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Content Type: 1
Title: How to Learn a Language with Twitter
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From http://blogs.transparent.com
Meaghan of Transparent Language describes four different ways that we can use Twitter for language learning in this short article: http://blogs.transparent.com/language-news/2015/08/12/how-to-learn-a-language-with-twitter/
Source: Transparent Language
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Title: Babelite: Idiomatic Expressions in French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Catalán
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Babelite is an online searchable collection of idiomatic expressions in French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Catalán. Choose the language you want to search in here: http://www.babelite.org/. If you are getting too many or too few results, here are some helpful pointers: http://www.babelite.org/pages/help
Source: Babelite
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Title: 20 Teaching Ideas About Email Writing
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This week’s Activity of the Week focuses students’ attention on determining the appropriate register depending on what medium of communication is being used. Here is a timely article by Elena Shvidko on the TESOL blog with 20 ideas for helping students develop their email writing skills. Although intended for English language learners, the activities can be used for students of any language.
Read the post here: http://caslsintercom.uoregon.edu/content/19869
Source: TESOL
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Content Type: 5
Title: Flagship Linkages: Engaging Secondary and Community College Students in Advanced Language Studies
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The UO Chinese Flagship Program and the PSU Russian Flagship Program have received a new grant from the National Security Education Program to support increased collaboration with K-12 schools and community colleges in the Pacific Northwest. The funding will bring together Chinese and Russian classroom teachers, pedagogy experts, and curriculum designers at all levels to enhance program articulation and develop curriculum so that regional students have clear pathways to continue their language learning from kindergarten through their undergraduate degree programs.
With the new funding from the National Security Education Program, the two Flagship programs will work collaboratively with Portland Public Schools (both Flagship programs have a long history of collaboration with Portland Public schools and their dual immersion programs), Woodburn Public Schools, Anchorage Public Schools, and Portland Community College on four major initiatives: (1) a Strategic Planning and Advisory Board, (2) a K-16 Flagship Articulation Document for Russian and Chinese, (3) a Community College Network Plan, and (4) a Summer Teacher Professional Development Workshop. The overarching goal of these initiatives is to increase the number of students entering the UO Chinese Flagship Program and the PSU Russian Flagship Program with high levels of proficiency.
This project is particularly exciting because it is the only one of the six Language Flagship Linkages grants that reaches out to community colleges and includes them in discussions about language program articulation. Also, in involving public school districts, this project will serve a new critical mass of learners who have participated in immersion education in elementary and middle grades and have much different needs from their peers at the secondary level.
Excitement to begin this important work is swelling. Dr. William Comer, Director of the Portland State University Russian Flagship program states, “A major part of this initiative supports teachers in dual immersion programs to come together, energize their professional networks, and collaborate on sharing and developing materials for use in new and existing dual immersion programs. Anything that we can do to support teachers enriches the classroom experience for students and makes language learning more engaging and durable.”
Source: CASLS Spotlight
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Content Type: 4
Title: Government Assistance Programs
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Stephanie Knight is the Language Technology Specialist for CASLS at the University of Oregon. This activity was developed in order to meet the needs students in her International Diploma Programme Spanish course.
This activity aims at developing critical thinking, critical reading, and presentational writing skills. It is appropriate for intermediate-low, intermediate-mid, and intermediate-high students and is designed to go along with this week’s Topic of the Week focusing on activating prior knowledge and building schemata to understand unknown content. In completing this activity, students are engaged in listening, reading, and speaking skills and will consider the positive and negative characteristics of Oportunidades, an anti-poverty program in Mexico.
Modes: Interpretive reading, presentational writing, interpersonal speaking
Objectives:
- Students will be able touse previous knowledge and build schemata for previously unknown vocabulary words.
- Students will be able to refine their understanding of vocabulary.
- Students will be able to read for detail.
- Students will be able to compare and contrast texts.
- Students will be able to collaborate with peers to discuss government assistance programs.
- Students will be able to use persuasive language to justify opinions.
Resources: Procedure for teacher, Spanish article and student handout in Spanish (an English versions of the activity and of the article are included, but the article is not the same as the Spanish version).
Procedure: Download the procedure here.
Notes: This activity is easily adaptable to different proficiency levels given choice of vocabulary, choice of text, and post-reading activities. Make sure to use some cognates and shorter texts for students with lower proficiency levels. Students at higher proficiency levels can have texts of considerable length, though it is important to choose vocabulary that would activate some prior knowledge (root words or linguistic patterns, for example). Also, depending on the text that is used, it may be better to complete this activity with one section of the text only.
Source: CASLS Activity of the Week
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Content Type: 3
Title: How Does My Planning of Learning Experiences Prepare for Student Learning? - Using TELL Project Resources to Guide Teacher Planning
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Thomas Sauer is the Director of Design and Communication for AdvanceLearning and an independent consultant. He previously held positions as world language specialist in the Fayette County Public Schools and Jefferson County Public Schools for almost ten years and taught German at the University of Kentucky, Georgetown College and Kentucky Educational Television. He has directed a variety of state and federal grants, most recently as program director and consultant for several successful STARTALK programs.
One of the major goals for an effective language teacher is moving learners from processing language input to producing output at varying degrees of proficiency. Specific strategies for facilitating that process may and should vary based on the specific needs of the learners (e.g. age, background and interests) as well as the strengths of the teacher. Undoubtedly the most important task for any language teacher then is the PLANNING of experiences that will allow learners to move through that process in a way that leaves them feeling successful and excited to learn a new language. Planning of such learning experiences involves 1) developing standards-based learning targets to motivate students and engage with them as partners in the learning process; 2) designing authentic assessment tasks that allow students to demonstrate what they can do with what they know; and 3) outlining an intentional sequence of activities that will allow students to meet the carefully developed learning targets.
