“Because I Knew Others Would Listen”: The Pluridigit Project and the Role of Agency in Building Language Learning Resilience

Conference: The European Conference on Language Learning (ECLL2022)
Title: “Because I Knew Others Would Listen”: The Pluridigit Project and the Role of Agency in Building Language Learning Resilience
Stream: Plurilingualism - Bilingualism
Presentation Type: Live-Stream Presentation
Authors:
Angelica Galante, McGill University, Canada

Abstract:

Research shows that agency is an integral dimension in language learning, but online learning during a pandemic can be challenging. The PluriDigit project had two main goals: equip teachers with relevant online plurilingual pedagogy and document agentive processes of learners to advance oral competence. As a researcher-teacher collaborative project, bi-weekly language tasks hosted on VoiceThread were infused in English, French, Spanish and Arabic language programs in an NGO in São Paulo, Brazil, the second country most affected by COVID19 after the US. Participants were 103 adult Brazilian language learners and their plurilingual teachers (n = 12). Five tasks in each of the 14 courses (n = 70) were co-created by the research team and the teachers: the content had a social justice lens and explored topics such as resilience, courage, anti-racism, and language revitalization. Data was collected through students’ bi-weekly VoiceThread audio/video posts (n = 450) and semi-structured interviews with a representative sample of 13 students from different language courses. We used critical narrative analysis (Souto-Manning, 2012) with VoiceThread data and content analysis (Patton, 2015) with interview data. Results show the processes learners developed to build resilience and sustainability of their own language learning such as community building, interaction, and empathy. Results also show that learners mobilized semiotic resources, developed voice in the new language and were empowered. The significance of this study lies in the bottom-up processes of the learners in relation to technology, and interaction with peers. Implications for language learning during and post-pandemic will be discussed.

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