The Efficacy of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy for Low-Proficiency International Students in Online Teaching and Learning

A Canadian Experience with an Online Reading-Writing Program

Authors

  • Elaine Khoo University of Toronto
  • Xiangying Huo University of Toronto

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22329/jtl.v16i2.7022

Abstract

International students with low academic English proficiency face challenges with reading their course materials and writing assignments. Their challenges are exacerbated during remote learning, as they remain in their home countries, immersed in their home languages, which may be quite distant from academic English. To investigate the effects of culturally responsive pedagogy for international students online, quantitative and qualitative data were collected from a learner-driven, instructor-facilitated (LeD-InF) support program at a large university in southern Ontario. This fully online delivery of the Reading and Writing Excellence (RWE) program was re-envisioned from a long-running co-curricular program that addressed students’ academic English reading, writing, and critical thinking needs. Among eight groups (with the total enrolment of 154) in the Fall 2020 academic term cycle and nine groups (with the total enrolment of 226) in the Winter 2021 academic term cycle of the online RWE program, the intervention groups that were additionally supported with culturally responsive pedagogy had the highest volume of writing output and engagement metrics among all groups. The text data (of student voices and experiences) also reinforces the efficacy of culturally responsive pedagogy in facilitating student experience, constructing identities, promoting learner agency, increasing satisfaction, improving students’ perceptions of learning, and realizing transformative inclusivity.

Author Biographies

Elaine Khoo, University of Toronto

Elaine Khoo, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor (Teaching Stream) at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC). She founded the English Language Development (ELD) support program in 2006 to proactively address diverse language development needs in ways that counter the deficit narrative of students with low English language proficiency. As the coordinator of the program, she has incorporated her research interests, which include positive pedagogy in higher education, internationalization, technology-supported language learning, inclusive practices in academic integrity, language learning motivation, second language writing, and vocabulary studies, into ELD programs to empower students to gain accelerated progress in academic reading, writing, and oral communication. Her innovative approaches and pedagogy have been recognized through awards such as the 2014 D2L Innovation Award in Teaching and Learning.

Xiangying Huo, University of Toronto

Xiangying Huo, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at University of Toronto Scarborough. She was a professor of English in China for over a decade and a visiting scholar at Michigan State University. She has taught academic writing across the curriculum at the University of Toronto, York University, and OCAD Art and Design University in the past ten years. Xiangying’s research interests include writing studies, applied linguistics, ESL/EFL policy and pedagogy, Writing Center studies, anti-racism education, language ideology, World Englishes, intercultural and cross-cultural teaching and learning, and internationalization in higher education. She has presented her research widely at national and international conferences and is the author of Higher Education Internationalization and English Language Instruction: Intersectionality of Race and Language in Canadian Universities (2020, Springer). Xiangying is passionate about discovering students’ strengths, voices, and agency and customizing her pedagogy to help her students thrive on their academic journeys.

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Published

2022-09-08

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Vol. 16 No. 2 (2022): Special Issue: Connecting the Promising Practices for Teaching Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students with Student Satisfaction

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