Presented by Gillian Lord (University of Florida, Professor and Chair of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies).

Abstract: Following the Modern Language Association’s (2007) recommendations, and in the face of declining enrollments nationwide, language programs are beginning to undertake serious self-reflection with respect to our curricula and our pedagogical approaches. This process often reveals our need to re-envision our approach to teaching languages, literatures and cultures. One such way language educators look to innovate their teaching is by embracing digital tools, whether of their own design or those that accompany textbook packages.  While there is no doubt that digital materials facilitate opportunities for fostering the “translingual and transcultural competence” called for by the MLA, it is less clear when and how these technologies will cease to be add-ons and begin to serve a more integrative function in transforming our teaching and learning.  To this end, I argue that the paper-based textbook has outlived its usefulness in today’s world, both logistically and pedagogically, and that the change we need in terms of how we teach cannot fully take place until we change the materials we use to teach. To demonstrate, I explain the theoretical underpinnings that went into the design and development of my new co-authored digital beginning Spanish textbook, Contraseña. To conclude, I analyze student outcome data from learners using this program in order to show that this transformed approach benefits both students and instructors.

This was a free event. See more information, including a recording of the event and the PPT slides here.

The Art of Integrated, Literacy-based Lesson Planning

Presented by Cherice Montgomery (Brigham Young University)

Abstract

Teaching students to how to communicate in the interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational modes can be a challenge.  This workshop offers a step-by-step process for designing multidimensional, literacy-based lessons that skillfully transform textbook materials into artfully integrated masterpieces of language, content, and culture.  Workshop participants will learn to:  (1) engage learners with the academic content embedded in culturally authentic texts; (2) employ interactive simulations and other content-based activities to develop learners’ critical thinking and discussion skills; (3) expand the complexity of students’ language by counterbalancing attention to language and content in informational texts (4) encourage students’ success with practical strategies for scaffolding language production.  Participants are encouraged to bring several culturally authentic texts for the classes they teach, along with a laptop, tablet, or iPad.

Bio:

Cherice Montgomery holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum, Teaching, and Educational Policy with an emphasis in Learning, Technology, & Culture from Michigan State University.  Her research explores the potential of design-based pedagogies, 21st century skills, and social technologies for affecting change in world language teacher education and professional development.

Montgomery’s professional endeavors have included the design and facilitation of a variety of grant-funded summer institutes and webinars aimed at helping world language educators to develop skills in mentoring, leadership, pedagogy, project-based language learning, and technology.  Her work is informed by a diverse array of K-16 teaching experiences, and she has been honored with several awards for excellence in teaching. She has also served as co-chair of the ACTFL Pimsleur Research Award Committee, as an advisory board member for several different Language Resource Centers, and as a member of the New Visions in Foreign Language Education Task Force and as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Critical Inquiry Into Curriculum & Instruction.  She currently coordinates the Spanish Teaching Major Program at Brigham Young University, where she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in assessment, language teaching methods, literacy development, and technology.  Her current projects include extensive pedagogical work in literacy development and scaffolding, and grant-supported research in four different immersive language learning environments:  (1) Dual Language Immersion (DLI), (2) Foreign Language Student Residences (FLSR), (3) online, Playable Case Study simulations (PCS), and (4) Project-based Language Learning (PBLL).

CERCLL launched the UArizona Language Fair in 2019, an annual event designed to raise the visibility of the wide range of languages that students study at The University of Arizona, and open to all. Departments, programs, and clubs representing language and cultures taught at UA will again be able to apply for table space to showcase their languages in 2020, as well as for small grants to support the purchase of materials for activities or treats for distribution at these tables. (The deadline to apply was February 24th.) Further details about the UArizona language fair, and a video of the 2019 event are here.

Seventh International Conference on the
Development and Assessment of Intercultural Competence.

Internationalizing the Curriculum:
The Role of Intercultural Competence

on January 23-26, 2020, in Tucson, Arizona, and online.

Invited Presentations:
Adriana Diaz (University of Queensland – Australia)
Marianne Larsen (Western University – Canada)
Sharon Stein (University of British Columbia – Canada)

This biennial event brings together researchers and practitioners across languages, levels, and settings to discuss and share research, theory, and best practices, and to foster meaningful professional dialog on issues related to the development and assessment of Intercultural Competence, especially in a foreign or second language.

