Christopher Gradin
Biography
Christopher is a PhD student in the Language & Literacies Education (LLE) program.
Supervisor: Dr. Emmanuelle Le Pichon-Vorstman
Research Projects: The Binogi Project; (under supervision of Dr. Le Pichon-Vostman) and the Heritage Language Project; Supporting English Language Learners (under supervision of Dr. Jeff Bale)
Research interests
His research focuses on the role of Japanese as a heritage language in the intergenerational communication of Japanese Canadians, particularly those who have a family history of internment, dispossession, and relocation. Using Bourdieu’s theory of practice, he investigates changes in linguistic habitus across generations to determine the impact of language loss on Japanese Canadian Identity. He asks the questions, to what ends are heritage language programs designed, and how can heritage language education serve to reconcile the specific traumas of the past and post-national identities of the present?