Two CERCLL faculty fellowships were awarded in Summer 2021. Congratulations to Dr. Liudmila Klimanova and Dr. Kris Knisely.
CERCLL Faculty Research Fellows:
Liudmila Klimanova, Assistant Professor, Department of Russian and Slavic Studies
Equity-Mindedness and Inclusion in Online Language Instruction: Teacher and Student Perspectives
Do teachers and learners have similar or disparate notions of inclusive and equitable language teaching practices? The emergency transition from face-to-face to remote teaching in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Spring 2020 has posed serious questions of equity and access to online learning opportunities for all language learners in online instructional contexts. Since then, instructors have been struggling with creating learning environments which can accommodate different learning styles and socio-economic statuses, but also are responsive to varied student attitudes and perceptions about the effectiveness of language learning. This study will investigate students’ and teacher’s perceptions of online practices from the perspective of equal opportunity, equity, and inclusion, focusing specifically on Russian language programs.
Kris Aric Knisely, Assistant Professor of French, Department of French and Italian
Benefits of Inclusion, Challenges of Resistance: Gender-just Language Teaching
Educators are increasingly recognizing the critical impetus to engage with gender in expansive and inclusive ways. However, a paucity of training and materials specific to trans-affirming language pedagogies persists. Inadequate supports are exacerbated by a lack of empirical investigations into whether and how gender-just language teaching may contribute to the development of intercultural, symbolic, and linguistic competencies. To respond, this project proposes the creation of the following open educational resources based on the analysis of two years of classroom data: (1) a non-language-specific starting guide to proactively planning for resistance to teaching inclusive language, including an infographic about the benefits of teaching inclusive language forms, and (2) French-specific infographics on inclusive language forms and communication strategies. These will be coupled with a peer-reviewed journal article submission that establishes an initial understanding of any relationships that may exist among teaching inclusive language forms and the development of the aforementioned competencies.
RESOURCES RESULTING FROM THIS PROJECT: See the Gender-Just Language Education Project.
For further details about these programs and links to previous projects that they funded, click here.
With gratitude to the funders of the CERCLL Fellows programs, including the University of Arizona’s College of Humanities, and the Office for Research and Partnerships.