Thank you to the presenters and participants of our virtual conference! 

 

Please Register if you're attending today, even if starting during the day! FREE Registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/175931966247

Zoom information:

Welcome to NERALLT 2021, our first virtual conference for language educators, technologists, and language center administrators in New England. Our theme this year is Beyond Remote: Language Instruction in the Post-Covid World. That theme has proven to be in many ways too optimistic, but we hope that our intent persists--to share our experiences of remote semesters, and how these can shape future successes in language education. We hope that in gathering, even virtually, we can continue a long tradition of sharing our knowledge and experiences, in sometimes volatile academic environments.

 

Saturday, October 2, 2021 - all times Eastern Daylight Time
Note: Zoom C (Dartmouth) will remain available for support when not scheduled

 

Overview (full titles and abstracts on following pages)

9:40 AM

Zoom C - Open Chat

10:00 AM

Zoom C - Welcome and Remarks from NERALLT President Roberto Rey Agudo

10:15 AM

Session 1

Zoom A - The role of the LC in post-COVID language education
Zoom B - Augmented Reality in the Russian Language Classroom

10:45 AM

Session 2

Zoom A - Technology in the Classroom: Tactics and Takeaways
Zoom B - Teaching Arabic Through the Pandemic: A Mindset for the Generation Z

11:15 AM

Quick Break

11:20 AM

Session 3

Zoom A - Online Communities for Language Learning with Global Partnership
Zoom B - Using Manifold for a Speech and Poetry Database

11:50 AM

Session 4

Zoom A - Reimagining Language Immersion through Telecollaborative Learning
Zoom B - Asynchronous Components in a Project-Based Reading of a Novella

12:25 PM

Zoom C - NERALLT Business Meeting
Zoom B - Networking

1:30 PM

Session 5

Zoom A - Building Community Through Innovative Digital Projects
Zoom B - Creating Resilient Learning Modules: Intercultural Communicative Projects

2:00 PM

Session 6

Zoom A - Authentic Media in the Multiliteracies Framework in Advanced Chinese
Zoom B - Leveraging the Distance Setting for Language for Specific Purposes

2:30 PM

 

 

Session 1 - 10:15 AM

Zoom A (MIT)

The role of the LC in post-COVID language education

Teresa Valdez, University of Rochester; Angelika Kraemer, Cornell University; & Cory Duclos, Colgate University

Language acquisition is most effective when instruction is complemented with meaningful experiences outside of the classroom, activating students’ linguistic and cultural knowledge (Choi & Nunan, 2018). This presentation explores how three language center directors have reacted to the pandemic in ways that will transform their approaches moving forward. Presenters discuss innovative multimodal formats for engaging activities that promote the exploration of world languages and cultures. They also consider how to foster a learning atmosphere that encourages students to look beyond required coursework to learn languages. The presentation shows how language centers and language educators can adjust to the post-COVID challenges and contribute to efforts to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion through a focus on student experiences.

 

Zoom B (Quinnipiac)

Augmented Reality in the Russian Language Classroom: ARIS, TaleBlazer, ZapWorks

Kristin Bidoshi, Union College

This presentation outlines an innovative method for integrating augmented reality (AR) into the Russian language classroom. Specifically, we discuss our prototype AR game to train Russian prefixed verbs of motion. “Пойдём!”, set on Union College campus, serves as a case study. Grounded in theoretical work by James Asher on Total Physical Response (TPR), the prototype is based on recent developments in AR and game based learning. Adapting the TPR method to an AR platform allows us to train students on Russian verbs of motion in an immersive environment; through the use of mobile phones, students physically move around in real locations as they follow commands and react to their environment. Feedback is provided through geolocation tags and AR targets. The accompanying interactive booklet includes verb conjugations and still photos indicating the specific motion. When students scan a particular photo with their smartphones, a video associated with that specific verb appears.

