A free webinar presented by Heather Willis Allen (University of Wisconsin-Madison).
Wednesday, April 23, 2025, 10-11:30 AM Arizona (UTC-7)
Historically, textbook materials have been an important component of K-12 and collegiate second language (L2) curricula, particularly in programs with multiple sections of elementary and intermediate-level courses. In 1998, Kramsch called textbooks the foundation of syllabus design and lesson planning. More than two decades later, despite an explosion of readily available digital resources and ever evolving communications technologies impacting how and what L2 students learn in academic settings, commercial textbooks remain the bedrock of instruction and professional development in many language programs (Warner & Dupuy, 2018).
This webinar will offer the opportunity for participants to identify benefits and drawbacks of commercial L2 textbooks for student learning and teacher instructional planning before engaging with the question of how language courses can foster students’ understandings of the interrelationships between language and culture by going beyond the textbook. But how can we accomplish this in a manner that is intellectually and personally meaningful for learners and sustainable for instructors? We will explore the notion of literacy as a multidimensional and multimodal learning goal and identify resources and instructional practices that align with a multiliteracies perspective and the aim of engaging learners in Meaning Design. Using pedagogical examples from an intermediate French course, I will argue for a balanced approach to instructional design that balances the use of textbook content with activities and assessments that facilitate L2 Meaning Design.
Bio:
Heather Willis Allen is Associate Professor of French in the Department of French and Italian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She teaches undergraduate French culture and writing courses and graduate courses in applied linguistics. Her publications include A Multiliteracies Framework for Collegiate Foreign Language Teaching (with Kate Paesani and Beatrice Dupuy), Alliages Cultures: La Société Française en Transformation (with Sebastien Dubreil), and Educating the Future Foreign Language Professoriate for the 21st Century (edited with Hiram Maxim). Her forthcoming book, A Design Orientation to Second Language Writing Instruction, will be published as part of Routledge’s Multiliteracies and Second Language Education series in Summer 2025.
This is the first event in a three-part series on Transforming Language Teaching Materials: From Selection and Adaptation, to Creation, to Successful Implementation. See the series details here.
Participants attending this webinar live can request a certificate of attendance for 1.5 hours of Continuing Education in a request form that is shared at the end of the event. CERCLL will contact them after the webinar about how to request a digital badge.
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.