Members of VIRL participated in the Montréal Institute of Second Language Acquisition (MonISLA). The conference was held on May 16, 2025, at University of Montreal. This year’s edition was titled, “Language in a changing world.” From the MonISLA website: “The main mission [of MonISLA] is to bring “hallway chatter” – which often leads to interesting, cutting-edge research – to the city level, so that everyone supports everyone's research."
Elisa is an incoming master’s student at McGill and recently graduated with a Bachelor’s of Education. She has been part of the VIR Lab since summer 2024. She attended the MonISLA conference, and she shared her reflection:
"It was a pleasure to attend my first conference, MonISLA. I wasn't sure what to expect from the conference, but I'm thrilled to have had the opportunity to participate. I chose which presentations I wanted to hear, and it wasn't easy to choose between them all. I attended the Plenary Session, where Dr. Kalan spoke about his research, "Writing My Story in Your Language: Claiming Narrative Sovereignty in Second Language Writing." Then I listened to master's students' research on pronunciation lessons through the method of translanguaging, the process of French language learning for immigrant children with autism, the influence of methodologies on students' motivation to learn French as a second language, and the role of language in students’ spatial reasoning. The conference provided me the opportunity to gain experience in networking, and I met many people from this field I am joining, including professors, graduate students, and even a recently graduated undergraduate like myself. The conference also allowed me to engage in conversations with graduate students and their experiences related to graduate studies. Ultimately, I gained a great deal from this conference, not only in terms of experience but also from the research presented, which sparked several ideas for my research, such as looking into content-based second language learning, specifically looking at mathematics education in a second language setting, or focusing on "classes d'accueil" in Quebec. Overall, it was an excellent opportunity to attend a conference, and it was very accessible for an undergraduate student."
Hedi, a member of the Visualization, Interaction, and Reasoning Lab (VIRL), presented his ongoing thesis work titled, “The Language of Spatial Reasoning.”.. Hedi shared his reflections from presenting at the MonISLA conference and other takeaways:
“Participating in the MonISLA Conference was an enriching experience. I had the opportunity to present my ongoing thesis research and engage in meaningful dialogue with language professors, graduate students, and fellow researchers. The feedback I received, in the form of thoughtful questions, recommendations, and words of encouragement, pushed me to further refine my ideas and approaches.
Presenting at a conference where the audience is mostly language experts came with its own challenges. I felt additional pressure to communicate my arguments with clarity and precision, especially when discussing definitions and key concepts central to my research and the language element. It was one of the few occasions where I found myself intensely focused on how I articulated complex ideas and spatial reasoning definitions and examples.
I really appreciated the genuine interest participants showed in my research. Their questions not only sparked discussions but also led me to critically reflect on my methodologies and theoretical framework. I think this year’s MonISLA conference was a space for growth and connection within the language research community, and I am lucky to have been part of it.“
Hedi delivered a presentation called “The Language of Spatial Reasoning”
Abstract: Spatial reasoning is the ability to visualize and manipulate objects in 2D and 3D spaces (Battista et al., 2007). It is a critical skill for success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields (Young et al., 2018), yet it is underemphasized in many curricula (Gilligan-Lee et al., 2022). Moreover, students are underperforming on spatial reasoning tasks (Wai et al., 2009), and we know a little about their reasoning process, especially in bilingual learning environments. Reasoning involves the use of linguistic resources, which are often coordinated with bodily movements and interactions (Shusterman & Spelke, 2005). This study explores how students use language and movement when solving spatial tasks, focusing on 2D rotation – the mental manipulation of objects or diagrams (Fujita et al., 2020). My research is informed by sociocultural theories of learning (Wertsch, 1998) and embodied theory (Alibali & Nathan, 2012), where I view spatial reasoning as an action-oriented process. This case study will involve semi-structured interviews with 12 primary school students in grades 5 and 6 from English speaking and French speaking schools in Montreal. Students will be given 2D rotation tasks, and asked to explain how and why they solved them in the ways they did. For example, students will be asked to select a rotated version of a given image from a set of options to match an original image, then will be probed to explain their choice, describing their thought process and reasoning. Using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006), I will identify patterns in students' language use and movements while solving spatial tasks. The findings aim to promote an inclusive understanding of the linguistic resources students bring to their mathematical reasoning.
Learn more about the Montreal Institute of Second Language Acquisition (MonISLA) and the conference here.