Pontoons and Platforms: Educator Agency for Accessible EAP
Abstract: Instructors of EAP work with learners who bring diverse resources and needs to academic language learning. Creating accessible learning opportunities for these learners requires educators to draw on their professional literacies to identify potential bridges and navigate barriers. In this talk, I will first discuss what accessibility for EAP learners encompasses before addressing the professional literacies necessary to foster accessible conditions. Subsequently, I will consider the nature of a professional ecosystem that supports teachers in developing and enacting these professional literacies in language learning spaces. Particular attention will be paid to how educators critically engage with and contribute to professional knowledge that informs equitable practice. Drawing on selected research findings, I will highlight initiatives designed to make such agentive engagement possible and meaningful for practitioners. I argue that such an ecosystem requires not just bridges, but also pontoons and platforms that foster flexible connections among research, practitioner knowledge, and instructional practice to support educators in designing accessible and equitable EAP environments.
Carolyn Blume is Professor of English Cultures, Languages, and Literatures and their Pedagogy at the Heidelberg University of Education (Germany). Dr. Blume holds degrees from Stanford (B.A.), Harvard (M.Ed.), Mercy University (C.A.S.), and Leuphana University Lüneburg (Ph.D.). Her teaching and research focus on preparing English teachers for diverse and digitally-mediated language teaching and learning. In addition to numerous chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles, she is the editor of two books that seek to bridge theory and practice in language teaching and learning. With the support of colleagues from across Europe, Dr. Blume serves as primary investigator of the ERASMUS+ project “ReaLiTea: Research Literacy of Teachers.” (www.realitea.info)