Completed Events

  • Workshop: Helping Language Learners Achieve Professional Proficiency (ACTFL Superior/ILR 3)
Helping Language Learners Achieve Professional Proficiency was conducted on February 9th, 2024, proposed by Dianna Murphy (University of Wisconsin – Madison). The two primary focus areas of the workshop were how can instructors of LCTLs help students be more independent in how they work and reflect on their communication abilities in a language, and what types of resources and feedback can we provide students that makes sense for what level they are at within the language? The primary audience was lecturers and program administrators, with a resounding 38 languages being represented during the Zoom presentation.

  • Second Annual Seminar for Teachers of Heritage Languages Less Commonly Spoken in San Diego (March 2024)

On March 3rd, 2024, the Second Annual Seminar for Teachers of Heritage Languages Less Commonly Spoken in San Diego met once again to discuss how different community-based schools teach LCTLs. The seminar, first brought to fruition by Marina Petrovic of the School of Serbian Language and Culture at Serbian Cultural Center San Diego back in 2020, also presented as a networking opportunity for teachers from different community schools to collaborate and share information they’ve gained about reading and writing in community-based classrooms as instructors of LCTLs. There was a range of topics discussed, from student retention and placement, to curriculum design and activities that promote L2 use in the classroom. A multitude of presentations were given from individuals from different community schools to talk more in depth about these topics and how they best relate to teaching literacy.

  • Workshop: Motivating with Gamification (November 2024)

On November 19th, 2024, Dr. Deborah Healey from the University of Washington led an engaging workshop titled Motivating with Gamification. The goal of gamification in language learning is to increase student motivation and engagement. During the workshop, attendees were introduced to various mechanics of gamification, participated in activities demonstrating how gamified elements could be applied to classroom settings, and designed gamified lesson plans using specific examples from their own teaching contexts. 21 teachers from across the country attended, both on Zoom and in person, representing collegiate and K-12 institutions. The full workshop was recorded and is now available on YouTube via the University of Washington’s Language Learning Center channel at https://youtu.be/OUqmV3d52Bg. 

Upcoming/Ongoing Events

  • Vietnamese Podcast (Silver Table)

ThuyAnh Nguyen (University of Michigan) proposed a project to support the Silver Table podcast, or Bàn Tròn Tiếng Việt, to talk about a variety of topics relating to the Vietnamese language. The podcast will be conducted by groups of students, both from UofM and not, with higher proficiency levels of the language via Zoom. The postings from the podcast can be found on their website and YouTube. A long term goal of theirs is collaboration with students aboard in Vietnam to create podcasts in English.

  • Teaching LCTLs across the curriculum: Cultures, Languages, and Innovations

The Atlanta Global Studies Center/Ethan Trinh plans to host a workshop, titled Teaching LCTLs across the curriculum: Cultures, Languages, and Innovations, to support LCTLs in the State of Georgia, to talk more about the sharing information about creating bonds amongst teachers in the state of Georgia as a way of collaborating over research and pedagogical practices. The event will be organized on January 17th, 2025, with the target languages being Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Portuguese, Arabic, and Hindi. With an expected 100-150 people in attendance, there will be a variety of discussion to push for further collaboration among schools and universities to share resources. The event can be attended virtually or in-person on Georgia State University’s campus in downtown Atlanta.

  • Developing Heritage Learner Courses for Less Commonly Taught Languages: A Vietnamese Case Study

Saena Dozier (University of Minnesota), with the aid of other instructors and specialists from UMN, proposed a workshop (Developing Heritage Learner Courses for Less Commonly Taught Languages: A Vietnamese Case Study) to help speed up developing a completely remote Vietnamese language program to be shared throughout the Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA). The intentions for the language program is for heritage speakers that presumably have some foundations to the Vietnamese language to gain more structured instruction. UMN asked MSU to pair up for this workshop, as MSU has a successful Vietnamese language education program already, to build further the collaborative program for other universities to also use for students that request it. The focus of the workshop is curriculum building based on the needs of heritage learners, and what they need instructionally to further build their knowledge surrounding the Vietnamese language.