Discourse & Repartee 2015 by Angie Quesenberry

Discourse

&Repartée

Graduate School of Translation,

Interpretation, and Language Education

Leo van Lier Lecture Series Crossing the Border: Helping Students Reach Advanced-Level Proficiency Eileen Glisan March 6, 2015

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Speaker Series

Letter from the Dean

CBI Project

Mobile Assisted Language Learning

Creating “Safe Houses” for Languaculture Learning and Learning to Teach in Second/Foreign Language Classrooms: The Case of “Casual Friday” Amy Ohta April 17, 2015

Language Capital of the World

Intercultural Competence

Digital Storytelling Project

Academic Language and Literacy Socialization for English Language Learners Patsy Duff May 1, 2015

Foreign Language Symposium

Language & Professional Programs

To donate to the van Lier Lecture Series go to: www.miis.edu/giving

SPRING 2015

AAAL

New SILP Director

Letter from the Dean

Well, it’s been an exciting year! We’ve had a number of changes on campus…the most recent of which have led to new signs everywhere, reminding us of our new name: the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. It’s undeniably a challenge to get used to this and we’re all stumbling as we talk about “the Institute,” our new shorthand for MIIS. (In case you were wondering, “the College” is what the main Middlebury College campus is now called.) Of course, we’re happy that the name change didn’t affect the MIIS acronym and it’s pretty easy to get used to using that a bit more. The new signs and logos are attractive…you can see it represented here on the Discourse and Repartee as well. And ironically, the globe, now present in the new logo, was formerly part of the old MIIS logo! For those of you who know Middlebury, they’re famed for immersive language education, and we’re looking forward to the advantages that the shared name will now hold for those of us in the “language” world. We’ve also had a number of administrative changes both here and in Vermont. We have a new Dean of the Institute/Vice President of Academic Affairs (rather than a President) here in Monterey: Jeff DaytonJohnson, and we’ll soon have a new President of Middlebury (the entirety, not just the College!), Laurie Patton. She’s quite amazing and has been impressing everyone she meets. If you’d like to learn more about her: http://www.middlebury.edu/newpresident/640293. Susan Baldridge was also recently named Provost for Middlebury and, having worked with her for years on a number of other projects, I’m excited about what this means for linking the various Middlebury entities together. In the midst of all these changes, the GSTILE programs are still going strong and we’re experiencing a bumper crop of TESOL/TFL applications this year! I hope you enjoy reading this issue of Discourse and Repartee and seeing what we’ve been up to. Please stay in touch and let us know what you’re doing! Best wishes,

Dr. Renée Jourdenais

Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey

CBI Project This year, Jason Martel, a TESOL/TFL faculty member, applied for and received a grant from the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages’ (ACTFL) Research Priorities Initiative (RPI). This initiative debuted in the early 2010s with a series of literature reviews outlining what we currently know (i.e., a state of affairs) about foreign language education and teacher education (see Glisan & Donato, 2012). Following these reviews, ACFTL funded a series of research projects with the goal of expanding the knowledge base, on topics ranging from high-leverage teaching practices to new teacher mentoring. The grant Jason received comes from a second round of research funding and coordinates with Phase III Research Priority Area #1: Integration of Language, Culture, and Content.

CBI project participants. Left to right Dr. Naoko Matsuo, Prof. María Jesús Iglesias-Barca, Dr. Jason Martel, and Dr. Gabriel The project is called “Exploring Content-Based Instruction (CBI) at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies,” Guillén. Not pictured: Jih-huei Dai, Yi-hui Chen, Pablo Oliva, and its goals are to investigate the ways in which a group Sabino Morera, and Rana Issa.

of foreign language teachers invested this particular approach make sense of it and implement it in their planning, instruction, and assessment. The Institute is the perfect place to conduct this study, since all classes in the Language Studies (LS) Department use CBI, which involves teaching language through non-linguistic content like current events, history, culture, etc. (see Lyster, 2011 for more on CBI). Eight LS instructors volunteered to participate in the project, representing four languages: Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, and Arabic. Jason also participates in the group, not only as a TESOL/TFL faculty member, but also as a French teacher.

