Fàilte | Welcome

Qualifications and experience

Dr. Paul Meighan is a sociolinguist, educator, translator, and transdisciplinary researcher who speaks English, French, Spanish, Italian, and Gàidhlig (Scottish Gaelic). He holds a Certificate of Higher Education (CertHE) in An Cùrsa Adhartais (Scottish Gaelic) (Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, 2024); a BA (Hons) in European Studies: Spanish Pathway (King's College London, 2006); a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) in Modern Foreign Languages: Spanish with French (King's College London, 2009); an MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) (Trinity Western University, 2019); and a PhD in Educational Studies (McGill University, 2023). Dr. Meighan also holds the OCELT (Ontario Certified English Language Teacher) and ICTEAL (Internationally Certified Teacher of English as an Additional Language) accreditation from TESL Ontario. He currently serves as Chair (2024-2025) for the TESOL International Association Bilingual-Multilingual Education Interest Section.

From 2019-2023, Dr. Meighan was a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Joseph-Armand Bombardier Doctoral Scholar in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education (DISE), McGill University, Montréal, Québec. He was the recipient of the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) 2021 Multilingual Matters Graduate Student Award which recognizes excellence in multilingual research; The International Research Foundation (TIRF) for English Language Education 2021 Doctoral Dissertation Grant (DDG); and the co-recipient of TIRF's 2021 Russell N. Campbell Award which is presented to the highest-rated DDG applicant each year. Dr. Meighan was also the recipient of the 2022 Herschel and Christine Victor Fellowship in Education at McGill University, awarded to an outstanding graduate student on the basis of academic merit. 

Dr. Meighan has over 20 years' experience teaching languages (English as a Second/Foreign Language, Spanish, and French) at K-12, college, and university level internationally. He has worked in several educational domains and professional contexts as course lecturer, instructor, curriculum developer, TESOL teacher trainer, Italian and Spanish translator, and language consultant. These experiences across the globe have allowed him the opportunity to learn several languages and experience diverse ways of being, knowing, teaching, and learning.

Research

Dr. Meighan's research introduced the term Colonialingualism, defined as the privileging of dominant colonial languages and knowledges, in Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education Journal in 2022. Sitting at the intersection of Applied Linguistics and Education, his work focuses on addressing colonialingualism through transepistemic education and pedagogies for multilingualism, multiliteracies, and language reclamation.

Dr. Meighan's research is informed by experiences as a Gàidheal (Scottish Gael) in Glasgow, Scotland. He grew up in Milton, a council housing scheme and socioeconomically deprived neighbourhood. Dr. Meighan was raised by his mother and is a first-generation scholar. His mother comes from South Uist, heartlands of Gàidhlig, an endangered Indigenous language in Scotland. South Uist is community-owned, a Key Biodiversity Area at the frontlines of the climate crisis, and highly vulnerable to rising seawater levels. Despite being an endangered Indigenous language, Gàidhlig was not available to Dr. Meighan in the educational system. Members of his family and older generations recall being beaten for speaking it in school. Dr. Meighan is now on a Gàidhlig reclamation journey as an adult learner. His motivation for more equitable multicultural and multilingual education has continued to grow after meeting his Anishinaabe husband in Glasgow, Scotland in 2015 and after learning more about the devastating impacts of colonialism on the Indigenous Peoples and languages of Turtle Island (also known as North and Central America).

Dr. Meighan's community-led, SSHRC- and TIRF- funded doctoral research explored how technology can support language learning and reclamation. His PhD thesis—What is language for us? The role of relational technology, strength-based language education, and community-led language planning and policy research to support Indigenous language revitalization and cultural reclamation processes—introduces and explores the TEK-nology (Traditional Ecological Knowledge and technology) language and knowledge acquisition approach. The research demonstrates (1) the benefits of including Indigenous and heritage knowledges in technology, language learning, and teaching; (2) how we can develop and co-create technology-enabled, culturally and environmentally responsive pedagogies; and (3) the important implications of decolonizing language education for both Indigenous languages and dominant languages with colonial legacies, such as English. In particular, Dr. Meighan's empirical research contributes to the applied linguistics and education fields by identifying key differences between second language acquisition and Indigenous language acquisition, such as the relationship between language and land, and by implementing relational technology in language acquisition and learning.

