3:30-5PM on Thursday, February 1

Speaker: Kim Potowski (kimpotow@uic.edu)

Title: Apples and oranges: Teaching heritage speakers

ABSTRACT

This talk covers important issues related to teaching language courses to heritage speakers, addressing questions such as these: What are their linguistic, affective, and academic characteristics?  What makes them different from foreign language learners? What placement procedures, instructional approaches, and materials are most appropriate in working with heritage speakers to best serve their linguistic and affective needs? There will be particular focus on Spanish but also consideration of other heritage languages taught in the U.S.  

BIO

Dr. Kim Potowski is Professor of Spanish linguistics in the Department of Hispanic & Italian Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she also holds appointments in Latin American and Latino Studies and Curriculum & Instruction. She directed the Spanish for heritage speakers program on her campus for 18 years and is the founding director of its summer study abroad program in Oaxaca, Mexico. Her research focuses on Spanish in the United States, including factors that influence language maintenance and change, as well as connections between language and ethnic identity. She has authored and edited over 12 books including Spanish in Chicago, El español de los Estados Unidos, Heritage language teaching, Language diversity in the USA, and Language and identity in a dual immersion school, as well as several textbooks for students and for teachers. 

3:30-5:00PM on Thursday, February 29

Speaker: Francis Troyan (troyan.14@osu.edu)

Title: Twenty Years of Integrated Performance Assessment: What’s New?

ABSTRACT

In this workshop, one of the authors of the ACTFL publication Integrated Performance Assessment: Twenty Years and Counting! will present an overview of the Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA) and the new updates in the recently published third edition (Troyan, Adair-Hauck, & Glisan, 2023). The workshop describes the ways in which the IPA can be a vehicle to center equity, diversity, and inclusion in the world language classroom. After the workshop, participants will be able to use a range of resources to begin exploring IPA design.

BIO

Dr. Francis John Troyan is Associate Professor of Multilingual Language Education and Critical Transformative Education at The Ohio State University, where he teaches in the Bilingual, TESOL, and World Language Education programs. His teaching and research focus on assessment, language teacher development, and genre-based approaches to instruction and assessment in language education.

3:30-5:00PM on Thursday, April 4

Speaker: Kaishan Kong (KONGK@uwec.edu)

Title: Bridging cultures through languages: Integrating Intercultural Communicative Competence in world language education

Abstract

While many teachers are interested in teaching culture in language classes, culture can often sound abstract and overwhelming. Language instructors often wonder: Which part of culture shall I teach? How do I know if my students understand the culture? What does intercultural communicative competence look like in a world language classroom? If I am not from that target culture, am I qualified to teach it? This presentation will use three popular topics (Food, Family, Festivals) as examples to discuss how culture can be integrated into language classes in a natural and profound way to enhance students’ Intercultural Communicative Competence. The presenter will share sample lesson plans from various languages, model activities, suggest assessment ideas, and engage the participants to adapt meaningful activities for their teaching contexts.

Bio

Kaishan Kong (孔凯珊), Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Chinese and TEFL advisor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Her research interests include second language acquisition, mediated learning in study abroad, intercultural communication, virtual exchange, and teacher training. In addition to teaching courses related to Chinese language and culture, Kaishan is also a teacher educator. She has taught the STARTALK Program and the CARLA (Center for Advanced Research in Language Acquisition) Summer Institute program for almost 15 years. Her publications appear in various peer-reviewed journals, and she recently co-edited a book titled “Intercultural Citizenship in language education: Teaching and learning through social action” published through Multilingual Matters, U.K. She received numerous awards for her teaching and research in language and culture, such as the Fulbright Scholar award (2020) and the Wisconsin Teaching Fellow award (2015).