RECONCEPTUALIZING AND

RECONTEXTUALIZING RESEARCH AND

PRACTICE

FOR TODAY’S LANGUAGE ECOLOGIES

Raúl A. Mora, Ph.D.

ML2 Academic Coordinator

A time to rejoice

• Three years ago… we dreamed of something we called “ML2 Project”

• Today… ML2 is a growing reality

– We are building a community

– #twolanguagesoneprogram

– We are beginning to matter

• The road ahead seems bright

A time to reflect

• Where were we three years ago?

• Where do we need to go today?

• Where might we need to go tomorrow?

This Keynote

• Revisit the first challenges we posed for ourselves

• Look at the ideas in our central theme in light of those challenges

• Refine our directions for research and practice

TWO KEY TERMS…

Reflexivity

“Reflexivity involves a reflection process that always transcends personal introspection and takes a strong

social component. Reflexivity moments combine scientific elements and critical consciousness as

necessary steps to promote meaningful social change. The ultimate goal of reflexivity, then, is not simply to reflect on practice, but to transform it for the benefit

of one’s community and its members.”

(Mora, 2014c, some emphasis added)

Language Ecologies

“Language ecology aims to find a sense of balance in the dynamics of interaction and coexistence of old and

new languages in social contexts […] the study of language ecology involves the analysis of power

dynamics and issues of equity and human rights as fundamental elements for the process of social

construction of languages.”

(Mora, 2014b, emphasis added)

RECONCEPTUALIZING AND

RECONTEXTUALIZING OUR INITIAL

CHALLENGES

The Four Challenges

• Mora’s (2013a) response to Hilgendorf(2013)– The need for more inclusive language

frameworks

– The need for new definitions for languages beyond L1

– The need for new pedagogical and didactic models

– The need for new questions about research

Reconceptualizing and Recontextualizing Language

Frameworks

• Why do we need to talk about “inclusion”?– Take it beyond “commonplace” (Golovátina-

Mora, 2013)

– Find counter-narratives in our communities

• Should we still talk about <bilingualism> (Mora, 2012)? – When? Why? How?

– How about alternative terms (e.g. polylanguaging, translanguaging)

Reconceptualizing and Recontextualizing Language

Frameworks

• How do we understand languages and languaging today?– Issues of multimodality (Mejía-Vélez & Salazar

Patiño, 2014) and intertextuality (Angay-Crowder, 2014)

– Matters of indexicality (Blommaert, 2014) in the social construction of languages

– Language as part and parcel of the cities (Mora, 2014c; Mora, et al., 2013, 2014a, b)

Reconceptualizing and Recontextualizing

Language Definitions

• An increasingly undeniable reality

– The traditional binary is no longer explaining language use and appropriation today

– EFL/ESL have underlying assumptions about ownership of the language and, therefore, have strong social implications

• We have a social imperative (Mora, 2014a)

– We can neither accept nor condone concepts that foster social inequalities vis-à-vis languages!

Reconceptualizing and Recontextualizing

Language Definitions

• Second Languages – a new world order?

– World Englishes (Smith, 2014) / World Languages

– English as a Lingua Franca (Björkman, 2014)… and Spanish too?

– Additional languages

Reconceptualizing and Recontextualizing Pedagogy,

Methodology, Didactics… Learning

• A rebuke of instrumentality

– As the endless search for “Recipes for Tired Teachers”

– As the only alternative for professional development

– As the conventional wisdom that “This is what teachers really need.”

Reconceptualizing and Recontextualizing Pedagogy,

Methodology, Didactics… Learning

• A vindication of the intellectual dimension of teachers (e.g. Counts, Dewey, Gramsci, Stenhouse, Schön, Kumaravadivelu)

– Agency = transformation (Kumaravadivelu, 2006)

– Teaching as scholarship

– Asking the tough questions toward a “new social order” (Counts, 1932)

Reconceptualizing and Recontextualizing Pedagogy,

Methodology, Didactics… Learning

• Method

• Methodology

• Approach

• Autonomy

• Concept/Conception

• ICTs

• Literacy

• Multiculturalism

Reconceptualizing and

Recontextualizing Research• Why do we do research?

– Epistemological reasons behind bringing it to the classroom

– Reflexivity value

– Grassroots, participatory (Fals-Borda & Rahman, 1991), personal (Noffke, 1997) values

– Who wins? Who loses?

Reconceptualizing and

Recontextualizing Research• The search for multiple realities

– The local context may be “learning/teaching English/Spanish”

– The global implications go beyond one language (remember the hashtag, #twolanguagesoneprogram)

– Polyangulation (Mertler, 2013; Mora, 2014e)

• Validation of those realities that we face in our lives and classrooms (Who are you?)

RESEARCH AND PRACTICE:

A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE

The Macroproject

“Reflexivity on the learning and teaching of

second languages in diverse contexts”

“Laboratory and Observatory”

• Applied research that leads to veritable reflexivity

• Interdisciplinary research

• A stand to ponder the directions for language practices and policies

– This is only possible through a robust research agenda

ML2: Organic Intellectuals?

• Since the beginning– Track down proposals and projects – Revise them in light of classroom lessons and students’

ideas– Find stronger links between these ideas, the macro-

project, and the ML2 curriculum

• The result of this analysis– Organic integration with macroproject– A demand to make the organic a stronger reflexivity

framework– A guideline for our community to better link the

curriculum with their budding research agendas

REFLEXIVITY ON THE LEARNING

AND TEACHING OF SECOND

LANGUAGES IN DIVERSE

CONTEXTS

LITERACIES, MEDIA, AND LANGUAGING

IN TODAY’S LANGUAGE ECOLOGIES

SOCIO-POLITICAL CONCERNS

IN SECOND LANGUAGES

NEW APPROACHES TO ACQUISITION,

CONTENT,

AND DIDACTICS IN SECOND LANGUAGES

REFLEXIVITY ON THE LEARNING AND TEACHING OF SECOND

LANGUAGES IN DIVERSE CONTEXTS

• What does it mean to learn and teach second languages in diverse contexts, as a response to the new language ecologies our societies and students are facing today?

LITERACIES, MEDIA, AND LANGUAGING

IN TODAY’S LANGUAGE ECOLOGIES• What does it mean to interpret and create texts in

our current contexts and individual circumstances?

• What new forms of texts and languages are circulating in our social and school contexts?

• What factors are affecting the relationship between agents and texts?

• What kinds of literacy practices and events do we need to promote to increase the potential for learning and teaching second languages in Colombia (and possibly other contexts)?

NEW APPROACHES TO ACQUISITION, CONTENT,

AND DIDACTICS IN SECOND LANGUAGES

• What pedagogical models do we need to maximize the potential for learning and teaching second languages in the multiple contexts language users face today?

• How must we frame language acquisition in today’s language ecologies?

• What are the new demands for didactics, methodology, and evaluation in the context of learning and teaching second languages today?

SOCIO-POLITICAL CONCERNS

IN SECOND LANGUAGES

• What models and policies are shaping how individuals learn and teach second languages?

• How are the changes in society, policy, and technology interplaying with the curriculum?

• What are the new relationships between language and power that second language users are facing in today’s language ecologies?

• What should the new ethics of language use be like in today’s societies?

CODA

Our new roadmap?

• We have a reinforced map

– More visibility for our research

– Stronger mentorship

– Better articulation with the new demands for our graduate students and faculty

This event

• A celebration and an increased consciousness

– How far we have come as a community.

– What we still need to do to make a bigger impact in our fields of study.

– A challenge that we all gladly accept and a reason to show the world what we are doing.

LET’S GO TO WORK!

Thank you!