Plenary sessions

Dr. Rahat Zaidi (University of Calgary)  

Intersectionality and Identity: A Critical Approach to Language and Literacy

Educators and students today are experiencing unprecedented cultural and linguistic diversity, and many families strive to preserve their cultural and linguistic heritage while navigating complex social, cultural, political and economic changes. At the same time, literacy and language education continues to perpetuate a monolingual paradigm, risking identity loss among plurilingual students. This demographic reality is characterized by a tendency toward cultural/linguistic transition and ambiguity, or in-betweenness. It fosters transformation and reflection, introducing diverse ways of knowing, thinking and learning, and opens the door for research to explore transformative opportunities for education stakeholders.

This talk addresses the urgent need for a fresh approach to meaningful learning experiences that can enact transcultural pedagogies to enhance multilingual language and literacy learning. Research suggests this can be accomplished through critical, creative, and socially just ways, using the school as a meeting ground. Research can also provide insights into the knowledge and skills educators need in order to be culturally and linguistically responsive. The research stems from the belief in the value of creating authentic spaces for plurilingual identities to thrive. It includes the development of literacy engagement tools that address students’ sense of intersectionality, the overlapping and mutually fundamental aspects of their own language/culture entwined with those within the school and society. Through a holistic and pragmatic framework of critically engaged language and literacy workshops (CELLWs), the research examines discourses and experiences of oppression and subordination through creative means.

As a methodological framework, the workshop creates places and spaces for participants to engage with their in-betweenness and to explore their identities, multilingualism, memories, emotions and lived experiences within their language and literacy education. It operates in collaboration with teachers, community partners and students, provoking awareness and understanding of intersectionality and the (re)formation of identity. The research represents a call to action to harness the linguistic and cultural tapestry of today’s classrooms.

Dr. Fanny Meunier (Université Catholique de Louvain)  

Let’s Talk Pluriliteracies : vers des apprentissages riches et ancrés

In a hyperconnected world where linguistic and cultural diversity are increasingly valued - but not always enacted - the concept of pluriliteracies presents a powerful opportunity to rethink education.

This plenary talk will explore the conceptual origins and evolution of pluriliteracies, emphasizing how the shift from ‘bi-’, to ‘multi-’ to ‘pluri-’ redefines literacy as a relational, integrated process rather than a mere aggregation of separate skills (Meunier, in press). Building on insights from CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) research - particularly the Pluriliteracies Teaching for Learning (PTL) framework developed by the Graz Group at the European Centre for Modern Languages (see, e.g., Coyle, Meyer, & Staschen-Dielmann, 2023) - I will demonstrate how pluriliteracies can be intentionally fostered across curricula. Concrete examples will showcase how students, guided by educators, can build and critically communicate transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge through pluriliteracies, connecting local and global contexts in meaningful, agentive ways. The concept of shifting agencies (Meunier & Decorte, accepted, 202() will also be explored, highlighting how responsibility and agency can evolve dynamically between students, educators, and tools, such as Generative AI ones. The affordances and limitations of these AI tools will also be discussed and illustrated.

By reflecting on the pedagogical principles, strategies, and technological tools that support pluriliteracies, I will argue that fostering these approaches is essential, not optional.

Additionally, the talk itself will integrate some pluriliterate strategies, offering a practical example of their possible integration.

Dr. Vanessa Taler (University of Ottawa)

Cognition and bilingualism in the aging population

A substantial body of research highlights differences in cognitive performance between bilinguals and monolinguals across various cognitive domains. Within the realm of executive function, some studies have shown that bilinguals outperform monolinguals in both speed and accuracy, although other studies have shown no such group differences. In language tasks, by contrast, monolinguals typically exhibit superior performance compared to bilinguals. These effects of bilingualism appear to be more pronounced in older compared to younger adults, possibly because the former are at the height of their cognitive abilities, and the effects of bilingualism are thus more difficult to detect. Here I will present findings from behavioural and event-related potential studies of bilingual older adults, as well as findings from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA), that shed light on potential differences in cognitive and neural processing associated with bilingualism. I will also discuss ongoing work on bilingualism across different language communities. These findings offer valuable clues for refining our understanding of the “bilingualism effect”, emphasizing individual-level factors such as language background and usage patterns. The findings also hold clinical relevance, and I will discuss our preliminary work in developing tools for assessment of language function in bilingual older adults.  It is hoped that these findings will also broaden our understanding of bilingualism and multilingualism across the life span, and how more inclusive language practices can have potentially lasting positive outcomes.