Contents
Content Type: 5
Title: ADVANCE Professional Development
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Teachers who develop a deep understanding of the proficiency standards use proficiency pedagogy more effectively and generate better learning outcomes than those who do not acquire that understanding. The traditional way to learn how to rate using the proficiency standards has been to travel to a specific site to receive several days of face-to-face training. It has not been possible to train online, learn how to rate student responses, receive immediate feedback on rating accuracy, or to participate in online refresher practice. With Avant ADVANCE, teachers can do all of those and learn how to rate student responses anytime and anywhere for a fraction of the cost of face-to-face training programs.
Avant ADVANCE is based on the system and software that Avant has built and refined over twelve years to train, certify, and manage STAMP assessment raters. Teachers will learn the principles of the standards, practice rating student responses, and receive immediate feedback on their rating accuracy on Novice- through Advanced-level responses. They will progress through the training sessions, complete practice tests, and then take a certification test to prove their ability to score student samples at a very high agreement level. Avant ADVANCE increases teachers’ ability to accurately score student responses, and improve writing and speaking outcomes in the classroom.
Source: CASLS Spotlight
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Content Type: 3
Title: Reflection on Experience
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By Christopher Daradics, CASLS Language Technician
Reflection is an essential ingredient in meaning making and knowledge production. In practical terms, reflection helps learners become better at navigating life. In more technical terms, reflection is the complex, multi-sensory process of becoming aware of the connections between life’s various experiences (Costa, 2008).
Fortunately, this powerful skill can be developed using an array of approaches. Discussions, interviews, questioning, logs and journals, and modeling are all effective strategies for inspiring reflection (Costa, 2008).
Consider the following example which uses discussion and journaling to help students reflect on their experience of their physical environment.
Keli and her high school class are studying Environmental Awareness (P21). Keli sets up a very simple reflective sequence for her class by giving the students 5 minutes to discuss, with a partner in the target language, the difference between the meaning of words “here” and “there”.
After a bit of moderated discussion Keli and the pairs of students largely agrees that “here” is where “I” am and “there” is where “you” are.
Next, Keli and her students read through an article which introduces the students to the term “NIMBY” (not in my back yard). After reading the students are provided with a scaffolded worksheet for reflective journaling structured around the following themes: “What is my space?” and “what is your space?”
Keli’s invitation to explore and consider the spatial nature of experience invites her students’ minds (and pens) to reflect on everything from personal space bubbles (how much of “here” do I have the right to claim?) to insights about territory disputes, NIMBY and otherwise.
Reflection, with questions as simple as Keli’s, are easily woven into any topic and/or content domain. Reflection is an an essential ingredient in knowledge production and has the power to draw together insight from across experiential domains. As students attune to the connections between their experiences, the terrain of life becomes easier to navigate.
This week’s Activity of the Week provides a scaffolded reflection on a similar theme, how physical environments shape our experience. By exploring images on social media using hashtags, the activity allows learners to explore and reflect on how different kinds of physical environments allow for different kinds of experiences.
References
Costa, A. L., & Kallick, B. (2008). Learning and leading with habits of mind: 16 essential characteristics for success. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
http://www.p21.org/our-work/p21-framework
Source: CASLS Topic of the Week
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Content Type: 3
Title: Teaching Students to Be Great Language Learners
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By Julie Sykes, CASLS Director
It was my first year teaching Spanish. Caroline was sitting in my office, in tears, wondering what she possibly could’ve done wrong. She studied and studied and knew every word on her flashcards. I asked her to show me the cards, and quickly realized what had gone wrong. As she showed me el libro, she quickly said book, saying, see, I know the words. She had studied well and did know all of the words when she read them, but Caroline hadn’t flipped the flashcards over to move from their meaning to creating the actual words. More generally, she hadn’t been taught how to learn and she and I talked about three or four more strategies she could use to be sure she could both produce and comprehend the words when she needed them. Caroline aced the next assessment and quickly spent more time figuring out how she best learns. I also adapted, reminding myself to teach my students how to learn and intentionally explaining why we did what we did in the classroom to facilitate the best language learning possible.
Explicit attention on “how to learn” can be highly beneficial for learners. As students become more aware of how what we do as language teachers in the classroom relates to their own learning experience, they can start to refine their own learning practices. As a result, they become more successful and motivated to continue. For example, when we explain why long grammar explanations related to language do not lead to better accuracy without practice, learners become more willing to accept shorter explanations along with the ambiguity needed to produce meaningful negotiation of meaning. Furthermore, as they reflect on proficiency benchmarks, learners gain a holistic view of “knowing” a language that moves beyond passing a chapter test. Ideally, language learners get a small glimpse into language teaching and learning methods as part of their own learning experience. Ranging from specific language learning strategies, such as drawing picture to remember words or using titles to more comprehensive ideas such as explaining to learners why we set meaningful learning objectives, engaging learners with teaching and learning techniques can be highly beneficial to their overall development. It can reduce classroom anxiety around why things are done the way there are being done, can help instructors solidify their own motivations for classroom practice, and ensure learners are making best use of their own learning efforts.
Source: CASLS Topic of the Week
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Content Type: 1
Title: 2017 Issue of Studies in Chinese Learning and Teaching
Body:
From https://sites.psu.edu/calpercltnet/2017-studies-in-chinese-learning-and-teaching/
The 2017 issue of Studies in Chinese Learning and Teaching is now available at http://www.cmusclt.org/
Source: CLTNet of Pennsylvania
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Title: Book: Researching ELT: Classroom Methodology and Beyond
Body:
From https://www.peterlang.com/view/product/24580
Researching ELT: Classroom Methodology and Beyond
By Dincay Köksal
Published by Peter Lang
This book is an outcome of the 9th ELT Research Conference organized by Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University. The papers in this volume illustrate some of the key research interests and priorities for English language teaching in Turkey and provide significant insights into a range of contemporary issues and practices in the field. The papers present research focusing on issues in the areas of technology, learners, teacher training and post-graduate education, which have been gathered together in four sections, each section containing articles covering several different aspects of the topic in question.
