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Title: Article: Setting Language Learning Goals
Body:
From https://lingua.ly/blog/language-learning-goals/
Meredith Cicerchia writes, “For business. For school. For fun. There are so many reasons why you might want to learn languages and depending on yours, you’ll have different goals. Let’s take a class of English speakers studying beginners Spanish for example. You may be looking to communicate with native Spanish speakers on your next trip abroad. This means that beyond the set curriculum, you will want to focus on building up your conversation skills by mastering common greetings, such as how to introduce yourself and useful phrases. The tools needed to achieve a communicative goal might include extra tutoring sessions with a native speaker, finding a language exchange partner and spending more time on pronunciation and fluency vs. grammar.
“However, another student who needs Spanish language skills in order to pursue a research degree at a foreign university, may not be so focused on speaking. Their goals will likely be oriented to learning high frequency vocabulary in a given subject area, improving reading comprehension and perfecting writing skills with attention to spelling and common grammar constructions. You’re both studying the same language but you will have very different goals which should be factored into how you learn!”
Read the full blog post, which includes suggestions for setting specific and achievable learning goals, at https://lingua.ly/blog/language-learning-goals/
Source: Lingua.ly
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Title: Oral Competency for World Language Fluency
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Juana Arias-Dominguez, an AP Spanish teacher at Union City High School in New Jersey, shares how to develop oral competency in students learning a language in this recent article: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/global_learning/2016/12/oral_competency_for_world_language_fluency.html
Based on her experience sending students out into the community while teaching Spanish in Spain, she writes, “Oral competency is essential to the language classroom. Most language teachers focus on vocabulary building, the dreaded conjugation charts, and the false realities often found in school texts. However, in my Spanish classroom back at Union City High School, the effect of my experiences permeated my lessons as soon as I returned from Spain. I brought back activities from the summer study abroad program and adjusted them for my classroom students—such as asking them to buy a ticket, find a bus schedule, ask a friend about family, decide what itinerary is convenient—among other activities. These "experiences," as I call them, add a new facet to language acquisition. The cultural component also becomes more prevalent and students are now more comfortable working in pairs to complete tasks orally.”
Source: Education Week
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Content Type: 5
Title: CASLS’ Intern Dan White and the New Games2Teach Database
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Dan White, LTS (Language Teaching Specialization) M.A. student at the University of Oregon recently completed an internship with CASLS. Before starting his M.A. at UO Dan earned a B.A. in Linguistics from the UO in 2013 and taught English in S. Korea. His current LTS M.A. project is on developing a language teaching game template that teachers can adapt to their own lessons. While here interning at CASLS, Dan worked on the Games2Teach website, specifically on creating a database of numerous commercial video games. For each game in the database Dan provides the basis information (cost, genre, age group, etc.) and a short description of the game, as well as which languages are offered and which themes are present as you play. Coming soon, if you visit the Games2Teach website you can search the database and filter the games based on what you are looking for. Thank you Dan for your hard work creating our Games2Teach Database!
To learn more about Games2Teach, please visit the Games2Teach website. The database will be up and running soon under the "Explore" tab.
Source: CASLS Spotlight
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Content Type: 5
Title: CASLS Named as an Implementation Partner for the U.S.-China Strong 1 Million Strong Initiative
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In 2015 President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the goal of the 1 Million Strong initiative, which is, as stated on the U.S.-China Strong website, “to grow the next generation of leaders who have a deeper understanding of China by creating a pipeline of China-savvy employees in a range of critical industries, and ensuring that U.S. students from all backgrounds have the opportunity to gain China-related skills.” There are three main pillars for this initiative, which are to endorse Mandarin curricular norms at the K-12 level, more than double the number of Mandarin language teachers in the U.S., and to engage technology platforms for accessibility of Mandarin language learning around the country. Implementation partners for the curriculum piece are: Better Chinese, National Council of State Supervisors for Languages (NCSSFL), and American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). For the teacher training piece, University of Maryland, NCSSFL, ACTFL, University of Washington, and NYU Steinhardt were named as implementation partners. For the final piece, the technology platform, Mandarin Matrix, VIPKID, and the Center for Applied Second Language Studies (CASLS) at the University of Oregon were named. CASLS is honored to be helping with the U.S.-China Strong’s 1 Million Strong initiative to grow U.S. Mandarin language learning to 1 million by 2020.
Source: CASLS Spotlight
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Content Type: 4
Title: Function and Meaning: Maxi needs a babysitter!
Body:
Renee Marshall is CASLS' International Programs Specialist.
Overview: In this activity students will be explaining to the babysitter how to watch their child while they are away for the night. Instead of “we’re learning about reflexive verbs” or “we’re talking about daily routines,” in this task students are engaging in something that happens often in real life conversation. How often do you describe your daily routine to your friend? Not too often. But if you’re a parent, at one point or another you will probably have to explain to a babysitter or friend or family member how to take care of your child.
Learning objectives: Students will be able to give instructions verbally to another person on how to take care of their child (or younger brother or sister, whatever you chose to do)
Modes: Presentational Speaking
Materials needed: Maxi needs a babysitter handout, modified for your class needs; possibly a while-listening handout consisting of the chart from the Maxi needs a babysitter handout
Procedure:
1.)Set up a scenario for your students in which they are going out for the night and have a babysitter coming to babysit their son/daughter/younger brother/younger sister/etc. You could choose a famous family and have them pretend to be that family, or they can use their own family. It’s a good idea to model this conversation for them, so you may want to lead into it with your own example of giving instructions to a babysitter.