The project has many exciting components. During the Fall 2014 semester, the group met five times. They began by sharing their prior experiences and expertise with CBI. Then, they each chose a research study that piqued their attention and shared its contents with the group. Finally, they observed CBI classes in other contexts (e.g., ESL or immersion) in small groups or individually and shared analyses of what they saw. The goal of these activities was to stimulate critical discussion about what CBI means to the members of the group. This semester (Spring 2015), the group has engaged in a process called lesson study (Hurd & Lewis, 2011). This professional development activity involves identifying a lesson that one wants to revamp, reviewing the lesson with colleagues, teaching the lesson, and then bringing it back to the drawing board for further adjustment with colleagues. Two lessons have been selected for study: one in Spanish and one in Arabic. So far, the discussions around which lessons to choose have yielded exciting insights about how the group conceptualizes CBI. Looking forward, it is hoped that this project will lead to a set of demonstration videos that not only highlight the special work with CBI done at the Institute, but that might also be of service as models to other language teachers and teacher educators who are interested in implementing CBI. If you have any questions about the project, please feel free to contact Jason at jmartel@miis.edu.

Graduate School of Translation, Interpretation, and Language Education

Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) The main goal of Professor Thor Sawin’s new MALL course was to equip language teachers to make intelligent and critical decisions about if, when and how to incorporate MALL applications and functionalities into their course, unit, and lesson designs. Thor says, “The most exciting aspect of the class to me has been to see teacher trainees get excited about taking advantage of the technologies that students are already bringing to class to help them add depth, authenticity, and communicative need to routine language lessons.” When I interact with the general public and they discover my interest in technology and language learning, I am often asked some version of the question “Do you think that Rosetta Stone and Duolingo are going to make language teachers obsolete?” In the mind of many, perhaps with their experiences from their secondary foreign language classes, language learning is after all a matter of memorizing vocabulary from flash cards, and drilling grammar structures. These functions, what Pegrum (2014) calls the “tutorial” function of mobile assisted language learning, are indeed an area where the use of technology can move some activities outside of the language classroom, or out from under a language teacher’s control. However, we know that language learning involves far more than these easy-to-automate tutorial functions. Luckily, the range of capabilities and functions of mobile technology also goes way beyond these tutorial functions. It is the very fact that mobile phones can now do so many things, that there is a greater need than ever before for language teachers who are trained to curate the various platforms, applications, and claims that are now associated with mobile-assisted language learning. Rather than replacing or rendering teachers obsolete, the rise of MALL requires effective teachers more than ever: to train, design, engineer, curate, troubleshoot and assess the bewildering and ever-evolving range of MALL applications. Teachers need to understand that each new MALL application brought into a language learning ecosystem has the power to not only increase motivation or effectiveness, but also the potential to bore learners, to conflict with other applications, and to increase the costs in time, money and frustration for their learners. The goal for this course is to equip language teachers to make intelligent and critical decisions about if, when and how to incorporate MALL applications and functionalities into their course, unit and lesson design. The teacher-trainees have come to understand how their MALL decisions are nested within and affected by six distinct ecosystems: the acquisitional (input, output, interaction, feedback), the linguistic (vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, genre) , the pedagogical (response management, homework assignment, assessment, content delivery), the institutional (board members, IT personnel, department chairs, parents), the technological (platforms, internet, phone reception, security) and the sociocultural (what it means to be a learner, or student, or teacher, or phone user in a given context). We also explore how the four main functions of MALL - content delivery, tutorial, creation and communication - can be integrated into a cohesive whole with traditional instructional methods. The most exciting aspect of the class to me has been to see teacher trainees get excited about taking advantage of the technologies that students are already bringing to class to help them add depth, authenticity and communicative need to routine language lessons.

Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey

Overtly language learning apps like Duolingo offer far less to a language teacher than apps designed for everyday life like Weather, Twitter, Instagram, Voice Memos, or Calendar – and the trainees have come up with ingenious ways to use these apps to make otherwise abstract lessons seem far more real. I am also very excited about the teacher resource website we are building as a class (sites.miis.edu/mall). This website contains not only an extensive list of academic references, but annotated reviews of a wide range of mobile applications, and rubrics for helping teachers make informed decisions regarding the theoretical assumptions, pedagogical effectiveness, and implementability of any given app. Since the range of particular application changes by the day, this rubric function is what is most sorely needed- a set of questions that will help teachers assess the impact of any new application that may come along. Overall, this project has been extremely rewarding, and the teacher trainees have been excited to add this set of skills to their lesson and curriculum design toolbox. I am confident that a solid foundation in the pros and cons of mobile learning will become increasingly non-optional in the job markets of the near future.

