The Language Commons and the Institute for World Languages are pleased to welcome Orlando Kelm (University of Texas at Austin) on Friday, February 17th

1:00-2:00pm 2/17/17 Gibson Hall 211

The Professional Use of English as a Lingua Franca: Can we really say, “Everyone just uses English anyway”

There is no doubt that, in some international and professional contexts, we see abundant use of English as a lingua franca. There are other situations, however, in which the use of the local language is essential. The better we understand these contexts, the more effective we can be as foreign language educators, and the more relevant our teaching will be. We discuss implications and strategies as related to this issue.

3:00-4:30pm 2/17/17 Gibson Hall 211

Too much technology! What’s a foreign language educator supposed to do?

In a world of social media, online communication, mobile devices and Apps, it can be daunting to figure out what we can do to really help language learners.  The object of this workshop is to give language learners and instructors to better sense of how to enhance foreign language learning with innovative technologies, and to do so without feeling overwhelmed or intimidated.

Presenter Bio: Orlando R. Kelm (Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, 1989) is an Associate Professor of Hispanic Linguistics whose professional interests center on the use language and culture for professional purposes, such as Business Spanish and Portuguese.  His current research focuses on the creation of instructional materials, including the use of innovative technologies in foreign language instruction.  He also frequently teaches courses, both in Spanish and Portuguese, in phonetics and phonology.  He currently serves as the Associate Director of Business Language Education for the Center for International Business Education and Research at UT, Austin.

liberalarts.utexas.edu/spanish/faculty/orkelm

All inquiries: kindly contact Hope Fitzgerald (hf6v)