Guofang Li - MIC Symposium 2024

Biography

Dr. Guofang  (University of British Columbia)

Dr. Guofang Li is Professor and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Transnational/Global Perspectives of Language and Literacy Education of Children and Youth, University of British Columbia. Her research interests span longitudinal studies of bilingualism, new literacies and technology-enhanced language teaching, language teacher education, and language and educational policies in globalized contexts. Li’s recent works include Handbook on Promoting Equity in Education for Inclusive Systems and Societies (2024, Routledge), Superdiversity and Teacher Education (2021, Routledge), Languages, Identities, Power and Cross-Cultural Pedagogies in Transnational Literacy Education (2019, SFLEP), and Educating Chinese-heritage Students in the Global-Local Nexus: Identities, Challenges, and Opportunities (2017, Routledge).

Lecture Abstract

Watch Guofang Li's lecture recording

Title: Monolingual Habitus Reproduction and Multilingual Children’s Monolingual Becoming:

Abstract: How do multilingual learners become monolingual in multilingual societies? In this presentation, I will first illustrate the complex workings of monolingual reproduction by highlighting the power of language ideologies and habitus in the context of globalization and superdiversity. I will then use data from several mixed-methods studies on mainstream teachers, afterschool reading programs, and multilingual families’ language ideologies and practices to illustrate how the overlooked and invisible monolingual habitus operates across multiple home, school, and afterschool program spaces and shapes multilingual students’ monolingual becoming in superdiverse schools and communities. I conclude with implications for teacher, parent, and community education and call for concerted efforts to dismantle the cycle of monolingual reproduction for a socially and linguistically just future for multilingual learners.