LLE Program Updates for CTL Newsletter
LLE News & Updates: December 2025
Sixth Symposium of Southern Ontario Universities
From Silos to Solidarity: Rethinking Languages and Literacies in Education through Collaboration and Care
Now in its sixth edition, the Symposium of Southern Ontario Universities brought together scholars, students, and practitioners to critically explore the role of collaboration and care in languages and literacies education. Held on October 24–25, 2025, at Niagara College’s Daniel J. Patterson (DJP) Campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake, the symposium responded to growing social and educational divides by fostering dialogue, solidarity, and community across disciplines and institutions. Participants shared research, reflected on practice, and engaged in meaningful exchanges that challenged traditional academic silos and hierarchies.
Hosted by Niagara College’s Centre for Research in Education, the symposium was jointly organized by the Center for Educational Research on Languages and Literacies (CERLL) at OISE–University of Toronto and Niagara College, with major collaboration from the University of Toronto Mississauga, Western University, York University, the University of Waterloo, and Glendon College. The hybrid format enabled broad national and international participation, building on the success of previous years. With local and international keynote speakers, plenary sessions, presentations, roundtables, poster sessions, mentoring opportunities for first-time attendees, and social events, the symposium provided a vibrant and inclusive space to strengthen collaboration, cultivate community, and expand academic and professional networks in language and literacies education.
NEW Pathway to TESL Ontario Certification
It's official! Starting Fall 2026, graduates of the MEd Language Teaching field may be eligible for TESL Ontario certification, which qualifies them to teach English to adult learners in publicly funded and private programs in Ontario, across Canada, and internationally, and includes the following certifications:​
Ontario Certified English Language Teacher (OCELT)​
International Certificate in Teaching English as an Additional Language (ICTEAL)
Learn More about the MEd Language Teaching Field
LLE Courses with Available Spots
The following LLE graduate courses still have available spots for the Winter session! Take this opportunity to explore cutting-edge research, innovative methodologies, and interdisciplinary topics alongside a dynamic graduate community. The final date to add Winter courses via is Monday, January 12, 2026. Don’t miss out!
Code | Course / Instructor | Delivery / Schedule | Why Take this course? |
CTL3008H 0101 | Critical Pedagogy, Language and Cultural Diversity Antoinette Gagne | Online Sync Thursdays 1-4 pm | Discover how language and culture shape power in education—join Critical Pedagogy, Language and Cultural Diversity to explore theory, challenge inequities, and transform classrooms locally and globally! |
| CTL3010H 0102 | Second Language Learning Shawna-Kaye Tucker | In Person Tuesdays 1-4 pm | Ever wondered how people learn second languages and what helps them succeed? Are children really better language learners? Does motivation matter? This course unpacks the major theories, learner differences, and instructional influences in second language learning. |
| CTL3010H 0103 | Second Language Learning / Apprentissage des langues secondes (Offered in French) Jeffrey Steele | In Person Thursdays 5-8 pm | Study second language acquisition theory in a fully French environment that deepens both knowledge and language skill. |
| CTL3011H 0101 | Cognitive Sociolinguistic and Sociopolitical Orientations in Bilingual Education Research Oguzhan Tekin | In Person Tuesdays 5-8 pm | Curious how bilingualism builds brains, identities, and societies? Take this course to discover the power of multilingual experience. |
| CTL3039H 0101 | Academic English Research and Acquisition Vijay Ramjattan | In Person Wednesdays 1-4 pm | Use action research to track and strengthen your own journey toward mastering Academic English. |
| CTL3040H 0101 | The Education of Students of Refugee Background in Canada and Beyond Emmanuelle Le Pichon-Vorstman | In Person Mondays 5-8 pm | Explore the challenges and strengths of refugee-background students through research that reshapes educational practice. |
| CTL3807H 0101 | Second Language Education Research Methods [RM] Shawna-Kaye Tucker | In Person Thursdays 1-4 pm | Preparing to do empirical research? Prepare for real research by practicing data collection, analysis, and ethical decision-making with human participants. |
| CTL3811H 0101 | Critical Perspectives on Language, Racism, and Settler-Colonialism Angela Easby | In Person Tuesdays 9-12 pm | Deepen your critical understanding of language and power by examining racism and settler colonial dynamics in education. |
| CTL5319H 0101 | Special Topics in Language Literacies Education Program: Master's Level - Critical Digital / AI Literacies Zhaozhe Wang | In Person Mondays 1-4 pm | Trace how digital technologies and AI mediate language and literacy practices, and imagine critically grounded ways of teaching, communicating, relating, thinking, and being in a post-digital, posthuman world. |
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LLE News & Updates: September 2025
Update on Pathway to TESL Ontario Certification
The LLE program is advancing an exciting new initiative — an optional pathway to TESL Ontario certification within the MEd program’s Language Teaching field. Earlier this year, the proposal received unanimous approval from OISE’s Academic Programs Committee and Council.
