Dr Dandan (Doreen) Chen

Thesis title: Visual Languaging: Exploring Visualisation in Language and Cognitive Development through a Pluriliteracies Model in Online EFL Classrooms

Biography

Background

Dandan is an Associate Tutor at the University of Edinburgh (UoE) and concurrently engages in teaching and research at the University of Birmingham as an Assistant Professor and at Durham University as an Associate Researcher. With an artistic background in illustration and animation, her research focuses on art-informed pedagogic innovations (e.g., visual languaging) for learner well-being (e.g., affective, agentive, cognitive development) and teacher CPD contributing to inclusive, equality education across disciplines (e.g., language, inter- and trans-disciplinary teaching and learning) embedded in pluriliteracies principles for deeper learning. 

As a recent PhD graduate from the UoE majoring in Education, these research foci are built upon her PhD study that explores visual resources second language learners use to articulate their understanding of the subject-specific content with academic language for meaning internalisation and transfer. To expand the study, her research interests encompass not only visual approaches for teaching and learning additional languages, Pluriliteracies (PTDL), and CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) but also social justice in education and teacher-learner as co-researchers.

Personal art portfolio: https://869432330.wixsite.com/illustratedpaints

 

Qualifications

MA illustration

MSc Interdisciplinary Practices by Research

BA Animation

BSc Business English

Undergraduate teaching

Delivering lectures and seminars and marking  essays of BA Developing Language and Communication Skills

Postgraduate teaching

MSc dissertation supervision and marking

Delivering lectures and seminars and marking essays of MSc course modules (e.g., MSc Curriculum Development in TESOL,  Source of Knowledge, Conceptualising Research)

Research summary

  • Visualisation (learners generated visuals e.g., drawings in L2 classrooms); Visual literacy, Art-informed approaches to language and subject learning
  • Languaging (e.g., visual scaffolded languaging); Translanguaging 
  • Pluriliteracies (PTDL)
  • Inclusive equality education 
  • CLIL
  • Inter- and trans-disciplinarity
  • Digital education
  • Children and young learners' development
  • Story illustration; Animal welfare

Current research interests

Inclusive equality education; Pluriliteracies (PTDL); Visualisation (learners generated visuals e.g., drawings in L2 classrooms); Visual literacy; Art-informed approaches to language and subject learning; Languaging (e.g., visual scaffolded languaging); Translanguaging; CLIL; Inter- and trans-disciplinarity; Digital education; Children and young learners' development

Past research interests

Story illustration; Animal welfare;

Project activity

Recent and current projects -

  • Pluriliteracies for deeper learning in multilingualism and teacher CDP 
  • Early years conversation project using the ShREC approach (i.e., share attention, response, expand, conversation)
  • Co-Designing Art Pedagogies to Develop Diverse Learners' Agency in Primary Schools
  • Exploring the potential of digital platforms for K-12 education
  • Visual Languaging for EAL learner cognitive, linguistic and agentive development embedded in the pluriliteracies principles

Conference details

2024                 EEF (Education Endowment Foundation) Evaluator Conference

Why do evaluation? Generating evidence to support disadvantaged pupils

2024                 BERA/ECER 2024 

Title: Understanding the role of digital platforms in secondary schools: opportunities and challenges

2025                 BERA 2025 

Title: Exploring Issues, Challenges and Opportunities of Assessing 2-year-olds Expressive and Receptive Vocabulary Skills in an Early Language CPD Evaluation Study in Early Years Settings

Invited speaker

2024                

May-                  A research seminar at Durham University

March-             Arts as Qualitative Research – Understanding the Arts in Education, Durham University

January-         PhD Forum at MHSES, University of Edinburgh

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