. & Zappa-Hollman, S. (2007, June). Teacher’s international exchange: Sociocultural and professional knowledge development through practice. CAAL (Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics), Saskatoon: SK.