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Content Type: 3
Title: Emergent and Dynamic Language in Immersion Programs
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By Julie Sykes, CASLS Director
A rapidly-growing context for language learning is K-12 immersion programs. In this setting, a balance between content and language is fundamental to success. While a focus on language is at the center of most programs, the balance with a critical need for learning content requires recognition of language variety and, at times, a focus on content over language. While long-term proficiency goals remain, a strong case can be made for intentional acceptance of ‘learner language’ in instances where competing cognitive demands might indicate a necessary prioritization of content elements. As a wrap-up to this month on emergent language, we offer three ideas for working with ‘learner language’ as a tool for ongoing proficiency development.
- Focus on skills for improving learner speech as related to content activities after the content activities are complete, but in ways relevant to the task at hand. For example, this might include asking learners to reflect on the language present in an assignment from the previous week by identifying patterns they find in their own writing. This comes after the focus on content and, in doing so, enables the learner to focus on one thing at a time.
- Pick a language focus targeted at the outcomes of the content-related task and only focus on language elements directly related to that primary focus, ignoring unrelated errors. For example, in a language arts lesson on reading comprehension, a focus could be placed on errors impeding comprehension, but not those related to sequencing or word order, unless directly tied to the content being understood.
- Articulate learning outcomes within and across grade levels to ensure a sequence that targets key elements at the right time in the program. This includes identifying which functions will be taught at which point in the program, as well as how those outcomes articulate across multiple years in the instructional sequence.
For more ideas for addressing language immersion programs, see Building a Successful and Sustainable Language Program: The Portland, Oregon, Mandarin Dual Language Experience at https://casls.uoregon.edu/research/chinese-immersion-research/.
Source: CASLS Topic of the Week
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Content Type: 5
Title: Getting to Know CASLS Staff: Lindsay Marean
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5-Question Profile of Lindsay Marean, InterCom Editor for CASLS.
1. What is your role at CASLS? What types of projects do you usually work on?
My focus is on CASLS' communication with language professionals. I edit InterCom, our weekly email digest, and I also manage our social media outreach.
2. What are your areas of interest/expertise?
My main passion in life is indigenous language revitalization, and my favorite thing to do is to document and help pass on my ancestral language, Potawatomi. I enjoy thinking hard about good practices for teaching and learning languages in a wide diversity of contexts: classroom instruction of dominant world languages, less-commonly taught languages where curriculum is limited or non-existent, immersion in all of its amazing possibilities, and the awe-inspiring process of sleeping languages re-awakening thanks to archived documentation and dedicated learners and teachers.
3. What do you like best about working at the University of Oregon and living in Eugene?
Outside of work I enjoy hiking, skiing, running, and whitewater boating, so Eugene is a perfect playground for me. I feel fortunate to work for an institution that also houses other impactful language programs like the Northwest Indian Language Institute, the Yamada Language Center, and the Global Scholars Hall. Something exciting is always happening in our extended community.
4. If you could have any super power, what would it be and why?
Maybe I already have a super power, but if I do, I wouldn't be able to tell you about it.
5. What is/are your favorite quote(s)?
Here's one I came across recently: “If you know your mother tongue and then you widen out to learn all the languages of the world, that’s empowerment. If you know all the languages of the world and not your mother tongue, that is not empowerment: that is enslavement.” - Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, at UMass Amherst, April 6, 2016
Source: CASLS Spotlight
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Content Type: 3
Title: Why Pragmatics?
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Renée Marshall is the International Programs Specialist at CASLS. She teaches English pragmatics lessons to Oregon International Internship Program and Oregon Summer Program students.
So what is pragmatics? According to Merriam-Webster it is: “the study of what words mean in particular situations.”
What does that mean exactly?
When Americans say, “How are you?” is it a question, or really more of a greeting; a way to acknowledge the other person’s presence politely? When Americans say, “Let’s get a coffee sometime,” is this an invitation, or really more of a polite way to end the conversation? Just because a sentence is grammatically correct does not mean that it will be understood or used the way it was intended. Even the same sentence can change meaning depending on context and tone. If my son comes in late and I say, with a light, curious tone of voice, “Oh, it’s late, you must have had fun?”, this has a different meaning than if he comes in late and I say, with a sarcastic or angry tone of voice, “Oh, it’s late, you must have had fun!”
Situation and context make a huge difference on the meaning of an utterance and how it’s interpreted. I’ve been studying Spanish off and on since high school, but it wasn’t until I read the online resource Dancing With Words: Strategies for Learning Pragmatics in Spanish from our sister LRC, CARLA, that I realized I had been misunderstanding my Spanish-speaking friends when it came to invitation sequences. I mistook their insistence of the invitation as being pushy, even rude. But insistence is a particular strategy intended to show that the invitation was truly genuine. Why had I spent 10+ years learning Spanish but didn’t learn this until now? Teaching pragmatics is important just like all the other skills in order to help L2 learners become effective language speakers.
