ACTFL 2007 IV: Day 2

Day 2 began with Second Language Reading: Going beyond the Sentence Level by Rumia Ableeva (The Pennsylvania State University). The abstract read "This presentation discusses the integration of discourse-based activities and heuristic tests into reading instruction. These approaches allow instructors to engage students in discussions, negotiation of meanings and critical thinking. The presentation begins with a literature overview related to teaching literary texts from this perspective. Then, pedagogical applications of literary texts are presented." This was an enormously useful presentation; looking at my notes, I've got five pages! We start with HD Brown's statement that "Language is more than a sentence-level phenomenon" - something I try to get my students to think about when they're reading or translating complex texts - and then worked on strategies for getting students to deal with the whole text. "The goal is not for the student to "get the right answer" but rather to formulate a rationale for an hypothesis based on concrete, text-based observations." A lot of helpful strategies here for building on common knowledge among students, negotiating meaning, and applying discourse strategies to enhance their comprehension.

I next meant to attend Meeting the Challenge of Grammar Teaching in a Communicative Classroom but it turned out, upon checking, to be for French (again!), including all the resources. I might have gotten something out of it, but I decided instead to attend Adapting the Integrated Performance Assessment for Content-Based Instruction by Diane Tedick (University Of Minnesota), Tara Fortune (University of Minnesota), Laurent Cammarata (University of Georgia), and Kazue Oda. The abstract: "This presentation describes an adaptation of the Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA) to maximize its use in content-based instruction (CBI). Strengths of the IPA model are highlighted, specific ways to adapt the model for CBI are explained, and detailed, teacher-developed examples of IPAs for a range of CBI contexts are shared." The IPA rubrics must be adapted, because "In the IPA, the content of the text is an excuse for language use, but in CBI the content is important." Also, the IPA cycle has presentation (such as reports or essays) after interpersonal (conversation or messaging), and it probably needs to be the other way around in CBI classes. Grammar must be more automatic for interpersonal performance, as there's no checking before you submit, so to speak.


Then my original choice of Grammar Does Have Meaning: Training Readers to Find Meaningful Detail turned out to be totally in Spanish, so instead I went to Learning Languages From a Distance: The Potential of Technology by Ann Tollefson (Language Associates International) and Thomas Welch. The abstract: "Presenters will examine current and upcoming distance-learning technologies, including selected applications of technology useable within a traditional classroom to expand students’ access to real-time language and culture. Standards for assessing the use of technology in language learning will be discussed. Input from the audience will be solicited and discussed." Again, good thoughts on integrating wikis, and a couple of good pedagogical wikis programs were discussed and modeled.

The rest of the conference I stuck with my original choices. Fourth up today was Interactive Technology: Connecting authentic language and cultural content with modern teaching methodologies by Christine Galbreath Jernigan (http://bilingualwiki.com) and Michel Hallot (El Dorado School District 15) - though, unfortunately, she wasn't there. I say 'unfortunately' because she was supposed to talk content while he talked tech, and without her the presentation, though it did contain some useful websites and ideas, was mostly about the tech, at a fairly basic level - touchboards and websites - which I didn't need. Not his fault, but this was the least useful to me; clearly most of the people there were eating it up. The abstract: "Affordable, user friendly technology encourages interactive activities, using the same skills students use when they surf the Internet. This familiarity and authenticity teaches language in a relevant cultural context. Technology becomes an integral part of the day-to-day learning process and outside activity in language labs or home/library computers." It certainly does apply to today's students.

And I finished up with a very useful - and the only one for Russian (except the one for absolute beginners) - "My Sweet Giraffe" or Tips on Teaching Culture by Mara Sukholutskaya (East Central University), though as it turns out, it was applicable to all languages and had examples in more than just Russian. Abstract: "Ever wonder how to address a loved one in Russia, Nigeria, or Korea? Or how to combine language and culture from your initial encounters with students? This session will enrich the cultural dialogue by offering ideas on selecting materials and building on varying levels of language competency in the classroom." This was about using short and (sometimes deceptively) simple proverbs and sayings to teach "a dialog of culture." Why? Because literature is long and often complex. Culture is "more than festivals and cuisine" and it deserves to be taken, and taught, seriously. But that doesn't mean we can't have fun.

This was the one session - very small number of people for the last one of the day - where someone was just a jerk. She was trying to get us to compare various cultural things and he was just irritating. For instance, she was talking about omens and asked what spilling salt meant in American, Russian, and Korean (that's who she had in her audience) cultures, and because he didn't get to answer for Russians, he interjected "But there's also хлеб и соль, bread and salt." Yes, there is, but that's hardly an omen and has nothing to do with anything we're talking about! I could say, "And there's also "putting salt on someone's tail," too, with as much relevance. Sheesh. And this happened every time she brought up an example. "But there's also..." or "I'd just like to say..." If you want to talk so much, submit a paper, guy. Otherwise, though, an enjoyable session with useful tips on cross-cultural awareness and games to play to make the learning more engaging.