Paul J. Meighan

About

Qualifications and experience

Dr. Paul Meighan is a Gael sociolinguist, educator, and researcher who explores the intersections of language, identity, land, and power. He is currently Research Project Manager for Learning from the Lands at the University of Guelph, a national initiative supporting Indigenous land-based education and environmental governance through community-led research, as part of the Transforming Chemical Risk Management with Indigenous Expertise project. He also teaches English as a Second Language at Sheridan College, where he applies multilingual and culturally responsive pedagogies in higher education.

Dr. Meighan speaks English, French, Spanish, Italian, and Gàidhlig (Scottish Gaelic). His academic background includes a Certificate of Higher Education in Scottish Gaelic (An Cùrsa Adhartais, 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 TESOL (Trinity Western University, 2019); and a PhD in Educational Studies from McGill University (2023), where his doctoral research focused on community-led Indigenous language revitalization. He is also accredited by TESL Ontario as an OCELT (Ontario Certified English Language Teacher) and ICTEAL (Internationally Certified Teacher of English as an Additional Language). From 2024–2025, he served as Chair of the TESOL International Association’s Bilingual-Multilingual Education Interest Section.

From 2019 to 2023, Dr. Meighan was a Joseph-Armand Bombardier Doctoral Scholar, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education (DISE) at McGill University. His research has been recognized with numerous awards, including the 2021 Multilingual Matters Graduate Student Award from the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), the 2021 Doctoral Dissertation Grant from The International Research Foundation (TIRF) for English Language Education, and the Russell N. Campbell Award, presented annually to TIRF's highest-rated dissertation grant recipient. In 2022, he was awarded McGill University’s Herschel and Christine Victor Fellowship in Education for outstanding academic merit.

With over 20 years of international experience in language education, Dr. Meighan has taught English as a Second/Foreign Language, Spanish, and French across K–12, college, and university contexts. His professional roles have included course lecturer, curriculum developer, TESOL teacher trainer, translator (Italian and Spanish), and language consultant.

Research

Dr. Meighan’s research investigates how colonial legacies continue to shape education and policy through the privileging of dominant colonial languages and knowledges—a dynamic he conceptualizes as Colonialingualism. In response, he advances the framework of transepistemic language education, which bridges diverse ways of knowing—particularly Indigenous knowledge systems—to support equitable, multilingual, and culturally grounded pedagogies, especially within English language instruction. His work also explores how Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) can inform community-accountable approaches to Indigenous language revitalization and reclamation and guide the ethical use of technology in education.

This research is deeply informed by Dr. Meighan’s experiences as an Indigenous Gael from 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. While he identifies as Indigenous to the Scottish Highlands and Islands, he is also queer and racialized as white, living within systems that advantage those positioned as white and often erase his Indigenous identity. His motivation for more equitable multicultural and multilingual education has continued to grow after meeting his Anishinaabe husband in Glasgow, Scotland 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 doctoral research—Indigenous-led and funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and The International Research Foundation for English Language Education—examined how technology can support Indigenous language learning and reclamation. His dissertation, What is language for us?, introduces TEK-nology (Traditional Ecological Knowledge and technology), a community-led language and knowledge acquisition approach rooted in culturally and environmentally responsive frameworks. The research demonstrates: (1) the value of including Indigenous and heritage knowledges in language education and digital tools; (2) the co-creation of culturally and ecologically responsive, technology-enhanced pedagogies; and (3) the decolonial potential of language education, particularly for both Indigenous languages and dominant languages with colonial legacies. A central contribution of this work is its articulation of the difference between second language acquisition and Indigenous language reclamation—especially the relational role of land—and its development of relational technology: tools and practices designed to be accountable to Indigenous communities and ways of knowing.

Dr. Meighan is an active member of several scholarly communities, including the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), the Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics (ACLA/CAAL), TESOL International, TESL Ontario, the Institute of General Semantics, and the Media Ecology Association. He is also affiliated with the Language, Culture and Justice Hub, and the Belonging, Identity, Language and Diversity (BILD) and Leadership and Learning for Sustainability research networks. He served as Member-at-Large and Social Media Subcommittee Leader for the AAAL Graduate Student Council from 2022 to 2023.

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, mentors, and funders (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, waters, peoples, animals, plants, and spirits of Turtle Island. Paul is grateful to currently live 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.

My home islands in the Outer Hebrides (Na h-Eileanan Siar) of Scotland: South Uist (Uibhist a Deas)

Publications

Books

Meighan, P. (under contract). Colonialingualism: An Introduction to Language, Power, and Colonialism. Routledge.

Meighan, P. (under contract). Decolonizing Research Practices in Education: Kincentric and Relational Methodologies. Cambridge University Press.

Meighan, P. (under contract). Online Language Revitalization: Indigenous Language Acquisition and Technology. Palgrave Macmillan.

