Dr. Diane Potts
Lecturer
Degree: PhD, TESL The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Associated research centres and groups: Lancaster Literacy Research Centre, Second Language Learning and Teaching Research Group (SLLAT)
Current Teaching
LING 410 (Hong Kong cohort) - Trends and Issues in English Language Teaching |Methodology
LING 410 (TESOL on-line) - Trends and Issues in English Language Teaching Methodology
As a lecturer, I have previously taught courses on applied linguistics for teachers, teaching methodologies for additional language learners (EAL, EFL, ESL), intercultural communication and language socialization in multicultural contexts, and language maintenance and the integration of immigrants in Canada.
Potential Doctoral Proposals
I am excited by the prospect of working with international students and others in all areas pertaining to digital language learning, digital literacies, and computer-mediated communication.This may include ethnographic studies of highly diverse student populations in digitally mediated environments, case studies of digital/multimodal pedagogies in English as an additional language (EAL) or foreign language (EFL) classrooms, or studies of digitally-mediated task-based learning. Alternatively, prospective postgraduate students may be interested in exploring language learners' out-of-school digital literacies practices, particularly their dis/connections to formal educational contexts. These studies might be conducted in richly resourced contexts (ex. where bandwidth and/or electricity are not issues, and where a range of digital devices are available), or they might be conducted in contexts where necessity is driving innovations in the use of mobile technologies. The same topics could be explored from the perspective of teacher education and development. There are an ever-shifting range of ethical issues, conceptual issues, and practical issues that need addressing, ideally by researchers who reflect the diversity of the English language learning and teaching community, and I will be delighted to receive applications from students who bring a range of experiences to their doctoral studies.
Equally, I invite proposals from students with interests in multimodality, particularly those working within a social semiotic frame. Again, these proposals may address the needs of language learners,and might connect to any of the following: the the reweighting of meaning across semiotic systems and the increasing need for EAL/ESL/EFL pedagogies to address students' visual literacies; the potential of multimodal practices and/or tasks in language development; and curricular challenges and demands related to such pedagogies. Alternatively, students may design studies which focus on texts (in the broadest sense) rather than learners and/or educators, and explore the place of these texts within situated practice(s).
A third area of possible study is research in highly diverse classrooms, and explorations of pedagogies which draw on students' multilingual resources to further their academic success. Such research might attempt to deepen our understanding of the ways in which students' multilingualism could contribute to perspective-taking, abstract reasoning, and/or creativity. Research in this area might also be designed to help us to understand how multilingual learners come to understand themselves as resourced and/or disadvantaged by the relationship between their home language(s), English and (potentially) their additional languages.
Finally, I will always welcome proposals froms students who wish to research content-based language teaching in any of its multiple forms (ex. CBLT, CLIL). This may include work with immigrant and/or refugee populations in English dominant countries; studies in EFL contexts where core subjects in primary and/or secondary school are taught in English; research in contexts where English is an official language but where significant numbers speak other home languages; investigations of EAP pedagogies in post-secondary and/or professional contexts; or explorations of content-based designs outside mainstream educational contexts. Research in this area might focus on a specfic group of learners, a disciplinary context, teacher training and development, or policies and practices. Again, I am particularly interested in those adopting a social semiotic/SFL frame as well as those whose specific research questions might address issues of register, or who wish to delve into grammatics.
Publications
Books
Lee, H.S., Potts, D., Uhm, C.J., Jackson, S. & Park, P.A. (2004). Developing communicative English curriculum: A six level conversation program. Gwangju, South Korea: Chonnam National University Press.
Journal Articles
Potts, D. (2005). Pedagogy, purpose, and the second language learner in on-line communities. Canadian Modern Language Review 62(1), 137-160.
Early, M. & Potts, D. (2005). Hard work, good learning: Multiliterate pedagogies and possibilities. BC Educational Leadership Research, 2, Retrieved December 2, 2005, from http://slc.educ.ubc.ca/eJournal/Issue2/index.htm
Early, M., Potts, D. & Mohan, B. (2005). ESL students' socialization into academic discourse: A Canadian perspective. Prospect: The Australian TESOL Journal, 28(3), 1-26.
Lee, H.S., Potts, D., Uhm, C.J. & Park, P.A. (2003). Needs analysis in developing communicative English curriculum. Language Teaching and Research, 33, 203-262.
Chapters
Potts, D. (2011). Multilingualism as an academic resource. In J. Cummins and M. Early (eds.) Identity Texts: The Collaborative Creation of Power in Multilingual Schools. Staffordshire, England: Trentham Books. [Invited]
Potts, D. & Park, P. (2007). Partnering with students in curriculum change: Students researching students' needs. In A. Rice (Ed.) Revitalizing an Established Program for Adult Learners (pp. 181-201). Alexandria, West Virginia: TESOL, Inc.
