Roswita Aleida Helene Dressler
Positions
Professor (Teaching & Research)
Werklund School of Education, Specialization, Language and Literacy
Affiliations
Associate Dean - International
Werklund School of Education
Contact information
Background
Educational Background
Ph.D. Education: Second Language Teaching, The University of Calgary, 2012
Master of Arts German, The University of Calgary, 2008
Bachelor of Education German, French, University of Alberta, 1989
Biography
Dr. Dressler holds a PhD in Education and an MA in German. Her research is focused on pre-service and in-service teacher understandings of second language teaching and learning, which involve discipline-specific pedagogy, intercultural competencies, and innovation in curriculum and design. Pre-service and in-service teachers also bring to their practice their own identity as first language, heritage or second language speakers, which they often explore through study abroad and professional learning. As an educational linguist, she draws from research methodologies that integrate contextual factors: action research, nexus analysis (a discourse analytic methodology), and linguistic landscape analysis, in particularly of schoolscapes.
Professional & Community Affiliations
Prior to joining the Werklund School of Education, Dr. Dressler worked previously as a K-12 second language teacher of German and French in Alberta, Manitoba and BC. and as a sessional instructor in German and Education. Currently she has professional and community organizations in the area of second language teaching. She is a lifetime member of the Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers and provides training to community ESL teachers through the Cooperative ESL Ministries group in Calgary. She holds membership in a number of other professional organizations.
Research
Areas of Research
Dr. Dressler is currently working on a project that examines the readability of German children's books. Working with an international team, she has embarked on an interdisciplinary project that has created a corpus of German children's books that are being examined using machine learning and natural language processing. This work informs her larger focus on pre-service and in-service teacher understandings of second language pedagogy and addresses the lack of appropriate reading materials for German reading instruction in North American German bilingual education programs.
Dr. Dressler is a co-investigator on this SSHRC Insight Development Grant with Dr. Jean Kaya (PI) and Dr. Kim Lenters. This project looks at how teachers learn to work with culturally and linguistically diverse students. This work focuses on in-service teacher understandings of intercultural competencies and addresses the increasing linguistic and cultural diversity of the Canadian classroom.
Dr. Dressler is leading this educational leadership project with Dr. B. Brown and Dr. S. MacGregor to build on the Global Classroom Initiative (GCI) in the Werklund School of Education. The project involves improving teaching and student learning in Global Classroom/Virtual Exchange (GC/VE) within Werklund and across campus. GC/VE is a form of internationalization at home that expands access to international experiential learning in which local instructors partner their classes with international partner instructors and classes in other countries. Instructors, assisted by TAs, design meaningful online learning activities which focus on the development of skills such as foreign language proficiency and intercultural competence. Three GC/VE models prevail in the field: 1) telecollaboration, 2) transnational, and 3) class-to-world models (O’Dowd, 2024). We will investigate these three GC/VE models (one per year) over three year-long action research cycles.
Participation in university strategic initiatives
Projects
Dressler, Brown, MacGregor (2025-28). "Examining and supporting leadership in global classroom initiatives for faculty and students" Taylor Institute Educational Leadership Grant.
Dressler & Scott (2023-25).“By Learners for learners: Level-appropriate children's literature for bilingual German primary education” Taylor Institute Innovation and Development Grant
Kaya, Dressler & Lenters (2023-25) “Conceptualizing teachers’ intercultural learning for social action”. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Insight Development Grant
Awards
- Distinguished Graduate Supervision, Werklund School of Education. 2023
- Teaching Award in Online and Blended Environments, University of Calgary. 2022
- Online Teaching Excellence Award , Werklund School of Education. 2021
- Robert Roy Award, Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers. 2020
Publications
- Music for second language learning in a German Bilingual Program.. Anderson, L.. Notos. 14-26. (2025)
- A small-scale evaluation of large language models used for grammatical error correction in a German children’s literature corpus: A comparative study.. Nguyen, P.T., Nuss, B., Ovens, K.. Applied Sciences. 2476. (2025)
- Integration of assistive technology in the teaching of incarcerated students with learning challenges: One instructor’s perspectives.. White Prosser, C.. Asia Pacific Journal of Developmental Differences. 175-182 . (2025)
- The readability of books for immersion schools: Understanding the role of text complexity, context and literary aspects.. Nuss, B; Mueller, K.. Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education. . 123-137. (2025)
- The role of exterior schoolscapes in neighbourhoods: A linguistic landscape analysis during COVID-19 school closures.. Liu, N.; Dressler, R.. International Journal of Multilingualism. (2024)
- Canadian second language teachers’ technology use following the COVID-19 pandemic. Dressler, R., Guida, R., Chu, M-W.. Canadian Modern Language Review.. 228-246. (2023)
