EFL Blog Post Competition Winners – Magdalena Ivok and Ka Keung Lee

We’re thrilled to announce the winners of our EFL Blog Post Competition: Magdalena Ivok and Ka Keung Lee from Simon Fraser University! Their blog post, From Research to Community: Bridging Academia and Everyday Impact, reflects on the unique challenges and rewards of working in interdisciplinary research teams. Drawing from their collaboration with Dalhousie University and industry partner Mango Languages, the authors explore how academic research can drive real-world change, particularly in language learning for newcomers to Canada.

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.

Read the full article here.