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Title: Engaging Learners through Writing
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Laura Terrill taught French for 21 years before becoming the Coordinator of Foreign Language and English as a Second Language. She has served on the Board of Directors for Central States and ACTFL. She recently co-authored ACTFL Keys to Planning for Learning: Effective Curriculum, Unit and Lesson Design. She is currently working as an Independent Consultant.
Why do we write in world language classes? Traditionally, writing tasks may have focused on having learners prove that they had learned a certain set of vocabulary or had mastered a particular structure. However, the emphasis today is on writing for a real-world purpose. Presentational writing can’t be easily separated from the other modes of communication. We generally accept that a good writer is a good reader so prior to writing, it’s likely that learners will have been engaged in the interpretive mode. Good readers benefit from discussing what they have read, heard or viewed in the interpersonal mode. Writing then serves as an opportunity for learners to make their thinking visible as they write to persuade, explain or convey personal experience.
Consider the following writing prompt “Write about a vacation you want to take where the target language is spoken. Explain why you want to go there and write to convince others that this is the ideal vacation. Include activities that you are going to do to experience as much of the target culture as possible.” The challenge for teachers is to scaffold the writing process so that learners have the support they need to create a text that others will want to read. Teachers may want to structure a writing cycle that is based on inquiry, drafting, revising and editing.
The writing process begins with inquiry. Learners might look at, read, view and discuss images, videos or texts about a place. As learners acquire information through the interpretive mode and discuss that information in the interpersonal mode, they might be encouraged to develop an ABC list of words and phrases about their location, identifying relevant information that starts with each letter of the alphabet. This organizational strategy ensures that each learner has background information when they begin to write.
Learners would then begin to draft the text. They might be given a certain number of minutes to write before pairing and reading their text aloud to a peer simply to hear how it sounds and then would return to the writing process. When the initial draft is finished, students begin to revise the text. Learners might be directed to look for short sentences in their own texts. They would be challenged to convey the same ideas in one sentence with more words. “I want to go to Paris. It is a beautiful city. It has lots of museums.”, might become “I want to go Paris because it is a beautiful city with several interesting museums like the Louvre.” Learners then share their revised draft with a partner who would read the text and write 1 or 2 questions that would be answered in the next draft. The peer-reviewer might write, “Why do you want to go to the Louvre? What are you going to see there?” Once the draft has been revised to include the additional information, editing begins.
The process of inquiry, drafting and revising ensures that the writing is interesting and informative. The editing process allows teachers and learners to consider errors in context using texts that learners have created. The teacher selects examples from student texts for analysis before having learners work to edit their individual texts for errors in structure or mechanics that may cause confusion for the reader.
The process of inquiry, drafting, revising and editing supports the belief that writing can be taught and that teachers can help learners become better writers. Writing is a skill and learners will improve by writing frequently. However, busy teachers need to remember that they do not need to assess all the writing that learners do.
References
Dean, Deborah. Strategic Writing: The Writing Process and beyond in the Secondary English Classroom. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 2006. Print.
Gallagher, Kelly. Write Like This: Teaching Real-World Writing Through Modeling and Mentor Texts. N.p.: Stenhouse, 2011. Print.
Source: CASLS Topic of the Week
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Title: Special Issue: Papers in Language Testing and Assessment
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From the LTEST-L listserv:
We are very pleased to announce the publication of a special issue of Papers in Language Testing and Assessment: An international journal of the Association for Language Testing and Assessment of Australia and New Zealand. Guest-edited by Kathryn Hill, the focus of this special issue is teacher assessment literacy in second and foreign language education. The contents are listed below.
Volume 6, Issue 1, 2017 Special Issue: Teacher assessment literacy in second and foreign language education
• Introduction: Language teacher assessment literacy: Scoping the territory.
Kathryn Hill, La Trobe University/University of Melbourne
• Understanding classroom-based assessment practices: A precondition for teacher assessment literacy.
Kathryn Hill, La Trobe University/University of Melbourne
• Developing assessment literacy of teachers of languages: A conceptual and interpretive challenge.
Angela Scarino, University of South Australia
• Assessment literacy of foreign language teachers around Europe: Research, challenges and future prospects.
Dina Tsagari, University of Cyprus & Karin Vogt, University of Education Heidelberg
• Developing assessment literacy in Singapore: How teachers broaden English language learning by expanding assessment constructs.
Rajenthiran Sellan, Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board
• Language assessment literacy for language learning-oriented assessment.
