Pre-Conference Workshops

How, When and Why Technology Facilitates SLA: What Language Teacher Educators Need to Know
Fernando Rubio, University of Utah

In this workshop, we will explore how different theories of second language acquisition may lend support to the inclusion of technology in and out of the classroom and why the affordances of online technologies may make language learning more effective.

Target audience: All contexts and levels
Note: This workshop will be held in a CLA Language Center lab.
(Limit 25 participants)

Pedagogical Approaches and Classroom Applications for Teaching Heritage Language Learners
Maria Carreira, California State University, Long Beach

A heritage language teacher's knowledge base should include an understanding of macro-based approaches (Celce-Murcia and Olshtain, 2000) and Differentiated Teaching (Tomlinson, 2009) and how to use them in heritage language and mixed classes (classes with heritage and second language learners). Key concepts, techniques, and instructional approaches in heritage language teaching are presented against the backdrop of research on heritage language learners and heritage language pedagogy.

Target audience: Heritage Language

Program Evaluation for Language Teacher Educators
Margaret Malone, Center for Applied Linguistics; and John McEwan Davis, Georgetown University

Program evaluation has the potential to provide opportunities for instructors to reflect on their own teaching, professional goals and professional development needs while also transforming language programs. Designed for language educators, this workshop provides an overview of current approaches to language program development and identifies ways that both the activities and outcomes of program evaluation can assist language instructors in maintaining program quality while identifying areas for growth and improvement.

Target audience: All levels and contexts

Using Multimedia Case Studies in Teacher Preparation
Annela Teemant, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

Effective use of multimedia materials allows teacher educators to address the teaching-learning process authentically from various theoretical and practical points of view. Multimedia materials also humanize learners and learning in ways that honor the interconnectedness of language, cognition, and emotion. In this session, participants will use design principles to frame use of multimedia materials and apply critical sociocultural perspectives to the discussion of video clips of learners, teachers, and instruction.

Target Audience: All contexts and levels
Download Handout (PDF) 

Considering Identities and the Language/Culture/Power Nexus: Drama-Based Tools for Bilingual and ESL Teacher Preparation
Deborah Palmer and Blanca Caldas, University of Texas at Austin

Language is inextricably tied to culture and identity; some languages (and some identities) have higher status than others in our society—and this matters for learners and their teachers. In bilingual and ESL classrooms, students are often faced with the challenge of learning English within a minoritized context; teachers must learn to be their advocates. Drama can be a powerful tool to help future bilingual and ESL teachers learn professional advocacy skills, and develop the skills to bridge culture/ language/ power in the classroom. Participants will engage in drama re-enactments of classroom situations, and will come away with a toolbox of resources and strategies for opening up critical conversations with their preservice bilingual and ESL teachers.

Target audience: ESL/Bilingual, K-12

New Realities in Preparing Teachers of Adult Language Learners
Julia Reimer and Betsy Parrish, Hamline University

Language teachers can no longer get by teaching only to basic communicative needs. They must provide rigorous instruction, including academic language, strategies to access complex texts, and critical thinking skills when working with adult language learners. In this workshop, participants explore how to help language teachers navigate and implement this shift in thinking about what constitutes the core content of second or foreign language classes for adult learners.

Target audience: Adult ESL

Integrating Digital Literacies and New Technologies into Language Teacher Education and Professional Development
Lawrence Williams, University of North Texas; and Janel Pettes Guikema, Grand Valley State University

The focus of the first part of the workshop will be on situating digital literacies in language teacher education. Participants will then have opportunities to explore the versatility of several digital tools and relevant pedagogical underpinnings. During the third segment, the presenters will guide participants through a systematic analysis of discourse produced in various digital communication environments as the foundation of a discourse-based approach to language teacher education and professional development.

Target audience: All contexts and levels
Note: This workshop will be held in a CLA Language Center lab.
(Limit 25 participants)

Investigating and Interpreting the Professional Learning of Teachers of Languages: Case Studies of Diverse Teachers, Languages and Contexts
Angela Scarino, University of South Australia

In this workshop we examine data from case studies involving diverse teachers, languages and contexts, drawn from collaborative teacher learning projects which involved ongoing cycles of investigation, experimentation, facilitation, discussion and change. In discussion, we examine the processes of (1) interpreting, creating and exchanging meaning in professional learning and (2) reflection on personal conceptions and practices of language learning. We conclude with a discussion of implications for language teacher education in different contexts.

Target audience: All contexts and levels are welcome. Examples will be mostly drawn from work in the K-12 foreign language context.

'Post-Communicative' College-Level Foreign Language Instruction and Teacher Training: Changing Teacher Expectations, Student Behaviors, and Classroom Practices
Maggie Broner and Gwendolyn Barnes-Karol, St. Olaf College

In this workshop, we will first present one "post-communicative" approach to teaching foreign languages at the college level that infuses the curriculum with content and emphasizes the development of academic language through materials and activities that encourage critical thinking. Then, we will discuss how teacher training might address questions of teacher expectations, student behaviors, and classroom practices in order to prepare teachers to adapt this approach to their own instructional settings. The presenters will share examples from Spanish, and participants will brainstorm about applications to other languages.

Target audience: World Language, Postsecondary

Technology for Language Teacher Educators
Dan Soneson and Marlene Johnshoy, University of Minnesota

How do we encourage wise and pedagogically sound use of technology in the service of teaching and learning languages? How might you model technology use in your methodology courses and professional development sessions so that pre-and in-service language teachers can experience and reflect on how technology supports pedagogical goals? How can you work with these teachers to incorporate technology as a tool to support rather than drive the pedagogy? The workshop explores technology in the service of a student-centered communicative classroom. It presents technology tools to enable the development of learner competence in the three modes of communication—interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational. 

Target audience: All contexts and levels
Note: This workshop will be held in a CLA Language Center lab.
(Limit 25 participants)