- Blogging for intercultural communicative competence in study abroad programs: All breadth, no depth?. Dressler, R., Crossman, K., Kawalilak, C.. Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education 7(2). 181-203. (2022)
- Pedagogical strategies to foster target language use: A nexus analysis. Dressler, R. & Mueller, K.. Canadian Modern Language Review, 77(4). 75-90. (2022)
- Critical literacy in Canada: A systematic review of curricula and literature. Kaya, J., Dressler, R., Lenters, K.,. Language and Literacy, 28(2). 25-61. (2022)
- Pre-service teachers’ learning about language learning and teaching: A nexus analysis. Dressler, R., Crossman, K., Kawalilak, C. . Journal of Language, Identity and Education, 22(6). 606-618. (2023)
- Factors of learning more than one language across the lifespan: Literature review and student course experience. Ma, Y., Chen, Y., Guo, J., Lei, T., Li, Q., & Dressler, R.. Notos, 15(1). 27-42. (2021)
- « Au-delà de Duolingo » : La formation d’une communauté de pratique d’adultes qui apprennent le français. Smith, C., Dressler, R., Holden, M., Berzins, J., Fiddler, J.. Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education, 33(1) . 85-91. (2021)
- Pre-service teachers and study abroad experiences: Don't forget about them when they come home. Arthur, N., Becker, S., Dressler, R., Crossman, K., Kawalilak, C.. Teaching and Teacher Education, 89. 1-11. (2020)
- Pre-service teachers reflect on their journey to becoming French Immersion teachers: Looking back and thinking forward.. De Silva, N., Roy, S., Dressler, R., & Mueller, K.. Réflexions, 39(1) . 17-19. (2020)
- Strategies for purposeful oral language use in the second language classroom. Dressler, R. & Mueller, K. . Réflexions, 39(2), . 15-17. (2020)
- Linguistic landscapes at the nexus of ethnography, sociolinguistics, and discourse. Dressler, R. & Hult, F. . The handbook of linguistic landscapes and multilingualism. 47-63. (2025)
- Gender assignment in German as heritage language in an English-speaking context: A case study of acquisition and maintenance.. Kupisch, T., Dressler, R.. Perspectives on Input, Evidence, and Exposure in Language Acquisition: Studies in Honour of Susanne Carroll.. 88-116. (2024)
- Improving second language education through intensive German weeks: An action research collaboration between teachers and researchers. Mueller, K., Dressler, R., Dressler, A., Moeller, F., Ronnellenfitsch, T. . Collaborative research in language education: Reciprocal benefits and challenges. 29-40. (2023)
- The experience of pre-service language teachers learning an additional language through study abroad. Dressler, R, & Kawalilak, C.. Language teachers studying abroad: Identities, emotions and disruptions. 100-110. (2022)
- Implementing longitudinal, reflective follow-up study abroad research: Following former pre-service teachers into professional practice. Dressler, R., Kawalilak, C., Crossman, K., Becker, S. . Designing second language study abroad research: Critical reflections on methods and data . 273-286. (2022)
In the News
- Creating Kinderbuch OER: Undergrad storytellers create rich German-language children’s books for use by primary-school educators. UToday. (2023)
- Dr. Roswita Dressler, PURE supervisor, Werklund School of Education . Undergraduate Research Initiative (URI) Report 2021-22. (2023)
More Information
Completed Supervision
Jaclyn Kersey, EdD, 2025 “Navigating the Third Space: Exploring Stories of Intercultural Competence Development and Use among Canadian International Teachers in China"
And Wee, PhD, 2025 "Stories that Shape Us: Exploring Language, Ideologies, and Identity Among Spanish-Heritage and Bilingual Educators in Canada"
Kassandra Scharren, MA, 2025, “Integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chatbots into Speaking Practice: Insights from Human-Chatbot Oral Interactions"
Christina White Prosser, Mitacs Accelerate Postdoctoral scholar (Feb 2022-25), now independent scholar.
Jean Kaya, UCalgary Eyes High Postdoctoral scholar (Sept 2021- June 2023), now Assistant Professor, University of Windsor
Moira McDonald, EdD, 2024 “Cultural Preparedness of Adult Educators: A Changing Dynamic in Higher Education” https://hdl.handle.net/1880/118101 currently Associate Professor, Royal Roads University
Yue Ma, PhD, June 2023 “Families with Emergent Bilinguals of English and Chinese: A Case Study of Family Language Policy in China”
Maya Daniel, EdD, June 2022 “Classroom Interrupted: Understanding Investment Through Action Research in the Time of COVID-19”, winner of the 2023 Canadian Association of Action Research in Education Outstanding Dissertation Award (CAARE), http://hdl.handle.net/1880/114286
Christina White Prosser, EdD, June 2021 “Perspectives on Correctional Education: Engaging the Voices of Instructors and Incarcerated Students”, winner of the 2021 Graduate Student Research Award of the Canadian Association of Universities Continuing Education (CAUCE), http://hdl.handle.net/1880/113021
Philipp Reichert, EdD, June 2020 “Internationalization & Career-focused Programming for International Students: A Qualitative Study of Universities in Canada”, winner of the 2021 Harold Josephson Award for Professional Promise in International Education from Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA), http://hdl.handle.net/1880/111425
Phung Thao Nguyen, BSc Honours (co-supervisor), April 2024
Elizabeth Gauthier, BEd Honours, Summer 2024
Program for Undergraduate Research Award
Arianna Mamer, Summer 2022
Jeanne Liendo, Summer 2021
Lisa Anderson, Summer 2019
Janessa Bretner, Summer 2018
Werklund Undergraduate Research Award
Daniela Heger-Dorantes. Summer 2024
Kevin Dang, Summer 2022
Nancy Liu, Summer 2020
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