2.)Handout Maxi needs a babysitter and explain the activity. They need to explain to the babysitter how to take care of the child. Part A is to help them brainstorm activities and special notes. Part B is for them to practice. As they practice with their partners, walk around and see how students are doing. Offer any help/guidance as needed.
3.)Have students present to the class, pretending the class is the babysitter. The class can take notes on what’s said (maybe you reuse the chart from handout as a notetaking guide) and at the end the student presenting needs to find out if the class understood the directions or not! Alternatively, students could create videos of themselves giving directions to the babysitter, and they could be watched in class with students taking notes and indicating whether they understood the directions or not.
Notes (adaptations, etc.): 1. You can add on to this by also making them write down the instructions for the babysitter. Then it switches from presentational speaking and becomes a presentational writing task. 2. A spin off of this activity could be more of a "naughty nannies" caught on camera type of scenario where students have to either make a video or a skit where they tell the babysitter what to do, leave the house, and then the babysitter does (or doesn't) do the things they are supposed to do, all the while they are being recorded on the secret hidden camera in the house!
Source: CASLS Activity of the Week
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Content Type: 3
Title: 2016: A Look Back
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Source: CASLS Topic of the Week
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Title: Book: L2 Selves and Motivations in Asian Contexts
Body:
From http://www.multilingual-matters.com/display.asp?K=9781783096732
L2 Selves and Motivations in Asian Contexts
Edited by Matthew T. Apple, Dexter Da Silva, and Terry Fellner
Published by Multilingual Matters
This book fills an existing gap in language learning motivation research by examining the applications of current motivational theories and models from WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, developed) contexts to educational systems in Asian contexts. All chapters are focused on second language (L2) motivation as it applies to the EFL situation in Asian countries where English is a mandatory subject in school. Themes in the volume cover the use of possible L2 selves as a theoretical model of motivation, the role of teacher motivation and demotivation in non-European educational systems, study abroad, motivation among adolescents, cross-cultural differences in learner motivation among Asian cultures and the influence of native speakerism on language motivation and cultural identity. This book will appeal to ESL/EFL educators, postgraduate students, researchers and teacher-trainers both inside and outside Asian countries, who are interested in research on L2 motivation in general and within Asian contexts in particular.
Visit the publisher’s website at http://www.multilingual-matters.com/display.asp?K=9781783096732
Source: Multilingual Matters
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Title: Book: Honoring Richard Ruiz and his Work on Language Planning and Bilingual Education
Body:
From http://www.multilingual-matters.com/display.asp?K=9781783096688
Honoring Richard Ruiz and his Work on Language Planning and Bilingual Education
Edited by Nancy H. Hornberger
Published by Multilingual Matters
Richard Ruiz has inspired generations of scholars in language planning and multilingual education with his unique orientations to language as a problem, a right and a resource. This volume attests to the far-reaching impact of his thinking and teaching, bringing together a selection of his published and unpublished writings on language planning orientations, bilingual and language minority education, language threat and endangerment, voice and empowerment, and even language fun, accompanied by contributions from colleagues and former students reflecting and expanding on Ruiz’ ground-breaking work. This book will be of great interest to both undergraduate and postgraduate students in language planning and multilingual education, Indigenous and minority education, as well as to junior and senior researchers in those fields.
Visit the publisher’s website at http://www.multilingual-matters.com/display.asp?K=9781783096688
Source: Multilingual Matters
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Title: Book: Bilingual Landscape of the Contemporary World
Body:
From https://www.peterlang.com/view/product/24227?format=HC
Bilingual Landscape of the Contemporary World
By Sambor Grucza, Magdalena Olpinska-Szkielko, and Piotr Romanowski
Published by Peter Lang
The concept of bilingualism has been analyzed for a very long time. Its definitions range from native-like competence in two languages to a minimal proficiency in a second language. Hence one might question why no consensus has been reached in this matter. The authors of this volume imply that there exists a number of theoretical and methodological difficulties raised by older definitions. The notion of bilingualism has to be investigated from different perspectives reflected by the dimensions each individual intends to diagnose. The aim of the book is to review critically the state of the art in the field of bilingualism. The volume reveals the details of empirical studies conducted by scholars from Europe, America and Australia. It depicts a truly interesting spectrum of research topics starting with the educational aspects of bilingualism, such as: bilingual acquisition, bilingual parenting methods and bilingual kindergartens, to reveal various issues of sociolinguistics and even bilingual literature.
Visit the publisher’s website at https://www.peterlang.com/view/product/24227?format=HC
Source: Peter Lang
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Title: Call for Abstracts: L2 Learning, Textuality, and Social Life
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From http://linguistlist.org/issues/27/27-5090.html
This special volume on Living Literacies takes stock of current approaches to second language teaching and learning that address the dynamic and intersubjective dimensions of L2 literacy. With ''living literacies,'' we are referring to the real-time social actions of readers and writers as they engage with texts, and the ways in which human experiences shape and are shaped through literacy practices. A central goal of this special volume is to bring to light research in L2 literacy studies that accounts not only for the materiality of texts and the ways in which they mediate language learning, but also the multiple social worlds 'foreign' language texts inhabit, the meanings they traffic, and the multilingual human subjects who engage with and through them.
Call Deadline: 30-Jan-2017
View the full call for abstracts at http://linguistlist.org/issues/27/27-5090.html
Source: LINGUIST List
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