Mindset Session 2 – Presentation 3

SUNNY MAN CHU LAU

Sunny Man Chu Lau proposed replacing the native speaker model with a plurilingual intercultural communicator model, rooted in real-world linguistic practice and critical pedagogy. Drawing on her research and classroom collaborations, she showed how students use creative translingual strategies to learn, reflect, and engage across languages. Sunny described integrated bilingual projects that use literature and storytelling to build bridges between student identities, community language resources, and school content. She argued that language learning should promote empowerment, empathy, and intercultural understanding, rather than adherence to monolingual norms. Her work framed plurilingualism as a cognitive and social resource that can redefine how we conceptualize language competence in both school and society.


KEY QUESTIONS
How do we foster a complex, intersectional understanding of students’ linguistic/cultural identity among teachers?

How does the plurilingual intercultural speaker model ensure students’ access to the languages in education while having the critical awareness about language and power?


SUGGESTED RESOURCES:     
Lau, S. M. C. (2019). Convergences and alignments between translanguaging and critical literacies work in bilingual classrooms. Positive synergies, 5(1), 67-85.

https://doi.org/10.1075/ttmc.00025.lau

Lau, S. M. C. (2022). Critical ESL Education in Canada. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. Oxford University Press.

https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.1763

Lau, S. M. C. (forthcoming). Critical framing of transversal competences: promoting intercultural responsibility through cross-language and cross-curricular teacher collaborations. Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute (OLBI) Journal.

https://www.sunnylau.ca/plurilingualpedagogies

Follow-up discussion

Sunny’s presentation prompted discussion about how to operationalize the intercultural communicator model in curriculum and teacher training. Participants were particularly interested in the examples of thematic units using multilingual texts and reflective activities. Many expressed an interest in developing similar projects in their institutions and called for more collaboration across language departments.