Abstract: Despite the presence of multiple languages in many homes, schools, and workplaces, monolingualism still persists as a normative educational and everyday practice in Canada and many places around the world. In this talk, based on stories of language maintenance and loss from my research studies, I share how such monolingual beliefs and ideologies frame multilingual parents’ language policies and management at home and teachers’ instruction in schools and how these practices often lead to learners to prioritize English over other languages. Advocating for a changing view of multilingualism as a gift, I discuss the need and the ways to challenge the deficit narratives of multilinguals to celebrate the strengths and the worlds of possibilities that they bring.

Bio: Dr. Guofang Li is Professor and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Transnational/Global Perspectives of Language and Literacy Education of Children and Youth, University of British Columbia. Her research interests span longitudinal studies of bilingualism, new literacies and technology-enhanced language teaching, language teacher education, and language and educational policies in globalized contexts. Li’s recent works include Handbook on Promoting Equity in Education for Inclusive Systems and Societies (Forthcoming, Routledge), Superdiversity and Teacher Education (2021, Routledge), Languages, Identities, Power and Cross-Cultural Pedagogies in Transnational Literacy Education (2019, Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press), and Educating Chinese-heritage Students in the Global-Local Nexus: Identities, Challenges, and Opportunities (2017, Routledge). Her research contribution has been recognized by numerous national and international awards including the 2016 Mid-Career Award from the Second Language Research Special Interest Group (SIG), American Educational Research Association (AERA), the 2016 Carol Weinstein Outstanding Research Award, Classroom Management SIG, AERA, the 2013 and 2006 Ed Fry Book Award of the Literary Research Association (LRA). Li is co-host of the International Research Network on Equity in Youth Education and Training and has served as co-editor of Journal of Literacy Research and on the editorial boards of numerous scholarly journals.