The Multilingual Learner: Theory to Practice 2023-24

The Multilingual Learner: Theory to Practice is an opportunity for non-language specialists to hone their skills in teaching multilingual learners through investigation of theory, research, and practice. It is open to both primary and secondary teachers.

This 6 month practice-based course will be taught by Eowyn Crisfield and Jo Skelton, Senior Lecturers at Oxford Brookes University and experts in bilingualism and multilingualism, in a structure we have developed with Oxford Brookes University.

New for 2023-24, this course will be a blend of synchronous and asynchronous content, accessed through the Oxford Brookes Moodle virtual learning environment.

The course is not writing intensive although you will be asked to produce short, focused reflections on course content.

Themes will include instructed second language acquisition (ISLA), theories of bilingualism, bilingual and multilingual approaches in curriculum design, translanguaging (theories and pedagogies), literacy development and assessment.

Topics/ Keywords

Bilingualism, multilingualism, translanguaging, literacy development

Learning Outcomes

Participants will develop a deep understanding of the multilingual learner, and the ability to apply this understanding to the development of appropriate curricula and pedagogy to create a holistic, inclusive environment for our multilingual learners.

Sessions

• Start date: 15th January 2024
• Tutorial times tbc once registration has closed and will be organised by region/ local time zones.
• A link to the online meeting room and Oxford Brookes Moodle virtual learning environment will be shared via email at least one week prior to the start date.

About the Facilitators

Dr. Eowyn Crisfield is a Canadian-educated specialist in bilingualism, bilingualism in education, and teacher-training. 

Eowyn has over 20 years experience in the field of Applied Linguistics, and has a background that covers research, teaching and teacher-training, and supporting bilingual families. Her past institutional experience includes English-language teaching, language department coordination, curriculum development, lecturing in Initial Teacher Education programmes. She is currently also an Senior Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University in English Language and TESOL, with a focus on the PG Cert Teaching Multilingual Learners.

Jo Skelton is an English-educated specialist in maths education, teacher education and multilingualism in education.

Jo has over 30 years experience in the field of education and has held various consultancy and advisory roles. She is the Academic Lead for International CPD at Oxford Brookes University and has a particular interest in working with international schools. Her research interests include multilingualism within mathematics education and teaching and learning within the international and comparative education context.  She is also a senior lecturer in primary mathematics and is an active member of the international maths education researchers’ network.