L’IMAGE PI Journal #11: Emerging Themes

Alt-Text with long description

 

COMIC

[Page 1, Title Page]

Top of page reads: UofT L’IMAGE Project: Language, Identity, Multiculturalism and Global Empowerment

Title over bright red banner: Principal Investigator (PI) Journal

Subtitle under red banner: Journal #11: Emerging Themes

 

Under the subtitle, we see all thirteen color covers of the L’IMAGE 2022-2023 student stories, organized in three rows of four, five, and four images.

 

Bottom right of page: University of Toronto Mississauga logo and University of Toronto logos are visible.

[Long description of text and images in the comic strip:]

The comic strips in the L’IMAGE comic series uses the font Ames, which is the standard font for comics. Ames is an all-caps font. However, Alt-Texts for this project are not written in all-caps so that they will be more accessible for screen readers.

The comic artist for the series is Dr. Ai Taniguchi. Her drawing style can be described as: Japanese manga inspired, cute, large eyes, intentionally sketchy and unpolished line art, simplified, expressive. The comic strips are all digital, but she uses a pen that mimics the line weight of a traditional fountain pen. Her line art is on average 0.5mm in width (relatively thin), but the line weight varies and looks hand-drawn.

The title page of each comic strip is in color. It has a University of Toronto color scheme: navy blue, light blue, and bright red. The background is white with a navy blue frame. The references page and the “About the L’IMAGE project” page also have this University of Toronto color scheme.

The comic strips themselves are black and white, and employ digital screen tones for shading and backgrounds. Narrations are inside rectangular boxes unless otherwise noted.

 

[Page 2]

 

Top panel 1: Ai’s narration, with an enumerated list below.

 

Ai’s narration: The objectives of the project can be split into audience-oriented goals and researcher-oriented goals.

 

1. Audience: What do I want readers to get out of L'IMAGE?

 

2. Researcher: What do I (and the field of linguistics) want to get out of L'IMAGE?

 

Item 1 has a small image of a person reading a book next to it. Item 2 has a small drawing of Ai’s head next to it.

 

 

Top panel 2: Ai’s narration, with an enumerated list below.

 

Ai’s narration: The audience-oriented goals are the following:

 

 

A1. Educate readers about linguistic diversity

 

A2. Increase readers' intercultural competence (i.e., gaining knowledge about communities you are not a part of, to be able to

empathize with them)

 

 

Item A1 has a small composite image next to it: a speech bubble with three dots, a hand making an L shape, and a globe icon.

 

Item A2 has a small image of two profile view heads next to it, one white (on the left), one shaded (on the right), facing each other. A curved arrow is coming out of the top of the white head and pointing to the top of the shaded head. A curved arrow is coming out of the bottom of the shaded head and pointing to the bottom of the white head.

 

Bottom panel 1: Ai’s narration, with an enumerated list below.

 

Ai’s narration: And here were my own, researcher-oriented objectives:

 

R1. Raise awareness about linguistics as a field

 

R2. Learn about real students’ lived linguistic experiences to inform our teaching and university resources

 

Item R1 has a  small, simplified image of L’IMAGE Aji, saying “LIN”, next to it. It has a small heart above its head.

 

Item R2 has a small, simplified image of Ai next to it. She is pointing to a whiteboard with a question mark written on it.

 

Bottom panel 2: Ai’s narration boxes only.

 

Ai’s narration: A1, A2, and R1 are bit tricky to measure the success of, but I think the outputs of this pilot phase (e.g., the comics) can be used in future studies to determine the efficacy of comics as a tool of education in linguistics.

 

I can at least see informally from the social media engagement that the project has left an impression with readers in various ways!

 

[Page 3]

 

Top panel 1: Ai’s narration boxes only.

 

Ai’s narration: Let's talk about Goal R2! What are some emerging themes from the 13 student stories, and how can they inform the practices of university educators and administrators?

 

Please note that I told you stories of 13 unique individuals; their experiences may not apply to everyone. But in this small sample, Here are some themes that stood out to me.

 

 

Top panel 2: Ai’s narration boxes only, with a shaded screentone background.

 

Ai’s narration: Theme 1: language as "home"

 

Language is something that bridges the distance between their heritage and their identity.

 

Bottom panel 1: Screenshots of three L’IMAGE comics: a page from Iben’s story where she is talking to her mom on the phone, a page from Amina’s story where she is saying that Arabic is her home, and a page from Sofiia’s story where she is raising money for Ukraine at U of T.