These critical characteristics and behaviors of a model world language teacher are outlined in “Planning," one of the seven domains of the Teacher Effectiveness for Language Learning (TELL) Framework published in 2011. The “Planning” domain outlines nine teacher behaviors that are critical pieces of the planning process for effective teachers. The TELL Project began as a collaborative initiative led by world language district coordinators Sharon Deering (Arlington [TX] Independent School District), Alyssa Villarreal (Shelby County [TN] Schools), and independent consultants, Greg Duncan (InterPrep) and Thomas Sauer (LearningShifts). The TELL Framework is founded on three core beliefs: (1) the criteria contained within the framework represent the model world language teacher; (2) ALL world language teachers can become the model if the model teacher is defined; and (3) the identified characteristics and behaviors are intended to guide individual teacher growth toward the model and are not necessarily tied to teacher appraisal.
While the TELL Project provides a suite of instruments designed to help teachers reflect on their own practice, get feedback on their current practice, and outline a professional learning plan, there are now several tools designed to support teachers in the PLANNING process that may be accessed by any teacher regardless of their level of familiarity with the TELL Framework. These tools include:
- A short Overview Essay providing an introduction to the topic of Learning Targets as well a connection to research.
- A Video Vignette featuring classroom scenes as well as interviews with practicing teachers and their students and world language teaching experts reflecting on the impact of learning targets.
- An At-a-glance Infographic providing a visual representation of learning targets and highlighting important features, sample strategies, helpful tips and more.
- A Feedback Form designed for teachers to use in order to determine the degree to which their work exemplifies effective characteristics when developing learning targets.
- A Teacher Presentation developed by a practicing teacher providing an explanation of learning targets as well as practical tips from the teacher’s classroom.
- A Processing Guide designed to facilitate the module, either used independently or as part of a larger self-paced module experience.
Although the realities for many teachers may provide only a minimal amount of time for planning and limited access to content-specific professional learning opportunities, tools such as the ones provided by the TELL Project will help teachers make better decisions and ease their work as they prepare for student learning.
Source: CASLS Topic of the Week
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Content Type: 2
Title: InterCom Survey
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We at CASLS really want to know how useful InterCom is for you and how we can make it better. You can help us by taking our short survey: https://oregon.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_0olSCReElqjqUFD.
Source: CASLS
Inputdate: 2015-08-22 12:02:08
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Title: Book: Pronunciation Fundamentals
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From https://benjamins.com/#catalog/books/lllt.42/main
Pronunciation Fundamentals: Evidence-based perspectives for L2 teaching and research
By Tracey M. Derwing and Murray J. Munro
Published by John Benjamins Publishing Company
The emergence of empirical approaches to L2 pronunciation research and teaching is a powerful fourth wave in the history of the field. Authored by two leading proponents of evidence-based instruction, this volume surveys both foundational and cutting-edge empirical work and pinpoints its ramifications for pedagogy. The authors begin by tracing the history of pronunciation instruction and explicating L2 phonetic learning processes. Subsequent chapters explore the themes, strengths, and ethical problems of the field through the lens of the intelligibility principle. The importance of error gravity, and the need for assessment and individualized instruction are highlighted, and the role of L2 accents in social contexts is probed. Material readily available elsewhere has been omitted in favor of an emphasis on the how, why, and when of pronunciation instruction. Anyone with an interest in L2 pronunciation–especially graduate students, language teachers, and experienced researchers–will find much value in this indispensable resource.
Visit the publisher’s website at https://benjamins.com/#catalog/books/lllt.42/main
Source: John Benjamins Publishing Company
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Title: Book: Advancing Quantitative Methods in Second Language Research
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From https://www.routledge.com/products/9780415718349
Advancing Quantitative Methods in Second Language Research
By Luke Plonsky
Published by Routledge Taylor & Francis Group
Advancing Quantitative Methods in Second Language Research is the first hands-on guide to conducting advanced research methods in the fields of applied linguistics and second language studies. While a number of texts discuss basic quantitative research methodology, none focus exclusively on providing coverage of alternative advanced statistical procedures in second language studies from a practical approach. The text is bookended by discussions of these advanced procedures in the larger context of second language studies, debating their strengths, weaknesses, and potential for further research; the remaining chapters are how-to sections, each chapter following the same organization, on a wide variety of advanced research methods. By offering much-needed coverage on advanced statistical concepts and procedures, with an eye toward real-world implementation, Advancing Quantitative Methods in Second Language Research enhances the methodological repertoire of graduate students and researchers in applied linguistics and second language studies.
Visit the publisher’s website at https://www.routledge.com/products/9780415718349
Source: Routledge
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Title: Call for Papers: 2015 Central Slavic Conference
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From http://www.slu.edu/international-studies-program/central-slavic-conference
The Central Slavic Conference is pleased to invite scholars of all disciplines working in Slavic, Eurasian, and East European studies to submit proposals for panels, individual papers, and roundtables at its annual meeting to be held on the campus of Saint Louis University October 23-25, 2015.
The submission deadline is September 1, 2015.
View the full call for papers at http://www.slu.edu/international-studies-program/central-slavic-conference/2015-conference
Source: Saint Louis University
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