The Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research offers several opportunities for professional development. Each year, CALPER conducts a series of workshops and conference-like events, some of which are held during the summer at Penn State's University Park campus, others during fall and spring in collaboration with partner universities and schools across the country.
2013 Summer Workshops ---- Registration is open
We will be able to offer a group discount to an institution this year, if the institutions pays the cost for registration. Registration cost for the 1st teacher are 100%, for the 2nd person 50%, 3rd person 50%, etc. Group discounts are granted to institutions only.
Discourse Analysis and L2 Teaching and Materials Development
June 3-4, 2013 - Monday, Tuesday - 9:30a.m. - 4:30 p.m. - 106 Chambers BuildingSusan Strauss (CALPER)
Registration before May 15: $80; after May 15: $130
Language: applicable to all languages
Levels: high school / college / university
About this workshop: The workshop is designed to address the concept of discourse analysis and demonstrate the wealth of its applicability to language teaching (L2 and Heritage). There will be step-by-step activities that provide opportunity for teachers to hone their own sensitivities to the target language(s) as well as to guide their students in discovering how language works—at a level beyond traditional textbook-based explanations. In the first half of the workshop, we will answer the following questions.
- What is discourse analysis?
- How can the analysis of naturally occurring language (both spoken and written) enhance our own understanding of language?
- How can teachers of language (L2 and Heritage) use authentic discourse more effectively in classroom practice?
- Modality (spoken, written, technology-mediated)
- Genre (e.g., conversation, lecture, narrative, how-to, expository writing, essay, letter to the editor, journal writing)
- Innovative approaches to the teaching of "grammar" within discourse.
The workshop will also provide hands-on practice in designing innovative, discourse-based lessons and teaching materials that reflect the 5 Cs of ACTFL’s National Standards (Communication, Cultures, Comparisons, Connections, and Communities). From this perspective, the materials that we design will naturally integrate the so-called four skills of reading, writing, speaking, and listening, in addition to naturally integrating discussions of culture.
We will work with language samples using English as the primary language for discussion, in addition to snippets from Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Persian to further illustrate. Participants are free to work with any language(s) they choose for any level of proficiency, from elementary to advanced. The presenter has some knowledge of these and other languages and served on the task force for the creation of the Korean National Standards.
This workshop will take place at Penn State University Park campus.
The Interface of Language and Culture
June 6-7, 2013 - Thursday, Friday - 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. - 106 Chambers BuildingJames P. Lantolf (CALPER)
Registration before May 15: $80; after May 15: $130
Language: applicable to all languages
Levels: high school / college / university
Focus of the workshop is on the interface of language and culture as manifested in the conceptual features of metaphor. Metaphors are not merely ways of speaking but represent the ways in which a community thinks and acts grounded in specific kinds of culturally organized experiences. The workshop first considers how metaphors (and related forms of figurative language) are constructed; next it will discuss cross-cultural differences in metaphors; it will then explore some of the most recent pedagogical approaches on teaching and learning metaphors in second language classrooms. Participants will have the opportunity to develop at least one lesson for the teaching of metaphor in their particular language. Examples will be drawn from English, Chinese, Spanish, Russian and Korean.
This workshop will take place at Penn State University Park