 

Ai’s narration: "Distance" may be physical: language is something that can help students maintain certain parts of their identity, no matter where they are

in the world.

 

Bottom panel 2: Screenshots of three L’IMAGE comics: a page from Hafza’s story where people question her Somali identity, a page from Tim’s story where he explains that his interest in classical languages helped him reconnect with his heritage, and a page from Meryem’s story where she says that the Turkish language is her home.

 

Ai’s narration: Other times, they (were made to) feel a certain psychological distance from parts of their heritage and/or identity.

 

Language can become an anchor of one's identity in these kinds of circumstances as well.

 

 

[Page 4]

 

Top panel 1: Ai’s narration boxes only, with a shaded screentone background.

 

Ai’s narration: Theme 2: Complex identities

 

Students long for the acceptance and normalization of the co-existence of all aspects of their linguistic identity.

 

Top panel 2: A screenshot of one L’IMAGE comic: a page from Mariela’s story where  she explains that she’s always battled against being put in a singular category.

 

Ai’s narration: They want people to know that they don't belong to just a singular category, and that this is a valid way of existing.

 

Bottom panel 1: A screenshot of one L’IMAGE comic: a page from Meryem’s story where she explains that English is an academic and global language.

 

Ai’s narration: Many student stories also show a certain splitness of identities: one language used to express a certain part of their identity, and another language used to express another side of them.

 

Bottom panel 2: A screenshot of two L’IMAGE comics: a page from Maham’s story where she explains that she has few opportunities where all of her identities merge, and a page from Mustafa’s story where he says that he is uniquely him.

 

Ai’s narration: I got the sense that these students want the world to appreciate *all* of who they are.

 

 

[Page 5]

 

Top panel 1: Ai’s narration boxes only, with a shaded screentone background.

 

Ai’s narration: Theme 3: Erasure of linguistic diversity

 

In their efforts to be seen in the community, students often feel homogenized into one category, or erased altogether.

 

Top panel 2: Screenshots of two L’IMAGE comics: a page from Kelly’s story where she talks about misconceptions that people have about Mandarin and Cantonese, and a page from Alicia’s story where she is explaining that she is Ojibwe and Mohawk.

 

Ai’s narration:

 

(Quote.) "Cantonese and Mandarin are just different accents of Chinese, right"?

 

(Quote.) "Indigenous languages of Canada are all kind of similar, right?"

 

 

Bottom panel 1: Screenshots of two L’IMAGE comics: a page from Mariela’s story where someone is confusing Portuguese for Spanish, and a page from Amina’s story where she is explaining that there are many varieties of Arabic.

 

Ai’s narration: People often lack understanding about linguistic diversity, and students sometimes get lumped together into one large category, like "Chinese speaker", "Arabic speaker", "Spanish speaker", or even as far as "Indigenous language user" (yikes).

 

Bottom panel 2: Screenshots of two L’IMAGE comics: a page from Meryem’s story where she explains that being Canadian has many different looks, and a page from Mustafa’s story where he is talking about how exhausting it is to conform to neurotypical norms all the time.

 

Ai’s narration: In addition to this, some students expressed that there is a societal expectation that "being Canadian" looks and sounds a certain way, which erases languages that are not prestige English and prestige French altogether.

 

 

[Page 6]

 

 

Top panel 1: Ai’s narration boxes only, with a shaded screentone background.

 

Ai’s narration: Theme 4: Language maintenance

 

There are a lot of factors that go into maintaining your heritage language. Therefore, there is a diverse spectrum of heritage language users.

 

Top panel 2: Screenshots of two L’IMAGE comics: a page from Alicia’s story where she is explaining that she talks to herself in Anishinaabemowin a lot because the language does not have many speakers, and a page from Tim’s story where he is explaining how his relationship with his heritage languages has changed over time.

 

Ai’s narration: With the aforementioned societal pressure towards assimilation, multilingual families face a multitude of barriers when trying to maintain their heritage language in Canada.

 

Bottom panel 1: A screenshot of a L’IMAGE comic: a page from Tarkan’s story where he is talking about the importance of resources, access, and community for maintaining his heritage language.

 

Ai’s narration: What resources are available? What supports are given to endangered languages? Are these supports affordable and accessible?

 

Bottom panel 2: A screenshot of a L’IMAGE comic: a page from Hafza’s story where she is being questioned about her Somali heritage.

