A free public talk by Dr. Jia Li (Yunnan University)
A webinar presented by Ilka Kostka, Northeastern University.
March 13th, 2024, 10-11:30 am Arizona time
This is the second webinar in CERCLL’s free webinar series Rebooting Language Educ-AI-tion.
- See Dr. Kostka’s slides here [PDF]
- Dr. Kostka’s list of sources and resources for further reading [PDF]
Abstract:
Advancements in generative artificial intelligence (AI) have garnered tremendous attention across disciplines and industries, and language education is no exception. At present, we are teaching, learning, and working in a world that is being increasingly impacted by generative AI on an almost daily basis. One of the most popular applications, ChatGPT, was made available to the public in November 2022, sparking both excitement and fear about responsible use, academic integrity, and data privacy (Tlili et al., 2023). In turn, a growing body of scholarship has explored the use of ChatGPT and other generative AI applications to support language instruction (Kohnke et al., 2023; Kostka & Toncelli, 2023), inform in-class activities (Warner, 2023), and build students’ 21st-century skills (Hié, 2023). Despite the mixed feelings that many educators have about generative AI, few can deny that these programs have tremendous implications for both English and world language instruction.
The primary goal of this webinar is to collectively explore and critically examine the role of generative AI in language education. We begin with a brief overview of key concepts related to generative AI before examining the benefits and rewards it may offer language educators. We then discuss the risks inherent to generative AI adoption, as well as the ethical considerations that instructors should know to both teach their students about AI and use it in their own work. Finally, we consider how language education may be “rebooted” for pedagogical innovation and address pressing questions that will impact the field moving forward. During the webinar, I will provide examples from my classes to show how I have used generative AI in both teacher-facing and student-facing ways and share preliminary findings from classroom-based research projects conducted over the past academic year. This webinar is geared toward all language educators with a range of knowledge and experience using generative AI; technical expertise is not required.
Bio:
Dr. Ilka Kostka is a teaching professor at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. She teaches English language courses to undergraduate and graduate international students, develops and evaluates language programs, manages graduate courses, and supports instructors. She received her PhD in bilingual education from New York University, where she examined ways of teaching source-based academic writing to multilingual learners. Dr. Kostka’s current scholarly activities focus primarily on approaches that support English language learning, such as the flipped learning model and computer-assisted language learning. Over the past year, she has been incorporating generative artificial intelligence (AI) into her work by experimenting with varying tools, planning workshops for faculty, and conducting research with colleagues. Before teaching English as a Second Language, Dr. Kostka was a German language instructor at universities in Connecticut and New York City. She has also taught English in China and lived and studied in Germany. She is the current Secretary of Northern New England TESOL (NNETESOL) and serves on the Board of Directors of Literacy Volunteers of Greater Worcester, which provides literacy and language instruction to immigrants and refugees in central Massachusetts.
Congratulations to Ilka on receiving The Ron Chang Lee Award for Excellence in Classroom Technology!
Registration closes the day before the event.
Participants attending live can request a certificate of attendance for 1.5 hours of Continuing Education during the event. They can request a digital badge after the webinar, once they are contacted by CERCLL after the event.
Participants who require closed captions or an ASL interpreter during CERCLL’s events should make this request at least a week in advance by emailing CERCLL at cercll@email.arizona.edu.
The Ninth International Conference on the Development and Assessment of Intercultural Competence
Intercultural Learning, Global Citizenship and Peacebuilding
Invited Presenters:
Larisa Kasumagić Kafedžić, University of Sarajevo
Adam Strom, Re-Imagining Migration
In 2015, The United Nations (UN) adopted a 2030 agenda, which included peace at its core. Based on this blueprint, the UN member states agreed to…
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
Peacebuilding here is focused at the macrolevel of government actors and institutions, including educational organizations; however, work within language and culture education (e.g., Oxford et al, 2020) suggests that individuals, including those in conflict-ridden parts of the world, often cite inner and interpersonal dimensions of peace as central. What roles might intercultural learning play in fostering peace across and between these disparate levels? What might an intercultural education for peacebuilding that is cognizant of disparity and pain look like (see Bigelow, 2016; Porto & Zembylas, 2022)? What kinds of connections between intercultural peace and other dimensions including inner peace and ecological peace can our language curricula and programs help students to explore (see Oxford, 2017)? How can language educators promote respect for all, build a sense of belonging to a common humanity, and help learners become responsible and active global citizens (see UNESCO’s definition of Global Citizenship Education)?
