Serikbolsyn Tastanbek will be presenting his PhD proposal on Thursday, April 4th, 2024 from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM in ORCH 2002 (Orchard Commons address: 6460 Agronomy Rd). You’re invited to attend.
Supervisors: Dr. Sandra Zappa-Hollman & Dr. Meike Wernicke
Committee member: Dr. Meghan Corella
Dissertation Proposal title: A multiple case study of EAL teachers’ translanguaging stance development
Abstract:
In multilingual contexts like Canada, language-minoritized learners encounter linguistic stereotypes and educational inequities rooted in pervasive language ideologies. Based on research findings from the US context, García et al. (2017) suggest that teachers of English as an Additional Language (EAL) can better support these learners by adopting a translanguaging stance (TLS). A TLS refers to a socially just belief system from which teachers can draw to leverage multilingual students’ linguistic repertoires. Despite the growing scholarship on TLS (e.g., Deroo et al., 2020; Donley, 2023; Seltzer & García, 2020; Tian & Zhang-Wu, 2022), there is a lack of research explicitly examining the relationship between EAL teachers’ TLS development, language ideologies, and intersecting identities.
Addressing this gap, my proposed study aims to explore how EAL teachers develop a translanguaging stance during and after a translanguaging-infused TESL course at a Canadian university. The research questions guiding this study are: 1) How do the EAL teacher participants engage with language ideologies in TESOL while taking a TESL course? 2) How, and to what degree, do these EAL teachers demonstrate developing their TLS? 3) Beyond the TESL course, what opportunities have these EAL teachers encountered to further extend and apply their TLS? These questions will be examined considering the participants’ intersectional identities and experiences as well as their engagement with language ideologies (Crenshaw, 1989; Schieffelin et al., 1998).
Adopting a multiple case study design (Duff, 2008; Stake, 2006), I plan to recruit 5-6 participants from a cohort of 23 EAL teachers that completed a TESL course where, as their GTA, I extended the conversation on translanguaging pedagogy. This cohort includes both pre-service and in-service EAL teachers with diverse intersections of identities, including race, language, culture, nationality, ability, and age. I plan to invite each participant to share two course assignments that focused on their background and beliefs about language learning and teaching, participate in a semi-structured interview, and record a reflection on artefacts from their post-course learning and teaching. In my data analysis, I will employ a reflexive thematic approach, involving six iterative phases (Braun & Clarke, 2022).
This study’s anticipated theoretical contributions include extending the understanding of TLS development in relation to teachers’ language ideological work and their intersectional experiences of privilege and oppression. Additionally, there are expected pedagogical implications, such as informing the development of TESOL teacher education courses and programs to better position teachers to disrupt oppressive language ideologies and harness learners’ linguistic repertoires.