Webinar presented by Kristen Michelson, Assistant Professor of French and Applied Linguistics at Texas Tech University. Contemporary communication and literacy practices increasingly occur in virtual spaces where texts are inherently multimodal. Yet, research and practice in second language (L2) reading lags behind everyday literacy practices by focusing primarily on linguistic modes of communication while underplaying the role of other semiotic modes in texts. In this webinar we explored reading as a way of encountering second language cultural practices and perspectives. Participants learned strategies for: 1) finding and curating authentic multimodal texts around specific cultural themes, 2) adapting and using frameworks for engaging students in reading multimodal texts, and 3) incorporating multimodal reading in the L2 classroom in tandem with language learning objectives.
See presentation slides here.
Bio:
Kristen Michelson is Assistant Professor of French and Applied Linguistics in the Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures at Texas Tech University, where she also directs the first and second year language program in French. Her scholarly work is anchored in multiliteracies pedagogies and has ranged from exploring global simulation frameworks as a way to foster multiliteracies, to tracing how foreign language teachers co-construct knowledge through digital social annotated reading, to investigating how second language learners of French interpret everyday internet texts. In this latter work, she has employed various methodologies in solo and collaborative research projects, including digital social annotated reading and prompted think-alouds. Her work aims to raise awareness of how particular representational choices are made with agency and intention against a backdrop of broader social contexts, and to provide opportunities for second language learners to understand and participate flexibly in cultural discourses of target language cultures.
Her work has been published in Foreign Language Annals; Language, Culture, and Curriculum; L2 Journal; and Issues in Language Program Direction. She has co-edited a special volume in L2 Journal on “Living Literacies” with Chantelle Warner, and co-edited the 2019 volume of Issues in Language Program Direction with Beatrice Dupuy on “Pathways to Paradigm Change” in foreign language education. Professor Michelson was awarded the 2020 Early Career Award by the ACTFL Research SIG, which recognizes early career scholars for excellence in research, contributions to the field, and promise for future impact in the field of foreign language teaching and learning research.
This event is one in a two-part webinar series on multi-modal literacies in second language classrooms. The other webinar is presented by Sebastien Dubreil.
Registration closes at 5PM (Arizona) on April 6, 2021.