The organizers of ICC 2024 accepted presentation proposals that focus upon these questions. Authors chose from among the following strands:
- Theoretical and conceptual approaches
- Assessment
- Curriculum design and instructional approaches
- Materials
- Technology
- Policy and institutional initiatives
- Exchanges (physical and virtual)
- Service/Community-based learning
- Professional learning of educators
Around 100 presentations have been accepted or invited for ICC 2024, with authors located at institutions in 30 countries and in 27 US states. Presentations include pre- and post-conference workshops (in-person only), papers (in-person and virtual), symposia (in-person and virtual), and posters (in-person and virtual). Fewer than a third of the presentations are virtual; the rest will be presented in-person, in Tucson, Arizona.
Registration scholarships are available for K-12 teachers and graduate students. Extended application deadline: December 8, 2023.
For all the details, visit the ICC Website.
This ninth iteration of the Intercultural Competence conference is organized by the Center for Educational Resources in Culture, Language and Literacy (CERCLL), a Title VI Language Resource Center at the University of Arizona.
Questions? Please contact CERCLL at cercll@arizona.edu
Co-sponsored by:
- The Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT) Program
- College of Humanities
- College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
- Arizona International
- Center for East Asian Studies (CEAS) at the University of Arizona
- Center for Latin American Studies (LAS) at the University of Arizona
- Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) at the University of Arizona
- Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research (CALPER) at Pennsylvania State University
- Center for Applied Second Language Studies (CASLS) at the University of Oregon
- Center for Urban for Language Teaching and Research (CULTR) at Georgia State University
- National Foreign Language Resource Center (NFLRC) at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
A webinar presented by Errol M. O’Neill, University of Memphis
This is the first webinar in CERCLL’s free webinar series Rebooting Language Educ-AI-tion.
January 31st, 2024, at 10 am Arizona time
Download the presentation slides here [PDF]
Dr. O’Neill’s cited resources [PDF]
Abstract:
Instructional technologies have revolutionized the way students learn and educators teach world languages. Online machine translators and Generative AI – two types of artificial intelligence tools that are available to the general public – represent both an exciting opportunity and a potential risk for language instruction.
This webinar will take a three-pronged approach to the issue of AI integration in the context of world language courses. First, research related to the use of online translators and AI chatbots and their effects on language learning will be reviewed. The literature on these tools shows a number of beneficial impacts on learners’ written and oral production, as well as their confidence in using the target language. Next, specific policies and activity types will be explored that allow for responsible use of these and related technologies. Examples will be presented of online translator and AI policies that have been adopted at a variety of K-12 and higher ed institutions, as well as tasks that instructors have reported using that encourage appropriate and thoughtful use of these tools. Finally, participants will have the opportunity to collaborate with other attendees to construct an activity incorporating online translator and AI chatbot usage that reflects their own priorities and the needs of their learners.
By the end of this session, attendees will be better informed about the current state of affairs and future directions for online translation and generative AI in language instruction. In addition, they will gain practical, hands-on experience in creating tasks integrating online translators and generative AI that can be applied to their own instructional context.
Bio:
Dr. Errol M. O’Neill (he/him) is an Associate Professor at the University of Memphis (USA). He is Supervisor of French Graduate Teaching Assistants and course designer and developer of the four-course online basic language sequence of French on U of M Global, the University of Memphis’s online degree program. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in French SLATE (Second Language Acquisition and Teacher Education). His research explores the intersection of technology and language learning, in particular student use of electronic tools, including online machine translators, online dictionaries, and more recently, AI chatbots. He has given nearly 40 conference presentations, webinars, workshops, and invited talks on the topics of online machine translation, generative AI, and the integration of technology in language instruction. His forthcoming chapter in the Routledge Handbook of Research in World Language Instruction (expected publication summer 2024) explores the topics of academic integrity and digital literacy among language learners.