Reviews
Potts, D. (accepted). [Review of the book Exploring Semiotic Remediation as Discourse Practice] Discourse and Society.
Potts, D. (2011). [Review of the book Language, Knowledge and Pedagogy]. Linguistics and the Human Sciences 4(3), 309-313.
Potts, D. (2008). [Review of the book A Practical Guide to Using Computers in Language Teaching]. TESOL Quarterly 41(4), 833-835.
Potts, D. (December 2003). [Review of the book Literacy in the Information Age: Inquiries Into Meaning Making With New Technologies]. Resource Center for Cyberculture Studies < http://www.com.washington.edu/rccs/>
Software
Potts, D, Willinsky, J. & Early, M. (2006). The multiliteracy system: A knowledge mobilization system for public education.
Conference Presentations (Selected)
August 2011 Multimodality, semiotic register and the recontextualization of knowledge.AILA 2011: The World Congress of Applied Linguistics. Beijing, China.
July 2010 Multimodal texts, aptness and semiotic register: Texts as mobilized meaning. ISFC 2010: International Systemic Functional Congress. Vancouver, BC.
March 2010 Multilingual pedagogies and education's institutional discourses.Annual Conference of the American Association of Applied Linguistics. Atlanta, Georgia.
May 2009 Multilingualism in mainstream classrooms: Theorizing context of use. 40thConference of the Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics. Ottawa, Canada.
March 2009 Multilingualism, quotidian knowledge and the recontextualization of meaning in support of language development.Annual Conference of the American Association of Applied Linguistics. Denver, Colorado.
August 2008 Multimodalities, multilingualism and the recontextualization of knowledge for academic purposes (Colloquia with M. Early and G. Kress).AILA 2008: The World Congress of Applied Linguistics Essen, Germany.
June 2008 Multilingualism and the internet: Supporting student literacies development. In S. Jones & B. Norton (Organizers) Digital literacy and teacher education in Africa: Towards collaboration with the Canadian Multiliteracy Project. 39th Annual Conference of the Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics. Vancouver, Canada.
May 2008 Multimodalities, multilingualism and the recontextualization of knowledge for academic purposes. Annual Conference of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE). Vancouver, Canada.
April 2007 Multimodal, multilingual pedagogies in the age of evidence. In. M. Early (Organizer) Multimodality in the education of multilingual, multicultural students: Policy and practices.Annual Conference of the American Association of Applied Linguistics Costa Mesa, CA.
March 2007 Alternative accountability for EAL public school students (Organizer: with M. Early, J. Kerr & MJ Moran). 41st Annual TESOL Convention. Seattle, WA.
June 2006 Projected future identities, geographic aspirations and ESL students' use of the internet. In E. Lam (Organizer) Literacy, identity, and learning in transcultural digital communication.Joint Conference of the American Association of Applied Linguistics and the Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics. Montreal, PQ.
April 2006 Multiliterate pedagogies: Capitalizing on diversity as a resource. (Jim Cummins, Chair) Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. San Francisco, CA.
April 2006 Collective play building: Using arts-based research to understand a social-justice drama process in teacher education (George Belliveau, Organizer).Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting. San Francisco, CA.
March 2006 Multiliteracies in K-12 ESL Classroom. (Organizer; with M. Early, F. Giampapa and S. Cohen). 40th Annual TESOL Convention and Exhibit. Tampa, FL.
July 2005 From literacy to multiple-literacy: Designing learning environments for knowledge generation (with Margaret Early, Sarah Cohen).AILA 2005: The World Congress of Applied Linguistics. Madison, Wisconsin.
July 2005 Embodied scaffolds: Movement and affect supporting ESL students' reading comprehension. AILA 2005: The World Congress of Applied Linguistics. Madison, Wisconsin.
July 2005 "My hypothesis is…": Imagining the world of discovery as a process for developing Intermediate Science literacy (with MJ Moran). Third International Conference on Imagination and Education. Vancouver, BC.
May 2005 "It's okay to make me feel bad": Movement, emotion and affect as supports for elementary reading conversation (with M. Kezar). Annual Convention of the International Reading Association. San Antonio, TX.
May 2004 Persistent conversation's effects on language learners' on-line interaction.Annual conference of the American Association of Applied Linguistics. Portland, Oregon.
February 2003 Co-constructing knowledge through interactive journals: Post-secondary students' responses to academic texts.Korea Association of Teachers of English Winter International Conference. Yonsei University, Seoul.
February 2003 On-line communities and the formation of academic identity.Korea Association of Teachers of English Winter International Conference. Yonsei University, Seoul.
Associated Keywords: Classroom research, Computer-mediated communication, Digital literacies, English for academic purposes EAP, Multilingualism, Multimodalities, Second language acquisition, Technology enhanced learning
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