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Dr. Susan Gail Ballinger

Title: 
Associate Professor
Dr. Susan Gail Ballinger
Contact Information
Email address: 
susan.ballinger [at] mcgill.ca
Phone: 
514-398-2187
Address: 

Education Building
3700 rue McTavish
Montréal, Quebec H3A 1Y2
Canada

Department: 
Department of Integrated Studies in Education (DISE)
Professional activities: 

Member, Centre for Research on Brain, Language, and Music

Area(s): 
Arts, Languages and Literacy Education
Areas of expertise: 
  • Cross-linguistic approaches to bilingual and immersion education
  • Strategy instruction
  • Peer interaction
  • Teacher scaffolding to promote collaborative language learning
  • Influence of sociolinguistic context in bilingual classrooms
Biography: 

Dr. Ballinger's research primarily investigates language learning and pedagogy in content-based instructional settings such as French immersion in Canada or CLIL in Europe. Specific interests include cross-linguistic and plurilingual pedagogy, content and language integration, classroom interaction, peer collaboration, school language policy, and the impact of societal and classroom environments on students’ engagement and identity. Faculty Member, Language Acquisition Program. Member of the Plurilingual Lab, Department of Integrated Studies in Education, McGill University. Member of the Centre for Research on Brain, Language, and Music.

Link(s): 
ResearchGate
Twitter
Degree(s): 
  • Ph.D. in Educational Studies, Language Acquisition, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada. Thesis Title: Learning across languages: Bilingual literacy and peer language learning strategies in French Immersion.
  • M.A. in Second Language Education, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada. Thesis Title: Oral language use in dual immersion classrooms.
  • B.A. in English Literature and Spanish Literature, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States.
Selected publications: 
  • Davis, S., Ballinger, S., & Sarkar, M. (2021). More languages means more lights in your house. Illuminating the experiences of newcomer families in French immersion. Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education, 9(2), 336-363.
  • Ballinger, S., Lau, S., & Quevillon Lacasse, C. (2020). Cross-linguistic pedagogy: Harnessing transfer in the classroom. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 76(4).
  • Ballinger, S., Brouillard, M., Ahooja, A., Kircher, R., Byers-Heinlein, K., & Polka, L. (2020). Intersections of official and family language policy in Quebec. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, DOI: 10.1080/01434632.2020.1752699
  • Ballinger, S., Quevillon Lacasse, C., & Lau, S. (Eds.). (2020). Targeting transfer: Cross-linguistic pedagogy in Canadian contexts [Special issue]. Canadian Modern Language Review, 76(4).
  • Ballinger, S. (2020). Corrective feedback in content-based language instruction. In H. Nassaji & E. Kartchava (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of corrective feedback in language learning and teaching.Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  • Quevillon Lacasse, C., & Ballinger, S. (2020). Les approches interlinguistiques et l’enseignement pour favoriser les transferts langagiers en immersion française. Le Journal de l’Immersion, 42(1).
Program: 
  • Ph.D. Educational Studies (Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Language Acquisition)
  • M.A. Second Language Education
  • Graduate Certificate in French Immersion Pedagogie (Certificat d’études supérieures en pédagogie de l’immersion française)
  • B.Ed. TESL
  • B.Ed. Kindergarten/Elementary Pédagogie de L'immersion Française
Graduate supervision: 

Accepting Masters and Ph.D. students for 2023-24
 

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