Participants attending live can request a certificate of attendance for 1.5 hours of Continuing Education during the event. They can request a digital badge after the webinar, once they are contacted by CERCLL after the event.
Participants who require closed captions or an ASL interpreter during CERCLL’s events should make this request at least a week in advance by emailing CERCLL at cercll@email.arizona.edu.
2024 Annual Conference Globalizing the Community College Curricula
“Embracing Counternarratives For Global Learning”
Dates: January 19-20, 2024
Location: Tucson, Arizona
This conference is designed to provide community college educators with resources to promote international curriculum in their classrooms.
This year the theme is “Embracing Counternarratives for Global Learning”. Conference attendees will explore the transformative power of counternarratives in promoting the global learning characteristic of inclusive and culturally diverse community college curricula.
A counternarrative is a response or alternative perspective that challenges or opposes a dominant or mainstream narrative. It provides a different interpretation of events, ideas, or cultural norms, often aiming to shed light on perspectives, experiences, or historical facts that might have been marginalized or overlooked by the dominant narrative.
Counternarratives can serve various purposes, such as highlighting marginalized voices, exposing hidden truths, critiquing existing power structures, or promoting social change. They are commonly employed in social, political, and cultural contexts to offer a more inclusive and comprehensive understanding of complex issues. Consequently, counternarratives can play a significant role in shaping public discourse, challenging established norms, and encouraging critical thinking about prevailing narratives.
Keynote Speaker: Kyong Park – Department of Visual Arts, University of California San Diego
More information about the Keynote speaker can be found here: https://sites.google.com/arizona.edu/gccc2024/keynote
Visit the GCCC site to register: https://sites.google.com/arizona.edu/gccc2024/home
For further assistance, email TVI-Outreach@arizona.edu
The Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Center for East Asian Studies, and Center for Educational Resources in Culture, Language and Literacy organize an annual Community College Educators Conference each January. This conference is designed to provide community college educators with resources to promote international curriculum at the community college level.
A webinar presented by Diana Ruggiero, Ph.D., University of Memphis
November 29th, 2023, at 10 am Arizona time
Click here to see the slides for this presentation.
Abstract:
The need for specialized communication abilities across various vocations proliferates today. To address this need, it is urgently necessary to switch from conventional language and cultural programs to more specialized, profession-specific courses. This presentation presents the idea of World Languages for Specific Purposes (WLSP), discusses its significance, and suggests ways to easily incorporate WLSP courses, majors, and certifications into current language and culture programs.
More than ever, the globe is connected. Professionals increasingly need fluency in foreign languages suited to their unique professional demands since they can now communicate in their home tongues. Whether Japanese for business, French for culinary arts, or Spanish for healthcare, WLSP focuses on fusing language acquisition with cultural subtleties and domain-specific terms. WLSP improves the relevance of the learning experience for students and boosts their employability after graduation.
Three key areas form our strategy for a curriculum that is LSP-focused:
- Curriculum Development: An investigation into creating LSP courses that address the industries with the most demand in the current labor market. Educators may design courses that are interesting to students and valuable to them professionally by understanding the intersection of language, culture, and professional requirements.
- Setting up an LSP Minor: An LSP minor is the ideal balance for individuals looking to complement their degree with specialized language abilities. This section will go into the factors to consider and procedures to build up a minor that may be tailored based on the student’s career objectives.
- Offering an LSP Certificate: An LSP certificate can prove proficiency in a particular language area for professionals and students. We will examine the advantages of such a certificate and the practical considerations around its inclusion.
In conclusion, WLSP presents a viable way for educational institutions to improve their curriculum by bridging the gap between language learning and professional requirements. Join us as we examine how language instruction will develop in the future to prepare our kids for the globalized world.
Bio:
Dr. Diana Ruggiero is a Professor of Spanish at the University of Memphis, she specializes in World Languages for Specific Purposes and community service learning. She developed Spanish for healthcare, Spanish for commerce, Spanish for community engagement and Medical Spanish interpreting, online, hybrid and face to face. She is an engaged scholar recognized by her professional peers worldwide for her contributions to scholarship and teaching in WLSP and Spanish language and culture. Dr. Ruggiero is the recipient of an American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) Teacher of the Year Award (College Level), an American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL Nelson Brooks Award for Excellence in The Teaching of Culture, a Strengthening Communities Capacity Building Grant (University of Memphis), and an Early Career Award (University of Memphis) in recognition of her contributions to research and teaching of WLSP, Service learning and Latinx Culture.
