Presented by Associate Professor of Second Language Acquisition Uju Anya, Carnegie Mellon University
Join Professor Uju Anya to discuss her research and her book Racialized Identities in Second Language Learning: Speaking Blackness in Brazil. This critical examination of the African American experience in language learning won the 2019 First Book Award from the American Association for Applied Linguistics, in recognition of outstanding work that makes an exceptional contribution to the field.
Based on ideas from the book, Anya will describe how learning transforms our identities by changing how we think, what we can do and our future possibilities in becoming. She will share case studies of African Americans during Portuguese language learning study abroad in Brazil. She will address how students from minoritized groups can meaningfully participate and succeed in college language programs.
From these lessons learned by examining Black experiences in multilingualism, Professor Anya will discuss how a multilingual approach, for example translanguaging and plurilingual practice, can be used for effective language pedagogy.