Liz Hamp-Lyons, University of Bedfordshire
• Learning-oriented language test preparation materials: A contradiction in terms?
Anthony Green, University of Bedfordshire
• University English teacher assessment literacy: A survey-test report from China.
Yueting Xu, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies/The University of Hong Kong & Gavin T. L. Brown, The University of Auckland
Book reviews
• Assessing English proficiency for university study. J. Read. Reviewed by Naoki Ikeda, University of Melbourne
• Assessing English language learners: Theory and practice. G. Solano-Flores. Reviewed by Yangting Wang, University of Texas at San Antonio
PLTA is available exclusively online in open access format at ALTAANZ http://www.altaanz.org/papers-in-language-testing-and-assessment-plta.html and the Language Testing Research Centre, University of Melbourne http://ltrc.unimelb.edu.au/resources/papers/current-issue
Further information about the journal, editorial board and information for contributors can also be found via these links.
O’Hagan, S. [LTEST-L] Announcing PLTA Vol. 6.1 Special Issue: Teacher assessment literacy in second and foreign language education. LTEST-L listserv (LTEST-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU, 15 May 2017).
Source: LTEST-L
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Title: Book: From Language Lab to Language Center and Beyond: The Past, Present, and Future of Language Center Design
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From Language Lab to Language Center and Beyond: The Past, Present, and Future of Language Center Design
Edited by Felix Kronenberg
Published by the International Association for Language Learning Technology
The term ‘language lab’ conjures up a very distinctive image: orderly rows of cubicles designed for individual students to face machines. It is a strong image, so strong that even today’s centers are frequently still referred to as labs, despite the staff’s insistence on changed nomenclature. This volume shows how dramatically today’s language centers have changed, adapted, and evolved from the ‘language lab’.
Edited by Felix Kronenberg, this latest IALLT publication was inspired by the fiftieth anniversary IALLT/FLEAT conference at Harvard University in August, 2015. It creates a mosaic of different directions, different missions, and different designs that the language centers at the authors’ institutions have embraced.
Learn more about this publication at http://iallt.org/resources/publications/from-language-lab-to-language-center-and-beyond-the-past-present-and-future-of-language-center-design/
Source: IALLT
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Title: Book: The Strength of a Weaker First Language
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The strength of a weaker first language: Language production and comprehension by Turkish heritage speakers in the Netherlands
By Remy van Rijswijk
Published by LOT Publications
When people immigrate to another society, new interactions between languages arise. The children of immigrants are referred to as heritage speakers: they are bilinguals who inherited their first language (L1) from their parents. Yet, the second language (L2) of heritage speakers often becomes their dominant language, because it is the official language of the society they live in. Whereas most previous studies in linguistics involved the L1 of heritage speakers, the present doctoral thesis focused on the L2, by making a comparison between the Dutch of adult second-generation Turkish heritage speakers and the Dutch of Dutch L1 speakers. Specifically, the thesis examined whether a weaker heritage language affects the dominant L2. This central question was investigated by answering the following sub-questions: Which characteristics define typical heritage speakers and how can we describe their L1 and their L2?; How do Turkish heritage speakers (prosodically) mark focus while speaking in Dutch?; How do Turkish heritage speakers interpret focus while reading in Dutch?; and: How do Turkish heritage speakers process Turkish-Dutch cognates with varying word stress positions while listening in Turkish and Dutch? To answer these questions, various linguistic and psycholinguistic research techniques were used, such as acoustic analyses of speech, eye-tracking, reaction time measurements, and EEG. The thesis reports on a thrilling competition between the strength of the L1 versus the dominance of the L2, and demonstrates that the way in which Turkish heritage speakers in the Netherlands speak, read, and listen in their dominant L2 is affected by the weaker L1. These findings have theoretical consequences for models of bilingualism as well as more practical implications for the way in which immigrant children acquire their languages.
Visit the publisher’s website at http://www.lotpublications.nl/the-strength-of-a-weaker-first-language-language-production-and-comprehension-by-turkish-heritage-speakers-in-the-netherlands
Source: LOT
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Title: Book: Taking Stance in English as a Lingua Franca
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From http://www.cambridgescholars.com/taking-stance-in-english-as-a-lingua-franca
Taking Stance in English as a Lingua Franca: Managing Interpersonal Relations in Academic Lectures
By Maicol Formentelli
Published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing
English is undoubtedly the lingua franca of global communication today, and plays a major role in the internationalization of universities, where it is increasingly being used as the medium of instruction. The use of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) in higher education has spread at different speeds throughout Europe over recent decades, with Nordic and central-western countries leading the way and the regions of southern Europe lagging behind.
