Articles by John Wayne N . dela Cruz
International Multilingual Research Journal , 2024
Plurilingualism is an inclusive language teaching approach to sustain multilingual societies, but... more Plurilingualism is an inclusive language teaching approach to sustain multilingual societies, but there is little investigation on teacher candidates' (TCs) beliefs and challenges before and after its implementation. This interpretive qualitative study introduced plurilingualism in teacher education at a Canadian university. Sixteen TCs participated in the study, which 1) investigated TCs' conceptualizations of plurilingualism, and 2) examined TCs' perceptions of overall affordances of critical plurilingual pedagogies before and after their practicum. For four months, participants experimented with plurilingual pedagogies such as translanguaging and crosslinguistic analysis, designed tasks, and taught lessons. Five types of data were generated: 1) weekly annotations of readings on Perusall, 2) designed language tasks, 3) task delivery demonstrations, 4) lesson plans, and 5) final reflection after the teaching practicum. Inductive content analysis was conducted on NVivo with data triangulation. Findings suggest that TCs shifted their views of language, and aligned plurilingual pedagogies with equity, diversity, inclusion and decoloniality principles. Findings also show that TCs transgressed the monolingual discourses often present in schools, and felt empowered after the training. We call for the inclusion of critical plurilingual practices in teacher education programs for the sustainability of multi/plurilingualism.
Concordia Working Paper in Applied Linguistics, Apr 2023
Plurilingualism puts forth a theoretical-pedagogical framework for additional language (AL) instr... more Plurilingualism puts forth a theoretical-pedagogical framework for additional language (AL) instruction that is linguistically inclusive and culturally responsive. Despite increasing multilingualism and multiculturalism in Canada, however, official and de facto monolingual policies persist⎯both in societal and educational settings⎯and continue to promote outdated target language-only instructional methods. It is therefore unsurprising that AL educators often express feeling unprepared to teach multilingual and multicultural learners. To help teachers address this gap among theory, practice, and policy in the AL classroom, I propose a linguistically inclusive, action-oriented, plurilingual approach to AL task design and assessment. Drawing from the Common European Framework of References (CEFR) for languages, I outline how (1) to use specific CEFR "Can-do" descriptors (2) to design or adapt specific language tasks, and (3) to then assess student task performance accordingly afterwards. I conclude with implications with regards to critically employing plurilingual instruction to foster linguistically inclusive Canadian AL education.
The Language Learning Journal, 2023
While studies have shown benefits of plurilingual pedagogies on students' experiences learning la... more While studies have shown benefits of plurilingual pedagogies on students' experiences learning languages, more research is needed to examine how these pedagogies can be enacted in foreign language programmes in digital environments. Moreover, prioritising oral engagement has been an urgent need among teachers who use synchronous platforms such as Zoom to teach languages. This article reports on a multiple case study with three teachers-English, Spanish, and Frenchand 17 students in Brazil. Five plurilingual strategies were implemented in their language courses: cross-linguistic comparisons, cross-cultural comparisons, translanguaging, translation for mediation, and pluriliteracies. Inductive analysis of weekly classroom observations (N = 15) and deductive analysis of individual teacher interviews were conducted to find similarities across the three language courses. Results show that digital plurilingual pedagogy mobilised students' entire repertoire (not L1 only), encouraged them to speak in the target language, awakened nonlinguistic semiotic resources, and enhanced plurilingual and pluricultural awareness beyond geographical boundaries. Given its multimodal nature, digital plurilingual pedagogy can facilitate oral engagement differently compared to face-toface instruction.
OASIS Summary, 2020
OASIS Summary of Galante, A., Okubo, K., Cole, C., et. al. (2020) in TESOL Quarterly. https://oas... more OASIS Summary of Galante, A., Okubo, K., Cole, C., et. al. (2020) in TESOL Quarterly. https://oasis- database.org/concern/summaries/c534fp085?locale=en
Open Journal Systems, Dec 22, 2022
Despite emergent research on Canadian additional language (AL) learners' plurilingualism in post-... more Despite emergent research on Canadian additional language (AL) learners' plurilingualism in post-secondary and officially monolingual school contexts, challenges persist in implementing plurilingual instruction: learners' plurilingual identities (PI) and plurilingual and pluricultural competence (PPC) are often ignored in favour of the monolingual native speaker model. To help validate learners' PPC and PI in AL classrooms, this article discusses parts of the results of a mixed-methods study pertaining to the self-perceived PPC and self-reported linguistic identities of adult English as AL student tutors and tutees (N = 20) in a francophone Montréal college. Data from a PI questionnaire, a PPC scale, and interviews reveal that: tutors tend to have higher PPC and identify as bi-or plurilingual; tutees tend to have lower PPC and identify as mono-or bilingual; a lower PPC level is directly related to identifying as monolingual; factors including AL competence level influence participants' PI. Implications for AL education are discussed.