Our LLE faculty team — Dr. Jeff Bale, Dr. Shakina Rajendram, Dr. Vijay Ramjattan, Dr. Ashley Moore, and Dr. Joy Kangxian Zhao — has submitted the accreditation application to TESL Ontario, which is currently under review. If approved, the pathway will welcome its first cohort in Fall 2026.
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LLE News & Updates: April 2025
Update on Pathway to TESL Ontario Certification
The LLE program is making excellent progress in adding an optional pathway for TESL Ontario certification within the MEd program’s Language Teaching Field. The proposal was unanimously approved by OISE’s Academic Programs Committee and Council. Special thanks to Biljana Cuckovic in the Dean’s office for her invaluable assistance with the governance process!
LLE faculty will now begin the accreditation process with TESL Ontario, which we anticipate completing by the end of summer. This will enable us to start advertising the program and recruiting the first cohort of students in September 2026.
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LLE News & Updates: January 2025
Research Colloquium in LLE
Research Colloquium in LLE is a required course for first-year PhD and MA students, as well as a speakers series sponsored by CERLL. The Colloquium got off to an excellent start this year with a lecture from Dr. Khawla Badwan (Manchester Metropolitan University), in which she drew on Prof. Fikile Nxumalo’s (2016) work on ‘refiguring presences’ to articulate a new paradigm for children’s sociolinguistics. The remaining lectures this winter include:
Wednesdays from 5:00pm-6:30pm in 5-280
DATE | SPEAKER | TITLE |
| January. 29.2025 | Prof. Belinda Daniels University of Victoria, BC | Ethical Spaces of Engagement in Indigenous Language Reclamation |
| February.12.2025 | Prof. Ji-young Shin UofT Mississauga | Leveraging Generative AI in Refugee ESL and Less Commonly Taught Language Education: Exploring Moderation of Proficiency and Task Difficulty |
| February.19.2025 | Prof. Jungmin Kwon Michigan State University | Understanding the Lives and Literacies of Immigrant Children |
| February.26.2025 | Prof. Michael Skyer University of Tennessee | Deaf Epistemologies and the Deaf Biosocial Condition |
| March.5.2025 | Prof. Marika Kunnas University of British Columbia | Challenging Whiteness as a Legitimizing Force in Additional Language Education |
| March.19.2025 | Prof. Shireen Al-Adeimi Michigan State | Addressing Imperial Evasion: Toward an Anti-imperialist Pedagogy in Teacher Education |
Please contact Prof. Jeff Bale (jeff.bale@utoronto.ca) for a zoom link or for more information.
New Pathway to TESL Ontario Certification
The LLE program is in the final stages of curriculum innovation to add an optional pathway in the MEd program that qualifies successful graduates to apply for certification with TESL Ontario. TESL Ontario certification is required for almost all teaching positions in adult English-language programs in the province, and it is recognized across Canada. Once the governance and accreditation processes are complete, we can begin advertising this new opportunity and welcome our first cohort of students in Fall 2026.
