To see an alphabetized list of all the contributors to the podcast, check out the Guests and Contributors page
Coming soon! Episode 153: Teaching Languages in Singapore and Building a Proficiency-Based Program
Episode 152: Teaching Teachers, Language Learning Myths, and Metacognition with Doran Katz
Stacey interviews Dr. Doran Katz from the Middlebury School of Hebrew. Dr. Katz talks about the work she does in teacher preparation, some of the myths that many people have about second language acquisition, and how metacognitive strategies can help our language students learn.
Episode 151: Task Based Language Teaching and Heritage Learners with Julio Torres
Stacey interviews Dr. Julio Torres about TBLT (Task Based Language Teaching), a methodology that centers communicative tasks as the organizing feature of instruction. Julio discusses how TBLT might work in any language classroom but especially with heritage language learners. If you are curious about what TBLT looks like in the classroom or how to better support your heritage learners, tune in for this discussion with a TBLT instructor, curriculum leader, and researcher.
Episode 150: Professional Learning, Collaborations, and Challenges with Vicky Masson
Stacey and Maris share one interview from their live podcast recording this past summer with the Virtual Summit hosted by PEARLL. In this episode, we learn from Vicky Masson, an experienced teacher and leader who talks about some of her most meaningful experiences in summer institutes, fellowships, and micro-credentials. All of this professional learning has led to some pretty impressive classroom projects and collaborations around topics such as poetry, challenge-based learning, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Episode 149: Engaging the Local Community with Trudy Anderson
Stacey and Maris share one interview from their live podcast recording this past summer with the Virtual Summit hosted by PEARLL. In this episode, we learn from Trudy Anderson, middle school Spanish teacher and current NECTFL Teacher of the Year, who talks about how she fosters community engagement and experiences in her school and community. Trudy also talks about how team work makes local community engagement possible!
Episode 148: The Role of the Teacher and the PD Facilitator with Florencia Henshaw and Maris Hawkins
Stacey sits down with Maris Hawkins and Florencia Henshaw to dig into the role of the teacher in the language classroom and the facilitator in professional development. What is the teacher or leader supposed to do? How does the facilitator ensure learning happens? What is our job? Dig into these topics with Maris, Florencia, and Stacey, and then be part of the conversation by connecting with us over Twitter or Facebook.
Greta Lundgaard moderates a panel discussion with experienced language teachers Henny Chen, Catherine Ousselin, Carmen Scoggins, and Thomas Soth as part of the monthly virtual teacher panel from the NFLC (National Foreign Language Center). Each month, this series gathers a different group of experienced teachers via video conference to discuss a domain of the TELL (Teaching Effectiveness for Language Learning) framework. The panel considers questions including: How do we build up a feeling of trust and respect? What sequence of learning activities and learning targets is most effective in online and socially distanced face-to-face classroom? How do you decide what parts of the curriculum to focus on and which to let go?
Thomas Sauer leads a panel discussion with four language educators, Marta Silva, Georges Chahwan, Natalie Stamper, and Elizabeth Matchett, as part of the monthly virtual teacher panel from the NFLC (National Foreign Language Center). Each month, this series gathers a different group of experienced teachers via video conference to discuss a domain of the TELL (Teaching Effectiveness for Language Learning) framework. We Teach Languages has partnered with NFLC to disseminate these panel discussions in audio format as well. In this episode, the panel considers questions such as: How do you create positive relationship with students in online and hybrid environments? How can teachers collaborate with students to create a safe environment? How do we focus on language performance under the constraints of an online/hybrid format? What is the role of intercultural thinking in language learning?
Episode 145: Bilingual Learners’ Language Practices with Nelson Flores
Dr. Stephanie Madison interviews Dr. Nelson Flores, Associate Professor of Educational Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania. Nelson in particular looks at the intersections of language and race in a bilingual education context. In this interview, Nelson describes the harm that racialized students experience as a result of policies and common practices in bilingual education and breaks down some of the historical context for the current state of English language education in the US. He also discusses issues in heritage language education by unpacking some of expectations placed on Latinx heritage speakers in Spanish language classrooms.
Episode 144: Turkish German, Immigrant Authors, and Afrofuturism in Germany with Priscilla Layne
Stacey interviews Dr. Priscilla Layne about her teaching and research, both of which include the language and literature of immigrant and Black German communities. Priscilla describes how her background influences the way she interacts with and teaches texts and how that might be applicable in language classrooms. She also talks about Black German Afrofuturism and how this genre helps us imagine a new future. Teachers of German will find specific texts, authors, and examples in this episode, but all language teachers will find useful practices and ideas for centering target language users from diverse communities.
Episode 143: Highlighting Black Communities and Culture in the Spanish Classroom with Regina O’Neal
Stacey invites Regina O’Neal, a secondary Spanish teacher and department head, to share her award winning presentation from MFLA, NECTFL, and ACTFL. Regina discusses concrete ways she highlights Black culture and communities in her Spanish classroom by connecting with other content areas and community resources, by discussing aesthetic beauty, and by guiding students to appreciate Black art and literature.
Episode 142: Language Legitimacy and Imagining New Educational Contexts with Jonathan Rosa
Dorie Conlon Perugini interviews Dr. Jonathan Rosa about his work exploring race, language, and education. Jonathan discusses what sorts of language practices are deemed legitimate in educational contexts, and how language teachers participate in institutions that are not serving multilingual students. In this episode, listeners will find new ways of thinking about language education and students’ language and literacy practices.
Episode 141: Accent, Race, Work, and Teaching Pronunciation with Vijay Ramjattan
Stacey interviews Dr. Vijay Ramjattan, a scholar of accent, race, and work. Vijay talks about how racialized international teaching assistants communicate in their second language and the listener’s role in comprehensibility. Implications for teaching pronunciation in any language are also discussed. Language teachers who want to take a critical approach to pronunciation instruction will find thought-provoking and useful suggestions.
Episode 140: Heritage Language Maintenance with Angelica Amezcua
Stacey interviews Angélica Amezcua, a PhD candidate at Arizona State University and the author of a recent paper on how classroom instruction affects heritage language learners’ motivation to maintain their language. Angélica discusses why some language communities in the US have low ethnolinguistic vitality and how state policies create conditions that prevent bilingual students from maintaining their home language. Angélica also shares her research on classroom strategies that heritage language teachers can adopt to promote language maintenance and community connection.
Episode 139: Teaching Linguistic Variation such as Voseo in Spanish with Matthew Griffin
Stacey interviews Matthew Griffin, an applied linguist and instructor of Spanish who recently published a paper analyzing textbooks for how they present “voseo” to novice learners. “Vos” is a pronoun used widely in Latin America, and not used in European varieties of Spanish. Matthew goes on to talk about the concept of linguistic variation, as well as how and why we should point out and celebrate different varieties of the languages we teach. For those interested in teaching voseo, this interview and the accompanying open-access article provide a practical and research-based exploration of this topic.
Episode 138: IPAs, A Review of the Literature, and Steps to Move Forward with Stephanie Madison
Stacey interviews Dr. Stephanie Madison, author of the recently published article entitled “Integrated Performance Assessments: A Review of the Literature and Steps to Move Forward”. If you have ever wanted to dig deeper into why IPAs work and how to make them even more practical in your language classroom, this interview and the accompanying open-access article provide a wealth of practical and research-based advice.