The 2020 ICC conference will take stock of current models for internationalizing curricula as well as the genealogies of these discussions. The organizers are interested in accounts of best practices as well as critical examinations of current trends and conceptual think pieces around what it might mean to internationalize higher education.

See the full CFP and topic description. Proposal submission deadline: May 31, 2019

Are you a language educator in Arizona? Then join us for this informal meeting of language teachers, ready to share what they learned at the ACTFL convention. Bring your ideas and resources, and share with / learn from your peers.

AZLA Café is open to Pre-K 16 World Languages teachers in Arizona. It will take place in Flagstaff, Arizona–at Salsa Brava located at 2220 E Rte. 66, Flagstaff AZ 86004.

This event in the AZLA Café series is cosponsored by the Arizona Language Association (AZLA) and the Center for Educational Resources in Culture, Language and Literacy at the University of Arizona (CERCLL). The event is free, with food funded by AZLA!

Register by November 29th.

Questions? Email AZLA

Margherita Berti (University of Arizona) presented “Learn to Teach with Social Networks: A Practical Guide for Intercultural Competence”

This webinar illustrated how social networks, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, can be utilized in language courses to foster intercultural competence. Pedagogical applications and practical suggestions were provided for using social networks and authentic social media with beginner and intermediate language learners. Participants received a teacher’s guide e-book, access to an online training site, and video tutorials to begin using social networks with their own students the very next day!

Margherita Berti is a doctoral student in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT) at the University of Arizona and holds a master’s degree in Linguistics/TESL from Indiana State University. Her research specialization resides at the intersection of intercultural competence, educational technology, and curriculum and L2 content development.

CERCLL will be exhibiting at the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) annual convention in Washington, DC. We share a booth with the other fifteen Language Resource Centers (LRCs) across the U.S., where the numerous materials created by our centers will displayed for a national community of language educators. More details will follow, but in the meantime, you will find a searchable database of resources created and events hosted by the sixteen centers on our common LRC website.

Genre Matters in Contextualized World Language Learning

Francis John Troyan (Ohio State University)

This workshop introduces participants to a genre theory and pedagogy that views spoken and written texts as genres that can be made visible and systematically taught to students. Participants will learn how to integrate genre into a backward design approach for the assessment and instruction of language that is centered on the development of the learner’s ability to communicate in written and spoken genres.

Francis John Troyan, Assistant Professor of World Language Education at The Ohio State University, specializes in world language teacher development, genre and functional linguistics in K-12 world language education, and teacher practices in dual language immersion education.

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CERCLL’s biannual Language Teacher Symposium (LaTeS) is a professional development opportunity geared towards K12 educators. Registration is free. A certificate for Arizona Continuing Education is provided.
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Come visit our booth at the Tucson Meet Yourself Festival!

Drop by to learn a little of someone else’s language and culture, and to share some of your own with visitors from southern Arizona and further afield. Students and faculty representing just a few of the diverse groups in Tucson’s community will be on hand to help participants enjoy games and other activities from these cultures, and to celebrate the benefits and opportunities that come from communicating in another language.

Our booth is across the way from the Joel E. Valdez main library, near the Bank of America.

Wondering what some of the 120+ languages spoken in Tucson are? Check out the Language Capital Project by Christian Ruvalcaba and Michelle Aguilera, and the interviews they recorded.

CERCLL will be leading a new initiative on campus in this series of events and professional learning communities for the University of Arizona’s faculty, administrators and graduate students in language, literature and culture departments to explore today’s best practices and models for foreign language, literature and culture departments.

We are hosting the launch event on Friday, September 27, 2019 (2:00-5:00 pm) on campus. It will feature world-renowned speakers who have a record of innovative program development. In a roundtable discussion, the invited speakers will each share transdisciplinary initiatives they have lead on their home campuses. This will be followed by breakout sessions in which participants can focus on themes of specific significance to them. Through these conversations, we will identify future directions to explore as a campus. The event will conclude with a reception.

Featured speakers:

• Charlotte Melin (Professor of German University of Minnesota-Twin Cities)
• Gillian Lord (Professor and Chair of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies, University of Florida)
• Domna Stanton (Distinguished Professor of French, CUNY; former President of the MLA)

Organized with the College of Humanities.