Presentations, Workshops, and Special Events

CARLA sponsors a series of lunchtime presentations and workshops during the academic year and also offers a number of other special events, such as the CARLA Open House each fall. These presentations are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. Locations can be found on the University map website at: http://www.onestop.umn.edu/Maps/

Lunchtime Presentations

Technology: Bells and Whistles or Solid Teaching Tools?

Monday, March 19, 2012
12:20-1:10 p.m.
Jones 35

There are lots of fun, new technological "toys" coming out for language teachers to use to enhance their language classes, which is exciting for some and terrifying to others. But, the tools are just bells and whistles if they aren't tied to good pedagogy. This presentation will explore how to blend a solid pedagogical approach with new tech tools without losing what already works. It will also highlight some of the wonderful "tried and true" resources that all teachers should know about.  

Presenter: Mikle D. Ledgerwood is Professor of French and Linguistics and Chair of World Languages and Cultures at Samford University as well as Past President of the International Association for Language Learning Technology.

"Sounding More German"
The Impact of Study Abroad on Fronting Tendencies in Writing

Thursday, March 29
12:20-1:10 p.m.
Folwell 108

One difference between written German and English is the tendency to begin sentences with a non-subject element (i.e., fronting); a tendency, which has been noted by native speakers as aiding in making the writing "sound more German." Using informal written narratives, we first investigated the fronting tendencies among three speaker groups: 1. intermediate L2 speakers; 2. advanced L2 speakers; and 3. German L1 speakers. Attention was paid not only to the amount of non-subject sentence-initial elements, but also to the types of non-subject elements used, such as temporal and locational adverbials, objects and other constituents. We then compared these results to developments in informal written narratives among participants of an 11-month study abroad program to southwestern Germany, again both in amount and type. Writing samples were collected at two different time intervals: after 4.5 months abroad and after 11 months abroad. Comparison of the two samples revealed that participants increased their use of non-subject sentence-initial elements  across the two time intervals, although they still did not attain the level of fronting seen among native speakers. Differences between the non-native speakers studying abroad and those sampled in the first part of the study (currently residing in the U.S.) will also be discussed. 

Presenter: Helena T. Ruf recently received her Ph.D. in German linguistics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Current research interests include the development of writing and intercultural awareness during study abroad, syntactic priming in second language acquisition, and the history of German noun plurals.

 

Outcomes of Participation at Concordia Language Villages: Implications for Teaching and Learning World Languages

Tuesday, April 3, 2012
12:20-1:10 p.m.
Jones 35

There is little disagreement that summer language experiences benefit learners but questions about “how” and “how much” are often difficult to answer.  Findings from a study Donna Clementi conducted for her dissertation on the outcomes of student participation in Lac du Bois, the French Language Village of Concordia Language Villages provide insights into these benefits.

The purpose of Dr. Clementi's study was to describe outcomes of participation in Lac du Bois in terms of:  (a) language acquisition; (b) cultural understanding; (c) global-mindedness; and (d) personal development.  Her results highlight important implications for world language instruction both within and beyond Concordia Language Villages.  

Presenter: Donna Clementi, dean of teacher seminars at Concordia Language Villages, is a long-time presenter at CARLA summer institutes. She was a member of the ACTFL Performance Assessment Unit Pilot Project and the Wisconsin Guide to Curriculum Planning team and is a frequent presenter for the STARTALK program. She serves as the national advisor to CARLA’s assessment project.

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Past Presentations and Workshops

CARLA project staff have offered a wide variety of conferences, workshops, institutes, and presentations. To find out more about what has been offered through the center, please see the database of publications and presentations.

Other CARLA-Sponsored Presentations

Garrett, N. (2012, January 20). "An Ambitious Agenda for Languages Across the Curriculum." Given as a CARLA Lunchtime Presentation. (video recording)