Literacies in Second Languages: A new language learning and teaching praxis

About the session

In the past few decades, the field of literacy studies has made great progress in proposing new models of text creation and interpretation for our classrooms, ingrained in critical and sociocultural frameworks. However, we need more work to integrate such frameworks into multilingual classrooms, where literacy is sometimes reduced to traditional views of reading and writing. This presentation will share the ongoing efforts of a research lab in Colombia, where a group of teachers, graduate students, and their mentor (a teacher educator) are rethinking how we engage with the multiple literacies and languages present in our classrooms and our cities. The presentation will first introduce our team's conceptual underpinnings. Then, the presenter will share a series of case studies, all taking place in local schools in Medellín. Finally, the presenter and the audience will discuss how this growing framework is applicable to language instruction in the context of Calgary.

About Dr. Raúl Alberto Mora

Dr. Raúl Alberto Mora is an Associate Professor in the School of Education and Pedagogy at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (UPB), where he teaches preservice methods courses and graduate-level seminars on research, literacies, and critical theory. Dr. Mora currently chairs the Literacies in Second Languages Project (LSLP), a research initiative linked to his participation in the Pedagogy and Didactics of Knowledge Research Group at UPB. He has served as educational adviser to the Colombian Ministry of Education and the Colombian Fulbright Commission on multiple occasions. His current research agenda includes alternative and 21st century literacies, second language education.