Episode 137: Emotional Labor with Elizabeth Miller
Stacey shares an interview with Dr. Elizabeth Miller, whom she met in February at Duke University’s inaugural language symposium event. After hearing her talk about her research on emotional labor among language teachers, Stacey sat down with Liz to discuss emotional labor, emotional management, and what language teachers need to know about emotions at work.
Episode 136: Speaking Blackness in Brazil, Identity, and Investment with Uju Anya
Dorie Conlon Perugini interviews Dr. Uju Anya on a range of topics related to the experiences of African-American language learners both in classrooms and in study abroad contexts. The two scholars discuss Uju’s award-winning book, bias and inclusion in the language classroom, and why the concept of investment is more useful than motivation for analyzing student engagement.
Stacey continues her interview with Robert Elliott, a conversation they started on episode 73 of the Leading Lines podcast. In this episode, Robert describes the work of the Northwest Indian Language Institute (NILI), how teachers of any language can support indigenous language revitalization, and how Native American language teachers can take advantage of the summer offerings at NILI.
Episode 134: One Year of Biblical Hebrew with Jesse Scheumann
Stacey interviews Professor Jesse Scheumann about how he teaches Biblical Hebrew. Despite preconceptions about what it is like to learn a Biblical language, Jesse’s classroom has no desks or grammar textbook and also involves movement, stories, and other techniques from communicative language teaching approaches. By the end of their first year of Hebrew, Jesse’s students are reading the book of Jonah from cover to cover in the original Hebrew Bible.
Episode 133: Organizing our Instruction and the Experiential Learning Cycle
Stacey presents several approaches to organizing our instruction in order to help give shape to our lesson, enable more efficient decision-making by the instructor, and ensure that students get everything they need out of a lesson. Stacey first references lesson organization by Lance Piantaggini, Meredith White, and Sara-Elizabeth Cottrell, then goes on to explore in depth the experiential learning cycle and its applications in the language classroom. Stacey shows that many useful methods and techniques are already aligned with an inductive, experiential approach including the PACE model for teaching grammar, the IMAGE model for teaching culture, TBLT (task-based language teaching), and multiliteracies pedagogy.
Episode 132: Language Ideologies and Translanguaging with Emma Trentman
Stacey interviews Arabic teacher and researcher Dr. Emma Trentman about language ideologies and how they play out in the classroom. Emma discusses how teachers might move away from practices that reinforce monolingual ideologies and towards multilingual ideologies such as translanguaging.
Episode 131: Evolving Teaching and Writing Comprehensible Novels with Inga Paterson-Zuniga
Maris Hawkins interviews Inga Paterson-Zuniga about all the ways her language teaching has changed and how she got started writing comprehensible novels for Spanish learners. Inga shares how she has evolved over the years to be more equitable and focused on success for all students.
Episode 130: 2019 Year End Wrap Up
Stacey talks about how the podcast made its way in 2019, how we met our goal of being a contributor-driven podcast, and how we plan to do a little more and a little less in 2020.
Episode 129: Language Policy and Innovation in Scotland with Lynne Jones and Louise Whyte
Stacey interviews Lynne Jones and Louise Whyte. who support pre- and in-service teachers across Scotland to develop their languages pedagogy. In this episode, Lynne and Louise explain the 1+2 languages policy in Scotland and the teaching innovations that ensure that all students will know at least three languages by the end of their compulsory schooling.
Jiaqian Chen interviews Holland White about her experiences teaching bilingual students in her high school English language arts classroom. In this interview, Holland discusses the importance of developing positive, trusting relationships with students and why teachers sometimes struggle to get around harmful parts of the curriculum.
Stacey and Dr. Rhoda Núñez-Donnelly met up after #ACTFL19 to discuss some of their takeaways and thoughts from a particularly meaningful session. Rhoda is a resource teacher in her school system and also shares with listeners her best advice on reaching reluctant learners in our classrooms.
Episode 126: Claire Knowles asks Stacey some Questions from her Methods Class
Claire Knowles returns to the podcast with a list of questions from the teachers in her language teaching methods course. Claire and Stacey sat down during a break in the action at the 2019 ACTFL Convention to talk about how Stacey ended up obsessed with language teaching and producing a podcast, along with questions about how to use authentic resources with novices, how to teach without any technology at all, and how to connect with students when they feel unsafe at school.
Episode 125: Trends and Research in Study Abroad with Peter Ecke
Melanie Forehand interviews Dr. Peter Ecke, Professor of Second Language Acquisition and German at the University of Arizona. They discuss the benefits and challenges of short-term study abroad and resources for getting started with study abroad research.
Episode 124: Teaching Languages to Students with Disabilities with Cheyenne Staten and Julie Glosson
Stacey interviews Cheyenne Staten, who is studying Spanish and Special Education, and Dr. Julie Glosson, her professor and co-investigator in a recent case study. Stacey met up with Cheyenne and Julie at the recent TFLTA conference (Tennessee Foreign Language Teaching Association) where they presented on teaching students with disabilities. In this interview, they discuss general principles, practical advice for teachers, as well as their own case study helping learners with disabilities find success in the language classroom.
Episode 123: Steady, Collaborative Change at an Independent School with Sarah Aguilar-Francis
Carolyn Siegel interviews Sarah Aguilar-Francis about her department’s path to proficiency and how their multi-year transition has been going.
Stacey continues her conversation with Dr. Gwen Barnes-Karol, who specializes in teaching literature, and Dr. Maggie Broner, a sociolinguist, about how a content-based curriculum has transformed the language program at St. Olaf College in Minnesota. St Olaf’s Spanish program focuses on textual analysis and academic language starting in the third semester, and they have no grammar review or intro to literature bridge course into the major. This episode, and Part I from last week, will break down how their approach plays out in classes.
Stacey interviews Dr. Gwen Barnes-Karol, who specializes in teaching literature, and Dr. Maggie Broner, a sociolinguist, about how a content-based curriculum has transformed the language program at St. Olaf College in Minnesota. St Olaf’s Spanish program focuses on textual analysis and academic language starting in the third semester, and they have no grammar review or intro to literature bridge course into the major.
Episode 120: Professional Development for Graduate Student Instructors with Katie Angus
Margaret Kelly interviews Dr. Katie Angus about her dissertation research on graduate teaching assistant (TA) development and her own approach to supporting TA instructors at the college level.
Stacey interviews Dr. Victoria Gilbert about her work as a teacher and department chair in a Pre-K through 8th grade all-boys Catholic school in New York. Victoria discusses her context and some of the changes she has made over the years including a shift towards authentic audiences and IPAs as assessments. Stacey and Victoria also discuss how to invite colleagues into change.
Also find the full transcript here.
Episode 118: Language Teacher Recruitment and Retention with Pete Swanson
Shannon Mason interviews Pete Swanson about the language teacher shortage and how recruitment and retention efforts may help address the issue. Shannon and Pete are two of the leading scholars researching the issue, and the show notes link to a bit of additional research so listeners can follow up after hearing the episode.
