The NCLRC Language Resource
VOL. 16, NO.2

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March/April 2013
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Twenty-first Century Skills is a phrase mentioned in many of our articles this month. Among those skills are a variety of abilities and performances we ask ourselves and our students to use proficiently. Our authors address these skills in a variety of ways, including using podcasts and other e-resources for improving listening, writing for reading, electronically adding the arts to STEM, aligning foreign languages with the Common Core, using digital learning sites to hone skills, and using e-portfolios to keep track of it all. It all comes down to keeping ourselves and our students current with the fast-changing nature of the world, helping to prepare them to manage the future in positive ways, giving them the skills to think creatively, critically, collaboratively and innovatively while keeping up with the technology that has become a huge part of our personal and professional lives. Spring is a time of change, renewal, and rebirth; let’s use this issue as inspiration for ourselves.

Iconic Washington, DC in the spring: The reappearance of the cherry blossoms.

blossoms

Announcements:

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Most of our 2013 NCLRC Summer Institutes will be part of this conference
For more information or to register, click the button below

lte2013

Calendar:


  • May 30th - June 1st. The Eighth International Conference on Language Teacher Education: Preparing Language Teacher Educators to Meet National and Global Needs. More info

  • June 11-15, 2013.  IALLT International Association for Language Learning Technology.  Sunshine and Cloud Apps: The Next Generation in Language Learning Technology.   Fort Lauderdale, FL.  http://2013.iallt.org/home

  • October 17-19, 2013.  Indiana Foreign Language Teachers Association.  Fuel Their Future with Languages.  Sheraton Keystone, Indianapolis, ID.  www.iflta.org

  • October 4-5, 2013. FLAVA 2013 Conference: Go Global. More info

If you have something you would like us to list, please contact the editor: swcockey@nclrc.org and she will be happy to include your professional event in our calendar.

redstar_white_bg Feature article

Language Learners in a Digital World
Lori Roe, Instructional Technology Specialist and Director, STARTALK Chinese Summer Program ; Cape Henlopen School District, Delaware

Technology and 21st century skills are essential in preparing world language learners to communicate effectively and live productively in an increasingly digital world. Today’s technologies can be used to support and enhance language and cultural learning. … The iPad has revamped teaching and learning with interactive apps, access to online resources, ibooks, videos, music, and the HD camera to engage and empower students beyond our expectations. The many apps for learning languages, as well as interactive books, podcasts, and videos in iTunes immerse students in the target language. Here are just a few activities that utilize these apps for supporting and enhancing language learning.
Read more...


redstar_white_bg Testing Tips (Ask a Tester)

World Languages and the Common Core State Standards
Victoria Nier, Center for Applied Linguistics

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) provide a unified set of educational standards in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics that have been adopted by many states in recent years. As part of a growing movement towards standards-based education and accountability, the CCSS clearly articulate high expectations for academic achievement in ELA and math. As world language teachers, it’s easy to feel that the CCSS are not particularly relevant to us. Read more to find out why the CCSS are relevant to us.
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redstar_white_bg Tech for Teachers

Pronunciation and Speaking
Jamie Suria, GWU Graduate Student of Education

Finding authentic, quality listening materials that can spark student interest and motivation can be a challenge for any foreign language instructor, especially for the less frequently-taught languages. Luckily, there is a large variety of listening resources available online to fit any learning objective, in almost every language imaginable. Educators can take advantage of the growing library of free authentic and instructional podcasts to provide students with listening practice within and outside of the classroom. Students will also love to create and share their own podcasts, which integrates speaking skills and provides an authentic opportunity for performance-based assessment.
Read more...


redstar_white_bg NCLRC Highlights

Embassies: An Untapped Resource Being Tapped through Collaboration
Sheila W. Cockey NCLRC Facilitator for Spanish Immersion Institute

Embassies serve many purposes beyond being the diplomatic voice of a nation. Located in the nation’s capital, we at NCLRC have the advantage of being close to embassies and collaborating with them on a less lofty mission, but a mission that is no less important. That mission is getting the word out about a country, its culture and history, its people and ways of life, including its language.

Read more

redstar_white_bg YANA

More STEM Ideas that have become STEAM in Nature: Adding in the Arts
Sheila W. Cockey

This request was prompted by my previous YANA post about STEM in the foreign language classroom. STEAM adds the arts to the science-technology-engineering-mathematics lineup. Since I’m an art-lover and try to bring the arts into my lessons as much as possible, I love the STEAM approach to learning! … While all of the suggested websites are in English, you can devise lessons in your language for your students. These excellent resources will help students explore the world and learn to talk about regular, everyday things in their new language. Your new lessons will reach out to your students and engage them in real life while incorporating your local curriculum, your state standards, and the concepts of STEM and STEAM.
Read more...


redstar_white_bg More Common

Why e-Portfolios Make Sense in 21st Century Education
Gabriela Appel, CALPER

… with the increasing development of Web technologies, the use of portfolios has shifted from paper-and-pencil versions to digital or electronic versions. … Many educators believe that portfolios in general and e-portfolios in particular are valuable in teaching as well as evaluating 21st century skills. Critical thinking and problem solving, communication, collaboration, creativity and innovation, skills stressed by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21), will be needed to function in the future. Classrooms … need to provide opportunities for students to become effective, independent and confident self-directed learners, who understand how they are learning, and are able to relate their learning to a wider contexts, i.e. to situations outside of the classroom. Opportunities have to be created where one can learn to articulate personal goals and evaluate progress towards the achievement of those goals and cultivate a positive attitude towards learning throughout life.
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redstar_white_bg Sound Bites

People Who Write Want to be Read
Marcel LaVergne, Ed.D.

The teacher who is usually the only person to read[ student’s compositions] then … spends countless hours in meticulously correcting all the grammatical errors. The result of all those red marks on the paper tells the student that s/he is hopelessly unable to write with any degree of competence and leads to a dislike in writing. Writing becomes the ultimate test of the student’s grasp of spelling and grammatical accuracy (which are achievement-based) rather than a springboard of communication between a writer and a reader (which are proficiency-based). Generally speaking, because people write to be read by others, it’s a good idea to let the students read one another’s papers by publishing some of the writings in the form of a handout or brochure.
Read more... (PDF)


redstar_white_bg Business Language

The Case for Teaching with Business Cases
Margaret Gonglewski, Ph.D., George Washington University

Language teachers are often surprised to learn that business cases are not always focused on problems based on numbers (e.g., profit margins) or concepts less familiar to those not trained in business. Indeed, many international business cases present problems centered on cultural (mis)communication, a topic in which language professionals have expert knowledge. For that reason, cases can be a valuable tool in business language classes, and the methods commonly used for teaching with cases are abundantly familiar to language teaching professionals.
Read more... (PDF)


The Language Resource is a monthly publication of the National Capital Language Resource Center that provides practical teaching strategies, share insights from research, and announce professional development opportunities for all foreign language educators. Funded by the US Department of Education through Title VI, we are a consortium of Georgetown University, The George Washington University, and the Center for Applied Linguistics.


Also available on our website
Culture Club
A space to share multicultural and multilanguage resources for teachers and students alike
Elementary Immersion Learning Strategies Resource Guide
Sailing the 5 Cs with Learning Strategies:
A Resource Guide for Secondary Foreign Language Educators
The Essentials of Language Teaching
Portfolio Assessment in the Foreign Language Classroom Developing Autonomy in Language Learners Learning Strategies Instruction in Higher Education