 

Ai’s narration: What kinds of peer pressure might children experience? What kinds of extracurricular time commitment does heritage language maintenance require? How does this affect the child's social life and mental well-being?

 

 

[Page 7]

 

Top panel 1: Ai’s narration boxes only, with a shaded screentone background.

 

Ai’s narration: Theme 5: Community

 

Students look for a sense of belonging.

 

Top panel 2: A screenshot of a L’IMAGE comic: a page from Tarkan’s story where he is spending a good time with peers at Uzbek Saturday school.

 

Ai’s narration: Students recognize that community is important when it comes to maintaining your heritage language.

 

 

Bottom panel 1: A screenshot of a L’IMAGE comic: a page from Alicia’s story where she is attending Anishinaabemowin summer camp.

 

Ai’s narration: What communities are available locally?

 

Bottom panel 2: A screenshot of a L’IMAGE comic: a page from Mariela’s comic where she is explaining how she uses English and Portuguese at school, and Spanish with her dad and a few friends.

 

Ai’s narration: What about at the university?

 

 

[Page 8]

 

Top panel 1: Ai’s narration boxes only, with a shaded screentone background.

 

Ai’s narration: Theme 6: Accessibility of resources

 

Students often don't know where they can find linguistic communities on campus.

 

Top panel 2: A screenshot of a L’IMAGE comic: a page from Amina’s story where she is talking about the Khaleeji Students’ Association.

 

Ai’s narration: Several students expressed that:

 

1. Although they are a part of their desired language community at U of T now, the process of finding such a community was not transparent at all; or

 

Bottom panel 1: Screenshots of two L’IMAGE stories: a page from Tarkan’s story where  he is saying that it’s hard to find Uzbek speakers at UTM, and a page from Ido’s story where he says it’s hard to find Hebrew speakers around him.

 

Ai’s narration:  2. They are presently struggling to find a U of T community in which they can practice their language(s).

 

 

Bottom panel 2: Ai’s narration only.

 

Ai’s narration: U of T is such a diverse community with many student organizations available for joining.

 

Why is this kind of information not reaching students?

 

I am going to think hard about this one with our participants, and make recommendations to the university.

 

 

[Page 9]

 

Top panel 1: Ai’s narration boxes only, with a shaded screentone background.

 

Ai’s narration: All of these things make me think that at our university, we need to create more contexts in which we allow for students' various identities to intersect

with their "academic self".

 

Top panel 2: Screenshots of two L’IMAGE comics: a page from Alicia’s comic where she is giving a class presentation in Anishinaabemowin, and a page from Hafza’s comic where she is working on her ROP project on Somali.

 

Ai’s narration: Maybe this can be autoethnographic projects that let students reflect on their positionality in the context of what they are learning in class;

 

Text at bottom:

(e.g., McCarvel, M. (2023). Analytical Autoethnography: Centering Students’ Linguistic & Cultural Experiences in Assessment. Oral presentation at The 2023Conference on Scholarly Teaching and SoTL in Linguistics.)

 

 

Bottom panel 1: A screenshot of a L’IMAGE comic: a page from Mariela’s story where she is talking to her brother in “Span-Port-Lish”.

 

Ai’s narration: or More celebrations of the mixing of languages, not just "this language" vs. "that language".

 

Text at bottom:

(e.g., Hallett, R. (2023). Bringing Issues of Linguistic Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion into Focus through Linguistic Landscape Projects. Oral presentation at The 2023 Conference on Scholarly Teaching and SoTL in Linguistics.)

 

Bottom panel 2: Ai is smiling with her mouth open, and waving with both hands at the reader. There is small heart above her head.

 

Ai’s narration: I hope the L'IMAGE project has provided inspiration for students and teachers alike.

 

Please follow me on social media to stay up to date about the evolution of this project!!

 

Text next to Ai:

 

Thank you so much for following this phase of the L'IMAGE Project!

 

See you soon!

 

[Page 10]

Page title: About the L’IMAGE project

Project PI and comic artist: Ai Taniguchi, Assistant Professor, UTM Department of Language Studies

Research Assistant: Haili Su, MA Student, UTSG Department of Linguistics

Special thanks to: Gilbert Lin, Assistant Director, Intercultural & Global Initiatives, UTM International Education Centre

With the generous support of: UofT International Student Experience Fund, UTM Department of Language Studies, UTM International Education Centre

Learn more: http://www.lingcomics.com

Bottom right of page shows the University of Toronto Mississauga logo and the University of Toronto logo.