Also check out the printable episode guide here.
Episode 117: The Language Center’s Role on Campus and in the Community with Angelika Kraemer
Melanie Forehand interviews Angleika Kraemer about university language centers. They discuss how the the old-style language labs have morphed into more modern, social spaces called language centers, and how those centers help to support language teaching and learning on campuses and in communities. Melanie also asks Angelika about her experience transitioning into the role of language center director at Cornell University.
Also find the full transcript here and the printable episode guide here.
Episode 116: Linguistic Variation and Serving Diverse Heritage Learners with Damian Vergara Wilson
Carolyn Siegel interviews Dr. Damian Vergara Wilson, Associate Professor at the University of New Mexico. As a graduate of the program he now directs, his ultimate goal for his heritage learners is for them to view themselves as legitimate Spanish speakers. In this interview he shares what that looks like both in a broad view and in specific projects students undertake.
Also find the full transcript here and the printable episode guide here.
Episode 115: Who should be talking in the language classroom?
Stacey ponders the question “Who should be talking in the language classroom?” Drawing on past guest interviews, Stacey breaks down the main question into several smaller parts by asking about who is talking, when, and in what language.
Also find the full transcript here and the printable episode guide here.
Episode 114: Blended Learning and Inquiry Projects with Kristin Kvasnyuk
Maris Hawkins interviews her former colleague and friend, Kristin Kvasnyuk about teaching in a blended format using tools like EdPuzzle and ActivelyLearn. They also talk about Kristin’s success with student inquiry projects based on student interests.
Also find the full transcript here and the printable episode guide here.
Episode 113: Mind, Body, and Voice Skills with Justin Slocum Bailey
Janina Hanson interviews Justin Slocum Bailey about the content of his recent workshop for language teachers: Mind, Body, and Voice Skills. Among other topics, Janina and Justin discuss the value of silence in the classroom and of paying attention to our minds and bodies.
Find the full transcript here.
Episode 112: Teaching Listening with Gianfranco Conti, Part II
Stacey talks with Gianfranco Conti in the second part of a two-part interview. Gianfranco discusses how anxiety and failure affect language learning, and goes into more detail about his system for organizing a listening lesson. Part I of this interview can be found here.
Find the full transcript here and check out the episode guide available here.
Episode 111: Teaching Listening with Gianfranco Conti, Part I
Stacey interviews Gianfranco Conti about how to teach students to listen well. In this first part of a two-part series with Gianfranco, he discusses how bottom-up processing works, how typical listening activities overwhelm students, why interpersonal listening is best for students, and how teachers can use their expertise and instincts to nurture student listening. Part II of this interview can be found here.
Find the full transcript here and check out the episode guide available here.
Episode 110: A Fulbright Award and Afro-Mexican Stories with Michelle Nicola
Stacey talks with Spanish teacher Michelle Nicola who spent several months in Mexico last fall learning about what it means to be a Mexican person of African descent. Michelle discusses the Fulbright award that funded her research project as well as the people she met and interviewed in Mexico. Now back home with interviews in hand from her time abroad, Michelle also shares her plans for how she will make these stories of Afro-Mexican people accessible and comprehensible for novice Spanish students everywhere.
Episode 109: Multilitercies and Digital Social Reading with Carl Blyth
Abby Broughton interviews Dr. Carl Blyth, Director of the Center of Open Educational Resources and Language Learning (COERLL). Abby and Carl discuss multiliteracies, digital social reading, and centering meaning and the interpretive mode of communication in language instruction.
Episode 108: Less Burnout and More Input with Lance Piantaggini
Stacey interviews Lance Piantaggini, known as Magister P to his students and blog readers, about how language teachers can keep school work at school, avoid burnout, and provide as much input as possible for their students. Lance teaches in a way that is consistent with his principled approach to language acquisition and writes comprehensible readers in Latin while also keeping his workload manageable and enjoying his life outside of work.
Episode 107: We Teach _______ Languages with Shannon Mason
Stacey discusses the terminology we use to describe the languages we teach. Terms like foreign, world, second, modern, community, classical, and others all came up in a recent poll we ran on Twitter. Stacey discusses the results of that poll, shares insights from past guests Amy Andersen, Mandy Manning, and Ellen Toubman. Then we hear from Dr. Shannon Mason about her research on how the media discusses language education in Australia.
Episode 106: Prioritizing and Interpreting Texts with Virginia Scott
Anne-Sophie Dubosson interviews Professor Virginia Scott about teaching literature and other kinds of texts in the language classroom. We also hear from two past guests, Michael Leeser and Ryan Rockaitis, about how they promote critical thinking and deeper learning through engaging with texts.
Stacey shares the second half of a conversation she recently had with two remarkable language teachers, Mandy Manning and Amy Andersen. In this second half of a two-part series, Mandy and Amy tell stories that illustrate how advocacy and policy intersect with their work as language teachers.
Stacey shares the first half of a conversation she recently had with two remarkable language teachers. Mandy Manning is the 2018 National Teacher of the Year. She teaches new immigrant and refugee high school students learning English in Spokane, Washington. Amy Andersen teaches American Sign Language to hearing students at a high school in Ocean City, New Jersey and was one of the finalists for the 2018 National Teacher of the Year. In this first half of a two-part series, Mandy and Amy introduce their work as ESL and ASL teachers and talk about how culture is integral to their work.
Episode 103: Tech Tools for the Language, Classroom with Heidi Trude
Maris Hawkins interviews French teacher and SCOLT Teacher of the Year Heidi Trude about tech tools for the language classroom. You’ll want to to take notes and visit the show notes to learn more about all the things you can do with Gimkit, Quizlet, Flipgrid, Google Cardboard and many more!
Episode 102: The Complexity of Language, Acquisition, Teaching, and Textbooks with Michael Leeser
Stacey talks with professor, researcher, and textbook author Michael Leeser about how he views language and language teaching, how he approaches the Methods course, and the roles of input and output in language learning. Michael also discusses the approach he takes in the two college-level Spanish textbooks he co-authored.
Thomas Sauer sits down with teachers from North County High School’s World and Classical Languages Department including department chair and German teacher Katrina Griffin, German and Spanish teacher Cora Hoffstetter, and Spanish teachers Nea Baker, Jennifer Howard, Will Klotz, Cassie Krawczyk, and Mallory Newcomer. The group discusses how they develop instruction collaboratively–even across languages–and how organizational factors ensure success. This episode gives listeners a peek into a collegial, collaborative department that offers success and stability for students and teachers alike.
Episode 100: Celebrating 100 Episodes!
Maris Hawkins takes the lead to talk to listeners about episodes of the podcast that have been particularly meaningful for them. We’re so excited to celebrate this milestone with everyone! Check out the giveaway as well – post in the comments section of any episode on April 23, 24, or 25 and you could win some cool podcast swag!
