TESOL BLOG

Consistently rated among the top-ten as a study abroad and research destination for North Americans, Germany offers a plethora of rigorous, leading-edge, flexible study, academic research and internship opportunities in a setting that is rich with cultural and topographic attractions.

The Germany because…Video Contest is being launched to distill some of the top reasons why you would choose Germany. Why you would recommend Germany as a study abroad destination to your friends and family?

Your words and voice should represent your arguments for choosing Germany as a study abroad destination in a video clip, which is no longer than 1 minute in length. The content, footage, sound and graphics are left up to the participants’ discretion.

Please note:

• Submissions with any obscene, offensive or inappropriate language or material will be immediately disqualified.
• Videos with defamatory, libelous, or slanderous matter will not be considered.
• Matter which is subject to copyright, except where it can be demonstrated to comply with applicable laws in the video will be disqualified. Who is eligible to participate?: Students enrolled full-time in a degree program at a college or university in the U.S. or Canada.

An independent panel of judges will review all entries and determine the finalists. Each entry will be judged for how well it follows the subject, creativity, and adherence to the theme. The top five submissions will be put to vote by the public on the internet.

Three winners will be selected from valid entries. Alternates will be selected in the event a winner(s) does not respond or it is determined that he or she has not met the requirements stated in this document. Winners will be announced in May 2012.

The winning entries will be made available for viewing on DAAD’s web site.

First prize — a free round trip to Germany (maximum value: $1,700).
Second prize — a camcorder (valued at 250 USD)
Third prize — one year’s subscription to Cineaste.

All submissions must include an online submission form and a video entry uploaded to YouTube. Final deadline for submissions is Friday, April 20, 2012 by 5:00 pm.

Please visit www.daad.org/page/germany_because/ for instructions on how to participate in the contest.

Compiling and Analyzing Your Own Learner Corpus, July 16-18

Language e-Portfolios, July 16-18

The Interface of Language and Culture, July 19-20

Language Socialization in Study Abroad, July 19-20

Discourse Analysis and L2 Teaching and Materials Development, July 23-24

Dynamic Assessment, July 23-25

More information on our Workshop page – GO THERE

It is aimed at scholars, teachers, theatre professionals and drama- and theatre-in-education specialists. The journal has a distinctly interdisciplinary orientation, encouraging contributions from different research disciplines and fields of practice.

The editors intend to stimulate the subject debate revolving around the use of drama and theatre in foreign language teaching and learning by making interested colleagues aware of new publications, upcoming events and hot links and by publishing books which will be based mainly on selected contributions to SCENARIO.

SCENARIO was awarded the European Language Label for its role in establishing innovative connections between the performing arts and foreign language education as well as striking new paths towards performative teaching and learning.

Editors are: Manfred Schewe (Cork, Ireland) and Susanne Even (Bloomington, IN)

View current issue

Description: The cornerstone project for the National Heritage Language Resource Center is an annual research institute, established to support the Center’s principal mission of developing the research base for heritage language education. This year the institute is co-sponsored by the NSEP National Language Flagship Program as part of their Flagship Results 2012 initiative.

The Sixth Institute will focus on current linguistic research and its implications for heritage language instruction, especially with regard to pedagogical approaches that help advance heritage speakers’ language skills toward high levels of proficiency. Research on heritage speakers’ proficiency relies on sophisticated methods of experimental and pedagogical testing and this year’s Institute will include a series of hands-on workshops which will allow researchers and educators to explore experimental methodologies in language sciences: eye-tracking, brain imaging, computational modeling, phonetic analysis, etc. We will also draw on the experience of Language Flagship programs across the U.S. to explore new approaches in the heritage language classroom.

Institute Faculty:
Elabbas Benmamoun, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Agnes Weiyun He, State University of New York, Stony Brook
Olga Kagan, University of California, Los Angeles
Oksana Laleko, State University of New York Paltz
James Lantolf, Pennsylvania State University
Silvina Montrul, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
William O’Grady, University of Hawaii, Manoa
Maria Polinsky, Harvard University
Irina Sekerina, City University of New York, College of Staten Island
Terrance Wiley, Center for Applied Linguistics
6th Heritage Research Institute

The Language Flagship welcomes proposals for papers to be presented at Results 2012 in New York City on October 26, 2012.  Scholars from Flagship and non-Flagship institutions are invited to submit 500-word abstracts/overview for papers by January 20, 2012. Submissions are being considered for any of the following areas:

• Best Practices in Advanced Language Pedagogy

• Best Practices in Assessing Language Learning

• Applied Linguistics and Linguistic Applications in Language Teaching

• Language in the Disciplines and Professional Language Use

• Dissemination of the Flagship Model (Diffusion of Innovation)

• The Role of Culture in Language Teaching and Learning

• How Language and Cultural Learning Affect Students’ Academic, Personal, and Professional Development

• Collaboration with K-12

Papers should address the broad context of the topics listed above and should be relevant across languages. Please submit abstracts online at  http://flagshipresults2012.international.ucla.edu/. For questions or more information please contact Dr. Mahmoud Al-Batal at albatal@austin.utexas.edu or at 512-471-3463.

Foto: Yo Azama by ACTFL

Yo Azama, Japanese teacher at North Salinas High School in Salinas, CA was named the 2012 National Language Teacher of the Year by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).

The Teacher of the Year is chosen from a field of five regional winners from around the United States. Other regional finalists for this year’s national award are Susanne Kanning, German teacher at Inglemoor High School in Kenmore, WA; Sherri Harkins, French teacher at Pittsville Elementary Middle School in Pittsville, MD; Wendy Brownell, Spanish teacher at Camdenton High School in Roach, MO; and Lisa Podbilski, Chinese teacher in Berkeley Preparatory School in Tampa, FL.

Read full story at ACTFL Press Release