TESL Canada Journal, 2022
Canadian multilingualism and multiculturalism are on the rise. Yet, monolingual language instruct... more Canadian multilingualism and multiculturalism are on the rise. Yet, monolingual language instruction remains the standard: students are often discouraged from using their additional languages and teaching materials still lack a plurilingual lens. To further inform the practice of plurilingual pedagogies, this paper reports on results of a convergent mixed methods study that investigated the plurilingual learning strategies of 20 adult English as an additional language (EAL) student tutors and tutees in a Francophone college in Montréal. The study asked (1) What plurilingual strategies do EAL tutors and tutees use to teach and learn English from each other? (2) What are their perceptions of the affordances and challenges of these plurilingual strategies? Data from an observation grid, fieldnotes, and semistructured interviews were analyzed deductively and inductively, and merged for convergence analysis. Results show that (1) participants regularly engaged in plurilingual practices including translation, translanguaging, and crosslinguistic comparisons during the tutoring sessions. Further, (2) participants perceived plurilingual strategies as useful for supporting English language development, fostering positive learning experience and conceptual links; however, they noted challenges pertaining to the monolingual posture of EAL instruction, to English oral production, and to the feasibility of plurilingual pedagogies. Implications for EAL education in multilingual contexts like Canada are discussed.
Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 2021
As plurilingual/multilingual research advances, factors that contribute to or hinder individual's... more As plurilingual/multilingual research advances, factors that contribute to or hinder individual's flexible language use are still underexplored. Questions such as Why do some people identify as plurilingual and pluricultural while others do not? and What factors contribute to high levels of plurilingual and pluricultural competence (PPC)? remain unknown. This article presents results of a mixed methods study with 250 plurilingual participants in the multilingual city of Montreal, Canada. Data was collected through a demographic questionnaire, the Plurilingual and Pluricultural Identity Questionnaire (PPIQ) and the Plurilingual and Pluricultural Competence (PPC) scale. Results show that a vast majority of participants identified as plurilingual and pluricultural, and seven reasons for shaping this identity were found: rich repertoire, lived experiences, awareness of differences and similarities, transculturalism, adaptation and integration, translanguaging, and openness. Moreover, there was a significant difference in PPC scores between Canadian-born participants and participants born outside of Canada, suggesting that speakers of minority languages in Canada have lower PPC scores compared to speakers of Canada's official languages. These results are significant as they enhance our understanding of language use and identity, suggesting that plurilingualism and pluriculturalism can be the new norm in multilingual contexts but minority languages need further recognition.
Books by John Wayne N . dela Cruz
Chapters by John Wayne N . dela Cruz
Multilingualism is increasingly becoming the norm among students and teachers in the field of Tea... more Multilingualism is increasingly becoming the norm among students and teachers in the field of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) around the globe. Yet, in pedagogies for language domains such as pronunciation, white monolingual native speaker ideologies persist, which view additional language (AL) learners as a deficient version of an idealized native speaker model. This native speakerism delegitimizes learners' existing knowledges in their first and additional languages, disparaging students' plurilingual competence by focusing on teaching students how to acquire a native speaker accent in the target language. To help combat this deficit-approach in TESOL, this chapter draws from plurilingualism as a theoretical-pedagogical framework for an action-oriented approach to AL teaching, learning, and assessment. Specifically, this chapter proposes how to utilize four plurilingual strategies-(a) translation-for-mediation, (b) cross-linguistic comparisons, (c) translanguaging for meaning-making, and (d) cross-cultural comparisons-at each stage of Celce-Murcia et al.'s (Teaching pronunciation: A course book and reference guide. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2010) framework for teaching pronunciation: (1) description and analysis, (2) listening discrimination, (3) controlled/guided practice, and (4) communicative practice. The chapter puts forth recommendations for how TESOL practitioners can tailor these plurilingual strategies and pronunciation teaching framework to their own contexts and classroom needs, with an emphasis on how such a research-based and action-oriented approach can scaffold the teaching of intelligibility in AL English over promoting a native speaker accent.
Multilingualism, Identity and Interculturality in Education, 2022
Multilingualism is the norm in many societies across the globe, and Canada is no exception. Colon... more Multilingualism is the norm in many societies across the globe, and Canada is no exception. Colonialism, immigration and mobility have transformed the way people use language(s) and navigate relations of power in society. Despite this diverse reality, language education continues to follow a one-language-only approach, and learners are expected to perform based on standard monolingual norms. Previous research shows that while language teachers value linguistically and culturally inclusive language classrooms, implementing pedagogical change is still a challenge. To address this issue, our chapter presents pedagogical resources developed as part of a Quebec-funded project in a Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) teacher education program in the multilingual and multicultural city of Montreal, Canada. To facilitate teacher development in plurilingual pedagogies, we drew from the theoretical concepts of plurilingualism, pluriculturalism and identity to design educational materials that consisted of a YouTube Playlist with tutorials, VoiceThread discussions, an action-oriented task template and pre-service teacher reflections. We discuss how our resources can facilitate a shift in teachers’ mindsets from monolingual to plurilingual approaches to teaching additional languages in Canada and other multilingual and multicultural contexts. We end the chapter by discussing implications and challenges such as monolingual and bilingual policies that can undermine learners’ plurilingual identities.
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Articles by John Wayne N . dela Cruz
Books by John Wayne N . dela Cruz
Chapters by John Wayne N . dela Cruz