Dr. Meighan is currently a member of the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), the Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics/L'Association canadienne de linguistique appliquée (ACLA/CAAL), TESL Ontario, TESOL International, the Institute of General Semantics, and the Media Ecology Association. He is also a member of the Language, Culture and Justice Hub and the Belonging, Identity, Language and Diversity (BILD) and Leadership and Learning for Sustainability research groups. He served as Member-at-large and Social Media sub-committee leader for the AAAL Graduate Student Council (2022-2023).

You can also follow his research on Twitter, Academia and Research Gate. 

Sgeul-beatha (Biography in Scottish Gaelic)

Is e Gàidheal Albannach à Glaschu a tha ann an Dr. Pòl J. Miadhachàin-Chiblow. Tha ceum BA (le Urram) aige ann am Foghlam Eòrpach agus Spàinntis a thuilleadh air Teisteanas For-cheumnaiche ann am Foghlam (PGGE) ann an Nua-chànanan Cèin bho Cholaiste an Rìgh ann an Lunnainn (2002 agus 2009). Tha MA aige ann an TESOL bho Oilthigh Trinity Western (2019). Tha PhD aige cuideachd ann am Foghlam bho Oilthigh McGill (2023).

Tha tòrr eòlas obrach aig Pòl ann an eadar-theangachadh agus teagasg cànain (Beurla mar Dara Cànan agus airson Adhbharan Academaigeach, Feadailtis, Spàinntis agus Fraingis) gu eadar-nàiseanta bho 2001. Tha an obair seo air feadh an t-saoghail air cothrom a thoirt dha grunn chànanan ionnsachadh agus eòlas a chur air diofar dhòighean beatha, teagasg agus ionnsachaidh. Bidh an rannsachadh coimhearsnachd aig Pòl ag amas air rannsachadh a dhèanamh air na ceangalaichean a tha eadar ath-bheòthachadh cànanan dùthchasach, Eigeòlas Traidiseanta (TEK) agus teicneolas dì-thìreachadh.

Acknowledgments

Paul would like to say miigwetch (thank you in Anishinaabemowin) and tapadh leibh (thank you in Gàidhlig) to his husband, his family in Alba (Scotland) and Turtle Island, friends, supervisors, mentors, DISE-McGill, SSHRC, AAAL, and TIRF for all their support on this lifelong learning journey. He would also like to say miigwetch and tapadh leibh to the Lands, Peoples, waters, spirits, animals and plants of Turtle Island. 

Paul is grateful to currently reside with his Anishinaabe husband in T’karonto (Toronto), the traditional lands and territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat Peoples and now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples.

Doctoral Dissertation

Meighan, P. J. (2023). "What is language for us?" The role of relational technology, strength-based language education, and community-led language planning and policy research to support Indigenous language revitalization and cultural reclamation processes. McGill University.  

https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.13349.88802

Refereed Journal Articles

Chiblow, S., & Meighan, P. J. (2023). Anishinabek Giikendaaswin and Dùthchas nan Gàidheal: Concepts to (re)center place-based knowledges, governance, and land in times of crisis. Ethnicities, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1177/14687968231219022 

Meighan, P. J. (2023). “What is language for us?”: Community-based Anishinaabemowin language planning using TEK-nology. Language Policy, 22(2), 223-253. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-023-09656-5

Meighan, P. J. (2023). Transepistemic English language teaching for sustainable futures. ELT Journal. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccad004

Meighan, P. J. (2022). Dùthchas, a Scottish Gaelic methodology to guide self-decolonization and conceptualize a kincentric and relational approach to community-led research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 21, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069221142451 

Meighan, P. J. (2022). Colonialingualism: Colonial legacies, imperial mindsets, and inequitable practices in English language education. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 17(2), 146-155. https://doi.org/10.1080/15595692.2022.2082406