NOTE: Thor used the TIRF-commissioned papers about MALL as the basis of readings for this new seminar. For access to papers on a variety of topics of interest to language teachers and applied linguists see: www.tirfonline.org!

Language Capital of the World® Cultural Festival The Language Capital of the World® Cultural Festival is coming to Custom House Plaza on May 2 –3, 2015 MIIS is teaming up with local organizations and the City of Monterey to bring this first-ever Cultural Festival celebrating Monterey’s global status in language and international culture. We will celebrate the rich international culture of Monterey with music, flags, international crafts, food, entertainment and a whole array of exhibitions from diverse cultures. The festival weekend will begin with an international procession down Alvarado Street with flags flying and music playing on May 2nd, followed by great entertainment and festival excitement! Mark your calendars!

Graduate School of Translation, Interpretation, and Language Education

Intercultural Competence (ICC) at MIIS: Process and Evolution Intercultural competence (ICC) is central to the philosophy of the MIIS community, and the campus has demonstrated its commitment to ICC in various ways in recent years. An ICC committee, made up of faculty, staff, and students from across campus was created in 2011 with the goal of more explicitly drawing campus attention to the inclusion of ICC in the curriculum. The committee began a deliberative process with multiple stakeholders, including focus groups, literature reviews, workshop participation, and ongoing discussions. They decided upon definitions of core concepts (e.g., culture, intercultural); created criteria for course approval (e.g., reflection, self-awareness, experiential activities, exploration of power and identity); built a list of knowledge, skills, and attitudes these courses would facilitate in students; and distributed a call for course applications to faculty. To date, over 25 ICC courses have been offered in departments across campus – these include semester-long courses and weekend workshops, some housed in ICC (e.g., Multilingual Communication in Multicultural Settings taught by TESOL/TFL Professor Lynn Goldstein, Service-Learning: International and Domestic Community Partnerships taught by TESOL/TFL Visiting Professor Netta Avineri) and others offered in other departments and cross-listed with ICC (e.g., IEM course Biculturalism and Multiculturalism, IPS course Introduction to Conflict Resolution). Monterey Model and other ICC-focused language courses have also been offered, in Arabic, Chinese, French, and English. One student in an ICC course noted, “…this class was yoga for the soul. I really felt like I was strengthening and balancing my own identity, while stretching my mind and knowledge…”. Members of the Committee presented about the development of the MIIS ICC curriculum at the 2014 SIETAR conference. And in March 2015 they hosted an on-campus “ICC @ MIIS Brown Bag”, with over 25 faculty, staff, and students engaged in lively discussion about next steps and possible directions for ICC. In the spirit of ongoing reflections on the curriculum, current ICC committee chair Netta Avineri and former ICC committee chair Katherine Punteney are conducting research examining the teaching of power and identity in ICC courses in a range of departments. The ICC committee as a whole is continuing curriculum development and assessment, as well as innovative projects that dovetail with broader campus initiatives. Since last year the ICC subcommittee on immersive learning (chaired by Lynn Goldstein) has been collecting data through focus groups, interviews, and surveys with faculty and students involved in immersive learning trips, to gain an understanding of ICC opportunities and challenges. The subcommittee will continue this process through May 2015 and will then provide a set of recommendations/next steps for ICC/immersive learning on-campus. The development of ICC is a life-long process. Here at MIIS the collaboratively constructed ICC curriculum, initiatives, and projects are part of a layered evolution as well. You are invited to join the conversation! Contact Netta Avineri, ICC Committee Chair at navineri@miis.edu.

Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey

Intercultural Digital Storytelling Project

Professor Netta Avineri and Digital Learning Commons director Bob Cole (MATESOL, ‘96) created the Intercultural Digital Storytelling Project (#IDSP15), designed to facilitate students’ ICC development through peer interaction, self-reflection, and inductive research. Launched as a pilot initiative in October 2014, this collaborative learning series involves six selected storytelling Fellows from a range of Institute programs creating digital stories about their most recent immersive learning experiences in El Salvador, Kyrgyzstan Monterey, Peru, and Rwanda. #IDSP15 Fellow Brittany Lane explains, “Until the #IDSP15 program, I never realized the applicability of storytelling to such a variety of disciplines. In the past month, I've had conversations about storytelling for social change, leadership development, policy, and international education, and it all comes back to reflection. If you can convey that genuinely in a digital format, you're reaching an unprecedented amount of people, and that's powerful”. After experimenting with a variety of reflective protocols and sharing dispatches from the field with each other via a Google Group, fellows are now engaging in story circles while also sifting through journals, images, video clips, and recordings of ambient audio. As Fellow Anna Santos describes, “While in Peru, just knowing that I was going to tell some sort of story when I got back, made my time there more meaningful. I was that much more open and curious, and because I was listening, I think I was exposed to stories I otherwise wouldn't have been exposed to”. The #IDSP15 Fellows will share their stories and experiences at a campus-wide event on Wednesday, April 22 @ 5 – 7 pm, in the Digital Learning Commons Design Space.

Graduate School of Translation, Interpretation, and Language Education

Fourth Annual Monterey Bay Foreign Language Education Symposium We are excited to announce the continuation of celebrating language education through the fourth annual Monterey Bay Foreign Language Education Symposium (FLEDS). This year, the event will be held on April 18th on the Middlebury Institute of International Studies campus. The planning and organization committee consists of current graduate students in the following programs: Teaching Foreign Languages (TFL) and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) This year, students from the Translation and Interpretation (T&I) program will be translating presentations into various languages throughout the day. In an effort to further establish MIIS’ reputation as devoted to and passionate about language education throughout the broader community, we have invited speakers and guests from over 20 high schools, colleges, and universities in and around Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito Counties. This year, we are honored to host our Key Note Speaker, Eve Zyzik, from the University of California Santa Cruz who specializes in and will be presenting on Spanish heritage speakers. We will also hold a panel discussion on Intercultural Communicative Competence facilitated by Brandon Lambert, a M.A. TESOL candidate. The panel presenters consist of MIIS professors, Netta Avineri and Thor Sawin, and James Broz, President and CoFounder of International Language and Culture Foundation.

Content in the Classroom. With a theme that encompasses many of the currently pressing and important issues in the field of language education, we expect to draw in over 150 language educators, students, school administrators, and community members. The featured presentations coupled with the diversity represented in the attendees expected in-house are guaranteed to make this year’s FLEDS a great success.

Website: montereybayfleds.org Facebook: Monterey Bay Foreign Language Symposium Email: monterybayfleds@miis.edu Register to Attend: Eventbrite – 4th Annual Monterey Bay Foreign Language Symposium

Every year, the aim of FLEDS is to celebrate and enrich foreign language education through the exchange of recent developments and innovations in the field. This year, the planning committee has decided to actualize this goal through our theme of Culture and

Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey

Updates from GSTILE Language & Professional Programs They say that the only constant in life is change, and such is the case with GSTILE’s Language & Professional Programs (LPP). LPP manages the non-degree side of things, most notably Custom Language Services, Intensive English Programs, and the Summer Intensive Language Program. This past year, Custom Language Services (CLS) launched a new initiative to expand its organizational partnerships and Alicia Brent (MA TESOL ‘03) is leading the charge. After beautifully managing both CLS and SILP for many years, Alicia is now Director of Program and Partnership Development for CLS. In this new role, Alicia and her team are working to expand the programs and services they provide to multinational organizations. One important development is the addition of explicit intercultural communication training to the CLS curriculum. Alicia is assisted in these efforts by Lisa Donohoe Luscombe (MA TESOL ‘09), who is now CLS Academic Coordinator and Curriculum Specialist. In addition to managing client programs, Lisa is also tasked with developing online and hybrid curriculum for the executive and diplomatic audience. For a sneak peek of these new initiatives, check out the CLS Course Site at http://sites.miis.edu/clscoursesites/ As for the Summer Intensive Language Program, 2015 marks SILP’s 60th year on campus. With Alicia turning her responsibilities fully toward CLS, she has handed over the reins for SILP to the very capable hands of Professor Jason Martel. Take a look at the article about Jason’s new role as Associate Director of SILP. In other news, we are sad to announce that Katie Dutcher will be leaving her position as Associate Director of Intensive English Programs this May. Katie joined the Institute in 2010 after teaching English at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco. She quickly became an indispensable member of the ESL team. One of her most notable accomplishments was leading the program to be accredited by the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation (CEA). The LPP team is truly grateful for Katie’s commitment and dedication to her programs, faculty and students. Luckily, Katie will still be a part of the Monterey community and we hope to continue to work with her on future projects. The search is now open for a new Associate Director. The LPP administrative team, Alisyn Gruener (MA IEM ’13) and Trish Aportela, are as busy as ever getting ready for summer programs. As Enrollment Marketing Manager, Alisyn has been working to update our marketing materials in conjunction with the rollout of our new name and logo. Trish has taken on the challenging project of moving our SILP preliminary placement tests online. Together, Alisyn & Trish keep the LPP office running like a well-oiled machine. If you are ever on campus, feel free to pop in for a visit. We are located in Suite 103 of the McGowan Building on Pacific Street. The running theme across LPP seems to be delivery of more online and hybrid courses. Assistant Dean Patricia Szasz (MA TESOL ’06) is working with faculty within GSTILE ,as well as friend and colleague Bob Cole (MA TESOL ’96), Director of the Digital Learning Commons, to develop professional development courses for the digital age. Stay tuned for more details!

