The Academic Writing and English Language Learners (AWELL) conference is a two-day conference designed for faculty, instructors, and writing centre professionals who teach and tutor ELL students. The goal of the conference is to provide tools and approaches that may be used directly in classrooms and tutoring sessions. This year’s conference will be held on November 1 and 2, 2019 at Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

This conference will provide an open forum to all those interested in any area of additional language studies and academic writing, including digital writing pedagogies, multiliteracies, plurilingualism, and intercultural writing supports. Questions for consideration may include, but are not limited to:

• Pedagogy and practice for multilingual classrooms
• ELL pedagogy relating to globalized students
• Learning community writing practice
• Technology in writing practice relating to ELLs
• Multimodal and digital approaches to ELL writing instruction and practice
• Considerations of general teaching and learning practice to ELLs.

Proposals are due July 22, 2019

Keynotes: 

Suresh Canagarajah, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Applied Linguistics, English, and Asian Studies, Pennsylvania State University

Dr. Canagarajah, named as one of the top 50 scholars who have shaped the field of TESOL by TESOL International, is the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor in the Departments of Applied Linguistics and English at Pennsylvania State University, as well as the Director of the Migration Studies Project. Among many other awards, Dr. Canagarajah is a recipient of the Distinguished Scholarship and Service Award by the American Association of Applied Linguistics; the Mina P. Shaughnessy Award (2015) by the Modern Language Association for the Outstanding Scholarly Book in the Fields of Language, Culture, Literacy, or Literature for his book Translingual Practice: Global Englishes and Cosmopolitan Relations (2013); Best Book Award (2016) from the American Association of Applied Linguistics for Translingual Practice: Global Englishes and Cosmopolitan Relations (2013). He is the author of more than 10 books and dozens of book chapters, academic articles, and other publications, both in English and Tamil. His book, Critical Academic Writing and Multilingual Students (2002), is required reading in the field of academic writing and multilingual instruction.

Stephanie Bell, Writing Centre Director, York University

Dr. Bell is Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies and Director of the Writing Centre at York University. She has delivered multiple presentations on digital writing and production at conferences for the International Writing Centres Association, Canadian Writing Centres Association, and Canadian Association for the Study of Discourse and Writing. She is a board member of the Canadian Writing Centres Association. Her innovative digital student production forum, Scratch Media, features student podcasts and other media produced through her writing courses. A co-authored monograph proposal, “Bring a hard copy to your appointment”: Tooled-up, networked, multimodal writing at the Writing Centre, is in submission to with Inkshed Publications.

Simon Fraser University is searching for an Associate Director for English as an Additional Language Initiatives, within its newly formed Centre for Educational Excellence (CEE). The Associate Director will develop and advance an EAL strategy for SFU, in collaboration with other stakeholders on campus, and build a team to provide language development support. This role is a crucial component of SFU’s commitment to supporting the learning experience of our students, and our commitment to international and multilingual learners. The ideal candidate is a collaborative team-builder with experience in language development and support at the post-secondary level.

The full posting can be found here. The closing date is July 3, 2019. Questions and inquiries can be addressed to Elizabeth Elle, Associate Vice-President, Learning and Teaching.

The American College of Greece will host COMELA 2020: The Conference on Mediterranean and European Linguistic Anthropology 2020, September 2-5, 2020 in Athens, Greece. More information can be found here.

Applications are invited for a joint faculty position at the Instructor level in the Faculties of Forestry and Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia. This is a tenure-track position in the educational leadership stream, which has an expectation of educational leadership including, but not limited to, innovation and enhancements to student teaching, learning, and assessment that has impact beyond the candidate’s classroom, department, discipline, and/or institution, as appropriate (see Section 3.1 of the Guide to Reappointment, Promotion and Tenure Procedures at UBC).  The anticipated start date is May 1, 2020.

Required qualifications

A minimum of a Master’s degree (PhD preferred), and evidence of excellence and innovation in teaching are required for this appointment. Preference will be given to energetic and visionary candidates who show accomplishments or promise in the following areas:

• Experience or familiarity communicating scientific content relevant to the undergraduate majors in the Faculties of Forestry and Land and Food Systems
• Teaching of written communication skills including science, public, and business communication
• Teaching English to EFL students
• Development and teaching of discipline-specific or customized communication skills courses

Position details

In addition to the educational leadership and service components of the Instructor position, responsibilities will include:

• Teaching the first-year foundational writing course – LFS/FRST 150 Scholarly Writing and Argumentation to students in both Faculties
• Overseeing curriculum and coordinating additional sections of the course taught by other instructors to ensure consistent learning outcomes and standards
• Developing a scaffolding strategy for communications components for courses in both Faculties
• Potentially developing senior level communications courses in both Faculties
• Potentially teaching communications courses with partner universities in China

How to apply

Applications should be made through the University of British Columbia’s Human Resources online careers page. Applications should include: 1) cover letter; 2) curriculum vitae; 3) teaching dossier; 4: statement of educational leadership; 5) names and contact information of three references.

The application deadline is September 30, 2019. Specific questions about the application process should be directed to Dr. Jeanine Rhemtulla, Co-Chair of the Search Committee. Please do not send applications by email.

We hope that you will all join us in Vancouver for CASDW/ACR 2019! The full program can be found here.