Episode 99: Cult of Pedagogy with Jennifer Gonzalez
Rebecca Blouwolff interviews her favorite educational podcaster, Jennifer Gonzalez, creator of the Cult of Pedagogy blog. Rebecca and Jennifer talk about four specific blog posts/podcast episodes: To Learn, Students Need to DO Something, Is Your Lesson a Grecian Urn?, Retrieval Practice, How Accurate Are Your Grades? The blog posts/podcast episodes were crafted from the perspective of Jennifer, an ELA teacher, and during their conversation, Rebecca provides her perspective as a teacher of world language.
Ellen Toubman and Ryan Rockaitis discuss the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) and ACTFL proficiency guidelines. For teachers who want to know more about how to use the proficiency levels to design instruction that moves students along the proficiency path, this episode is full of big ideas and practical examples you can apply to your own classroom.
Episode 97: Independence, Choice, Peace, and Montessori with Valerie Shull
Stacey interviews Valerie Shull about the early language program she leads at a Montessori school. Valerie talks about her approach and describes specific strategies that she uses to promote proficiency among her 4th-8th grade students.
Episode 96: Language Learning through Digital Games with Jonathon Reinhardt
Meghan McGinley interviews Jonathon Reinhardt about the relationship between learning and games, specifically the practical and theoretical connection between language learning and digital games.
Episode 95: Local Professional Organizations with Becky Peterson, Kelly Scheetz, and Luis Deocares
Stacey interviews Becky Peterson and Kelly Scheetz from TFLTA, Maris interviews Luis Deocares from GWATFL, and we revisit a few past guests as well. Learn more about how local professional organizations are providing affordable professional development, engaging in advocacy work, and shaping the ACTFL teacher of the year program.
Caroline Schlegel interviews Stefanie Neal about how she made the transition from a grammar-based syllabus to proficiency-oriented, spoken Latin. Stefanie share advice for teachers and some of her favorite comprehensible input strategies for the language classroom.
Episode 93: Teaching for Proficiency with Kara Parker and Megan Smith
Rebecca Blouwolff interviews the Creative Language Class masterminds, Kara Parker and Megan Smith. Rebecca asks Kara and Megan about trends among teachers trying to move towards proficiency, about how to get a diverse department on the same page, and why you might want to get feedback on your teaching, among other topics!
Episode 92: Meta-Reflection, Assessment, and ePortfolios with Elena Mangione-Lora
Stacey interviews Elena Mangione-Lora from the University of Notre Dame about her work using meta-reflection and ePortfolios as a final assessment. Elena discusses why and how she made the transition to portfolio assessment. She also shares some of the scholarship she consulted and the data she collected during implementation.
Episode 91: Teaching Private Language Classes with Diane Neubauer, Vivek Tripathi, and Meg Saunders
Three teachers discuss their work teaching private language classes as freelance teachers or tutors, Diane Neubauer, a Chinese Teacher, Vivek Tripathi, a Hindi teacher, and Meg Saunders, an English teacher. Our guests will explore questions like: How is language teaching different one-on-one? How does an online environment affect teaching?
Episode 90: Online Language Teaching and the Community of Inquiry Framework with Kylie Korsnack
Stacey talks with her colleague Kylie Korsnack about some of the concepts they explored in their recent series of workshops on how to promote presence and interaction in the online classroom. Among other topics, Kylie introduces listeners to the community of inquiry framework as a tool for online course design. Whether you are teaching fully online, in a hybrid/blended format, or face-to-face with some online extension, we hope this episode sparks new ideas for effective online teaching.
Episode 89: Google Translate in the Language Classroom with Errol O’Neill, Part II
Claire Knowles continues her conversation with Errol O’Neill about Google Translate. In this part II, Claire and Errol discuss what student training on Google Translate might look like, what features teachers should become familiar with, and how to communicate about the tool with students.
Episode 88: Google Translate in the Language Classroom with Errol O’Neill, Part I
Dr. Claire Knowles interviews Dr. Errol O’Neill about Google Translate in the first part of a two-part episode. In part I, Claire and Errol discuss what Google translate is and how it works, a bit about what the research says about its use in language classrooms, and why teachers might want to take advantage of its abilities to help students communicate effectively in the real world.
Episode 87: A Novice Descriptions Unit with Heather Sherrow
Stacey interviews Heather Sherrow about the novice-level unit on descriptions that she developed called Soy Yo: Bringing Life, Purpose, and Meaning to Your Novice Descriptions Unit. This unit tackles stereotypes, celebrates differences, and encourages students to be themselves using songs, memes, commercials, tweets, infographics, and other authentic resources. Heather has presented this unit at several conferences including this past November at ACTFL and has generously shared all of her resources online.
Episode 86: Providing Professional Development for Teachers with Arlene White and Paula Moore
Caroline Schlegel interviews Dr. Arlene White and Mrs. Paula Moore, two educators who have made a difference in her own professional development, about how they provide relevant, meaningful, and effective professional development for new and veteran educators. The topics of discussion include how professional development contributes to teacher recruitment and retention and how technology and methodologies have changed professional development for language teachers.
Episode 85: 2018 Year End Wrap Up
Stacey talks about how the podcast made its way in 2018, some off the themes and highlights from the year, and how listeners can get involved as guests and contributors in 2018.
Episode 84: Teachers’ Perspectives on Heritage Language Teaching
Stacey shares interviews with several teachers who all work with heritage learners in different contexts. First, Chris Cashman tells us about what has worked for him in his secondary heritage language classes and how his OPI (oral proficiency interview) training has proved valuable. Then, we hear three interviews from ACTFL: Maria Manni, Felix Burgos, and Shannon Hahn all tell us about the challenges and opportunities they face in their contexts. Finally, Kim Potowski, professor and director of a university heritage language program, answers a few frequently asked questions posed by Florencia Henshaw during an online Q&A. Check out the show notes for more information about each guest and the resources they mention.
Episode 83: Resources and Research on Teaching Heritage Learners with Maria Carreira
Stacey interviews Dr. Maria Carreira about teaching heritage language learners. Maria shares a few of the resources available through the National Heritage Language Resource Center and talks about some of the ways teachers can implement research-based practices with heritage language learners. The topics of discussion include project-based learning, differentiated instruction, program design, assessment, placement, identity, and more related to heritage learners.
Episode 82: Social Justice and Representation with LJ Randolph
Dorie Conlon Perugini interviews LJ Randolph about what it means to teach languages for social justice and how teachers can think about representation in their classrooms. LJ shares resources, big ideas, and practical examples for teachers who want to explore what social justice might look like in a language classroom.
Episode 81: The Paideia Institute, Spoken Latin, and PhD Careers with Jason Pedicone
Carolyn Siegel interviews Jason Pedicone, co-founder of the Paideia Institute. Carolyn experienced Paideia’s pedagogical approach first-hand while accompanying Latin students in 2014 on a trip to Rome with a Paideia Living Latin trip. In this interview Jason discusses the teaching of living Latin and Greek at Paideia as well as his work with PhDs in the Classics, including professional networking and opportunities outside academia.
Episode 80: Reflections and Takeaways from #ACTFL18
Stacey shares takeaways and reflections on the conference experience from seven different language teachers at ACTFL in New Orleans. Even if you couldn’t be there in person, we hope you’ll benefit from our reports. If you have something you want to share, send it to us by email, voicemail, or social media and we’ll include it in our upcoming newsletter!