 

Session 2 - 10:45 AM

Zoom A (MIT)

Technology in the Classroom: Tactics and Takeaways

Sarab Al Ani, Yale University

“If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our students of tomorrow.” – John Dewey. The past two academic years forced us to teach our language classes fully online. With this change we learned many lessons especially in the way we used Tech-Tools for teaching language whether synchronously or asynchronously. We learned new tactics and techniques that will forever change the way we shall continue to use Tech-Tools even after we go back to face-to-face instruction. This presentation will focus on three areas: formative assessment, instructor-student feedback, and peer feedback. The presentation will try to answer three questions concerning these three areas, namely, which tech-tools to use and why?  Which tactics help maximize student engagement? And what are some technical takeaways that can be carried forward when going back to face-to-face instruction? The presentation includes examples used in the past two academic years as well as brief explanation of Tech-Tools abilities and affordances.

 

Zoom B (Quinnipiac)

Teaching Arabic Through the Pandemic: A Mindset for the Generation Z

Mimi Melkonian, Brunswick School

Teachers have responded immediately to the challenges of the COVID 19 pandemic, but now is the time for us to reassess our pedagogical priorities. In this presentation, I’ll be sharing and discussing successes and challenges in teaching and learning Arabic with alternative delivery methods. Examples of students’ work will be shared using Sutori, virtual reality, Vlogs, Piktochart, Google Earth, and Blogs.

 

Short Break

 

Session 3 - 11:20 AM

Zoom A (MIT)

Online Communities for Language Learning with Global Partnership

Sun-Hee Lee & Jae Young Song, Wellesley College

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the transition to online teaching brought a paradigm shift demanding significant digital transformation in higher education. One especially challenging task is to maintain solid, coherent communities of language learners in online platforms. In this presentation we introduce two online community programs developed by Korean Program at Wellesley College in partnership with Yonsei University and Konyang Cyber University: one, a language exchange program, the other a mentor-mentee program. These programs foster dynamic online interactions through project-based learning and student autonomy; the design of each program has distinct learning goals and structures. The pedagogical strategies for promoting dynamic teacher-student collaboration and bridging curricular and extracurricular activities will be presented. We aim to offer a forum to delve into effective online communities for language learning by utilizing a global network and familiarized online resources resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Zoom B (Quinnipiac)

Using Manifold for a Speech and Poetry Database

Sean Patrick Palmer, LaGuardia Community College

Manifold is an online application used primarily for group annotations of texts. 

However, when I looked at it, I saw another potential application. I decided to use Manifold to build a database of the poetry and short speeches I use when I teach. Students have to recite these pieces, so having a permanent database makes sense. This presentation will show how the database (url: https://cuny.manifoldapp.org/projects/poetry-speech-database) works: how students can access the annotations on the background of the piece, on pronunciation help, and sample recordings for the students to listen to. This way the students can get a better grasp of the work they’re reciting because they are usually unfamiliar with these pieces. The database is still a work in progress. Eventually, students will be able to add annotations of their own, making this a collaborative database.

 

Session 4 - 11:50 AM

Zoom A (MIT)

Reimagining Language Immersion through Telecollaborative Learning

Carmen Granda, Amherst College; & Valentine Balguerie, Randolph-Macon College

Language immersion in the form of study abroad is an ideal way for students to solidify and expand their language skills. However, academic, personal and global circumstances such as finances or the current pandemic can prevent student access to this enriching experience. But what if there were a way to transport the target language and culture to students’ lives so they could enjoy the benefits of study-abroad without having to leave the safety of their homes or dormitories? Using the framework of ACTFL’s 5Cs and the 21st Century Skills, this presentation aims to demonstrate how telecollaborative language learning programs - online conversations with native speakers - can be used as a tool to promote linguistic and cultural proficiency. During their conversations, students also compare and contrast their culture with that of their partners’, making connections to other disciplines and personal interests, thereby achieving global competence. Finally, since students create a connection with a conversation partner in the target language, outside of the classroom, telecollaborative language learning programs can help fulfill ACTFL’s Communities standard, considered a lost “C.” Activities aimed at beginner level as well as more advanced, upper-level French and Spanish courses where language proficiency is often overlooked will be suggested. 

