My Phd Research

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My doctoral research investigated potential affordances and challenges of plurilingual instruction in an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) program in a Canadian university. This was a mixed methods study with a quasi-experimental component that included treatment (plurilingual instruction) and comparison (monolingual instruction) groups. Participants were seven language teachers who taught their students (N = 129) for 4 months. Data collection included: students' demographic questionnaires, the Plurilingual and Pluricultural Competence Scale (T1 and T2), classroom observations (N = 21), learner diaries, focus groups, and semi-structured interviews with all seven teachers. Following a concurrent embedded mixed methods design (Creswell Plano Clark, 2011), results show several affordances of plurilingual instruction such as enhanced plurilingual and pluricultural awareness, cognitive development, empathy, and relatability, among other factors. Results also indicate that PPC levels from students in the treatment group increased significantly over time. While none of the instructors had received previous training in plurilingual pedagogy, they unanimously reported preference for plurilingual instruction. This study is significant as it provides evidence from multiple data sources that plurilingual instruction was more effective than monolingual instruction. It also bridges the gap between the theory and practice of plurilingualism, contributing with practical pedagogical directions in ELT.

 

You can download the dissertation in the link below:

 

https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/handle/1807/91806

 

This research was the winner of the following awards:

 

•  the 2015 Ontario Graduate Scholarship

• the 2016-2018 Doctoral Dissertation Grant from the Social Scieneces and Humanities Research  Council

• the 2016 Doctoral Dissertation Grant from TIRF

• the 2017 Senior Doctoral Dissertation Grant from the International Foundation Program at New    College/University of Toronto

• the 2018 Multilingual Matters Award at the American Association of Applied Lingusitics conference

• the 2018 Leithwood Award for OISE/University of Toronto Outstanding Dissertation of the Year

 

You can watch a video with pedagogical applications in the link below:

 

https://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2017/session/integrating-plurilingual-practices-elt-superdiverse-world

 

 

Check out Recent Research Projects at

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Recent Publications

 

Galante, A. (2021). Affordances of plurilingual instruction in higher education: A mixed methods study with a quasi experiment in an English language program. Applied Linguistics. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amab044

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Galante, A. (2021). Translation as a pedagogical tool in multilingual classes: Engaging the learner's plurilingual repertoire. Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts Journal, 7(1), 106-123. https://doi.org/10.1075/ttmc.00064.gal

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Galante, A. (2020). Plurilingual and pluricultural competence (PPC) scale: The inseparability of language and culture. International Journal of Multilingualism. doi: 10.1080/14790718.2020.1753747

 

Galante, A., Okubo, K., Cole, C., Abd Elkader, N., Wilkinson, C., Carozza, N., Wotton, C., & Vasic, J. (2020). “English-only is not the way to go:” Teachers’ perceptions of plurilingual instruction in an English program at a Canadian university. TESOL Quarterly Journal. doi: 10.1002/tesq.584. Watch video abstract here.

 

Galante, A. (2020). Pedagogical translanguaging in a multilingual English program in Canada: Student and teacher perspective of challenges. System Journal. doi: 10.1016/j.system.2020.102274

 

Galante, A. (2020). Plurilingualism and TESOL in two Canadian postsecondary institutions: Towards context-specific perspectives. In S. M. C. Lau & S. Van Viegen (Eds.), Plurilingual pedagogies: Critical and creative endeavours for equitable language in education. Springer.

 

Galante, A., Okubo, C. Cole, C., Abd Elkaber, Carozza, N. Wilkinson, C., Wotton, C., & Vasic, J. (2019). Plurilingualism in higher education: A collaborative initiative for the implementation of plurilingual tasks in an English for Academic Purposes program at a Canadian university. TESL Canada Journal, 36(1), 121–133. doi: 10.18806/tesl.v36i1.1305

 

Galante, A. (2019). “The moment I realized I am plurilingual”: Plurilingual tasks for creative

representations in EAP at a Canadian university. Applied Linguistics Review. Advance online publication. doi: 0.1515/applirev-2018-0116

 

Galante, A. (2019). Plurilingualism in linguistically diverse language classrooms: Respecting

and validating student identity. In V. Kourtis-Kazoullis, T. Aravossitas, E. Skourtou & P. P. Trifonas (Eds.), Interdisciplinary research approaches to multilingual education (pp. 65–78). New York, NY: Routledge.

 

Galante, A. (2019, January). It's time to change the way we teach English. The Conversation

Canada. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/its-time-to-change-the-way-we-teach-english-109273?fbclid=IwAR1WXkFt1Mu5FuFU273NzeyjMlJVtVlKW2KsJ4W1jQHhZLpvFdCV 

 

Galante, A. (2018). From monolingual to plurilingual: Toward a paradigm shift in TESOL. TESOL's Applied Linguistics Forum. Retrieved from http://newsmanager.commpartners.com/tesolalis/issues/2018-10-02/3.html?fbclid=IwAR2A-0GbihFH4n7XJr2XsHLCMUqa2Hv4UPeafhRfRw5i_NuugZWd5J2yJKY 

 

Galante, A. (2018, October 21). Translanguaging for communication and identity (re)building:

The story of a 74-year old Brazilian woman in Montreal [Blog post]. Retrieved from

http://bild-lida.ca/blog/uncategorized/translanguaging-for-communication-and-identity-rebuilding-the-story-of-a-74-year-old-brazilian-woman-in-montreal-by-angelica-galante/#more-2465

 

Galante, A. (2018). Examining foreign language policy and its application in an EFL university program: teacher perspectives on plurilingualism. In K. Bailey & Crandall J. (Eds.), Global perspectives on educational language policies (pp. 46–55). New York, NY: Routledge.

 

Galante, A. (2018). Drama for L2 speaking anxiety: Evidence from Brazilian EFL learners. RELC Journal. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/0033688217746205

 

Piccardo, E. & Galante, A. (2018). Plurilingualism and agency in language education: The role of dramatic action-oriented tasks. In J. Choi & S. Ollerhead (Eds.), Plurilingualism in learning and teaching: Complexities across contexts (pp. 147–164). New York, NY: Routledge.

 

Galante, A. (2018). Linguistic and cultural diversity in language education through plurilingualism: Linking the theory into practice. In P. P. Trifonas & T. Aravossitas (Eds.), International handbook on research and practice in heritage language education (pp. 313–329). Toronto: Springer.

 

Galante, A. & Thomson, R. I. (2017). The effectiveness of drama as an instructional approach for the development of L2 fluency, comprehensibility, and accentedness. TESOL Quarterly Journal, 51(1), 115–142. doi: 10.1002/tesq.290

 

Galante, A. (2017). Ms. Nakano. In D. Booth & R. Coles (Eds.), What is a "good" teacher? (pp. 93–94). Toronto: Pembroke Publishers.

 

Coelho, D., Galante, A., & Pires, A. (2016). Online collaborative learning: implementing a project with Edmodo. The Electronic Journal for English as a Second Language, 19(4), 1–15.

 

Galante, A. (2015). Intercultural communicative competence in English language teaching: Towards validation of student identity. Brazilian English Language Teaching Journal, 6(1), 29­–39.

 

Galante, A. (2015). Conectando a realidade plurilíngue brasileira ao ensino de língua portuguesa e o letramento digital. Revista Saberes, 2(1), 32–43.

 

Galante, A. (2014). Developing EAL learners’ intercultural sensitivity through a digital literacy project. TESL Canada Journal, 32(1), 53–66.

 

Galante, A. (2014). English language teaching in the post-method era. Contact Magazine, 40(4), 57­­–62.