91ɬÂþ

Dr. Mama Adobea Nii-Owoo

Title: 
Assistant Professor
Dr. Mama Adobea Nii-Owoo
Contact Information
Email address: 
mama.niiowoo [at] mcgill.ca
Address: 

Education Building
3700 rue McTavish
Montréal, Quebec H3A 1Y2
Canada

Division: 
Educational Studies (Ph.D.) Supervisors
Education and Society Supervisors
Second Language Education Supervisors
Department: 
Department of Integrated Studies in Education (DISE)
Area(s): 
Arts, Languages and Literacy Education
Social Action and Sustainability Education
Teacher Education, Pedagogy and Leadership
Areas of expertise: 
  • Language Planning and Policy
  • Second Language Education
  • Multilingual Education & Multiliteracies
  • Comparative International Education

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Biography: 

Dr. Mama Adobea Nii-Owoo is a critical applied sociolinguist with a background in language planning and policy, comparative international education, multiliteracies, multilingual education, language revitalization and teacher education. She is particularly interested in how literacy pedagogy for racialized and minoritized multilingual learners of English as a second language is addressed in policy and pedagogical frameworks at the individual, social, and national levels within pre-tertiary educational systems.

Her research draws on often-overlooked histories and methodologies within the theoretical canon of the Global South and is inspired by Southern and Decolonial theories as well as Africanist concepts such as Sankofa—learning from the past—and Ubuntu—compassionate reciprocity toward people and nature. She employs a multimethodological framework within critical qualitative inquiry for her empirical work: integrating archival methods, document analysis, qualitative interviewing, critical policy sociology, ethnographic methods and participatory action research. Her expertise encompasses visual, narrative, and cinematic storytelling techniques that effectively communicate theoretical and methodological insights to diverse audiences for social impact. Her research is notably featured in the documentary film "No Vernacular!" which explores the complexities of African multilingualism and language policy in Ghana.

Degree(s): 
  • PhD, Language and Literacies Education with Collaborative Specializations in Comparative & International Development Education and Education Policy, OISE, University of Toronto
  • MA, Spanish, Ohio University
  • BA, Hons Political Science & Spanish, University of Ghana
Awards, honours, and fellowships: 
  • 2024-2025 91ɬÂþ Provostial Postdoctoral Fellowship
  • 2024 QES Advanced Scholarship, Canada
  • 2020 Russel N. Campbell Award-The International Research Foundation (TIRF) for English Language Education
Selected publications: 
  • Nii-Owoo, M.A (2026). From Unarchiving to Unbooking: How the Film 'No Vernacular' Rethinks Language Policy Research for Global South Contexts. In S. Makoni, C. Severo, A. Abdelhay, & A. Hartig (Eds.) (2026). Insecurities in Language Policy and Planning: Decolonial Theories and Practices. Multilingual Matters.
  • Nii-Owoo, M. A. (2025). Multilingually Conscious Teaching and English Medium of Instruction Policy in Kindergarten Education in Ghana. In Promoting Multilingual Practices for Linguistically Diverse Learners in Global Contexts (pp. 119-136). Routledge.
  • Bale, J., Rajendram, S., Brubacher, K., Nii-Owoo, M. A., Burton, J., Zhang, Y., ... & Kerekes, J. (2023). Centering multilingual learners and countering raciolinguistic ideologies in teacher education: Principles, policies and practices. Multilingual Matters & Channel View Publications.
  • Nii Owoo, M. A. A. (2022). Southern Visions of Language Policy: Re-visioning Mother Tongue-Based Bilingual Education in Ghana. In The Routledge Handbook of Language and the Global South/s (pp. 346-358). Routledge.
  • Mobilizing pedagogical agency for Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education (MTBE) in Ghana: An Analytic-Autoethnography in A. Gagne, A., Kalan, & S. Herath (Eds.) (2022). New York: Peter Lang.
  • Kerekes, J., Rajendram, S., Nii Owoo, M. A., & Zhang, Y. (2021). Teachers’ takes on supporting multilingual learners in K–12 classrooms in Ontario. TESL Canada journal, 38(1), 1-27.
Program: 
  • B.Ed. TESL
  • Second Language Education
  • Education and Society
  • Ph.D. Educational Studies (Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Language Acquisition)
Graduate supervision: 

Prospective graduate students applying to thesisÌýprograms in DISEÌýwill be asked to list their top choices for supervisors in theirÌý. A supervisor will be assigned to new graduate students, based on availability and other factors.

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