I’m Dr. Lillian Ardell
bilingual ed coach, staff developer, & biliteracy advocate.
I help educators interrogate their beliefs and attitudes about language and language learners. I do this by inviting educators to flex into their bilingual advantage.
A global citizen from the start
mi historia
At the age of 15, I made a big decision that launched my life into a career of public service and advocacy, though I couldn’t have known it yet! I applied to be an Amigos de las Americas corps member through the Chicago chapter.
For three summers (one in Dominican Republic, and two in Nicaragua), I developed my Spanish language skills as a youth ambassador, supporting public health initiatives in the host countries.
My identity as a global citizen was forged at this early stage in my life, preparing me to enter college and the workforce with clarity and purpose.
On the heels of my time spent in Latin America, I took a concentration in Latin American studies and Spanish Literature at Boston University. This was during the early Bush administration: aka the age of No Child Left Behind and (English-only) policy initiatives.
The Latinx communities in my own region lived and learned in spaces that did not see bilingualism as an advantage, but an impediment to the numeric standards or success and acceptance within the space of “professional” culture. Standardized testing was (and is) linguistically biased.
A breakdown of my professional life:
I am a dual language teacher, and I always have been.
I joined Teach for America and was assigned to a linguistically and culturally diverse district in the South Bronx—where I taught and coached for 8 years: 6 of those years were as a bilingual teacher for 2nd and 4th graders, after which I became the school’s biliteracy coach.
With all these years in the field, I’m keenly aware of the pain & pressure of bilingual education and what it’s like to:
Because of all that, I’m very good at finding small, simple solutions that fix big problems,
relieving some of that pressure & creating far more aha! moments in bilingual education.
I am A language cheerleader
luchadora de idiomas
I’m an applied linguist with a passion for teaching and learning, devoted to making bilingual teachers fall in love with language.
I’ve spent thousands of hours in discourse analysis in service to these teachers and their students: coding transcripts, observing classrooms, and assessing instruction for weaknesses and biases. In my workshops, I teach teachers to do the same.
As an active researcher, my scholarship directly feeds into my biannual teacher incubators, coaching, and workshops. This ensures that my clients receive only the best research-backed, field-tested advice and techniques.
How I’m Different:
I’m obsessed with the intersection of language and teaching
…and I’ve spent the last 10 years studying what teachers understand and believe about language, and how those perspectives Inform their instructional Decisions.
This focus on metalinguistics—combined with extensive qualitative research—allows me to observe a teacher in the classroom and quickly assess where they are coming from, what they believe, and what their instructional weaknesses are.
And the cure to those areas of weakness is awareness + practice.
Ready to discuss your organization’s needs?
ways to work with me
todos los talleres se ofrecen en inglés o español
Coaching
Speaking
Workshops
Academic & Professional Background
Dual-language teacher
2nd and 4th grades, all too familiar with the the models, structures, and struggles of bilingual learning
6 years, NYC Dept of Education
Bilingual Coach
observing, supporting, and mentoring teachers of multilingual learners
2 years, NYC Dept of Education
Bilingual Education doctoral student & researcher
8 years, Steinhardt School of Education at New York University
Adjunct professor of Bilingual Education
4 years, Brooklyn College
Scholarship
I’m trained as a qualitative researcher and discourse analyst who uses grounded theory methodologies to examine teacher beliefs and attitudes surrounding language learners and the role of language in instructional practice.
Conference presentations
The Power of Metalinguistic Goals in Biliteracy Instruction: A PAR Workshop for Teachers (NABE), 2023
Language teacher policy at the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), 2022
Panelist on Teacher Pedagogical Language Knowledge at the American Educational Research Association (AERA), 2022
Chair of a Panel on Teacher Pedagogical Language Knowledge at the American Educational Research Association (AERA), 2020
Figured Worlds of Teachers: Decision-making for linguistic supports, at the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), 2019
Published Papers
The Underground Railroad Doesn’t Run Underground: Tackling Metaphors in the Social Studies Classroom (Springer, 2022)
Language and Words: How Vocabulary Teaching Indexes Teacher Histories and Beliefs about Language
Public Service
Bilingual education is a group activity, requiring buy-in and active support from parents and communities. About 20% of my professional activities involve building and nurturing those networks while also training bilingual and ESL educators in underfunded schools.
current roles
Co-chair of Bilingualism Matters Chicago
Networking group facilitator, supporting outreach to bilingual community groups
Board member for Amigos de Las Americas, Chicago chapter
Supporting youth ambassadors on the program’s three core values: cultural humility, leadership and public service
BiLiteracy Specialist and trainer at Margarita Calderon & Associates, Inc.
Hosting professional development workshops on literacy instruction for ELLs with K–12 educators across the U.S.
Fun facts about me!
I’m a single mom to a toddler
I’m a life-long runner,
I’ve completed 1 marathon to date
I’m learning Stand-up!
I did my first (tight five!) open mic in early 2022
I once won a bowling tournament
I took home a $500 cash prize and a HUGE trophy!
I have Middle child energy 🤌🏻
I’m a self-care ninja
I can find the spare minutes of any hectic work day to center my mind/body/spirit.
I won my 8th grade student council presidency
I built my campaign on a platform of comedy, vending machine snacks, and 5-minutes extended recess for all! #knowyouraudience
