Speaker
Description
Reflecting the increasing diversity of Japanese society and classrooms, this presentation will demonstrate how to leverage students’ background, curiosity, and agency to develop not just their linguistic repertoire but also their critical thinking, social conscience, and transversal skills. Participants will become familiar with the guiding principles, basic building blocks, and implementation process of this methodology as well as ways to tailor the approach to different class types, levels, and student cohorts.
Abstract section 1: Relevance
Japanese society has become more diverse, and this diversity is entering school and college classrooms. At the same time, universities are expected to engage with the surrounding community while also developing internationally-minded graduates. These demands can be met by encouraging students to engage in community-based multilingual research (Holmes et al., 2022) in order to boost English as part of their multilingual repertoire (Jenkins, 2015), cultivate intercultural responsibility (Guilherme, 2022), and develop glocal citizenship (Wang, 2025).
Abstract section 2: Contribution/research questions
The presentation will illustrate how to incorporate community-based multilingual research into college classes at different levels of proficiency. To facilitate adoption of this approach, the presenter will provide examples from their own teaching practice and suggest how to adapt it to different skills or class types (e.g. writing vs. presentation-focused, EMI vs. Japanese cohorts).
Abstract section 5: References
Guilherme, M. (2022). From Critical Cultural Awareness to Intercultural Responsibility: Language, Culture and Citizenship. In T. McConachy, I. Golubeva, & M. Wagner (Eds.), Intercultural Learning in Language Education and Beyond: Evolving Concepts, Perspectives and Practices (pp. 101-117). Multilingual Matters.
Holmes, P., Reynolds, J., & Ganassin, S. (Eds.). (2022). The politics of researching multilingually (Vol. 6). Multilingual Matters.
Jenkins, J. (2015). Repositioning English and multilingualism in English as a Lingua Franca. Englishes in Practice, 2(3), 49-85.
Wang, T. (2025). Toward glocal citizenship: rethinking the traditions, goals, and curricular themes of international education. Intercultural Education, 36(6), 741-760.
Abstract section 3: Content/method
The presentation will briefly introduce definitions and examples of the foundational concepts mentioned above, lay out some basic principles when integrating community-based research into college classes, illustrate benefits of this approach based on student samples, and share some recurring challenges and ways to overcome these. Conscientious about time management, the presenter will leave time at the end for questions from the audience.
Abstract section 4: Outcomes/results
Participants will become familiar with the various options available when integrating multilingual community-based research into their classes. In particular, they will be guided in differentiating between essential and optional elements of this methodology. Ultimately, the presenter hopes that participants will feel encouraged to experiment with a community-based component of their class that can enhance students’ motivation, agency, and output.
| Title | Community-based multilingual research for glocal citizenship |
|---|---|
| Teaching Context | College and university education |