Visit the publisher’s website at https://www.peterlang.com/view/product/24580
Source: Peter Lang
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Title: Book: Transformative Practices for Teaching DREAMers and Undocumented Students
Body:
From https://www.tcpress.com/teachers-as-allies-9780807758861
Teachers as Allies: Transformative Practices for Teaching DREAMers and Undocumented Students
Edited by Shelley Wong, Elaisa Sánchez Gosnell, Anne Marie Foerster Luu, and Lori Dodson
Published by Teachers College Press
Learn how to engage and advocate for undocumented children and youth with this new resource written by and for teachers. Teachers as Allies provides educators with the information and tools they need to involve immigrant students and their American-born siblings and peers in inclusive and transformative classroom experiences. The authors show how immigration policies, ICE enforcement, and societal attitudes affect undocumented students and how teachers and school leaders can recognize these influences on the students’ day-to-day lives and learning. Offering teaching strategies that address the needs of DREAMers and undocumented youth as they move through their K–12 and college education, this timely book offers a broad range of curriculum connections and resources.
Visit the publisher’s website at https://www.tcpress.com/teachers-as-allies-9780807758861
Source: Teachers College Press
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Title: Book: Lingüística hispánica actual
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Lingüística hispánica actual: Guía didáctica y materiales de apoyo
By Javier Munoz-Basols and Manel Lacorte
Published by Routledge Taylor & Francis Group
Lingüística hispánica actual provides step-by-step instructions on how to plan, design, and teach introductory Hispanic Linguistics courses.
It is a versatile resource, which can be used in conjunction with Introducción a la lingüística hispánica actual: teoría y práctica. It contains an answer key for all the activities in the main textbook. It also includes additional activities, with clear and accessible explanations for students and instructors, and can accompany other existing texts and courses on Hispanic Linguistics.
Features include:
• A comprehensive selection of materials which gradually introduce students to the main areas of Hispanic Linguistics: General Linguistics, Phonology and Phonetics, Morphology, Syntax, Semantics and Pragmatics, History of the Spanish Language, Language Variation, and Second Language Acquisition and Language Teaching.
• A wide range of carefully-crafted classroom and homework activities, essay questions and research projects to engage students and enrich their learning of Hispanic Linguistics.
• Detailed guidance on how to successfully implement each activity in the classroom, suggestions for how to expand and adapt activities for different needs, and a full annotated answer key for instructors to save time planning and implementing lessons.
• An extensive bilingual glossary of terms for each of the disciplines covered in the guide helps teachers introduce key concepts and terms in the classroom.
Lingüística hispánica actual provides a wealth of activities specially designed to make learning Hispanic Linguistics more dynamic and enjoyable for students.
Visit the publisher’s website at https://www.routledge.com/Linguistica-hispanica-actual-Guia-didactica-y-materiales-de-apoyo/Munoz-Basols-Lacorte/p/book/9780415788762
Source: Routledge
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Title: Call for Papers: California Symposium on Catalan Studies
Body:
From https://linguistlist.org/issues/28/28-4291.html
The California Symposium on Catalan Studies will take place at University of California, Los Angeles, on April 23 and 24, 2018. The organizers invite open submissions from all scholars on all topic relating to the Catalan-speaking world.
Submissions are due no later than December 31, 2017.
View the full call for papers at https://linguistlist.org/issues/28/28-4291.html
Source: LINGUIST List
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Title: Call for Papers: Jil Jadid Conference in Middle Eastern Literature and Linguistics
Body:
From https://linguistlist.org/issues/28/28-4289.html
The Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin are happy to announce the 8th Annual Jil Jadid Conference in Middle Eastern Literature and Linguistics, a graduate student conference to be held at the University of Texas at Austin, February 16-17, 2018.
Jil Jadid is a graduate student conference that aims to provide a forum for young scholars spread across a variety of disciplines to come together, share ideas and research, and discuss the future of their respective fields as they move forward in their careers and come to represent the eponymous new generation of scholars engaging with the Middle Eastern languages and its cultures.
All papers treating topics in Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Turkish and any other Middle Eastern literatures and linguistics, including all its subfields such as applied linguistics, and from any time period, will gladly be considered. In addition to original research, the organizers also welcome state-of-the-field papers that provide a focused overview of specific subfields and propose new avenues of research in the chosen area. This year, the organizers also strongly encourage students from Ancient Near Eastern Studies and Islamic studies to submit their abstracts to Jil Jadid as there will be panels specifically for these fields.
The deadline to submit a proposal is December 1, 2017.
View the full call for papers at https://linguistlist.org/issues/28/28-4289.html
Source: LINGUIST List
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Title: Call for Papers: 8th International Symposium on Intercultural, Cognitive and Social Pragmatics
Body:
From https://linguistlist.org/issues/28/28-4371.html
The 8th International Symposium on Intercultural, Cognitive and Social Pragmatics (EPICS VIII) will be held on 2-4 May 2018, at the School of Philology of the University of Seville, in Spain. The conference theme will be “Communication, culture and cognition.”
The deadline for all proposals is December 1, 2017.
View the full call for papers at https://linguistlist.org/issues/28/28-4371.html
Source: LINGUIST List
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