 

Zoom B (Quinnipiac)

From Zoom Back to the Classroom: Asynchronous Components in a Project-Based Reading of a Novella

Carolina Baffi & Giseli Tordin, Yale University

During the first semester of the pandemic, we implemented in a multi-section intermediate Spanish course a project-based learning model to teach remotely "Las batallas en el desierto", a novella by the Mexican writer José Emilio Pacheco. This presentation aims to combine the findings of the elaboration and implementation of this project with the importance of the asynchronous activities that foster students’ autonomy and agency. The didactic sequence involved scaffolded activities to comprehend cultural and linguistic aspects of the text and to reflect upon the depiction of the transformation of Mexico City in the 1950s while analyzing the role of secondary characters. The last stage of the project integrates a pedagogical use of voice-recording technology to produce a podcast from the perspective of a female character almost silenced in the novella. In the end of this presentation, we plan on emphasizing how to overcome a gap between language and literature courses in order to enable students to encode the multiple literacies towards an intercultural dialogue situated in a transdisciplinary context.

 

Lunch/Meeting - 12:25 PM

Zoom B (Quinnipiac)

Networking / Lounge

 

Zoom C (Dartmouth)

NERALLT Meeting

All are welcome to NERALLT's official business meeting.

 

Session 5 - 1:30 PM

Zoom A (MIT)

Building Community Through Innovative Digital Projects

Yating Fan, Boston University

Community building is crucial in any course and in any modality. Having a sense of belonging and feeling connected with others provide learners with strong social support to continue learning. In today's digital age, the teacher's responsibility goes way beyond language teaching. Teachers need to prepare students with the skills, knowledge, and understanding that they will need to succeed in our highly technological and information-based society. In this rapidly changing world, it is important to guide students engage in creative works while developing their digital literacies. This presentation will demonstrate how to establish meaningful connections and maximize engagement through peer-learning digital projects. The aspects that will be discussed include: How do peer-learning projects play a role in community building? What strategies can we use to strengthen a sense of belonging through extracurricular live events? How to use projects to enhance student-student and student-faculty dialogue? How do teachers effectively facilitate students when they use the language to connect with the community and the globalized world?

 

Zoom B (Quinnipiac)

Creating Resilient Learning Modules: Intercultural Communicative Projects

Angela Lee-Smith, Ninghui Liang, & Hiroyo Nishimura, Yale University

Fostering the development of students' interculturality has become increasingly challenging in times of COVID-19. However, the effectiveness of fostering students' intercultural competence depends not solely on the length of an experience abroad but on the quality of the structured and guided learning opportunities as well, especially during the pandemic. With these insights in mind, this collaboration is meant to design intercultural communicative projects for the learners of East Asian languages that facilitate meaningful and sustainable learning experiences and cultivate students' intercultural competencies whether they study abroad or not. This timely presentation demonstrates projects that aim to cultivate interculturality and language learning in thoughtfully crafted themes for elementary to intermediate-level Chinese, Japanese, and Korean learners.  Each project module will contain Intercultural Can-Do Statements and tasks in the three modes of communication — interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational. These projects can be easily embedded into curricula across languages with necessary adaptation. 

 

Session 6 - 2:00

Zoom A (MIT)

Utilizing Authentic Media in the Multiliteracies Framework in Advanced Chinese Classrooms

Peisong Xu, Yale University

The multiliteracies framework extends language instruction beyond rule-based learning, allowing students to engage more deeply with texts without relying on lengthy explanations from instructors. This presentation reports the ways that authentic media materials are used to develop teaching materials in the multiliteracies framework for advanced Chinese heritage courses in a remote language learning environment. It provides concrete examples to help students have more meaningful engagement with various genres and mediums of content, and build visual literacy, cognitive, and sociocultural understanding. Furthermore, the presentation will highlight effective online activities and projects that foster interactive, communicative and intercultural competence that can be implemented in a post-pandemic, face-to-face, classroom setting. 

 

Zoom B (Quinnipiac)

Leveraging the Distance Setting for Language for Specific Purposes

Sarah Glenski, Yale University

This presentation explores the affordances of teaching a Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) course in the distance setting. During the session, I will speak about my experience teaching Spanish for Healthcare Professionals remotely during the 2020-2021 academic year. While highlighting why the distance setting is particularly well-suited for LSP courses, I will share activities and strategies I implemented for students to develop both their translinguistic and transcultural competences. These examples will focus on specific digital platforms and tools that foster interactive, collaborative learning, while also addressing the importance of having an asynchronous component, which allows for more meaningful activities and discussion about language and culture during synchronous class sessions.