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February 2024
Check out more of our latest happenings below, including our finalized schedule of OLT courses for Spring 2024. Learn more about the upcoming Shared LCTL Symposium in Chicago - we'd love to see you there!
Don't forget to explore opportunities from other LRCs and Language Centers in our PD Opportunities and Resources section, at the end of the newsletter!
New to our newsletter? Explore all eleven of our projects in our three core areas of professional development, open resources, and strategic collaboration on our website!
The Shared LCTL Symposium will again be held in conjunction with the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL) Annual Conference in Chicago on April 18, 2024 from 1-5:30pm!
2024 Theme: Differentiated Instruction
Dr. Garza will explore topics and issues around differentiated instruction, intersectional identities, mixed proficiency levels, and other factors that influence and inform student motivation for language learning. A panel of LCTL instructors will respond with their own experiences and expertise.
NLRC Social Media Highlight
Can’t believe the first month of 2024 is over already! As the NLRC resumes work after the holiday break, we acknowledged and addressed several important topics and dates this month! We posted about World Braille Day on January 4th. Braille is definitely considered a LCTL, as well as an important skill to have! On January 8th, we posted a reminder for our LCTL partnership workshop deadline and acknowledging Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 15th! This is a significant day for America, as it signifies his nonviolent protest against racial discrimination during the Civil Rights Movement. And finally, we also noted International Day of Education on January 24th! Follow us on social media to keep up with what we are up to!
LoLA FLTA Self-Assessment Workshop
On December 14th, our LoLA project hosted our second workshop with the MSU Fulbright Language Teaching Assistants (FLTAs) on self-assessment creation! This time, we dug deeper into how to create comprehensive “can-do” statements!
FLTAs of multiple LCTLs took part in brainstorming self-assessment statements for their students, including instructors of Urdu, Turkish, Tagalog, Thai, Yoruba, and more! We are honored and excited to see more LCTLs being taught in our area and around the world!
Learn more about the LoLA project here.
SPRING OLT OPPORTUNITIES
Learn more about our Spring 2024 Online Language Teaching courses!
Creating Engaging Materials
Develop in-depth expertise for developing engaging online materials. Build a portfolio of 3-6 sets of materials in a variety of domains of your choice (vocabulary or grammar, reading or listening, and culture or pragmatics) for use in your online or hybrid courses.
Spring session starts: March 4
Purposeful Technology Integration
Explore novel and alternative technology-supported pedagogical approaches, identify technology-enabled practices with the most transformative potential, and design an intentional “new normal” for what language instruction might look like for you in the near future.
Spring session starts: April 1
Deadlines for spring course applications:
- Creating Engaging Materials: Feb 19th
- Purposeful Technology Integration: April 1st
Many of our fellow Language Resource Centers and National Resource Centers (and some of our collaborative partners) have their own professional development opportunities. This section highlights some of those opportunities/resources:
- The Transforming Language Instruction Project at the University of Chicago (funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation) is accepting applications for their series of three summer workshops. Apply before March 15 for the Test Design & Development workshop and 4-day OPI workshop!
- CARLA opened registration for their Summer Institutes for Language Teachers in January 2024! The institutes have a scholarship for LCTL instructors - applications will be due March 15, 2024.
- CERCLL is holding the International Conference on the Development and Assessment of Intercultural Competence in February 2024.
- CERCLL's Spring 2024 Webinar Series is called "Rebooting Language Educ-AI-tion" and has upcoming webinars in January, March, and April!
- The NFLRC has an open-enrollment self-study course about Project-Based Language Learning, open for enrollment from now through April 30,
2024.
- The Teaching and Learning Languages in the United States (TELL-US) podcast series is available. This resource is aimed at novice LCTL instructors with content focusing on pedagogy and school culture.
- The Language Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has several professional development events online this academic year (2023-2024), including topics surrounding SLA and language ideologies. Check out the link above for more information!
- The Cornell Language Resource Center has a podcast called "Speaking of Language" as well as a Speaker Series (with archived videos of previous events), covering topics of wide-ranging interest for language learners and instructors!
- Applications are now open for Wisconsin Intensive Summer Language Institutes! Most institutes have a March 15 priority deadline, but be sure to double check the deadline for your desired institute!