Seeking additional resources?
Check out Dr. Ruggiero’s book:
Teaching World Languages for Specific Purposes
The world today is changing, and college-level language departments are rethinking and revamping their vision and curricular offerings as a result. The field of world languages for specific purposes (WLSP) presents a solution to these challenges, helping students develop language skills and intercultural competencies as they focus on content-based professional areas such as business, law, and medicine. As demand for these courses grows, teachers and administrators seek research-based information on how to develop and teach WLSP curricula. This book bridges theory and practice, inviting scholars, educators, students, and professionals of all areas of world language specialization to create new opportunities for their students.
Teaching World Languages for Specific Purposes provides practical strategies, models, and resources for developing WLSP curricula through a learner-centered approach grounded in empathy and compassion. Author Diana M. Ruggiero begins with an overview of the scholarship and purpose of WLSP, providing a firm foundation for teachers. She then guides teachers through each key step of WLSP pedagogy, from course development to formative assessment of students. Along the way, Ruggiero addresses important topics such as language interpretation, culture, the needs of heritage learners, and the role of community service learning (CSL) in WLSP. Included in the conversation are new considerations for WLSP and CSL in the wake of COVID-19. Resources for further curriculum development, models for assignments and assessments, sample lesson plans and lesson planning materials, and much more are available in the appendixes, making this a rich resource for all world languages educators.
Registration has ended.
Participants attending live can request a certificate of attendance for 1.5 hours of Continuing Education during the event. They can request a digital badge after the webinar, once they are contacted by CERCLL after the event.
Participants who require closed captions or an ASL interpreter during CERCLL’s events should make this request at least a week in advance by emailing CERCLL at cercll@email.arizona.edu.
CERCLL is co-sponsoring the 46th American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) conference this Fall, the theme of which is The Place of Translation.
The ALTA46 theme provides an opportunity to explore questions of placement, replacement, displacement, positioning, transnationalism, in-betweenness, out-of-placeness, and representation, as well as the place and irreplaceability of translation and translators in the literary world and culture at large.
Visit the conference website for all the details: https://literarytranslators.org/conference/alta46 (Early Bird registration ends September 30 and regular registration ends October 23. After that, the price increases to the onsite rate.)
We are especially excited to sponsor this panel to be presented at ALTA46:
The Place of Translation in Language Education
Moderator: Chantelle Warner, CERCLL Co-Director
Panelists: Janice McGregor, Alexander Elinson, Gina Elia, Amanda Shufflebarger
Abstract:
Translation has held an intimate, sometimes cozy and sometimes fraught, position in the field of language education. Recent conversations emphasizing the multiplicity of styles and genres and the role of affective dimensions of language use have breathed new life into long-debated questions about the potential of literary translation in language teaching and learning. This panel brings together practitioners who use literary translation and/or translation-based activities in language/culture classes for an exchange of ideas around what frameworks and practices might continue to inform this work. Following a set of opening remarks from the panelists, audience members will be invited to participate in an open discussion around the future of literary translation in language teaching and learning.
Title: Small Changes – Big Impact, Classroom Strategies for More Inclusion
Presenter: Sara Lee (Arizona State University)
LaTeS is normally a biannual in-person workshop at which K-12 language teachers can share ideas and issues that are specific to their community, and leave with methods and materials that they can implement into their own classrooms. Arizona Continuing Education is available. We are excited to be back in-person with LaTeS, see more details about our presenter below!
Limited funding for travel is available. The application deadline was October 16. Thank you to the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Center for Latin American Studies, and Arizona International for their contributions to these awards!
Registration is FREE! Registration deadline has been extended, October 25th at 11:59 PM.
Click here to see what Arizona teachers had to say about Fall LaTes 2023.
Abstract:
Dyslexia, ADHD, autism – shall we even bother to learn a second language?
YES!
