Diffusing innovation to support faculty engagement in the integration of language and content across the disciplines in an internationalized Canadian university

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article discusses an innovation within one Canadian institution that focuses on linguistically responsive activities in an internationalized, Anglophone university. The study draws on recent research in applied linguistics that addresses language and content integration within disciplinary courses as an innovation. Drawing on Rogers’ (1995) ‘diffusion of innovation’ theory, the study involved purposive sampling of faculty members who were ‘early adopters’ of innovative activities aimed to support multilingual/EAL students. Qualitative data were gathered through interviews with content faculty, as well as transcriptions of professional learning focus group meetings of applied linguistics faculty who engaged in interdisciplinary collaborations to support the trialability, visibility and the adaptability of the innovation, as well as to demonstrate its relative advantage. The end goal was to engage faculty members to rethink their teaching and learning practices, given the linguistically and culturally diverse context of today’s universities, and to deepen our understanding of language as an under-researched aspect of internationalization in higher education.