Two resources I have found helpful in my own teaching are:
- Teaching Pragmatics from American English: online resource for teaching pragmatics in the ESL/EFL context. Even if you don’t teach ESL/EFL, the examples can inspire you to think about the language you teach and what pragmatic points may be important.
- Teaching and Learning Pragmatics: Where Language and Culture Meet (2010) by Noriko Ishihara and Andrew D. Cohen: a book resource for teachers looking to incorporate pragmatics into their curriculum.
Source: CASLS Topic of the Week
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Content Type: 4
Title: I like your hat! Compliments and Responses
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Renée Marshall is International Programs Specialist for CASLS.
I use this activity every year with my Oregon International Internship Program Students. This activity is adapted and uses materials from the lesson “Giving and Responding to Compliments” by Noriko Ishihara from the website Teaching Pragmatics, American English.
Learning Objectives:
- Students will be able to identify the 3 most common ways to give compliments in English.
- Students will be able to identify 4 common responses to compliments.
- Students will be able to give and respond to compliments using the common strategies discussed in class.
Modes: Interpersonal Communication
Materials Needed: Example PowerPoint or your own PowerPoint or handout, and a whiteboard or chalk board
Procedure:
- For homework before class, have students collect 3 compliments they hear and the responses to those compliments. They should be prepared to share them in class.
- Have students in groups share the compliments and responses they heard this week. In each group have them select one compliment and response to share with the class, by having students write it on the board. (Slide 2)
- Examine the compliments and responses on the board. Ask the groups to discuss whether or not they see any patterns (they may or may not, depends on what’s up there). (Slide 2)
- Now review the 3 most common ways to give compliments in English according to Manes and Wolfson (1981). (slide 3) Go over it with examples, highlighting any examples on the board that follow the patterns.
- Ask students to now think about the responses. How did people tend to respond? Then review the 4 common types of responses. (Slide 4) Go over it with examples, highlighting any examples on the board that follow the patterns.
- Review how compliments can be conversation starters, (Slide 5) then have students practice turning a compliment into a conversation. You can also discuss how this might change depending on who you are talking to (gender, age, power distance i.e. boss/employee, teacher/student).
Source: CASLS Activity of the Week
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Content Type: 2
Title: Survey of Language Variation in the Classroom
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Here is an opportunity for language teachers to help a researcher out by taking a survey:
If you currently or recently have taught a language other than English in a K-12, university/college, or immersion setting and are interested in completing a 29 question survey about language variation in the classroom, please take 10-25 minutes to complete the survey found here https://umn.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_5jXQXU6y4GoUU8R. If you are willing to participate in a follow-up interview via phone or online (i.e., via Skype), please indicate so when asked in the survey. Your participation in the survey and the interview are completely voluntary and you will not be compensated. Your answers will remain confidential. This purpose of the research is to investigate the language and language varieties you use in and out of your classroom. This research is affiliated with the University of Minnesota and University of Calgary. Please feel free to forward this message to other teachers in the U.S. who you think might be interested in participating. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Source: CASLS
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Content Type: 5
Title: CASLS Helps Judge Student Poster Presentations
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The Center for Applied Second Language Studies is pleased to have been on hand on Monday, March 3 at the Vanderbilt Center for Latin American Studies (VCLAS) to judge poster presentations by students from the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme at Hillsboro High School. These projects are the result of a teacher externship and training regarding the Latin American Public Opinion Project that took place at VCLAS over the summer. CASLS was participated in that training by providing support to educators for using digital games to foment cross curricular connections.
The poster presentations were a great success. Students presented on a range of social justice issues in Latin America including police brutality, gender inequality, domestic violence, and the impact of drug trade. The students reported that they were pleasantly surprised about how comfortable they were in talking about their research. They also indicated a great amount of growth and learning, reflecting on the interconnectivity of the many issues they studied and the contemporary relevance of those issues in the United States.
Shelly Wilkinson, mathematics teacher at Hillsboro, summed up the experience by reflecting on the interconnectivity of subject areas. She commented, “I enjoyed being able to incorporate data and math in a meaningful way to address important issues related to humanities, world language, and social justice.” CASLS extends its thanks and admiration to VCLAS and Hillsboro for the wonderful work!
Shelly Wilkinson, mathematics teacher, and Emarie Elliott, Spanish teacher, prepare student projects at VCLAS.