Learners with disabilities often worry that their struggles will be multiplied in the world language classroom. However, the opposite can be true. Learning a second language means focusing on communication and culture instead of spelling tests and reading speed.
How can we as teachers help these learners reach their potential and minimize the impact that their disabilities have on language learning?
This workshop will focus on strategies that teachers can use to support students with different disabilities in the classroom. We will also examine how assessments can be adjusted and what ‘fair’ grading looks like.
Teachers are invited to share their experiences with learners with disabilities, and we will discuss how to create a more inclusive classroom and achieve this with just minor changes to our daily routine.
About the Presenter:
Sara Lee is an Associate Teaching Professor at Arizona State University for German in the School of International Letters and Cultures. She is a dyslexia consultant for the AATG and a Coach and GEM (German Educational Multiplier) for the Goethe Institut. As a certified K-12 teacher, she has taught elementary to high school students and developed a program for dyslexic middle school children to learn German. Her research and teaching focus is learning languages with disabilities and bilingual teaching and learning. In addition, she is the director of the CEFR language tests through the Goethe Institut in Arizona. Her current research project is the development of an error analysis to determine dyslexic tendencies in language learning based on the neurological and linguistic fundamentals of language learning.
Congratulations, Sara, for being awarded 2023 AZLA’s Teacher of the Year!
Join us at Tucson Meet Yourself 2023!
Booth #36
CERCLL is going to be hosting a booth at Tucson Meet Yourself 2023 for the duration of the festival from Friday, October 13 to Sunday, October 15 to showcase the wide range of languages taught at UA and spoken in our community.
Our Tucson, Meet Your Languages booth is cosponsored by the College of Humanities, Center for East Asian Studies, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and Center for Latin American Studies, all at the University of Arizona.
Joining us at our table from the University of Arizona:
- Center for East Asian Studies, on Friday
- Center for Latin American Studies, on Sunday
- Department of French and Italian Studies, on Saturday
- Department of German Studies, on Saturday
- Department of Russian and Slavic Studies, on Sunday
- Turkish (Friday) and Persian (Saturday) languages from the School of Middle and North African Studies
- Critical Languages Program, on Sunday
and more!
A webinar presented by Darcy Lear, Ph.D, University of Chicago
October 5th, 2023, at 10 am Arizona time
a) gives students practice with the challenging task of crafting cover letter paragraphs (they have to connect their experiences with us to whatever it is they are applying for–they have to connect those dots for us and for employers because employers at least cannot be bothered to do it for you)
and
b) decreases the burden of writing letters of recommendation for us because we can cut-and-paste what students write and edit/build from there.
Abstract:
The idea of maximizing learners’ career readiness in language programs brings to mind entire courses, certificates, or minors in business, medical, legal or other profession-specific areas. However, already-existing first- and second-year language courses are full of content that could quickly and easily be tied to career readiness. In this webinar, we will explore examples of skills that every employee in every workplace needs to be a successful professional and we will workshop examples that build on content that is part of every introductory and intermediate language curriculum. Having polished phone skills is one example of something that all our students will need in the workplace, whether they become doctors, lawyers, business people, or follow any other career path. At the most introductory level, practice with the alphabet and the digits 0-9 together with a few simple strategies are all language students need to take the most simple phone messages. As students’ general language skills improve, so can their workplace skills so that by the intermediate level, taking phone messages becomes an excellent application of analysis and synthesis skills. Similar activities related to networking in career contexts, crafting professional emails, and using digital tools can also be easily integrated into language programs. The language classroom can provide a low-stakes environment to get over the learning curve before students find themselves in the high-stakes settings of career fairs, job interviews, and professional environments. At the end of each course, students can write a resume line that concisely describes their language skills that apply to the workplace, which in turn can get them started thinking about cover letter paragraphs and answers job interview questions. This interactive webinar will provide opportunities to design classroom activities, ask questions, and develop materials that work for each participant.
Bio:
Darcy Lear has a PhD in foreign and second language education from the Ohio State University. She has worked as the basic language program director at the University of Illinois, the coordinator of the minor program in Spanish for the Professions at the University of North Carolina, and the coordinator of the Languages for Specific Purposes program at the University of Chicago Language Center. Darcy regularly researches, publishes, and presents on languages for specific purposes. Her publications include the introductory Spanish textbook Conéctate (with Grant Goodall) from McGraw Hill Education and Integrating Career Preparation into Language Courses from Georgetown University Press.
