Image
The Linguistic Risk-Taking Initiative at the University of Ottawa
Prof. Nikolay Slavkov, University of Ottawa
MS Teams: Click here to join
Abstract: Authentic engagement and resilience are important aspects of language teaching and learning because they may confer various holistic benefits in social, professional, personal, and other contexts. Against this backdrop, I will present the Linguistic Risk-Taking Initiative, a new pedagogical approach developed at the University of Ottawa, the largest English-French bilingual campus in the world. I will showcase a language passport booklet and a digital app designed to push students out of their comfort zone into taking linguistic risks (in French or English). Linguistic risks are operationalized as authentic communicative acts where students look for challenging professional, social, or personal situations and autonomously practice their second/additional language skills in such contexts. These are situations in which students would normally be hesitant to use the language that they are learning due to the “risk” of linguistic discomfort, anxiety, or lack of confidence. Yet, after actively seeking out and engaging in linguistic risk-taking, learners can experience the benefits of increased competence and confidence in the target language, and potentially achieve higher levels of resilience and well-being. After demonstrating the passport booklet and the digital app, I will offer data from questionnaires, interviews, and app usage patterns validating the linguistic risk-taking approach and illustrating positive outcomes. I will conclude by giving examples of how this approach can be adapted to other audiences, languages, and contexts around the world.
Bio: Nikolay Slavkov is Full Professor and Director of the Canadian Centre for Research and Studies in Bilingualism and Language Planning (CCERBAL) at the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute (OLBI) of the University of Ottawa. His research contributions include keynote addresses, edited volumes, journal articles, and book chapters on language pedagogy and innovation, child language development, family language policy, technology, bilingualism, multilingualism, and (Slavic) linguistics. His work has appeared in the AILA Review, Canadian Modern Language Review, International Journal of Multilingualism, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, Foreign Language Annals, Second Language Research, Immersion Journal, Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, TESL Canada, Lingua, Journal of Slavic Linguistics, and Cahiers de l’ILOB/OLBI Journal. He has taught in Canada, the United States, China, and Bulgaria.