Cultural competency is a buzzword that has been floating around in education for a few years. But what does this look like in our classrooms? We share best practices for creating an anti-bias classroom and work through case studies that will help put theory into practice. These case studies present instances of microaggressions in the classroom and participants learn and practice different strategies and language to address them.
This presentation reports on “travel-reading” as an approach to teach Asian literature. Travel-reading was a humanities grant project and implemented in a summer study abroad program in Taiwan in 2022. Reading Interior Chinatown worked as a pedagogical mechanism that helped students stay thematically engaged with a text while abroad. Students strategically interpreted and evaluated what they heard and saw in the country in comparison with their reading and developed an evolving framework that enabled them to appreciate differences, examine their beliefs, challenge the stereotypes that they had held about East Asian people, and reflected on how the invisibility of certain minorities can affect our consciousness and distort reality in our society.
Effective world language programs support and benefit all students, and it is critical to recognize student differences and ensure that each student receives the resources and supports they need. This session describes resources developed to support teachers’ use of the 2021 Massachusetts World Languages Curriculum Framework, including supports for ensuring equity by differentiating instruction, promoting social and emotional well-being and social justice, and centering student diversity. Presenters will share best practices for supporting proficiency through equitable and assets-based approaches to instruction, lessons learned from developing these resources, and implications for future resource development and implementation of language standards and frameworks.
This presentation is a reporting out of my MEAD Fellowship project work during the past year. I have been researching and curating information on teacher certification requirements in all of the states represented by NECTFL with the goal of creating a platform that allows non-traditional teachers to better navigate the certification process. Additionally, I have created a visual report that highlights potential areas for education and advocacy at the state level.
Taking advantage of the best practices in peer review training and guided editing processes in ESL writing courses, a DE instructor and college faculty use the same training materials to help their students to become more effective in their Chinese peer editing. The collaborative process helps students become more effective thinkers and writers. First, we train the students to be specific by identifying the location of strengths/weaknesses as well as the concrete issues using the correction keys provided. Second, we want students to make sure that their feedback is helpful by suggesting concrete ways to improve the composition. Third, we show them how to be polite by using set polite phrases and expressions using the "cheat sheet" created by the two presenters through collaboration.
In today's classroom, we are faced with a number of obstacles, from overcrowding to reaching diverse, reluctant learners. One thing the COVID pandemic has brought to the forefront in a more obvious way is the recognition of the impact of trauma and how it affects the way we learn. Teachers are accustomed to serving as coaches and counselors in addition to facilitators of learning, but how do we marry those aspects together? How do we address students' emotional needs while also teaching the curriculum? In this session, participants learn how a group of educators from Delaware worked together to align the World Language standards to the competencies of Social Emotional Learning.
Has your teacher heart ever sunk at the sight of a discarded assessment that’s covered in valuable feedback? This session explores how teachers and learners can get more out assessments - after they’ve happened! First, learn to revise your teaching plan when an assessment fails in order to discover what students know or can do. Next, examine how to differentiate instruction post-assessment based on students’ performances. Finally, incorporate opportunities for “feedforward” which prompt student reflection and targeted action.
I present ideas on how to teach Guernica (the bombing and the painting) in very interactive classes to intermediate and advanced students of Spanish. Participants will leave with materials and ideas on teaching the topic. The war in Ukraine and many others in our world today make this presentation current. The deep study of art and history makes this unit timeless. No background knowledge is necessary to follow this presentation.
This presentation showcases the challenges and successes of the Generation Alpha Arabic language learners. Participants learn how to effectively teach the Arabic language and cultures to Generation Alpha in a hybrid format—using various technology tools to promote cultural competence and facilitate communication. The presenter demonstrates the concept, the procedure, and the result of the Alpha Arabic language learners in the hybrid format.
We share the results of focus group research with heritage learners of Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Persian, and Russian about their knowledge of and interest in federal careers that use their language skills. Learn about high school and university students’ perspectives on the resources they use, questions they have, and obstacles they see in researching and pursuing possible careers. Presenters describe how these insights informed development of free web-based resources to help language learners connect their strengths and interests to career pathways, as well as how educators can support students to make these connections.
Feeling stressed by dropping enrollments in your programs? Enrollment in World Language courses at community colleges have been dropping over the last 12 years. This presentation describes the importance of the WL certificate as a valuable option for students to document their language and culture skills, and the process of creating such a program. By offering a certificate program, with the option of credentialing through the Global Seal of Biliteracy, more students can be reached in other disciplines as well as attracting students from local businesses who might want to increase their job skills. Participants find out how two different community colleges have created WL certificate programs to boost enrollment and provide students with skills for transfer and workforce.