Graduate School of Translation, Interpretation, and Language Education

Gearing Up for the 2016 AAAL Conference

The AAAL 2016 Conference Program Committee. Left to right Tim Marquette, Dr. Kathi Bailey, and Dr. Thor Sawin. Not pictured David Chiesa and Dr. John Hedgcock.

MIIS Professor Kathi Bailey has been elected to the presidential line of AAAL – the American Association for Applied Linguistics. One of her first responsibilities is to plan the 2016 AAAL Conference, which will be held in Orlando, Florida, April 9-12, 2016. “I am very excited about this new challenge,” said Dr. Bailey. “I appreciate the support of my colleagues as I undertake this important role. I am particularly grateful to be working with our TESOL MA student, Tim Marquette, who will serve as my assistant in planning and carrying out the conference.” For Tim, working in this capacity provides a chance to meet some of the key figures in applied linguistics research. “This is a great learning opportunity for me,” he said. I’m very pleased to get acclimated to the culture of applied linguistics in this way.” The Conference Program Committee also includes MIIS Professors Thor Sawin and John Hedgcock, and MIIS alumnus David Chiesa, who is now working on a PhD at Georgia State University. Dr. Sawin said, “AAAL is the perfect conference for MIIS to guide, as it combines our school’s foci on language education, social justice, teacher training, and human development. I’m honored to serve an organization I’m passionate about on behalf of an institute I’m pleased to be a part of.” The theme of the conference is “Applied Linguistics Applied.” With this theme the Conference Program Committee is encouraging presenters to share the many ways in which research in our field can address important social issues. Hope to see you in Orlando next year!

Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey

Professor Jason Martel to Lead the Summer Intensive Language Program (SILP) GSTILE Language & Professional Programs is pleased to announce that Professor Jason Martel has been selected to lead the Summer Intensive Language Program (SILP). Jason joined the TESOL/TFL faculty in Fall 2013 and has brought with him a passion for foreign language teaching and learning. Jason received his Master’s Degree in French from the Middlebury Language Schools and his Ph.D. in Second Languages and Cultures Education from the University of Minnesota. Jason has taught French in a variety of contexts and also served as French Director of the Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy for two summers. We look forward to Jason’s dual roles as both a faculty member and a program administrator leading to tighter integration with colleagues here and in Vermont. In his new role as SILP Associate Director, Jason is focused on continuing the program’s reputation for language teaching excellence. His enthusiasm for supporting language teacher development is evident: “I am passionate about working with language teachers to develop curricula and pedagogical practices that promote students’ language acquisition and critical thinking skills.” Jason was first drawn to leading and shaping the future of the summer program at MIIS when he was a French faculty member last summer. “SILP is a special program, with small class sizes and a rigorous schedule. The sense of camaraderie in the program is quite motivating,” he explained. This summer marks SILP’s 60th anniversary. The eight-week program runs from June 11 through August 5 and offers instruction in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish. This highly-intensive program provides motivated language learners the opportunity to greatly increase their language skills for real world contexts. For more information about the program, visit go.miis.edu/silp.

Graduate School of Translation, Interpretation, and Language Education