Edited Books

Veliz, L., Meighan, P., Shah, W. A., & Gao, X. (Eds.). (under contract). Routledge Handbook of Racial and Epistemic Inequity in Applied Linguistics. Routledge.

Meighan, P., & Veliz, L. (Eds.). (under contract). Countering Colonialingualism in Language Education: Research Practices and Pedagogies from the Global South. Routledge.

Editorship of Special Issues of Journals

Meighan, P., & Lin, C-C. (Eds.). (2025). The intersectionality of multilingualism, Indigenous knowledges, and sustainability. Special issue of Journal of Education for Multilingualism, 2(1). https://jempub.com/volume-2-issue-1/

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 & Encyclopedia Entries

Phillipson, R., & Meighan, P. (2025). Resisting linguistic imperialism: A conversation with Robert Phillipson on linguistic human rights, multilingualism, and Indigenous and minority languages. Journal of Education for Multilingualism, 2(1), 102-122. (PDF)

Meighan, P., & Lin, C.-C. (2025). Languages of the land: Indigenous knowledges, linguistic and epistemic justice, and multilingual futures. Journal of Education for Multilingualism, 2(1), 1-7. (PDF)

Meighan, P. J. (2025). Decolonizing language education. In Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics (pp. 1-8). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal20412 (PDF)

Meighan, P. J. (2024). Colonialingualism in education and policy. In Encyclopedia of Diversity (pp. 1-7). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95454-3_620-1 (PDF)

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)

Contributions to Refereed Policy Studies & Research Reports

United Nations. (2025). State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples Report, Volume VI, Climate Crisis. Chapter 1: Indigenous Peoples’ languages, culture, wisdom, scientific and technical knowledge.

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.

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.

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.

NOTE:

Only some of my refereed publications are archived here and available for educational purposes only and NOT for distribution, sharing, or commercial use.

The Power of Language: Colonialingualism

Building Integrated Communities. (2025, May 27). The Power of Language: Colonialingualism. [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXsf-dStUyQ

Dr. Paul Meighan: Colonialingualism

Multilingual Families Lab. (2024, May 13). Dr. Paul Meighan: Colonialingualism. [Video]. https://youtu.be/lz3AEv6Xggs?si=0SNlZsjN5dJ-oDKp

TESOL 2024: Enacting transepistemic thinking and ecologies of knowledges in the multilingual classroom

Meighan, P. J. (2024, April 14). Enacting transepistemic thinking and ecologies of knowledge in the multilingual classroom. [Video]. https://youtu.be/pqn_YPauL6Q?si=HwzdjH8xzXRoDqbR

Language Reclamation: Dr Paul Meighan

Future Multilingual. (2023, July 30). Language reclamation: Dr Paul Meighan. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/Jj5HvSVNRpY

B-MEIS TESOL International Webinar: Addressing Colonialingualism in TESOL

Meighan, P. J. (2023, February 17). B-MEIS Webinar: Addressing Colonialingualism in TESOL. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/-tDyZHa9Lvg

Language in the Human Machine Era (LITME) Talk: Relational technology: Community-led Indigenous language reclamation and revitalization

Meighan, P. J. (2023, July 17). Relational technology: Community-led Indigenous language reclamation and revitalization. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/LozFhP0Vx_M

Who's doing it, and whose worldview? Community-driven and relational technology for Indigenous language revitalization

Meighan, P. J. (2022, February 25). Who's doing it, and whose worldview? Community-driven and relational technology for Indigenous language revitalization. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/wBecx-LdPno

NABE 2022 Presentation | Colonialingualism: Colonial legacies, imperial mindsets, and Inequitable teaching practices

Meighan, P. J. (2022, February 11). Colonialingualism: Colonial Legacies, Imperial Mindsets, and Inequitable Teaching Practices. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/ecs--qz7Cl8

Technology in relation: Digital and online self-determination in Indigenous language revitalization

InstituteofGS. (2021, October 1). Paul J. Meighan - Technology in relation: Digital and online self-determination in Indigenous language revitalization. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHR4QbmIQEU

Decolonizing English: (Un)learning cognitive and linguistic imperialism

Meighan, P. J. (2021, July 26). Decolonizing English: (Un)learning cognitive and linguistic imperialism. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aDvLsxRaLo

AAAL 2021 Multilingual Matters Graduate Student Award | (Re)viewing our relationships with the world: Foundations for decolonial and equitable English language learning

Meighan, P. J. (2021, July 25). (Re)viewing our relationships: Foundations for decolonial and equitable English language learning. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TvXGahNyNY

Research & Professional Appointments

University of Guelph, Canada

Research Project Manager (Learning from the Lands)

May 2025–Present

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

NOTE:

Complete academic CV available upon request.

Contact

Recent Leadership and Service

Professional and Academic Communities

TESOL International Association

Bilingual-Multilingual Education (B-MEIS) Interest Section

Chair

2024–2025

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

Blog Writer, Editor, Social Media Manager

2019–2025

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

Academic Awards

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

Paul J. Meighan, PhD

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