Source: CASLS Spotlight
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Title: Report: America’s Languages: Investing in Language Education for the 21st Century
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From http://www.amacad.org/content/Research/researchproject.aspx?d=21896
In 2014, a bipartisan group of members of Congress asked the American Academy of Arts and Sciences to undertake a new study of the nation’s language education needs. Four members of the United States Senate signed two letters requesting that the Academy provide answers to the following questions:
How does language learning influence economic growth, cultural diplomacy, the productivity of future generations, and the fulfillment of all Americans? What actions should the nation take to ensure excellence in all languages as well as international education and research, including how we may more effectively use current resources to advance language attainment?
In response to this request, the Academy created the Commission on Language Learning. The Commission’s final report, America’s Languages: Investing in Language Learning for the 21st Century, offers concrete recommendations to improve access to as many languages as possible, for people of every age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background.
Access the report at http://www.amacad.org/content/Research/researchproject.aspx?d=21896
Source: American Academy of Arts & Sciences
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Title: Book: Academic Biliteracies
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From http://www.multilingual-matters.com/display.asp?isb=9781783097401
Academic Biliteracies: Multilingual Repertoires in Higher Education
Edited by David M. Palfreyman, Christa van der Walt
Published by Multilingual Matters
Research on academic literacy within higher education has focused almost exclusively on the development of academic literacy in English. This book is unique in showing how students use other languages when they engage with written academic content – whether in reading, discussing or writing – and how increasingly multilingual higher education campuses open up the possibility for students to exploit their multilingual repertoires in and around reading/writing for academic purposes. Chapters range from cases of informal student use of different written languages, to pedagogical, institutional and disciplinary strategies leveraging multilingual resources to develop biliteracy. They are ordered according to two dominant themes. The first includes accounts of diverse multilingual contexts where biliteracy practices emerge in response to the demands of academic reading and writing. The second theme focuses on more deliberate attempts to teach biliteracy or to teach in a way that supports biliteracy. The collection will be of interest to researchers, higher education practitioners and students of multilingual higher education and academic literacy.
Visit the publisher’s website at http://www.multilingual-matters.com/display.asp?isb=9781783097401
Source: Multilingual Matters
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Title: Book: Creating Experiential Learning Opportunities for Language Learners
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From http://www.multilingual-matters.com/display.asp?isb=9781783097302
Creating Experiential Learning Opportunities for Language Learners: Acting Locally while Thinking Globally
Edited by Melanie Bloom, Carolyn Gascoigne
Published by Multilingual Matters
While much research has been done on experiential learning opportunities in study abroad settings, there are fewer publications devoted to experiential learning in the domestic context. This volume aims to fill that gap by providing a collection of chapters highlighting research-based innovations in experiential learning in domestic settings. The book focuses on three experiential learning contexts: community engagement experiences, professional engagement experiences and other unique experiential contexts such as language camps and houses. The collection focuses on the US context but the research projects and curricular innovations described here can serve as models for educators working in other local contexts and will encourage interested practitioners to explore experiential learning opportunities in their local areas. It will also provide the reader with a better understanding of this growing field of inquiry and should appeal to graduate students and researchers who are interested in experiential language learning.
Visit the publisher’s website at http://www.multilingual-matters.com/display.asp?isb=9781783097302
Source: Multilingual Matters
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Title: Book: Willingness to Communicate in Instructed Second Language Acquisition
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From http://www.multilingual-matters.com/display.asp?K=9781783097166
Willingness to Communicate in Instructed Second Language Acquisition: Combining a Macro- and Micro-Perspective
By Anna Mystkowska-Wiertelak and Miroslaw Pawlak
Published by Multilingual Matters
This book offers a comprehensive account of individual differences variables as well as contextual factors that impinge on second language learners’ willingness to communicate (WTC). Firstly, it adopts a macro-perspective on WTC, which entails an attempt to identify variables that are related to WTC, taking into account the specificity of the Polish higher education setting. Secondly, it embraces a micro-perspective on WTC, striving to pinpoint the individual and contextual influences on levels of WTC in the course of regularly-scheduled, naturally-occurring English classes, as well as to capture the dynamic nature of WTC during such classes. Together, these perspectives bring the reader closer to understanding the mechanisms underlying WTC in specific contexts, thereby providing a basis for recommendations for classroom practice that could translate into learners’ success. It will be of interest to second language acquisition researchers and students, as well as to methodologists and materials writers who can use the research findings to improve the practice of teaching and learning speaking in the language classroom.
Visit the publisher’s website at http://www.multilingual-matters.com/display.asp?K=9781783097166
Source: Multilingual Matters
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