Archived Content from Conference Held in May 2011 

Program Evaluation for Language Instructors
Margaret Malone, Center for Applied Linguistics

Program evaluation has the power to transform not only language programs but to provide opportunities for instructors to reflect upon their teaching and their own professional goals and development. This workshop, designed for language teacher educators, demonstrates current approaches to language program evaluation. It identifies ways that both the activities and outcomes of program evaluation can assist language instructors in maintaining program quality.

The workshop begins with a general an overview e program evaluation, including how evaluation planning and activities can align with program objectives and mission. Next, the workshop demonstrates how program evaluation, through both quantitative and qualitative information gathering and analysis, can not only improve programs but also allow individuals to reflect upon their own growth. Participants begin with a short activity to identify their own assumptions about program evaluation. Through whole-group discussion and group work, current approaches to program evaluation and positive outcomes are identified. Participants will work to identify activities and processes that may work in their own settings and explore how such activities can help language programs maintain and expand their position in the curriculum.
(Limit 30 participants)

A Long-Term Approach to FL TA Development
Heather Willis Allen, University of Miami, and Beatrice Dupuy,University of Arizona

The frontloading Foreign Language (FL) Teaching Assistant (TA) training paradigm has been viewed for some time as inadequate preparation for tomorrow’s FL professoriate. This workshop will present select materials and inquiry-based activities (concept mapping, goal setting, lesson study, etc.) that permeate a long-term FL TA development framework and show how these can lead TAs to gradually rethink and reorient the way they teach.

Language Immersion Teacher Education: Is it Really Any Different?
Tara Williams Fortune and Diane J. Tedick, University of Minnesota

As the demand for multilingual, interculturally competent citizens grows, language teacher educators are challenged to prepare teachers for a greater variety of program models and learner groups (ESL, foreign language, bilingual education, immersion). How is immersion different from ESL, foreign language and bilingual education? What are the implications of these differences for language teacher educators? These questions will be the focus of our workshop.

Preparing Teachers to Understand and Act Critically Upon Language Policies
Adriana González Moncada, Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia

Language policies influence language teaching, teacher education, and teacher development and often diminish the status of language teachers. Although understanding and acting critically upon language policies should be a key issue in language teacher education and professional development, we tend to exclude the analysis of language policies from our work with teachers. In this workshop, participants will explore ways to support language teachers’ involvement in language policies implementation.

Infusing Technology into Language Teacher Education
Cherise Montgomery, Brigham Young University

“Transliteracy” is an evolving set of skills students need in order to live and learn in a rapidly changing society. This hands-on workshop showcases technology-infused tasks and tools designed to help methods instructors model such literacies for preservice teachers. Sample assignment sheets, rubrics, and scaffolding templates designed to strengthen research skills, expand professional collaboration, and creatively motivate students’ language use will be provided.

Professional Development for Teaching Adult Emergent Readers
Martha Bigelow and Patsy Vinogradov, University of Minnesota

This workshop will outline for teacher educators some of the most important, research-based characteristics of adult language learners who are becoming literate for the first time. We will share useful materials, model a few core teaching strategies and discuss program model issues that will help teachers serve this unique population. Participants are encouraged to bring their own reading lists, materials, and questions to the workshop.

Exploring New Directions in the Preparation of Beginning Foreign Language Teachers
Richard Donato and Kristin Davin, University of Pittsburgh

This workshop presents two approaches to teacher education that have not commonly been used in the preparation of beginning foreign language teachers -- the use of 1) co-planning in a lesson study-centered course and 2) high leverage practices as an organizing principle of the foreign language teacher education curriculum. The workshop will provide first-hand accounts of experiences with these two approaches, including descriptions of the planning and implementation process, analysis of instruction during the course, videos of actual teaching practice of the beginning teachers following university-based classroom instruction, the role of theory and professional knowledge, and student opinions of these two approaches. The workshop will be organized as a working group of teacher educator professionals who will collaboratively explore the potential of these two approaches, the integration of lesson study with high leverage practices, and the practical and theoretical challenges that may emerge.

Critical Multiliteracies: Engaging Identities in L2 Classrooms
Brian Morgan, York University, Canada

This workshop will examine key concepts related to critical multiliteracies and demonstrate their implementation in a variety of L2 settings.

Exploring Learner Language in Language Teacher Education
Bonnie Swierzbin, Hamline University, and Elaine Tarone, University of Minnesota

Workshop activities will show how videos of language produced by learners of English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Persian can be used in language teacher education to foster better awareness of learner language development in the classroom.

Preparing Leaders in the Arabic Language Teaching Community
Iman Hashem, California State University at Long Beach

During the last decade we have witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of private and public schools offering courses in Arabic language and culture. Unfortunately, this has occurred with limited support for developing teachers qualified to teach Arabic to non-natives and heritage speakers. New programs seek teachers who can develop successful standards-based programs in Arabic language and culture. Perspective teachers are eager to develop the skills necessary to interest and retain students and successfully compete with well established programs in commonly-taught languages.

In this workshop the presenter will describe various models she has used for teacher preparation, particularly those designed to serve teachers of Arabic language and culture in light of their strengths and weaknesses. The presenter will showcase her most recent work that builds the capacity necessary to become certified to teach in the state of California, specifically to create and deliver technology-enhanced, standards-based materials. The workshop will be a guided tour of the materials used for preparing teachers to plan, implement, and reflect on standards-based Arabic language and culture instruction.

Culture as the Core in Chinese Teacher Education
Joan Brzezinski and Johanna Ennser-Kananen, Confucius Institute, University of Minnesota

This workshop will provide hands-on activities drawn from an inservice STARTALK workshop for Chinese teachers that places culture at the core of curriculum planning.

Technology Options for Foreign Language Teachers
Dan Soneson and Marlene Johnshoy, University of Minnesota

This workshop presents current free online tools that you can introduce in your methodology courses and professional development sessions to illustrate ways to incorporate multimedia technology in a foreign language curriculum. Projects include writing and peer editing, creating multimedia posters and online avatars, and producing image-based interactive oral and written discussions. Participants will have an opportunity to explore the tools and will receive step-by-step instructions to distribute for each application.