The present volume focuses on one aspect of ELF academic exchanges that is deemed crucial in the transmission of knowledge in the educational setting, namely the management of interpersonal relations and the expression of interpersonal stance in the classroom. To this end, a model has been developed along the four dimensions of formality, power, social distance and respect, and has been applied to the analysis of a corpus of ELF lectures recorded in an Italian university.
The examination of naturally occurring ELF lectures reveals a complex combination of linguistic strategies that lecturers exploit at the macro-level of discourse (interpersonal episodes) and at the micro-level of lexis and morpho-syntax (direct questions, comprehension checks, imperatives, personal pronouns, and terms of address) to express interpersonal meanings and build rapport with their students, in response to specific expressive and communicative requirements brought about by ELF academic interaction.
Visit the publisher’s website at http://www.cambridgescholars.com/taking-stance-in-english-as-a-lingua-franca
Source: Cambridge Scholars Publshing
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Title: California Association for Bilingual Education Call for Workshop Presentations
Body:
The California Association for Bilingual Education’s 43rd annual conference will take place March 28-31, 2018, in Sacramento. CABE is seeking proposals that engage participants in topics related to quality education for English learners, biliteracy students, and students of diverse backgrounds. You are invited to submit presentation proposals that represent the best practices, research, strategies, and resources to meet the needs of these students, their families, and the educators who serve them.
Submit your proposal by July 18, 2017.
View the full call for proposals at http://www.gocabe.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/CABE-2018-CFP.pdf
Source: CABE
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Title: Call for Articles: National Network for Early Language Learning’s Journal Learning Languages
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From the FLTEACH listserv:
The National Network for Early Language Learning is seeking articles for its journal, Learning Languages.
The spring/summer topic is “STEAMing Ahead: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills for Early Language Learners.”
The fall/winter topic is: “Reaching Out: World Languages for Community Engagement.”
For more information, such as deadlines and author guidelines, please go to http://nnell.org/call-for-journal-articles/
Lutz, N. [FLTEACH] Call for Articles: NNELL's Learning Languages. FLTEACH listserv (FLTEACH@LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU, 15 May 2017).
Source: FLTEACH
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Title: Call for Proposals: Third International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages
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From http://nhlrc.ucla.edu/nhlrc/events/conference/3rd/home
Third International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages
February 16-17, 2018
UCLA
The National Heritage Language Resource Center’s conference will focus on heritage/community language studies as a multidisciplinary field impacting a variety of educational contexts. NHLRC seeks submissions from disciplines including but not limited to anthropology, applied linguistics, assessment, bilingualism, demographics, education, linguistics, policy, psychology, and sociology.
You are invited to submit a proposal for a poster, a paper, or a panel. (A panel submission can accommodate up to four individual papers under a common theme.)
Submission Deadline: August 15, 2017
Learn more about the conference at http://nhlrc.ucla.edu/nhlrc/events/conference/3rd/home
Submit a proposal at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NHLRC2018CFP
Source: NHLRC
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Title: Call for Proposals: Consortium on Useful Assessment in Language and Humanities Education
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From https://sites.google.com/view/cualhe2017
Consortium on Useful Assessment in Language and Humanities Education
Annual Meeting and Conference
October 28-29, 2017
Emory University
Atlanta, Georgia
The Consortium on Useful Assessment in Language and Humanities Education (CUALHE) is an inter-institutional collaborative effort that aims to share and to enhance useful assessment practices developed by college language and humanities programs and to develop a cadre of scholars who can serve as assessment experts/facilitators. The aim of the Consortium to foster a culture of reflective teaching in higher education and to support research into student learning, thereby making useful assessment a regular part of the academic modus operandi.
CUAHLE 2017 is seeking proposals for paper presentations on one of the following three topics: assessment of experiential learning outcomes, text-based assessment in language studies programs, and useful assessment practices in language and humanities education.
The deadline for proposal submissions is June 5.
View the full call for proposals at https://sites.google.com/view/cualhe2017/call-for-papers
Source: CUALHE 2017
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Title: 16th Symposium on Second Language Writing
Body:
From http://sslw.asu.edu/2017/
The 16th Symposium on Second Language Writing
Assessing Second Language Writing
Chulalongkorn University
Bangkok, Thailand
June 30-July 2, 2017
Visit the conference website at http://sslw.asu.edu/2017/
Source: Symposium on Second Language Writing 2017
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