Stacey talks with Julie Sykes and Thomas Sauer, two language resource center directors, about some of what their centers offer to programs, teachers, and learners. We get into some fun discussion about pragmatics, intercultural competence, and jumping into new projects with a team. You’ll want to listen all the way to the end of this episode to catch a big announcement about the future of the podcast!
Episode 78: Motivation, Authentic Input, and Learning a New Way of Thinking with Wilbur Wong
Han Xioa interviews her former professor, Wilbur Wong, about his approach to teaching English as a foreign language in a Chinese university. Professor Wong touches on some important topics in language teaching including motivation, the importance of authentic resources, and the usefulness of standardized tests.
Episode 77: Getting the Most out of Conferences
Stacey explores how to get the most out of going to a conference about language teaching. WTL volunteers Maris Hawkins, Carolyn Siegel, and Janina Hanson all weigh in with their best advice, as do some past guests. Do you have a conference coming up? Listen to this episode to prepare for the big event and make sure you get the most out of the experience.
John Mullen interviews three teachers: Dr Benjamin Jens and Dr. Colleen Lucey, Assistant Professors of Russian from the University of Arizona, and Dr. Ben Rifkin, Professor and Dean of Liberal Arts & Sciences at Hofstra University. John, Benjamin, Colleen, and Ben answer all of our questions about how and why to use oral history projects with language learners.
Episode 75: Comprehensifying and Extending Authentic Resources with Kara Jacobs
Maris Hawkins interviews Kara Jacobs, a Spanish teacher who is well-known for sharing lessons, units, stories, and activities around authentic resources on her blog. If you don’t already know Kara, this interview is a great introduction to her, her approach, and the kinds of resources she shares.
Episode 74: Directing a Language Program and Being Teacher of the Year with Brenna Byrd
Dr. Brenna Byrd is on the show to talk about her role at the University of Kentucky, her experience as the 2017 teacher of the year for SCOLT, and her advice for new graduate student instructors navigating challenges in the classroom.
Episode 73: Intercultural Communicative Competence with Michael Byram
Dorie Conlon Perugini interviews Dr. Michael Byram, Professor Emeritus in the School of Education at Durham University and one of the most influential voices in the study of intercultural competence in language education. Dorie and Mike discuss Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) and how to achieve it in language classrooms.
Episode 72: One Approach to a Content-Based, Upper-Level Course with Elena Morgan and Rachel Frenkil
Carolyn Siegel interviews Elena Morgan and Rachel Frenkil about the content-based approach that they have taken in their upper-level Spanish IV course. In the course that they developed, they weave advanced language study together with the history of Latin America, political theory, and Jewish identity to create a learning experience that is educationally rich and also personally meaningful for their students.
Episode 71: Indigenous Language Preservation and Revitalization with Aliana Parker
We get to learn from Aliana Parker, the Language Programs Manager at the First Peoples’ Cultural Council (FPCC) in British Columbia, Canada. All over the world, indigenous languages are facing existential threats. In Canada, Aliana and the FPCC are working towards the preservation and revitalization of their province’s linguistic heritage through innovative programs and community resources.
BONUS RESOURCES: Find the transcript for this episode here. Download and print this episode guide to use as a resource before, during, and after you listen!
Episode 70: Advice for New Language Teachers with Albert Fernandez, Bill Denham, and Ying Jin
Stacey shares advice for new teachers from Albert Fernandez, Bill Denham, and Ying Jin. Taking a cue from the last few minutes of episode 69 with Leslie Grahn, we get a few more perspectives for new language teachers. After you listen, reach out to us and tell us YOUR best advice for new language teachers!
Episode 69: Engaging all Learners with Leslie Grahn
Stacey interviews Leslie Grahn about how to engage learners in the language classroom with a focus on her 2017 book co-authored with Dave McAlpine called The Keys to Strategies for Language Instruction. Do you want to learn how to increase student learning and confidence in your classroom? Listen to this episode and then enter to win Leslie’s book or a seat to her VLM (Virtual Learning Module) through ACTFL!
Episode 68: Lead with Languages with Erin Whelchel
Maris Hawkins interviews Erin Whelchel about the Lead with Languages campaign from the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). Did you know that research shows that world languages are one of the top skills required by employers across all industries? Listen as Maris and Erin discuss the value of language learning as well as the advocacy resources available through the Lead with Languages campaign.
BONUS RESOURCE: Find the Episode Guide here.
Episode 67: Pursuing Proficiency with Williamson County Schools, Part II
Stacey talks with the Williamson County Schools world languages curriculum writing team including teachers Amanda Baker, Robert Collard, Chelsea Graves, Nicole Hernandez, Brian Rentfro, and Rebecca Roa, district supervisor Christi Gilliland, and consultant Thomas Sauer. In the second part of this interview, they discuss some of the changes they have made in their teaching and describe what a proficiency-oriented classroom looks like.
Episode 66: Pursuing Proficiency with Williamson County Schools, Part I
This is a conversation between Stacey and seven members of the Williamson County Schools world languages curriculum writing team, teachers Amanda Baker, Robert Collard, Chelsea Graves, Nicole Hernandez, Brian Rentfro, and Rebecca Roa, and district supervisor Christi Gilliland. Representing three different languages, this group of colleagues has been meeting for the last three summers to write a new curriculum that moves their students toward proficiency. In this interview, the teachers report on the success of the new curriculum, and talk about their external assessments, which show remarkable student gains.
Episode 65: Preparing Students for Tests with Savas Savides and Dongbing Zhang
Stacey brings in several guests to discuss preparing students to take those big, standardized tests that students around the world take to certify their language ability, a practice that comes some benefits but also some challenges. We will revisit some previous episodes, and hear from two guests that are new to the podcast, Savas Savides, an educational consultant in Greece, and Dongbing Zhang, a PhD student in Australia who has also taught English in China.
Episode 64: Teachers’ Perspectives on the Seal of Biliteracy with Melanie Thomas and Pat DiPillo
Stacey continues with a three-part series on the Seal of Biliteracy in the US with Melanie Thomas and Pat DiPillo. Melanie and Pat decsribe how their own districts navigated the early stages of implementing the Seal and offer resources and advice.
Episode 63: An Introduction to the Seal of Biliteracy with Linda Egnatz
Stacey continues with a three-part series on the Seal of Biliteracy in the US with an interview with Linda Egnatz. Linda describes how Illinois became the third state to pass the Seal of Biliteracy as well as her vision for the future of the Seal.
Episode 62: A Throwback on Advocacy and the Seal of Biliteracy with Caleb Howard and Amanda Seewald
Stacey kicks off a three-part series on the Seal of Biliteracy in the US by looking back at an episode from 2017 in which Caleb Howard interviewed Amanda Seewald about advocacy and the Seal of Biliteracy in the state of New Jersey. Check out the show notes for links to the full episode as well as useful resources related to the Seal of Biliteracy.
Episode 61: A Throwback Episode with Dorie Conlon Perugini and Manuela Wagner
Stacey looks back at two episodes from 2017 in which two of the editors of the book Intercultural Communicative Competence Across the Age Range, Dorie Conlon Perugini and Manuela Wagner, discuss the book’s origins and ideas. Check out the show notes for links to the full episodes as well as useful resources related to intercultural communicative competence.
