Zhen Lin
Language & Literacy Education
I am a scholar in language and literacy education whose work examines bilingualism and multilingualism, early literacy development, multimodal literacies, heritage language maintenance, and posthuman/post-qualitative methodologies.
About
My research explores how children and families mobilize languages, materials, bodies, spaces, emotions, and everyday practices in language and literacy acquisition. I am especially interested in Chinese-Canadian children’s heritage language and biliteracy development at home and across transnational, multilingual, and culturally diverse contexts.
My doctoral research, Rethinking Resources: A More-Than-Human Reconceptualization of Chinese-Canadian Children’s Heritage Language Practices at Home, investigates children’s heritage language resources from a posthuman perspective.
Research Interests
- Biliteracy and Heritage Language Maintenance
- Early Literacy Education
- Literacy Environment and Resources within Immigrant Families
- Socio-material, Multimodal, and Posthuman Literacies
- Post-qualitative and Qualitative Research Methodologies
Education
Ph.D. in Language & Literacy Education, The University of British Columbia
M.A. in Applied Linguistics & Curriculum Studies, Western University
Courses Taught and Supported
The University of British Columbia
- LLED200-Introduction to Writing in Academic and Professional Registers
- LLED201-Critical Reading and Writing for Academic and Professional Registers
- VSP Course A-Applied Linguistics for Teachers
- LLED565Y-Place-based Literacies
- LLED350-Classroom Discourses: Elementary
- LLED351-Literacy Practices and Assessment: Elementary
- LLED353-Teaching and Learning English as an Additional Language: Elementary
- ASTU202-Canada, Japan, and the Pacific: Political, Economic, and Geographical Perspectives
- EDUC210-Global Citizenship, Part 1: An Introduction
Western University
- EDUC9496A-651-Understanding Research Methods for Educational Practice (Math and Literacy Education)
- EDUC9535A-650-Understanding Language and Literacy Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Learning in a Changing World
- EDUC9497B-650-Understanding Curriculum Leadership in Educational Practice
- EDUC9730B-001-Advanced Topics in Curriculum
- EDUC9586A-001-Early Literacy Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Learning
- EDUC9715-002-PhD Seminar (Program: PhD in Educational Studies)
Selected Publications
Selected journal publications
- Li, G., Zhen, F., Gunderson, L., & Lin, Z. (2026). Home literacy environment and early bilingual vocabulary development among Chinese–Canadian children: A longitudinal study. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 29(2), 219–241. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2025.2530213
- Li, G., & Lin, Z. (2025). The emotional work of heritage language maintenance: Insights from a longitudinal study of Chinese–Canadian bilingual parenting. Educational Sciences, 15(7), 816. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15070816
- Li, G., Lin, Z., & Mei, Z. (2025). Language Ideologies in glocal contexts: A longitudinal study of Cantonese-Canadian families’ divergent paths toward childhood bidialectalism. Urban Education (Special Issue: Interrogating Language Ideologies: Critical Perspectives on Racial Equity in Multilingual Teaching and Learning). https://doi.org/10.1177/00420859251331552
- Lin, Z., & Li, G. (2021). A posthuman perspective on early literacy: A literature review. Journal of Childhood, Education, and Society, 2(1), 69-86. https://doi.org/10.37291/2717638X.20212169