From Research to Community: Bridging Academia and Everyday Impact
Navigating Interdisciplinary Research
As graduate students in interdisciplinary research teams, we’re often thrown into complex and dynamic situations. Our team, a collaboration between Dalhousie University, Simon Fraser University, and industry partner Mango Languages, came together with a shared goal: to evaluate how language learning apps can enhance classroom instruction. Through our collaboration, we aim to bridge the gap between academic research and real-world application.
Stepping Beyond Academia: Engaging with the Community
One of the most valuable lessons we’ve learned is the significance of stepping “outside” our academic bubble. By engaging directly with the community, particularly through organizations offering English as a Second Language (ESL) courses to newcomers in Canada, we’ve gained a profound understanding of our research’s potential impact. Collaborating with these organizations has allowed us to present our study and interact with individuals who could benefit directly from our findings. This interaction often highlights the value of our research even before we analyze the data.
Building strong relationships with ESL educators has been instrumental in this process. Their support has provided us access to classrooms where we can communicate with potential participants, fostering a deeper connection between our research and the community. This direct engagement not only enriches our study but also ensures that our research addresses real-world needs and challenges.
Navigating Interdisciplinary Collaboration
Working within a multidisciplinary team has been both exhilarating and intimidating. Our team includes experts from various fields, and as new members, we initially felt a mix of excitement and worry – it’s like being a first-year undergrad all over again, except that all your classmates have PhDs. The breadth of knowledge and expertise within the team can sometimes make students feel overshadowed. However, this environment has proven to be incredibly enriching, pushing us to grow and expand our own skill sets by taking on more responsibilities.
Joining a longitudinal project meant that we often entered the team a previous member had left, requiring a period of adjustment and learning. Despite these challenges, our collaborative team fostered a supportive environment. We learned not just from our research tasks but also from observing and interacting with our colleagues. This interdisciplinary setup allowed us to view problems from multiple perspectives, enhancing our analytical skills.
The Power of Industry Partnerships
Our collaboration with Mango Languages, a language-learning software company, has added another layer of depth to our research. This partnership bridges the gap between academic theory and practical application. Working with Mango Languages has provided us with insights into the commercial and practical aspects of language learning technologies. This industry-academia partnership exemplifies the potential of collaborative efforts to produce impactful research with practical implications for language learners and educators.
Overcoming Challenges and Fostering Growth
The journey hasn’t been without its challenges. Balancing the demands of multidisciplinary projects while developing our own expertise required resilience and adaptability. We often found ourselves outside our comfort zone, whether it was learning new methodologies or navigating the logistics of community engagement. However, these challenges have been pivotal in our growth as researchers and individuals.
Another significant hurdle was the need to communicate complex research concepts in a clear and accessible manner. Engaging with community members who might not have a background in academic research pushed us to refine our communication skills. For example, we highlighted how specific app features could help newcomers to Canada improve conversational skills, enabling them to navigate everyday situations like grocery shopping or job interviews with more confidence. We learned to distill intricate ideas into digestible content, making our research more inclusive and impactful.
Future Aspirations
Our experience as graduate students in a collaborative environment has been transformative. By reaching out to the community and collaborating with industry partners, we’ve seen firsthand the value of translating academic research into accessible and impactful content. As we continue our research, we remain committed to fostering these connections and ensuring that our works contribute meaningfully to the conversation surrounding literacy and language learning.
Magdalena Ivok & Ka Keung Lee
Winners of the EFL Blog Post Competition 2024
