Heritage language education, multilingualism in education/society, LCTLs and minoritized language varieties, humanizing pedagogy, (standard) language ideologies and critical language awareness, race and identity, teacher education/training, and TESOL (EFL).

Greetings! I am a PhD student in the Applied Linguistics and Language Education program. I am a previous graduate from Georgetown University (MS, Applied Linguistics) and San Diego State University (BA, Linguistics, Chinese). Broadly, I am interested in the role of multilingualism in society and education from a language rights perspective. More specifically, my work centers heritage language education of minoritized languages (LCTLs), with an emphasis on community-based heritage language schools (i.e., afterschool/weekend programs). I have also been working with pre-service teachers in guiding them to reflect on their language ideologies and how these are enacted in classrooms; I do this by challenging their standard/hegemonic language ideologies and promoting critical language awareness within both mainstream K-12 and world/heritage language classroom.  

Current positions. I currently serve as the Editorial Assistant for the International Multilingual Research Journal (since 2020), and I am either teaching or TAing courses at UMD during fall and spring semesters. 

Prior work experience. Before starting at UMD, I served as an English Language Fellow with the U.S. Department of State-sponsored English Language Programs, hosted at Beijing Normal University (BNU/北京师范大学) and Hebei Normal University of Science & Technology (HNUST/河北科技师范学院). During this fellowship, I had the pleasure of working with local pre- and in-service language teachers both at my host university/city and throughout Mainland China (P.R.C.) and Mongolia. Before that, I was a research assistant in the Language Assessment Division at the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL), working with language assessment, language program evaluation, and teacher training/professional development. 

Language teaching experience. I have taught ESL and EFL to high school, university, and adult students in a variety of contexts. I was also a Teaching Fellow (2016-17) at the Global Language Network (GLN), volunteer teaching Mandarin Chinese to "real beginners." My favorite jobs always involve working with international students/teachers and L2+ learners! 

Collaboration? I am currently working on a few smaller projects with colleagues. If you're looking to collaborate on a project that's remotely related to my research interest, please feel free to contact me! Very keen on collaboration here, and I'm always open for exploring different topics that can better educational experiences of multilingual students. 

Contact: johnchi@umd.edu

  • English Language Programs - EL Fellow, China (2017-2019)
  • Global Language Network - Teaching Fellow, Mandarin (2016-2017)

Scholarships/Fellowships:

  • College of Education Graduate Student Fellowship Fund (Fall 2023)
  • UMD Graduate School's Summer Research Fellowship (Summer 2023)
  • College of Education Greatest Need Fund (Fall 2022)
  • The William C. Graham and William J. Graham Endowed Scholarship in Education (Fall 2021)

Research awards/grants:

  • Center for Applied Linguistic's Staff-Initiated Scholarly Research Award (2016)

Travel awards/grants:

  • English Language Program's Alumni Conference Grant (AAAL & TESOL; March 2023)
  • English Language Program's Alumni Conference Grant (NCTE ELATE; July 2022)
  • Jacob K. Goldhaber Travel Grant (Spring 2022)

Publications:

  • Chi, J., Donovan, A. E., & Malone, M. E. (2022). Teacher perceptions of heritage language learners: A large-scale survey study on dialect variation, expectations, and assessment needs. Heritage Language Journal, 19(1), 1-39.  https://doi.org/10.1163/15507076-bja10009
  • Peercy, M. M., & Chi, J. (2022). "Oh, I was scaffolding!": Novice teachers' use of scaffolding as humanizing practice with multilingual students. In L. C. de Oliveira & R. Westerlund (Eds.), Scaffolding for multilingual learners in elementary and secondary schools (pp. 102-120). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003196228
  • Chi, J., & Rolstad, K. (forthcoming, 2024). Challenging standard language ideologies and promoting critical language awareness in teacher education. In A. F. Selvi, & C. Kocaman (Eds.), International Perspectives on Critical Language Teacher Education: Theory and Practice  (pp. 27-32). Bloomsbury. 
  • Moore, S. C. K., & Chi, J.  (under review). Bilingual education rejected: English-only despite Lau. Special issue. Language Policy.
  • Chi, J.  (under review). "Very, very small, almost negligible" practices: Perspectives and experiences of EFL teacher educators on the role of humanizing pedagogy in the Global South. Humanizing Language Pedagogies and Teacher Education Research.

Conference Presentations: 

