Workshops
Action Research to Improve Heritage Language Teaching and Learning
Dr. Elizabeth Kissling
University of Richmond
Dr. Elizabeth Kissling
University of Richmond
Action Research is research done by teachers for teachers. This workshop will introduce participants to research methodologies that pursue action (change) and research (understanding) concurrently. Three teachers-researchers will present Action Research Projects in which they have explored various topics related to Heritage Language Teaching and Learning: reasons why heritage students enroll in traditional Spanish courses, increasing learners' self-efficacy and strategies for successfully managing the use of Spanish/English in the heritage language classroom. These projects were carried out in high schools and community colleges in California and Washington. Following the presentations, participants will begin to identify areas in need of Action Research within their own contexts, define research questions, and develop methodologies for answering those questions.
How to do Task-based Language Teaching for Heritage Learners
Dr. Melissa Baralt
Florida International University
Dr. Melissa Baralt
Florida International University
Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) is an educational framework for the theory and practice of teaching languages. For us as teachers/instructors, it means using tasks based on our students' needs, implementing those tasks via task-based methodology, and doing focus on form. In this workshop, teachers/instructors will learn TBLT fundamentals. We will design tasks and practice their classroom implementation with task-based methodology. We will also learn about the methodological components that are psycholinguistically relevant to heritage learners: options in the pre-task phase, as well as types of focus on form, analysis, and practice in the language focus after learners have done a task. All teachers will design a task and a methodological plan to take and implement in their own classrooms.
An alternative approach to bilingualism is well underway, and at the core of this shift is the notion of translanguaging. But while the term is gaining momentum, it remains obscure and far-fetched to many. What does it look and sound like? How do I implement translingual pedagogies? What are the consequences of adopting a translanguaging approach in the heritage language classroom? In entertaining these and other questions, the goal for this workshop is to develop a clear understanding of how to develop a translanguaging approach, its orientation, and its praxis. To that end, the workshop will be divided into three parts. In the first part I will provide a contextualized introduction to the notion of translanguaging. In the second part, I will focus on translanguaging as pedagogy and its implications at the linguistic, affective, and social levels. The third part will focus on what curricula, lessons and activities may look like when adopting a translanguaging approach. Participants will collaborate in the design of their own activities as we open a space for reflection and discussion.
