Guillaume Gentil

Biography

My current research interests in second language writing and biliteracy development in professional and postsecondary settings originated from my academic literacy experiences in France, the USA, and Canada. As a student of biology and agricultural sciences (M. Sc. in plant pathology, Institut National Agronomique, Paris; 16-month research internship, University of Wisconsin Madison), and then a student of applied linguistics (M.A. and Ph.D. in second language education, McGill University, Montréal; postdoctoral internship with Alister Cumming, University of Toronto), I experienced firsthand the challenges of bilingual academic writers who must shuttle back and forth between languages and discourse communities, writing in one language while reading in another, and alternating the language of composing while negotiating divided linguistic loyalties. This interest has resulted in several case studies and institutional ethnographies of academic and professional biliteracy over the last twenty years with a threefold focus on multilingual writers’ motivations for biliteracy, individual and institutional strategies for biliteracy, and ways to design enabling contexts for biliteracy.

This research work has appeared in Canadian Modern Language Review, Discourse & Society, Journal of English for Academic Purposes, Journal of Second Language Writing, Written Communication, and several co-edited books. The theoretical and programmatic piece “A biliteracy agenda for genre research,” originally published in JSLW, was reproduced in The Best of the Independent Rhetoric and Composition Journals: 2011.

Initially, I turned to English for Specific Purposes and English for Academic Purposes for insight into the teaching of scientific and professional writing. While I have remained interested in these fields, I soon realized the importance of cross-pollinating them with other areas of research, such as second language writing, bilingual education, translation studies, and academic literacies, in order to design instructional strategies that prepare student and professional writers for work in multilingual contexts. I also turned to corpus linguistics as offering useful tools for the study of specialized discourses and writing development. My co-editorship of the Journal of Second Language Writing (2014-2017) further rekindled my interest in multilingual scholars’ publishing practices and the geopolitics of academic publishing. More recently, my interests have expanded to the potential of Neural Machine Translation and AI tools in facilitating and disrupting multilingual writing practices as well as writing and language development.

Research Interests

• Professional and academic bi/pluriliteracies
• Second language writing
• The use of translation and translation tools for writing and language learning
• The use of technology in second language writing and learning
• Genre-based approaches to writing research and writing instruction
• The intersection of second language writing and plurilingualism
• Reading in one language, writing in another (crosslingual literacy practices)
• Research and doctoral writing
• Corpus linguistics for language and writing studies
• Identity and language learning

Recent/Ongoing Research

• (with Jérémie Séror): ChatGPT as an aid for translation, language editing, and learning learning (Action research project based on a teaching sequence in FREN 3511).
• (with Jérémie Séror): Developing academic biliteracy: Longitudinal case studies of learning to write in Canada’s official languages/ Développer une bilittératie universitaire : études de cas longitudinales sur l’apprentissage de l’écriture dans les langues officielles du Canada (five-year SSHRC-funded program of research on the academic biliteracy development of undergraduate students in English and French, 2017-2022, $193,668)

Supervision

I have supervised students at the BA, MA, and PhD levels on a variety of topics, but my preference is to supervise projects related to my current research interests.

Courses

Current course information for this faculty member can be found by searching the Carleton Central/Public Schedule by Term and Name.

Courses Recently/Frequently Taught

• ALDS 2704: Bilingualism
• ALDS 3405/ALDS 5705: Second Language Writing
• ALDS 5002: Inquiry Strategies in ALDS
• ALDS6101/6102: Doctoral Core Seminar in Applied Linguistics and Discourse Studies
• FREN 3511: Expression écrite et traduction
• FREN 3050: Compétences critiques
• FREN 4414: La bilittératie : Recherches, pratiques et pédagogie

Selected Publications

(See also Google Scholar profile).

Selected Journal Articles

Séror, J., & Gentil, G. (2020). Cross-Linguistic Pedagogy and Biliteracy in a Bilingual University: Students’ Stances, Practices, and Ideologies. Canadian Modern Language Review, 76(4), 356-374. doi: doi.org/10.3138/cmlr-2020-0014

Gentil, G. (2019). Translanguaging and multilingual academic literacies: How do we translate that into French? Should we? Pour en faire quoi ? (et pourquoi s’en faire?). Cahiers de l’ILOB/OLBI Working Papers, 3-41. doi: https://doi.org/10.18192/olbiwp.v10i0.3831

Gentil, G. (2019). D’une langue à l’autre: pour une didactique plurilingue et translangagière de l’écrit. Canadian Modern Language Review/Revue canadienne des langues modernes 75(1), 65-83. doi:10.3138/cmlr.2018-0168

Gentil, G. (2018) Modern Languages, Bilingual Education, and Translation Studies: The Next Frontiers in WAC/WID Research and Instruction? Across the Disciplines 15 (3), 114-129. Link to the special issue.