Looking for more resources?
See Dr. Lear’s book:
Integrating Career Preparation into Language Courses
Integrating Career Preparation into Language Courses provides foreign and second language teachers with easy and practical additions they can make to their existing curricula to help their students develop real-world professional skills and prepare to use the target language successfully in the workplace. The book is organized into six chapters, each addressing a different professional skill and opening with an explanation of how content typically included in a foreign language curriculum can be tied to this skill. Each chapter closes with class activities or lesson plans that include suggested materials and assessments that teachers can easily add to their language courses. Lear’s book is an accessible and practical guide designed to be adaptable for any language, offering exciting new possibilities to help teachers and students of foreign languages bring their language skills into the workplace.
Participants attending live can request a certificate of attendance for 1.5 hours of Continuing Education during the event. They can request a digital badge after the webinar, once they are contacted by CERCLL after the event.
Participants who require closed captions or an ASL interpreter during CERCLL’s events should make this request at least a week in advance by emailing CERCLL at cercll@email.arizona.edu.
- CERCLL Summer Workshop Series
- Intercultural Competence Conferences
- Digital Literacies in and beyond the L2 Classroom: A Hybrid Symposium on Research and Practice (October 2014)
- Multilingual, 2.0? (April 13-15, 2012)
General Professional Development and Other Events
Lectures and Cultural Events
CERCLL sponsors and co-sponsors numerous public events throughout the academic year. If you would like to receive announcements about these and other language-related opportunities, join CERCLL’s mailing list here.
CERCLL’s NSF Grant and Related Events
A UA’s Linguistics symposium was about the National Science Foundation grant from the Cyberlearning: Transforming Education program that CERCLL received in 2013. Jon Reinhardt spoke about the digital materials produced by the project in “Augmented Reality Mobile Games for Language Learning and Revitalization”. Access the presentation here. (A closed symposium for Native American educators took place in Fall 2013 and was followed by a workshop on the Fort Mohave reservation on the CA/AZ border in February, 2014, while CERCLL’s June 7th, 2014, workshop also covered some of the topics of this project; there was a presentation in American Indian Language Development Institute (AILDI)’s summer series in both 2014 and 2015 as well.)
Summer Workshop Series and the LATeS Symposium
CERCLL hosts professional development workshops each summer, as well as an annual language teacher symposium (LATeS).
Fall 2013 Workshops
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The first of two workshops presented with the Arabic Flagship program at the University of Arizona took place on December 14, 2013: Innovative Technology in the Language Classroom
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CERCLL began a relationship with the Confucius Institute at the University of Arizona that will bring professional development opportunities to Chinese teachers. The first workshop took place on December 7, 2013: Training Chinese Teachers in Communicative Language Teaching, presented by University of Arizona Assistant Professor Wenhao Diao. See CERCLL’s blog entry about this workshop.
Symposium on Indigenous Knowledge and Digital Literacies
In July 2013, CERCLL was awarded funding from the National Science Foundation through its Cyberlearning: Transforming Education program. The symposium and workshops were conceived as an extension to CERCLL’s Games to Teach Project, bringing digital gaming to a new audience for CERCLL–the Native American community. It is co-led by one of the Games to Teach project directors, Dr. Jonathon Reinhardt, and by Dr. Susan Penfield, who was previously CERCLL’s Research Coordinator. CERCLL is partnering with the University of Arizona’s American Indian Language Development Institute (AILDI) for the first time, and bringing CERCLL’s activities to underserved communities through this program. See CERCLL’s blog entry on the symposium.
U.S. Department of Education Annual Bus Tour
CERCLL was included in the U.S. Department of Education’s 2013 bus tour which was intended to highlight early learning and “teachers as leaders”, among other things. Dr. Brenda Dann-Messier, Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education and Acting Assistant Secretary of Education, and Dr. Sharon Lee Miller, Director of the Division of Academic and Technical Education, took part in a roundtable at the University of Arizona on September 11, 2013. See CERCLL’s blog entries on the topic.