Meighan, P. J. (2022). Indigenous language revitalization using TEK-nology: How can Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and technology support intergenerational language transmission? Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2022.2084548

Meighan, P. J. (2022). Respecting the territory: Self-determined and relational technology in Indigenous language revitalization. ETC: A Review of General Semantics, 79(2), 32-45. (PDF)

Meighan, P. J. (2021). Decolonizing the digital landscape: The role of technology in Indigenous language revitalization. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 17(3), 397-405. https://doi.org/10.1177/11771801211037672

Chiblow, S., & Meighan, P. J. (2021). Language is land, land is language: The importance of Indigenous languages. Human Geography, 15(2), 206-210. https://doi.org/10.1177/19427786211022899

Meighan, P. J. (2020). Decolonizing English: A proposal for implementing alternative ways of knowing and being in education. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 15(2), 77-83. https://doi.org/10.1080/15595692.2020.1783228 (PDF)

Meighan, P. J. (2020). A case for decolonizing English language instruction. ELT Journal, 74(1), 83-85. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccz055 (PDF)

Meighan, P. J. (2019). An “educator’s” perspective: How heritage language pedagogy and technology can decolonize the English classroom. TESOL Journal, 11(2), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.483 (PDF)

Meighan, P. J. (2019). [Review of the coursebook Business Partner B1+, by I. Dubicka, M. O’Keefe, B. Dignen, M. Hogan & L. Wright]. TESL-EJ, 23(1). http://www.tesl-ej.org/pdf/ej89/r2.pdf

Refereed Book Chapters
Meighan, P. J. (2023). Online Worldreviewer Language Spaces (OWLS): Integrating decolonizing technology and heritage language pedagogy in TESOL. In K. Raza, D. Reynolds, & C. Coombe (Eds.), Handbook of Multilingual TESOL in Practice (pp. 251–266). Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-9350-3_17

Meighan, P. J. (2021). Bridging the past, present and future: How heritage language pedagogy can create a global and sustainable worldview in the English classroom. In C. E. Poteau & C. A. Winkle (Eds.), Advocacy for social and linguistic justice in TESOL: Nurturing inclusivity, equity, and social responsibility in English language teaching (1st ed., pp. 13-26). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003202356-3 (PDF)

Belonging, Identity, Language and Diversity (BILD) Blog Posts

Meighan, P. J. (2023, Nov 6). Tìr is teanga (Land and language): Language as sensory energy.

Meighan, P. J. (2022, Dec 4). Languages do not “die”, they are persecuted: A Scottish Gael’s perspective on language “loss”.

Meighan, P. J. (2021, Oct 10). (Un)learning cognitive and linguistic imperialism in English: Towards transepistemic language education. http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/wasq-fn87

Meighan, P. J. (2021, Feb 14). Romancing with the Romance languages: Col amor de un multi-, pluri- lingual o translanguaging éducateur. 

Meighan, P. J. (2020, Nov 29). "The more you know, the more you need to know": Learning Gaelic and Ojibwe online during the pandemic. 

Meighan, P. J. (2020, May 25). Searching for new stories and a language to live by: Reflections of a Gael in a foreign language.

Meighan, P. J. (2019, Nov 19). Refusing to inHABIT the binary: Reflections on language, culture and identity in the colonial bubble. 

Refereed Policy Studies & Research Reports

Pearson Education. (2017). A standard setting study to establish concordance between the Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE A) and the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB). Harrow, Essex: Pearson Education.

Select Book Translations 

Italian to English

Matsumoto, S., & Daga, M. (2020). Miyamoto Musashi: Battle against Yoshioka Clan (P. Meighan, Trans.). Lulu.

Matsumoto, S. (2017). Yoshioka: Dyers and swordsmen of Feudal Japan, 1540-1615 (P. Meighan, Trans.). CreateSpace. 

Cammisecra, C. (2016). For the rain that falls (P. Meighan, Trans.). CreateSpace. 

