REACHing Beyond: Conversations on Language and Literacy Research Methods and Methodologies

The Research Engagement and Collaboration Hub, Department of Language and Literacy Education, UBC

Welcome to REACHing Beyond: Conversations on Language and Literacy Research Methods and Methodologies. This is a podcast from the Research Engagement and Collaboration Hub (REACH). We are associated with the Digital Literacy Centre of the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia, Canada. The university is located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Musqueam peoples. Conceived with the mission to diversify and broaden learning, exchange, and research opportunities, REACH is dedicated to advancing the knowledge and comprehension of research methodologies and methods, specifically within the domains of literacy and language education, among LLED community members and beyond. This podcast extends conversations from our REACH workshops, where our guest speakers, who are faculty members and students, reflect on questions, insights, and ideas that emerge from our shared explorations of research methodologies and methods.

Episodes

  1. DEC 16

    Nothing, Anything, and Everything: Introducing Postqualitative Research through Conversation

    Host: The Research Engagement and Collaboration Hub (REACH), the Department of Language and Literacy Education, Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia. Dr. Kristiina Kumpulainen is a Professor and Head of the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia. Her research scholarship is grounded on relational and cultural-historical inquiries into communication, learning and education to better understand how social, historical, political, cultural and material contexts open and/or disclose educational opportunities for diverse learners. Dr. Melanie Wong is an Associate Professor of Teaching in the University of British Columbia Department of Language and Literacy Education. She is a former K-12 educator. Her research explores the experiences of K-12 English Language Learners in technology-enhanced settings. Dr. Zhen Lin recently completed her PhD in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia. Her research interests include bilingual and biliteracy education, early bi/multilingual development, heritage language maintenance for immigrant children and youth, and multimodality. Especially, inspired by materialism, posthumanism, and post-qualitative research methodology, her recent SSHRC-funded doctoral research investigates resources and practices for the heritage literacy development of young immigrants in and outside home contexts. Ziwen Mei is a Ph.D. Candidate in Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia. Her work focuses on multilingual and multicultural education, particularly with children and families from disadvantaged backgrounds. Her doctoral research examines family language policy, deterritorialization, and the intersections of social class and rural–urban labour migration in China. This episode takes shape from the earlier REACH workshop, “Nothing, Anything, and Everything: Introducing Postqualitative Research through Conversation,” during which Dr. Kristiina Kumpulainen, Dr. Zhen Lin, Dr. Melanie Wong and Ziwen Mei (Ph.D Candidate) helped advance the discussion and deepen the ideas we explored together. We are excited to extend this conversation.

    37 min
  2. DEC 1

    Multiscalar approaches to ethnographic research in applied linguistics

    Guest Speakers: Dr. Patricia (Patsy) Duff is a Professor of Applied Linguistics and Distinguished University Scholar in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia. Patsy’s main scholarly interests are related to language socialization across bilingual and multilingual settings; qualitative research methods in applied linguistics (especially case study and ethnography); issues in the teaching, learning, and use of English, Mandarin, and other international and heritage languages in transnational contexts. Masaru Yamamoto is an Applied Linguist and a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia. His research interests include multilingual socialization, language learner identity and agency, (dys)investment, and (non-)participation in postsecondary settings, integrating ethnographic case study and other methodological approaches, such as multimodal interaction analysis and social network analysis. Host: The Research Engagement and Collaboration Hub (REACH), the Department of Language and Literacy Education, Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia. Host in This Episode: Ziwen Mei is a Ph.D. Candidate in Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia. Her work focuses on multilingual and multicultural education, particularly with children and families from disadvantaged backgrounds. Her doctoral research examines family language policy, deterritorialization, and the intersections of social class and rural–urban labour migration in China. This episode grows out of the earlier REACH workshop, “Multiscalar approaches to ethnographic research in applied linguistics: Focal activities, discourse and analysis,” where Dr. Patricia Duff and Masaru Yamamoto helped push the conversation forward and deepen the themes we explored together. We’re thankful for their role in co-designing and leading that session, and for shaping the dialogic space that now enables this extended conversation.

    16 min
  3. OCT 27

    Ethnography as Education

    Guest Speaker: Dr. Jennifer Jenson, Professor of Digital Languages, Literacies & Cultures in the Department of Language and Literacy Education, Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia. Prior to coming to UBC (January 2019), Dr. Jenson spent 18 years at York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where she was Director of the Institute for Research on Digital Learning. Host: The Research Engagement and Collaboration Hub (REACH), the Department of Language and Literacy Education, Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia. Host in This Episode: Dr. Kristiina Kumpulainen is a Professor and Head of the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia. Her research scholarship is grounded on relational and cultural-historical inquiries into communication, learning and education to better understand how social, historical, political, cultural and material contexts open and/or disclose educational opportunities for diverse learners. Dr. Melanie Wong is an Associate Professor of Teaching in the University of British Columbia Department of Language and Literacy Education. She is a former K-12 educator. Her research explores the experiences of K-12 English Language Learners in technology-enhanced settings. This episode extends the REACH workshop “Ethnography as Education,” where Dr. Jennifer Jenson dives deeper into the ideas explored during the session. We also acknowledge the great work of Irina Tursunkulova, a Ph.D. student in our department, who co-organized and led the original workshop, helping create the space for this continuing dialogue.

    14 min

About

Welcome to REACHing Beyond: Conversations on Language and Literacy Research Methods and Methodologies. This is a podcast from the Research Engagement and Collaboration Hub (REACH). We are associated with the Digital Literacy Centre of the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia, Canada. The university is located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Musqueam peoples. Conceived with the mission to diversify and broaden learning, exchange, and research opportunities, REACH is dedicated to advancing the knowledge and comprehension of research methodologies and methods, specifically within the domains of literacy and language education, among LLED community members and beyond. This podcast extends conversations from our REACH workshops, where our guest speakers, who are faculty members and students, reflect on questions, insights, and ideas that emerge from our shared explorations of research methodologies and methods.