Episode 60: Community-Based Global Learning, Part II with Richard Kiely and Eric Hartman
Eric Hartman and Richard Kiely respond to listener questions about service learning based on their book Community-Based Global Learning: The Theory and Practice of Ethical Engagement at Home and Abroad. Richard and Eric approach community-based learning and global service learning from perspectives that language teachers will find immediately applicable to their own work whether they are taking their students into L2 communities as part of a course or preparing their students for lifelong community engagement as proficient language users.
This week’s episode is part II of the interview. Also check out episode 59 to hear part I in which Richard and Eric discuss the principles and experiences that inspired them to write their book.
Episode 59: Community-Based Global Learning, Part I with Richard Kiely and Eric Hartman
Stacey interviews Eric Hartman and Richard Kiely about the principles and experiences that inspired them to write the book Community-Based Global Learning. Richard and Eric approach international, community-based, and global service learning from perspectives that language teachers will find immediately applicable to their own work whether they are taking their students into L2 communities as part of a course or preparing their students for lifelong community engagement as proficient language users.
This week’s episode is part I of the interview. In part II next week, Richard and Eric answer listener questions about community-based and global service learning.
Episode 58: Principles of Outstanding Language Teaching with Steve Smith
Steve Smith discusses principles for language instruction that will help teachers navigate the complexity of the current post-methods era. Between book/blog writing, academic study, and classroom teaching, Steve is a perennial source of useful information for language teachers.
Episode 57: CLIC Resources, TalkAbroad, and Online Teaching with Florencia Henshaw
Stacey interviews Dr. Florencia Henshaw, Director of the Center for Language Instruction and Coordination (CLIC) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Florencia discusses some of the resources CLIC has to offer teachers such as free online webinars, how the virtual exchange tool TalkAbroad is making a difference in Florencia’s program, and some of the ways that concepts from second language acquisition should be applied to online language teaching.
Episode 56: How to Write Comprehensible Texts with Martina Bex
Stacey talks with Martina Bex, whom many listeners might recognize from her blog, the Comprehensible Classroom. Martina tells us about her journey of figuring out what works best for her classroom and outlines how teachers can write comprehensible texts for their students. If you want to create your own level-appropriate written and oral L2 texts in order to bring in culture or current events, this episode will get you started.
Episode 55: L2 Writing Instruction and Corrective Feedback with Heather Willis Allen
Stacey learns about designing instruction that promotes L2 writing development from Dr. Heather Willis Allen, associate professor of French at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Heather is an accomplished teacher and researcher, co-author of a 2016 book on multiliteracies along with Kate Paesani and Beatrice Dupuy, and brings a research-informed perspective to topics such as how to provide written corrective feedback and how to scaffold assignments to help students avoid common writing pitfalls.
Episode 54: Keeping Pace with How Students and Methods are Changing with Mei Zhou
Sichen Wan interviews an EFL teacher that was influential in her own study of English, Mei Zhou. Mei teaches at a languages-focused high school in Chengdu, China and has been teaching for 18 years. In their conversation, Sichen asks Mei about what excellent language teaching looks like and Mei provides some great advice for new language teachers.
Episode 53: #langchat Stories with Diego Ojeda and Sara-Elizabeth Cottrell
Diego Ojeda and Sara-Elizabeth Cottrell, two of the founding moderators of the #langchat Twitter professional development network, invite us into a conversation about how #langchat got started, some of the challenges of engaging professionally across differences, and other topics related to every language teacher’s favorite online chat.
Episode 52: Story Listening and Efficient Acquisition with Beniko Mason
Dr. Beniko Mason joins the podcast to talk to Stacey about Story Listening and the most efficient way for learners to acquire language. In her four decades of teaching and researching, Dr. Mason has produced both impressive research as well as impressive results for her students. Be sure to check out the show notes to find links to her publications and current projects.
Episode 51: Developing as a Professional and Presenting at Conferences with Erin Carlson
Stacey interviewed Erin Carlson at the SCOLT (Southern Conference on Language Teaching) annual conference in March. They talk about why Erin is so passionate about professional development, and how she got started presenting at conferences. Erin also shares some of her standing-room-only SCOLT presentation called The Big Three: 3 Daily Activities to Get your Kids Reading, Writing and Speaking in the TL on a Daily Basis.
Episode 50: What do students to learn when they learn language?
Stacey asks ‘Besides proficiency in the language, what do you want your students to learn in your language classroom?” We all want our students to learn language. However, there are other things students can and should learn through language study. In March, at the SCOLT annual meeting, Stacey asked attendees this question. The answers Stacey recorded reflect teachers’ diverse perspectives and fall within the scope of existing research on what students learn when they study a language.
Episode 49: Multiliteracies and CARLA Resources for Teachers with Kate Paesani
Stacey is joined by Dr. Kate Paesani, the Director of the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) and affiliate Associate Professor in the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota. Kate tells us about the wealth of resources CARLA can offer teachers. She also discusses her research on multiliteracies, a framework that allows learners to engage with authentic texts in multiple ways.
Episode 48: Welcoming and Advocating for New Arrivals with Lesley Cioccarelli
Stacey hears from Australian educator, advocate, and #AusELT administrator, Lesley Cioccarelli. Lesley explains some of the options for language learning and settlement available to recent immigrants in Australia. She also talks about the professional organizations that advocate for the best interests of those learners and why teachers should be members of their local and national professional associations.
Episode 47: Professional Development and Working Together with Rebecca Blouwolff and Tim Eagan
Rebecca Blouwolff and Tim Eagan talk about their work together in a Massachusetts language department, Rebecca as a middle school French teacher and Tim and as the department chair. They talk about continuing professional development for language teachers from both the teacher and the administrator perspective.
Episode 46: Labor Issues and Language Teaching with Mura Nava
Stacey interviews Mura Nava, who teaches English to adults in France, about the state of the ELT (English Language Teaching) labor market. Mura shares his experiences as an English teacher in France and introduces us to some individuals and organizations working for justice for teachers. The episode also includes some information about adjunct labor in US higher education.
Episode 45: Thematic Units and Social Justice with Anneke Oppewal and Jennifer Wooten
Stacey talks with Anneke Oppewal, a middle school teacher in North Carolina, and Jennifer Wooten, a college instructor in Florida, about how they have transformed units on food and housing by focusing on questions accessible to novice and intermediate students. Anneke and Jen share specific examples from their own teaching–lessons and units they have built over time through collaboration and experimentation.
Episode 44: A Preview of the 2018 Dimension Special Issue with Terry A. Osborn
Stacey shares an interview with Terry Osborn that she conducted as part of the 2018 issue of Dimension, the peer-reviewed journal of the Southern Conference on Language Teaching (SCOLT) . This special issue, which Stacey co-edited with Paula Garrett-Rucks, contains seven chapters all focused on how critical pedagogy and social justice play out in the language classroom.