Gentil, G. & Séror, J. (2014). “Canada has two official languages—or does it?  Case studies of Canadian scholars’ language choices and practices in disseminating knowledge.” Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 13(1),17-30. 

Gentil, G. (2011). A biliteracy agenda for genre research. Journal of Second Language Writing. 20(1), 6-23. (reproduced in “The Best of the Independent Rhetoric and Composition Journals, 2011” and awarded an honourable mention for the Best Article of the Year for 2011 for the Journal of Second Language Writing).

Freake, R., Gentil, G., Sheyholislami, J. (2011). A bilingual corpus-assisted discourse study of the construction of nationhood and belonging in Quebec. Discourse & Society, 22(1), 21-47. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926510382842

Gentil, G., Bigras, J., & O’Connor, M. (2009). Le maintien du français chez les fonctionnaires fédéraux: impact d’un programme de formation linguistique. Canadian Modern Language Review/Revue canadienne des langues modernes, 65(5), 841-867. https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.65.5.841

Gentil, G. (2005). Commitments to academic biliteracy: Case studies of francophone university writers. Written Communication, 22, 421-471. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088305280350

Selected Book Chapters

Gentil, G. (2023). Good writing: Learning to see how others see it. In R. Kohls & C. P. Casanave (Eds.). “Good” writing in applied linguistics and TESOL: Neglected but necessary scholarly conversations (pp. 239-253). Michigan University Press. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.11930285

Séror, J. & Gentil, G. (2023). Direct observation of writing activity. In R. M. Manchón & J. Roca de Larios (Eds). Research methods in the study of L2 writing processes (pp. 141-160). John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/rmal.5.07ser

Gentil, G. (2023). Remapping writing instruction at the borders of Modern Languages, Bilingual Education, and Translation Studies: A Canadian proposal for a transnational conversation. In J. Hall & B. Horner (Eds.), Toward a transnational university: WAC/WID across borders of language, nation, and discipline (pp. 59-83). The WAC Clearinghouse. https://doi.org/10.37514/ATD-B.2023.1527.2.03

Gentil, G. (2022). On becoming a bilingual gatekeeper: The journey of a francophone editor for an English language journal. In P. Habibie & K. Hultgren (Eds.), The inner world of gatekeeping in scholarly publication (pp. 63-81). Palgrave Macmillan.

Gentil, G. (2022). Multicompetence and L2 writing. In R. M. Manchón & C. Polio (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and writing (pp. 109-122). Routledge.

Gentil, G. (2018). Multilingualism as a writing resource. In J. Liontas (Ed). The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching, Liontas, J. (Vol. Teaching Writing, co-edited by D. Belcher & A. Hirvela). New York: Wiley. doi.org/10.1002/9781118784235.eelt0537

Gentil, G., Bigras, J., & O’Connor, M.(2010).Achieving bilingualism in the Canadian federal public workplace: Does language training matter? In B. Apfelbaum, & M. Meyers (Eds.), Multilingualism at work [Hamburg Series on Bilingualism] (pp. 81-105). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Gentil, G. (2006). EAP and Technical Writing without borders: The impact of departmentalization on the teaching and learning of academic writing in a first and second language. In P. Matsuda, C. Ortmeier-Hooper, & X. You (Eds.), The politics of second language writing: in search of the promised land (pp. 147-167). West Lafayette: Parlor Press.

Selected Invited Plenaries/Featured Presentations

Gentil, G. (2019, May 17). Academic pluriliteracies in an age of technological acceleration: New tools, new research methods. Invited plenary keynote given at the Ethnography of Academic Writing: Research and Pedagogy, an international symposium convened at University of Zaragoza, Spain.

Gentil, G. (2018, May 4). Translanguaging and multilingual academic literacies” How do we translate that into French? Should we?/Approche translangagière » et « littératies universitaires plurilingues » : Barbarismes, oripeaux modernes ou matière à repenser la didactique de l’écrit ? Invited plenary keynote at CCERBAL 2018 Conference, Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute (OLBI), University of Ottawa (the plenary can be viewed on YouTube at this link).

Gentil, G. (2018, February 2). Du plurilinguisme à la plurilittératie: Enjeux, défis, stratégies. Séminaire AEFE de la Zone Amérique du Nord. Invited plenary talk as part of the 2018 annual conference of the school directors and head masters of the 54 French international schools (lycées français) in North America (FISNA) recognized by France’s Agence pour l’enseignement français à l’étranger (AEFE).