Looking to strengthen your German program, to add depth and attract eager learners? Join us to learn about SPARK for German. We found success in our first year and are excited to share the building blocks that lead to success. We provide step-by-step action plans and share our actual experiences initiating this program to inspire participants to start their own SPARK lab. The SPARK program offers organic opportunities that support inclusion among student facilitators and student participants.
To aid their future careers as military officers, the United States Air Force Academy teaches its cadets a brand-new course, “French for Professional Purposes”, through the new pedagogical practice of “Inclusive Learning”. Participants hear how the instructor and her cadet co-presenter built a curriculum to meet the needs of a student body diverse in background, learning styles, age, and gender, with material curated through cadet research. Participants engage in inclusive activities and content representative of the course’s novel approaches to assignments and assessments, and leave with new techniques to make their courses even more inclusive for students.
Gifted students frequently abandon language study in favor of what they consider more useful subjects. We examine how these other subjects can become part of the language program. Students may be able to integrate the language they know in various ways in courses such as history, art, political science, or business. This promotes greater collaboration among teachers and better connections for students. The presenter gives examples and show how Language across the curriculum can become part of a language program. Participants are invited to share ideas.
The emergence of multiliteracies as a key component of Foreign Language Education has led to a re-evaluation of translation as a pedagogical tool. With their focus on multiliteracy, translation activities provide access to authentic texts, and help students develop intercultural competence, as they engage with cultural narratives, in various modalities (films, graffiti, commercials…). The aim of this panel is to reflect on the potential of textual/audiovisual translation and translanguaging in the L2 classroom. It will showcase examples of student performance (in Greek and French), and reflect on the significance of translation as an instrument of mediation between cultures and as a tool for inquiry into the ways language constructs, and is constructed by, identity, culture and gender.
How can social media platforms like Instagram be used to expand the scope of “classroom” and build a virtual learning community? The presenters introduce a year-long community-building project conducted at an elementary Chinese course in college. We focus on how it successfully fosters a deeper connection among members of the Chinese course (teachers, tutors, students, and beyond), enhances meaningful interaction in their life, and helps learners get immersed in the target language and culture – all in a cohesive community. The participants learn how the project was seamlessly integrated into various parts of the course, and jointly reflect on potential ways to adapt the project into their own instructional contexts especially in the post-pandemic era.
Do you struggle with ideas for how to empower your students to use the language beyond the walls of your classroom? Come and learn from the 2022 NECTFL Teachers of the Year state finalists! From empowering your students to teach younger students in your school community, to showcasing student work around town, Teachers of the Year from the northeast region share some of the strategies they implement to practice the Communities standard and advocate for their language programs in their broader communities. Examples are in Spanish, French, Latin, and Chinese across all age groups.
A Rountable Discussion and Open Forum on the varied programs of the Goethe-Institut and the way teachers can work together to build their networks, featuring the work of the SPARK program and the study abroad exchange program GAPP. Join us to share your insights and strengthen your program.
How can we plan common learning experiences for students who learn at different rates? How can we develop proficiency, when they need different things? We provide strategies for meeting students where they’re at by leveraging thematic units to appropriately challenge each student through a common learning experience. This includes how to provide students with opportunities to self-differentiate during instruction, assessments, and learning activities, so that they are all talking about the same thing, but each working on their own proficiency growth. Let's meet them where they're at!
Have you ever explored how your past, present, and future show up in the classroom? Do you wonder how you can uncover and examine the roots of your identidad in order to grow your competencia sociocultural alongside the students you serve? Through a Two-Way Immersion Lens, we will guide you to reflect on your past, present, and future, and how to apply these guided reflections in your Pre-K to 12th grade classrooms. A few of the tasks we will investigate together will be: memoirs, challenging games, how-tos, inspiring videos, and a map of dreams. Join us as we incorporate critical consciousness and social justice into our planning, collegial conversations, advocacy, and instructional practices.
Intercultural communicative competence (ICC) plays a critical role in language learners’ growth and success during study abroad. The Chinese Flagship Culture Initiative (CFCI) aims to design cultural materials and embed them in the development of pragmatic and intercultural competences in intermediate and advanced proficiency Chinese learners. The presenters share results from a needs assessment survey identifying areas of weakness in their cultural preparation, podcasts in which students reflect on their study abroad experience, and new cultural materials developed to address current gaps and strengthen students’ ICC. Feedback on the materials from teachers and students as well as effective instructional strategies for using CFCI materials are also discussed.
During an unprecedented time in history, teachers have demonstrated unparalleled resiliency. Many have learned new technology and strategies almost overnight to best serve our students and have done so with grace. Going forward, what happens now? How can teachers apply newly acquired skills to enhance instruction and support all students? Teachers should not only reference Bloom’s Taxonomy for educational objectives but also reflect on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to support students’ social and emotional needs. Reimagine the framework and place importance on the intersection of culture and social emotional learning. Aim to reboot students’ learning experiences to include reflective practices, mindful activities and meaningful affirmations.