Episode 43: Common Misconceptions in English Language Teaching with Ryuko Kubota
Stacey asks Ryuko Kubota, a professor of language and literacy education at the University of British Colombia in Vancouver, Canada, about a recent publication in which she explores ten common misconceptions in English language teaching (ELT). Ryuko talks about several of those misconceptions, including how beliefs about native speakers, whiteness, and legitimate forms of language contribute to the general public’s understanding of who is a good language teacher. Although this interview centers on ELT, teachers of all languages will find points of relevance to their own work.
Episode 42: Choosing Critical Cultural Content over Grammar with Daniel Woolsey
Stacey interviews Daniel Woolsey, an associate professor of Spanish at a liberal arts college in Michigan, who teaches courses including fourth-semester Spanish and Hispanic linguistics. Daniel explains that language teachers can focus on critical cultural content, let go of explicit grammar instruction, and trust the acquisition process to take place.
Episode 41: Vocabulary Lists with Kara Parker and AC Quintero
Stacey does a bit of digging to learn about different ways teachers conceptualize and make use of vocab lists. Kara Parker, a teacher trainer and consultant in Florida, and A.C. Quintero, a high school Spanish teacher in Illinois, both contribute to this discussion about how to make vocab lists useful for learning.
BONUS RESOURCE: This episode also includes BONUS listening! After you listen to the episode, check out the show notes for an additional 5 minute clip in which Kara Parker responds to a listener question.
Episode 40: Teaching English to Diverse Learners in China with Yang Yu
Ningxin Zheng interviews Yang Yu, a graduate student in English Language Education who has previously taught diverse learners in China including peers at the college level and middle schoolers at a school for the blind. Yang discusses a range of topics including showing respect for learners, maintaining student interest in learning, and teaching pronunciation.
Episode 39: The GLCA Shared Languages Program with Gabriele Dillmann
Stacey interviews Gabriele Dillmann, an associate professor of German at Denison University, a liberal arts college in Ohio. Gabriele is the director of the Great Lakes Colleges Association’s Shared Languages Program, a project that aims to address issues facing upper-level under-enrolled language courses as well as broadening the course offerings for lesser-taught languages.
BOUNUS RESOURCE: This episode also includes BONUS listening! After you listen to the episode, check out the show notes for an additional 10 minute clip about the technology that makes Gabriele’s innovative work possible.
Episode 38: Phonetics, Phonology, and Teaching Pronunciation with Gillian Lord
Stacey talks with Gillian Lord, professor and chair of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Florida, about her work researching and teaching pronunciation.
Episode 37: A #langbook Crossover on The Keys to Planning for Learning with Laura Terrill
In a special crossover episode, we get to hear an excerpt of Lisa Shepard’s interview with Laura Terrill about the book The Keys to Planning for Learning. This interview took place on Thursday January 25, 2018 as part of the #LangBook Twitter chat series and is available on YouTube in its entirety. Check out the show notes for the link!
Episode 36: A Departmental Shift to IPA-based Units with Rich Madel
Stacey asks Rich Madel, a secondary Spanish teacher and department chair in Pennsylvania, about how he and his colleagues moved from a textbook-based curriculum to IPA-based units that build on authentic resources using backward design.
BONUS RESOURCES: Find the transcript for this episode here.
Episode 35: Teaching English and French to English-speaking Students with Laura Parker
Stacey talks with Laura Parker about her experiences teaching both English and French to native English-speaking students. Laura discusses the overlaps between the two types of language teaching and some the challenges that ELA (English Language Arts) teachers face in the US high school context.
Episode 34: Assessments, Affect, and Proficiency Goals with Raul Rosales
Danielle Dorvil interviews Professor Raul Rosales Herrera, Associate Professor of Spanish at Drew University. Raul discusses his perspective on excellent language teaching and the goals he and his institution have set for students.
Episode 33: 2017 Year End Wrap Up
Stacey talks about how the podcast grew in 2017, some of the themes and highlights from the year, and how listeners can get involved as guests and contributors in 2018.
Episode 32: Reflective, Principled, Proficiency-Oriented Teaching with Walter Hopkins
Stacey shares an interview with Walter Hopkins, instructor and assistant director of the Michigan State University Spanish language program. Walter discusses his perspective on excellent language teaching, unpacks some of the issues faced by new language instructors, and explains how his language program has developed around proficiency goals.
BONUS RESOURCE: Download and print this episode guide to use before, during, and after you listen!
Episode 31: Blogs, Novels, and Teachers Sharing their Work with Maris Hawkins
Stacey chats with Maris Hawkins, a middle and upper school Spanish teacher who has used class novels, graphic novels, and free voluntary reading in her classes, as well as a variety of technologies to make student learning visible. Maris is also a prolific blogger and discusses how we can all share what’s happening in our own classrooms as well as get ideas and resources from other teachers sharing their work.
BONUS RESOURCE: Find the transcript for this episode here.
Episode 30: Fear of Failure, Twitter, and Virtual Reality with Patrick Murphy
Jose Luis de Ramon Ruiz interviews Patrick Murphy about how his teaching has changed during his nearly 20 year career teaching language courses at the university level. In their conversation, they touch on how Patrick uses Twitter to connect students to real-time culture as well as his future plans for virtual reality as a learning tool. Patrick also discusses how being afraid to fail can keep teachers from taking important risks in their classrooms.
BONUS RESOURCE: Find the transcript for this episode here.
Episode 29: Teaching Vocabulary for Acquisition with Joe Barcroft, Part II
Stacey continues her interview with Joe Barcroft, a professor and researcher specializing in vocabulary acquisition, discussing principles six through ten from his 2012 book Input-Based Incremental Vocabulary Instruction (TESOL International Association).
This episode contains Part II of our conversation. Last week, episode 28 was Part I.
Episode 28: Teaching Vocabulary for Acquisition with Joe Barcroft, Part I
Stacey interviews Joe Barcroft, a professor and researcher specializing in vocabulary acquisition. His articles appear in journals such as Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Language Learning, The Modern Language Journal, Foreign Language Annals, and others. In this interview, we discuss the first five of his ten principles for vocabulary acquisition from his book Input-Based Incremental Vocabulary Instruction (2012, TESOL International Association).
This episode contains Part I of our conversation, and, next week, episode 29 will be Part II.
Episode 27: Teaching Intercultural Communicative Competence Across the Age Range with Manuela Wagner
Stacey talks with Manuela Wagner all about her new book, Teaching Intercultural Communicative Competence Across the Age Range: From Theory to Practice (Multilingual Matters, 2017) co-edited with Michael Byram and Dorie Conlon Perugini. Manuela describes how this collaborative, practice-oriented work came to be and how it might be useful for teachers.
Episode 26: Teaching Communicative Latin and Maintaining your own Language with Justin Slocum Bailey
In episode 26, Stacey talks with Justin Slocum Bailey about his work as a teacher, consultant, and teacher developer. Justin discusses teaching Latin communicatively, and then answer a listener question about how how teachers can maintain their own proficiency in the language they teach.
Episode 25: Responding to a Listener Comment on Tests
In episode 25, Stacey responds to a comment from a listener about whether tests have any place in the language classroom. Stacey recalls some previous interviews in which tests were discussed, and gives two examples of how tests might be applied effectively to help students interpret and retrieve language.
