ARTP in VicTESOL Conference 2025: Celebrating Multilingual Creativity and Pedagogy
The ARTP Lab is excited to share highlights from our recent presentations and workshops in VicTESOL Conference 2025, each exploring the power of language, culture, and creativity in education. From the artistry of contemporary picture books, to empowering EAL learners through CLIL pedagogy, to rethinking AI’s role in academic literacy practices, our researchers and collaborators showcased innovative approaches to multilingual teaching and learning.
Workshop: Beyond Boundaries – Multilingual Artistry in Contemporary Picture Books
Presenters: Assoc. Prof. Julie Choi, Dr Jack Tan, Dr Rafaela Cleeve Gerkens, Dr Andrea Truckenbrodt
This interactive workshop examined picture books by creators like Shaun Tan (The Arrival) and Sam Winston (One and Everything) to explore how authors and illustrators weave together languages, cultural symbols, and artistic elements. Participants learned strategies for using these books as mentor texts—helping students notice creative language choices, analyse visual storytelling, and bring their own languages and cultures into their writing.
Teacher–Researcher Presentation: Mobilising EAL Learners’ Cultural and Linguistic Resources through CLIL Pedagogy
Presenters: ARTP Lab researchers (Dr Shu Ohki, Assoc. Prof. Julie Choi, Dr Rafaela Cleeve Gerkens) and EAL practitioners (Cath Ferla, Thea Ho)
This presentation explored how Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) can help EAL teachers put students’ cultural and linguistic resources at the heart of lesson planning. Drawing on CLIL’s 4Cs Framework and Language Triptych, the team shared practical examples—from embodied learning to arts-rich translanguaging pedagogies—that expand students’ confidence and competence in English while valuing their full linguistic repertoires.
The Role of AI Technologies in Multilingual Academic Literacy Practices
Presenter: Melissa Slamet
This presentation examined how multilingual university students integrate AI tools—such as machine translation and generative AI—into their academic literacy practices. Rather than framing AI use as purely problematic, the presentation considered it one element in a broader network of learning strategies shaped by peer interactions, classroom context, and multilingual resources. Some practical pedagogical implications for educators are proposed at the end of the presentation.
These three presentations reflect ARTP Lab’s shared vision: helping learners see their languages and cultures as powerful resources for learning and expression. Whether through stories, classroom practices, or digital tools, we continue to explore creative ways of building inclusive and multilingual learning spaces.