Oscar 2024

Music is an invaluable tool in the World Language classroom. Music helps us develop cultural awareness in the target language while lowering the Affective Filter. But the songs we choose are often too complex, with advanced vocabulary and colloquialisms that novice and intermediate learners can't yet grasp. Learn how to effectively use music in your World Language class to provide repeated exposure to target structures, and sustain comprehensible interaction in the L2, all while developing cultural awareness. This session is hands-on, so teachers can take the tools and resources to easily integrate the activities and units right back into their classrooms. No prior experience or background is necessary but come prepared to sing and dance to fully embrace the music!

Explore the world of heroes and legends in the French speaking world through interdisciplinary units which provide a path for learners to investigate and interact with cultural competence in the target language. Lessons on the scientific heroes Marie Curie and Jacques Cousteau, historical figure Olympes de Gouges, and feminist writer George Sand are shared with participants. The lessons provide examples of opportunities to use authentic materials in our classrooms, and to develop critical thinking skills while investigating the people who shaped the world of today. Participants have time to discuss application of this concept for their own unique language learners.

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.

In the last few years, CANVAS has become increasingly important for many of our classes. Many of us are required to use it, but have we been using it effectively? We explore ways to combine best practices for language instruction with existing CANVAS tools to deliver instruction and assessment in the most pedagogically sound way possible and explore ways to promote and assess all modes of communication within the canvas platform. We look at different strategies for formative and summative assessment using the CANVAS tools that allow us to go beyond discrete point grammar and vocabulary activities

Your classroom walls have no limits! Are you a language educator who would like to create global partnerships via dynamic exchanges for your students? Would you like to empower your students to use their voices and investigate the world through empathy-building opportunities without revamping your curriculum? You will be given practical tools to start your own partnerships and connections in order to have your students exchange stories and gain new perspectives while building confidence in their language skills. See dynamic examples of Spanish language students building their global competency with partners around the Spanish-speaking world without a passport and how your students could do it too!