Supporting Multilingual Students in the School for the Contemporary Arts
With Eilidh Singh
Friday, May 3, 2024 | 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Room 4390 – SFU School for the Contemporary Arts
149 W. Hastings St., Vancouver
This interactive workshop aims to foster dialogue around linguistically and culturally diverse classes, and to explore inclusive teaching practices and strategies that may be helpful in addressing their unique needs.
In this workshop, participants will,
- share knowledge of the diversity of your students and their linguistic repertoires,
- discuss some of the challenges and assets such a diverse student population brings,
- explore and examine strategies to support multilingual student success in the learning environment,
- begin to apply these strategies to an artifact specific to their own context, and
- build on knowledge of other resources and support available at SFU for multilingual students.
Bring an assignment description, syllabi, exam or any other teaching artifact you would like to workshop!
Eilidh Singh
I’m an Educational Developer (with an English as an Additional Language (EAL) specialization) in the Inclusive Teaching Team at SFU’s Centre for Educational Excellence, where we work with a flexible, evidence-based lens to facilitate EAL support for all faculty and TAs. I have supported multilingual and mono-/multi-lingual instructors and students over the last few decades in a variety of roles, with an ongoing interest in how multilingual learners can best be supported to thrive in L1 content environments.
My multicultural education includes an undergraduate arts degree from The University of Glasgow (my hometown), a Master of Education in TESOL from the University of Southern Queensland, a Graduate Certificate in Online Education and Training from University College London, and a Certificate in Graphic Design from VCC. My teaching experience started in the last century in Japan, then Greece, and then in Canada, where I taught at Kwantlen Polytechnic University and at UBC. My non-teaching experiences have included online and f2f teacher training, program management and administration, course and workshop design and delivery, conference presentations, and language coaching. I’ve presented locally, nationally, and internationally at conferences in Canada, the US and the UK. I’ve been a member of the BC Teachers as an Additional Language (BC TEAL) Association for many years, and was honoured with their Lifetime Contributor Award in 2015.
Here at SFU my work includes creating and delivering bespoke and general workshops, collaborating with the team on an instructor series on linguistically responsive pedagogy, offering consultations, developing materials, and working with campus partners on various projects.
I generally enjoy learning and practicing new skills, as experiencing the perspective of a student informs my work in language education. I’m interested in the application of the coaching approach to language learning and teaching, and in how multilingual learners can best be supported to thrive in L1 content environments.