Episode 24: Advocacy, the Seal of Biliteracy, and Steps We Can All Take with Amanda Seewald
Caleb Howard interviews Amanda Seewald, a teacher, coach, and curriculum developer in New Jersey, about her experiences advocating for world languages and for her students, including how her advocacy work led to the signing of the Seal of Biliteracy into law in 2016.
Episode 23: Performance Assessment, Can Dos, and ACTFL resources with Paul Sandrock
Stacey asks Paul Sandrock, Director of Education at ACTFL, about performance assessment. Why should teachers use performance assessment, how does it work, and what resources does ACTFL have to help?
Episode 22: Teaching College Arabic with Kari Neely
Sarah Arvidson interviews Kari Neely, an associate professor of Arabic, about some of the challenges associated with maintaining a college Arabic program through the third year including integrating native and heritage speakers into third year course as well as which varieties of Arabic to teach and when.
Episode 21: Cross-curricular Innovations in a Liberal Arts Language Department with Sebastiaan Faber
Stacey interviews Sebastiaan Faber, Professor and Chair of Hispanic Studies at Oberlin College, about the some of the cross-curricular innovations in his department including languages across the curriculum, team teaching with faculty from other departments, and incorporating campus resources into the classroom experience.
Caleb Howard interviews Noemi Rodriguez, a language supervisor in New Jersey, about the trends and challenges she has observed both in her position as supervisor and in her work as a language teacher. Noemi also discusses her passion and process for creating professional development opportunities for language teachers.
Episode 19: Finding your Professional Community and Staying in the Target Language with Caleb Howard
Stacey talks with Caleb Howard, a K-5 Spanish teacher from New Jersey, about the impact professional development has made in his teaching. After attending his first ACTFL convention in 2012, Caleb reevaluated his target language use with his early language learners and started a blog to help others use 90%+ target language in the classroom.
Episode 18: Technology, Performance, and a Proficiency-Oriented Curriculum with Catherine Ousselin
Stacey interviews Catherine Ousselin, a secondary French teacher and coach from Washington, who discusses specific technologies and classroom practices that she employs in her classroom to motivate students to develop proficiency.
Episode 17: Making Research More Accessible to Teachers with Gianfranco Conti, Part II
Stacey wraps up her conversation with Gianfranco Conti (Part I in episode 16). In this episode, Gianfranco gives us some final bits of advice for how to maximize student learning and focus on long-term progress.
Episode 16: Making Research More Accessible to Teachers with Gianfranco Conti, Part I
Stacey interviews Gianfranco Conti, a well-known MFL (Modern Foreign Language) and EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teacher and teacher developer. He has taught languages all over Europe and in Malaysia, and has a deep knowledge of both research and practice. We talk about useless things language teachers do (e.g. error correction) and ways to improve student learning (e.g. recycle, recycle, recycle).
Episode 15: The Voc/zes podcast with Liz Lake and Stephanie Hernandez
Stacey turns the microphone around on Liz Lake and Stephanie Hernandez, two faculty members in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Minnesota who started a podcast in order to provide their students with meaningful, authentic listening opportunities. They discuss their work and invite listeners to use their podcast episodes in their own classrooms.
Episode 14: Making the Transition to Authentic Resources and Proficiency with Lisa Shepard
Stacey talks with Lisa Shepard, a secondary language teacher who, over the course of her 29-year teaching career, has successfully transitioned from verb conjugations and traditional tests to authentic resources and performance assessments. Lisa shares her own journey as well as practical advice for teachers interested in teaching for proficiency.
Episode 13: Teacher of the Year, Culture, and Technology with Noah Geisel
Stacey asks Noah about his experience as the 2013 ACTFL Teacher of the Year. Noah also shares resources and ideas for two of his favorite topics in language education: culture and technology.
Episode 12: Teaching Racial Diversity and Growing as a Teacher with Laurel Abreu
Stacey interviews Laurel Abreu about a class she teaches at the University of Southern Mississippi that explores racial and linguistic diversity in Spanish, about a 2016 paper she wrote on teaching racial diversity, and about her own journey to grow as a teacher and become more aware of difference.
Episode 11: Listener Questions about Culture Instruction
Stacey answers a couple of listener questions about teaching culture. 1) Should I teach culture in students’ native language or in the target language? 2) What is the best way to assess students’ knowledge of culture?
Episode 10: Experiential Learning in Francophone Communities in the US with Brian Barnett
Stacey talks with C. Brian Barnett about his university-level experiential learning course that centers on francophone communities in the U.S. In addition to learning language and culture, students engage in structured reflection to make sense of those experiences and, in the process, become deeply connected to US language communities.
Episode 9: Performance Assessment in a Fully Online College Spanish Course with Claire Knowles
Stacey talks with Claire Knowles about teaching college Spanish in a fully online, asynchronous format. Claire tells us about how she uses performance assessments instead of tests to assess learning and how she elicits feedback and reflection from students in every unit.
Stacey talks with elementary Spanish teacher Dorie Conlon Perugini about the opportunities she’s had to develop her own practice, to share classroom practices with others, and to support early language learners as they develop intercultural competence. We also get to learn about her forthcoming book co-edited/co-written with two of my favorite authors, Manuela Wagner and Michael Byram.
Episode 7: Evolving as a Teacher and Helping Students Become Lifelong Learners with Qinqin Zan
Junyue Wang interviews her former EFL teacher, Qinqin Zan, about what excellent language teaching looks like. They discuss how Ms. Zan’s goals for her students have changed over the years and the importance of inspiring students to be lifelong language learners.
Stacey talks with Kaishan Kong, an assistant professor of Chinese at the University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire, about what excellent language teaching looks like, how to integrate language and culture instruction, and teaching Chinese as a foreign language in the United States.
Episode 5: Researching, Writing, and Communicating Pedagogy with Vivian Finch and Jessica Greenfield
Stacey talks with Jessica Greenfield and Vivian Finch, who teach Italian and German at Vanderbilt University, about the process they undertake when they research and write about pedagogy.
Episode 4: Focus on Process, Not Product and Thinking Maps with Dana Yang
Yue Wu interviews Dana Yang about how her approach to teaching Chinese at an international school has changed over the years. Dana and Yue also discuss the benefits of using thinking maps in many common language learning tasks.
Episode 3: The ACTFL Community Boards, a Methods Course, and Professional Development
Stacey talks about a recent thread on the ACTFL online community boards and her approach to selecting readings for her language teaching methods course. She also shares some free online resources for professional development for language teachers.
Episode 2: Insights on teaching and researching K-12 English language learners with Emily Galloway
Nikki Wei talks with Emily Galloway about the classroom practices and research that can improve learning for ELLs in a K-12 setting. Stacey wraps up the episode by drawing some connections between second and foreign language teaching.
Episode 1: Service learning and language course development with Berta Carrasco
Stacey talks with Berta Carrasco about developing a service-learning Spanish course for the health professions at a small liberal arts college. Stacey also discusses a few resources on service-learning course design, evaluation, and learning outcomes.
Episode 0: By way of introduction…
This episode is an introduction to the goals and motivations for this podcast, and an invitation for listeners to get involved.