Contents

From http://www.kentuckyteacher.org/
 
This article, by Lea Graner Kennedy, is the last in a series of seven that focus on the core practices of world languages instruction. She writes, “Questions often arise regarding the types and the frequency of feedback that students need to gain proficiency. This article focuses on providing insights and strategies that answer both questions, because feedback is an area where we can all work smarter – not harder – to deliver improved learner performance. … As language teachers, we often forget the small steps we took on our own proficiency journeys and feel the need to give more feedback in speech and in writing than the learners can possibly utilize. This tendency gives us more work, with little or no student gains. In fact, overloading the learner with feedback that is too far beyond their actual level, not within their zone of potential growth or ZPD, is demotivating for students. Limiting our feedback to that which is in their zone is a double win; less work for the teacher and more comprehensible input for the student.”
 
Read the full article at http://www.kentuckyteacher.org/subjects/global-competency-world-languages/2017/07/core-practices-provide-feedback-to-improve-learner-performance/

For this week's Topic of the Week, Dr. Jim Ranalli discusses the importance of self-regualation and self-regulated learning of L2 writing. Teachers can help students learn to be more successful in the writing process through guidance on goal-setting and self-reflection during the writing process. For this Activity of the Week, we created a sample self-reflection students can complete after a writing assignment to help them set goals for next time and evaluate their process and their work. To see the handout, click here.

To see two other examples of potential reflection questions on writing, check out Walden University's "Writing a Paper: Reflecting & Improving" and Erikson Institute's "Reflecting on Your Writing."

CASLS and Lingro Learning recently completed a collaborative summer pilot of a new mobile application app for learning languages. This unique partnership combines academic and industry expertise to bring research-based language learning materials to the commercial market. Julie Sykes, CASLS Director, notes, "The opportunity to work with amazing teachers and students to drive the creation of materials has been invaluable. It affords the opportunity to make changes as you go and use data to create the best possible learning tools." Development efforts will make use of pilot data to continue to expand the app and make changes. Look for the full version of the LingroToGo App in Fall 2017!

From https://www.iie.org/Why-IIE/Announcements/2017-07-06-IIE-Survey-of-College-Admissions-International-Students-Fall-2017

The Institute of International Education (IIE) has announced a new study of admissions officers, which concludes that international students are still interested in attending higher education institutions in the United States despite the current environment.

Read more about the report at https://www.iie.org/Why-IIE/Announcements/2017-07-06-IIE-Survey-of-College-Admissions-International-Students-Fall-2017 and https://www.languagemagazine.com/2017/07/international-students-steadily-interested-u-s/, and access the full report at https://www.iie.org/Research-and-Insights/Publications/Shifting-Tides-Understanding-International-Student-Yield-for-Fall-2017

From https://www.sensepublishers.com/catalogs/bookseries/other-books/inclusion-diversity-and-intercultural-dialogue-in-young-peoples-philosophical-inquiry/

Inclusion, Diversity, and Intercultural Dialogue in Young People's Philosophical Inquiry
By Ching-Ching Lin and Lavina Sequeira
Published by Sense Publishers

The ever-shifting cultural and linguistic landscapes in contemporary societies create new urgency for an intersectional thematic study of diversity, philosophy, and education. As educators, how do we transform the vision of cultural and linguistic diversity into a wealth of resources for learning? How do we actively engage cultural and linguistic diversities in philosophical inquiry with young people? How do we translate the philosophical notion of cultural and linguistic diversity into pedagogical practices?

The chapters in this book respond to the task of teaching philosophy in the context of increased mobility in the new global reality. By complicating the situated and fluid nature of contemporary classrooms, this book challenges the normalizing tendency often associated with philosophy education. Each chapter offers a unique perspective in understanding the profound embeddedness of philosophy education in broader sociocultural contexts and prioritizes diversity in the classroom community of inquiry. By carefully incorporating a broad range of theoretical perspectives and empirical research, this book provides a rich resource for school teachers and educators who wish to engage diverse learners in philosophical inquiry. In doing so, it reaffirms the value of philosophy education as a proactive approach to democratic education.

Visit the publisher’s website at https://www.sensepublishers.com/catalogs/bookseries/other-books/inclusion-diversity-and-intercultural-dialogue-in-young-peoples-philosophical-inquiry/

From https://www.routledge.com/Language-and-Globalization-An-Autoethnographic-Approach/Borjian/p/book/9781138227811

Language and Globalization: An Autoethnographic Approach
Edited by Maryam Borjian
Published by Routledge Taylor & Francis Group

In this collection of real-life, personal narratives on the theme of language and globalization, scholars from a range of different sub-disciplines of linguistics, time periods, and geographical spaces throughout the world examine the interaction and intersectionality of languages and globalization and the implications of such interactions for world languages and cultures. A feature of the book is the application of autoethnography as its underlying approach/method, in which contributors draw on their own lived experiences (of life, scholarship, and work) to investigate and reflect on linguistic globalization and its issues and challenges against the backdrop of the globalized world of the 21st century.

Visit the publisher’s website at https://www.routledge.com/Language-and-Globalization-An-Autoethnographic-Approach/Borjian/p/book/9781138227811

From https://linguistlist.org/issues/28/28-2977.html

Third International Conference on Constructionist Approaches to Language Pedagogy 
February 15-17, 2018
University of Texas at Austin

The organizers invite theoretical, methodological, empirical, and pedagogical contributions dealing with: 

Usage-based/constructionist approaches to (second) language learning and teaching, with a special focus on: 
- learning processes, such as entrenchment, categorization, schematization, and generalization 
- item-specific vs. item-general constructional knowledge and the lexicon-grammar continuum 
- input/intake, input distributions, input processing, and input enhancement 
- interaction, negotiation, elaboration, output, and feedback 
- (selective) attention, noticing, and interfaces between implicit/incidental and explicit/intentional (second) language learning and teaching, including age effects 
- individual differences in the domains of affect/motivation, aptitude/cognition (e.g., working memory, pattern recognition ability), and learned attention/conceptualization 

Usage-based/constructionist approaches to (second) language assessment, primarily with regards to: 
- varying degrees of productivity and the distinction between item-specific and item-general knowledge/patterns 
- information packaging, degrees of explicitness, and pragmatic adequacy 
- the elicitation of contextualized, meaningful language use 
- the use and significance of structural priming and scaffolding in language testing 

The creation of online learning and assessment tools using constructional and phraseological principles: 
- use/development of tools to detect learner-specific errors in grammar use and understanding 
- methods to align learner-specific errors with constructional requirements for licensed uses 
- development of learning material for specific grammatical constructions 
development of learning material for particular learner groups 
- (considering, for example, systematic interferences between mother tongue and target language) 

Deadline for submission: September 1, 2017

View the full call for papers at https://linguistlist.org/issues/28/28-2977.html

From http://caas-cw.org/wp/2017/07/13/2017-annual-meeting/

The 2017 Annual Meeting of The Classical Association of the Atlantic States
Marriott New York East Side
October 5-7

Visit the conference website for full details and to register: http://caas-cw.org/wp/2017/07/13/2017-annual-meeting/