  • AERA Annual Meeting 2024   •   Philadelphia, PA, USA   •   April 11-14, 2024
    • Poster Presentation: Fifty Years On: Lau v. Nichols, Language Rights or English-Only?
    • Journal Roundtable: International Multilingual Research Journal (IMRJ)
  • AAAL 2024   •   Houston, TX, USA   •   March 16-19, 2024
    • Roundtable Presentation: Sustainability and investment in the community: A collaborative and participatory evaluation of a Cantonese community-based heritage language program
  • AERA Annual Meeting 2023   •   Chicago, IL, USA   •   April 13-16, 2023
    • Individual Paper: Complicating the Essentialized Notion of a HLL: Variation in Experiences, Motivation, & Identity
    • Journal Roundtable: International Multilingual Research Journal (IMRJ)
  • TESOL International 2023   •   Portland, OR, USA   •   March 21-24, 2023
    • Individual Paper: Humanizing Pedagogy in the EFL Context
  • AAAL 2023   •   Portland, OR, USA   •   Mar 18-21, 2023
    • Roundtable Presentation: Cultivating Teachers to Work with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students: Longitudinal Perceptions on Critical Language Awareness from PSTs (with S. Yeom, F. Sears, & K. Rolstad)
  • AsiaTEFL - TEFLIN - iNELTAL International 2022   •   Hybrid Conference / East Java, Indonesia   •   Aug 5-7, 2022
    • Individual Paper: Humanizing Pedagogy in the EFL Context: Interviews with Seasoned EFL Teacher Educators
  • NCTE ELATE 2022   •   Louisville, KY, USA   •   July 29-31, 2022
    • Panel: Centering Identity as Pedagogy in Teacher Education (with L. Allen, & E. Nkooyooyo)
  • AERA Annual Meeting 2022   •   San Diego, CA, USA   •   April 21-26, 2022
    • Journal Roundtable: International Multilingual Research Journal (IMRJ)
  • TESOL International 2022   •   Hybrid Conference / Pittsburgh, PA   •   March 22-25, 2022
    • Individual Paper: “Oh, I was scaffolding!”: Novice Teachers’ Scaffolding as Humanizing Practice (with M. M.  Peercy)
  • MD TESOL 2021   •   Virtual Conference   •   November 12-13, 2021
    • Individual Paper: Supporting Novice Teachers’ Use of Scaffolding to Promote Humanizing Pedagogy (with M. M. Peercy)
  • CA TESOL 2021   •   Virtual Conference   •   October 29-30 & November 5-6, 2021
    • Exhibitor Session: The World Is Your Classroom: Teach with English Language Programs
  • AERA Annual Meeting 2021   •   Virtual Conference   •   April 9 - 12, 2021
    • Journal Roundtable: International Multilingual Research Journal (IMRJ)
  • University of San Jose-Recoletos Conference 2019   •   Cebu, Philippines   •   Jan 31 - Feb 1, 2019
    • Workshop: Assessment Basics: A Guide for Teachers
  • Anhui University (安徽大学) Conference 2018   •   Hefei, Anhui, China   •   Dec 2, 2018
    • Workshop: Assessment Basics: A Guide for Teachers
  • ELTAM 2018   •   Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia   •   Oct 12-14, 2018
    • Individual paper: Task-Induced Involvement & Vocabulary Learning
  • ELC 2018   •   Shantou, Guangdong, China   •   Apr 20-22, 2018
    • Individual paper: Heritage Language Learners under the Microscope: Variation in Experience and Identity within a Chinese Classroom in the United States
  • NAFLE 2017   •   Beijing, China   •   Nov 4-6, 2017
    • Workshop: Performance Assessments: Developing Tasks and Rubrics 
  • ELTAM 2017   •   Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia   •   Oct 13-15, 2017
    • Workshop: Performance Assessments: Tasks and Rubrics for the Classroom
  • NCOLCTL 2017   •   Rolling Meadows, IL, USA   •   Apr 21-23, 2017
    • Individual paper: Teachers of LCTL heritage learners: How do we perceive our students? (with A. E. Donovan, & M. E. Malone)
  • CLLC 2017   •   Fairfax, VA, USA   •   Apr 7-8, 2017
    • Individual paper: Teachers of heritage language learners: Perceptions, beliefs, expectations, and needs
  • AAAL 2017   •   Portland, OR, USA   •   Mar 18-21, 2017
    • Roundtable presentation: Teachers’ perceptions of heritage language learners in the classroom (with A. E. Donovan, & M. E. Malone)
  • STARTALK Fall Conference 2016   •   Atlanta, GA, USA   •   Oct 14-15, 2016
    • Presentation: Modeling Two STARTALK Principles through a Teacher Training Program (with L. Thompson)
  • NCOLCTL 2016   •   Atlanta, GA, USA   •   Apr 21-24, 2016
    • Individual Paper: The Heritage Language Database: Promoting Awareness of Heritage Language Schools and Programs (with A. E. Donovan)
  • AAAL 2016   •   Orlando, FL, USA   •   Apr 9-12, 2016
    • Individual Paper: The Heritage Language Learner under the Microscope: Variation in Experiences and Identity within a Single Chinese Classroom
  • STARTALK Fall Conference 2015   •   Orlando, FL, USA   •   Oct 16-17, 2015
    • Showcase: The Heritage Language Database (with A. E. Donovan)

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND (College Park, MD)

  • TLPL 691: Research Methods, section PUI1 (Fall 2023)
  • TLPL 697: Embracing Diversity: Supporting CaLD Learners in the Secondary Classrooms, section IH63 (Spring 2023)
  • TLPL 446: Language Variation and Multilingualism in Elementary Classrooms, section 0101 (Fall 2022) 
  • TLPL 446: Language Variation and Multilingualism in Elementary Classrooms, section 0301 (Fall 2021) 

BEIJING NORMAL UNIVERSITY 北京师范大学 (Beijing, China)

  • How Languages Are Learned (First Language Acquisition), three sections (Spring 2019) 
  • Language Learning Theory (Second Language Acquisition), two sections (Spring 2019)
  • Critical Reading and Writing, two sections (Fall 2018) 
  • Approaches and Methods to Language Teaching (Fall 2018) 
  • Oral English (Fall 2018) 
  • Creative Writing (Fall 2018) 

HEBEI NORMAL UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 河北科技师范学院 (Qinhuangdao, Hebei, China)

  • Language Teaching Design & Practice, for postgraduates (Spring 2018)
  • Oral English 2, four sections (Spring 2018)
  • Selected Readings for Theories of English Language Teaching (Fall 2017)
  • Oral English 1, four sections (Fall 2017)