Linguistic Diversity at Mason: Supporting Students in and Beyond the Classroom

Abstract

BRIEF SESSION DESCRIPTION:

Linguistic diversity has a significant impact on teaching and learning in and beyond the classroom. This panel discussion will begin with a brief overview of linguistic diversity at Mason and support resources available to faculty and students. Participants are invited to share their strategies and materials and will be asked to engage in activities related to effective utilization of specific Mason resources in their teaching contexts. àParticipants will become familiar with a range of resources, materials, and strategies for supporting their linguistically diverse student populations and will leave the session with the ideas for applying this knowledge into their teaching contexts.

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FULL ABSTRACT:

Linguistic diversity has a significant impact on teaching and learning in and beyond the classroom. What strategies have faculty successfully used for creating inclusivity among diverse populations? What resources exist and are currently being developed to further support Mason faculty as they engage with the range of linguistic, cultural, and academic needs particular to this kind of Mason diversity? While a select few members of the Mason community are often called on to share classroom teaching strategies and while some university resources (e.g. The Writing Center, the INTO Mason Learning Resource Center, the English Department) are often utilized to further support multilingual student success, the purpose of this session is to facilitate peer-to-peer sharing of instructional practices and to collaboratively develop resource-driven responses to scenarios commonly presented in the linguistically diverse classroom

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The panel discussion will begin with a brief overview of linguistic diversity at Mason based on new data gathered, 2017-2018. Next, panel members will present support resources available to faculty and students, including specific Writing Center and INTO Mason Learning Resource Center services and materials, a website that showcases the experiences of multilingual Mason writers adapting to writing in the U.S. academy, handouts with pedagogical and instructional tips for working with multilingual writers and a draft of a new Mason faculty handbook for supporting multilingual students.à

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The majority of the session will be devoted to peer-to-peer sharing of classroom strategies to support linguistically diverse populations and small-group collaborative exercises designed to help participants create resource-based responses to teaching and learning in and beyond the classroom. Participants are invited to share their strategies and materials and will be asked to engage in problem-solving activities related to effective utilization of specific Mason resources in their teaching contexts.

Participants will become familiar with a range of resources, materials, and strategies for supporting their linguistically diverse student populations and will leave the session with the ideas for applying this knowledge into their teaching contexts.