Student Research Symposium

On December 8, 2023, students from across the University of Toronto presented their current research on multilingualism in UTM's beautiful CDRS. There was a first-rate program of in-person talks, lightening talks, and posters on topics related to multilingualism including multilingual/bilingual/second language use and acquisition, education, cultural objects including literary texts, and identities. Check out the program here.

 

Thank you to our sponsors: 

• The Jackman Humanities Institute  
• The UTM Department of Language Studies 
• Centre for Educational Research on Languages and Literacies (CERLL), OISE 
• SSHRC Grant, “Heritage Language Acquisition and Maintenance in a Trilingual context” (2017-2024) 

 

Prizes were awarded for best talks/posters: 

 

1st prize: (tie)

Angelo Punongbayan (poster) “Le mot juste: Developing Effective L2 French Vocabulary Didactic Practices” : highly original, demonstrated a solid understanding of the complexity of lexical acquisition, and was extremely well designed including an excellent motivation for the proposed study, a very detailed and appropriate methodology, and well-considered expectations of potential findings. The judges expressed their appreciation of the enthusiasm with which Angelo presented and his adeptness in engaging with the questions posed to him. Congratulations, Angelo!

Shahrzad Mirzaei (20-min. oral presentation) “Investigating the Impact of L1 Morpho-phonological Constraints on Persian-speaking Learners’ French Stress Placement”: outstanding presentation of the basic research problem including its importance and complexity. Shahrzad included a detailed contextualization, a clear description of the study’s objectives, a fulsome explanation of the methodology, and a precise presentation of the findings. The judges underlined the interest of the preliminary findings and appreciated Shahrzad’s thoughtful answers to questions, well-designed slides, and enthusiastic and engaging delivery. Good luck with the next steps, Shahrzad!

 

2nd prize: 

Josie Davies & Ana Porto (20-min. oral presentation) “Does the Accent of the Experimenter Influence Children’s Language Biases?”: highly original topic contextualized with appropriate and relevant references and having important implications for experimentation. Their presentation was well-structured, including a skilfully presented research problem and methodology, and of great interest. The judges commented on the extent to which the collaboration between Josie and Ana was engaging, and that they were able to share their enthusiasm with the audience and answer clearly and with confidence the numerous questions asked. Very well done, Josie and Ana!

 

3rd prize: 

Gabrielle Forget (20-min. oral presentation) “Ontario French Immersion Student Goals, Ongoing Enrolment, and Sociolinguistic Development”: delivered with obvious passion by someone with a personal background very well suited to carry out the proposed research. The judges underlined the outstanding presentation of the basic research problem and its complexity, the extent to which the study was effectively situated and introduced to the audience in a real-world context, the way in which the research questions and methodology were clearly presented and explained, and the thoughtfulness and adeptness of Gabrielle’s handling of the audience’s questions. Looking forward to learning of the results of your research, Gabrielle!