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Over the course of the last academic term, CASLS, in addition to UO Language Council, Romance Languages, International Affairs, Yamada Language Center, and East Asian Languages and Literatures, has co-sponsored the “Language Teaching and Learning Professional Series” at the University of Oregon. This series has consisted of 6 “Language Talks,” where a presenter gives a brief presentation on some idea, approach, class, or material related to language teaching, and then opens the floor to discussion among the attendees, who have included language teachers and professors, language-teaching students, program directors, and language learners. Some examples of the talk subjects are listed below:

Designing for Autonomy and Interaction in Big and Small Learning Communities: Lessons from MOOCs and UO's Selfstudy Language Program by Jeff Magoto, Yamada Language Center

Interlanguage Pragmatic Development and Intercultural Competence by Julie M. Sykes, CASLS

Place-Based Games for Language Learning (a hands-on workshop) by Kazumi Hatasa, Purdue University

These talks were intended to help give members of the language-teaching community an opportunity to participate in conversations about language learning on the UO campus, without having to travel to conferences. They included innovative approaches and ideas in language learning, and generally ended up leading to thoughtful discussion, idea contribution, questions, and feedback from the attendees. Julie Sykes, director of CASLS, says, “We are all excited to see the value of collaboration and shared energy toward the common goal of high-quality language education at the University of Oregon. The UO Language Council and this professional development series are great examples of this shared vision.”

The last “Language Talk” will be a best practices showcase, held on the UO campus in PAC 119, from 3:00-4:00 on Dec 7^th.  All are welcome!