Gentil, G. (2017, April 26). D’une langue à l’autre: pour une didactique plurilingue et translangagière de l’écrit. Invited plenary keynote at the 6th Meeting on Language Teaching(MeLT)/6ème rencontre sur l’enseignement des langues (ReEL), UQAM, Montréal

Gentil, G. (2016, September 24). Why only English? Rethinking monolingual writing instruction for the multilingual demands of today’s global communication. Invited plenary keynote at the 10th International Symposium of the China Association of Teaching and Researching EFL Writing, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, China.

Gentil, G. (2015, March). Helping multilingual writers: A biliteracy perspective. Invited Speaker Presentation at the TESOL 2015 International Convention, Toronto.

Recent Conference Papers

Gentil, G. & Séror, J. (2024, June 12). Affordance et agentivité, deux clés pour comprendre l’emploi de la traduction automatique par les apprenants de langues. In E. Nissen et al. (Organizers) Agi-lang international conference Activité, engagement et apprentissage en (didactique des) langues secondes dans des contextes numériques. Université Grenoble Alpes, France.

Gentil, G. & Séror, J. (2024, May 16). ChatGPT et Antidote : complémentarité ou concurrence? Recherche-action dans un cours universitaire de perfectionnement de l’écrit en français langue seconde. In M-J. Hamel, C. Caws, N. Guichon, & M. Lugli (Organizers). Colloque 519 – L’écriture en français travaillée par le numérique : questionnements émergents et enjeux didactiques [Symposium]. 91^st ACFAS Congress, Université d’Ottawa, ON.

Séror, J. & Gentil, G. (2023, June 8). Visualiser le plurilinguisme en action : Réflexion sur l’emploi de la traduction automatisée en didactique des langues. In N. Auger et al. (Organizers), Plurensa-2023 : Plurilinguisme, enseignement-apprentissage, complexité et intégrité : perspective épistémologiques, didactiques et politiques [Symposium, June 7-10, 2023]. Université Paul-Valéry, Montpellier 3, France.

Gentil, G. (2023, May 10). Machine translation: A welcome disruption in writing for publication? In MJ. Curry & T. Lillis (Chairs), Reflections on the AAAL Roundtable, Writing for Publication Globally [a one-hour follow-up to the invited colloquium sponsored by Language Learning at the AAAL 2022 conference with the same presenters but a new audience].

Gentil, G. (2023, March 19). On becoming a bilingual gatekeeper: The journey of a francophone editor for an English language journal. In P. Habibie & K. Hultgren (Organizers), The inner world of gatekeeping in scholarly publication [Symposium]. Annual Conference of the American Association of Applied Linguistics, Portland, Oregon.

Séror, J., & Gentil, G. (2023, March 18). Machine translation and crosslingual wordsmithing: Case studies of biliteracy development. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the American Association of Applied Linguistics, Portland, Oregon.

Gentil, G., Séror, J., Nemes, E., & Thibert, A. (2022, May 13). Machine translation and L2 writing: Insights from case studies of biliteracy development. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics, online.

Thibert, A., Séror, J., Gentil, G. (2022, May 13). Struggling for legitimacy: Discourses of nativeness and pre-service bi/plurilingual French language educators. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics, online.

Gentil, G. (2022, March 20). Machine translation: A welcome disruption in writing for publication? In MJ. Curry & T. Lillis (Chairs), Writing for publication globally: Evaluation regimes, knowledges, professional practices [Invited Colloquium Language Learning Roundtable], 2022 Annual Conference of the American Association of Applied Linguistics, Pittsburgh, PA (presented online).

Gentil, G. Séror, J. (2021, August 17). Beyond parallel monolingualism: Case studies of pluri-and translingual literacy development in a bilingual Canadian university. In M. Kuteeva, K. Kaufhold., N. Hynninen (Organizers), Tensions between monolingualism and multilingualism across university contexts. [AILA Symposium S169]. Association internationale de linguistique appliquée (AILA) World Congress 2021, University of Groningen, Netherlands (convened online).

Gentil, G. (2021, August 19). Translangageons sur le translanguaging: Exploring the adoption of a new notion into French academic discourse. In S. Whyte & H. Tyne (Organizers), Foreign/Second Language Education in Europe: post-war history and crosslinguistic perspectives [AILA Symposium S057]. Association internationale de linguistique appliquée (AILA) World Congress 2021, University of Groningen, Netherlands (convened online).

Academic Affiliations and Services

• Acfas
• American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL)
• Association canadienne de linguistique appliquée/Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics (ACLA/CAAL)
• Association internationale de linguistique appliquée/International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA)
• Editorial Board of Journal of Second Language Writing