English to Italian

Perkins Gilman, C. (2014). La Tappezzeria Gialla (P. Meighan, Trans.). Easy Peasy Publishing.
 

Poe, E. A. (2014). Il Corvo (P. Meighan, Trans.). CreateSpace.

Sheridan College, Toronto, Canada

Professor, ESL

January 2024–Present 

George Brown College, Toronto, Canada

Professor, Communication

September 2023–Present 

Easy Peasy English, London, England

Teacher Trainer and Curriculum Designer, ESL

July 2011–Present

McGill University, Montréal, Canada 

Course Lecturer, Methods and Curriculum in Second Language Teaching

September–October 2022 

McGill University, Montréal, Canada 

Course Lecturer, Critical Perspectives in Educational Theory and Research

March–May 2022 

McGill University, Montréal, Canada

Course Lecturer, Foundations of Second Language (L2) Education 

January 2021

McGill University, Montréal, Canada

Course Lecturer, Essentials of English Grammar 

October–November 2020

The TEFL Academy, Toronto, Canada 

Teacher Trainer, TEFL

January 2017–February 2020

Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales

Instructor, Pre-sessional EAP 

July–September 2019, 2020

McGill University, Montréal, Canada

Course Lecturer, Advanced Methods in TESL

January–February 2020

George Brown College, Toronto, Canada

Professor, ESL

November 2017–May 2019

INTO Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, Scotland

Instructor, ESL

March 2016–August 2016

Oita City Board of Education, JET Programme, Oita, Japan

Assistant Teacher, EFL

August 2011–October 2011

Old Palace of John Whitgift School, London, England

Secondary Teacher, Spanish

September 2010–July 2011

St Augustine’s Church of England Primary School, London, England

Primary Teacher, Spanish and French 

May 2009–June 2009

Professional and Academic Communities

TESOL International Association

Bilingual-Multilingual Education (B-MEIS) Interest Section

Chair

2024–Present

BILD/LIDA Research Group, McGill University, Montréal, Canada

Blog Writer, Editor, Social Media Manager

2019–Present

Impact North Shore, Vancouver, Canada
Advisory Design Team Member: “Our Words, Our Wisdom: Addressing Linguistic Racism”

2022–2024

American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL)

Task Force on the Future of the Conference Member

2022

American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Graduate Student Council

Member-at-large (Social Media Sub-Committee Leader)   

2022–2023

Language Planning and Policy (LPP) 2022 Conference, McGill University, Montréal, Canada

Organizing Committee Member (Social Media & Table ronde Bill 96 Sub-Groups)

2021-2022

American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), Pittsburgh, United States

Graduate Student Award Committee Member 

2021–2022 

Plurilingual Lab, McGill University, Montréal, Canada

My Research Story Coordinator 

2021–2022

Plurilingual Lab, McGill University, Montréal, Canada

Speaker Sessions Host & Chat Moderator 

2020–2022 

2024: Indigenous Language Scholarship Support Fund Award

American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL)

2022–2023: Herschel and Christine Victor Fellowship in Education

McGill University, Montréal, Canada

2020–2023: Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canadian Graduate Scholarship (CGS)

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)  

2021: Doctoral Dissertation Grant 

The International Research Foundation (TIRF) for English Language Education

2021: Russell N. Campbell Award

The International Research Foundation (TIRF) for English Language Education

2021: Multilingual Matters Award

American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL)

2019–2020: Emerging Scholar Award

DISE, McGill University, Montréal, Canada 

2019–2020: Graduate Excellence Entrance Award

DISE, McGill University, Montréal, Canada 

2019–2020: Graduate Research Enhancement & Travel Award 

DISE, McGill University, Montréal, Canada  

2019–2020: Graduate Research Enhancement & Travel Award

DISE, McGill University, Montréal, Canada    

2008–2009: Robertson Trust Postgraduate Scholarship 

Robertson Trust, Glasgow, Scotland 

2002–2006: Robertson Trust Undergraduate Scholarship 

Robertson Trust, Glasgow, Scotland