Arabic: A More Commonly Taught Less Commonly Taught Language by Professor Roger Allen, Social Thought and Comparative Ethics, University of Pennsylvania. After presenting an introduction to the Arabic language and its history, I consider the development of Arabic-language pedagogy within academe over the course of the past half-century. Within the context of current discussions about […]
Events at the BLC
Archive
Lecture by Robert Blake, March 18, 2011
What Makes an Ideal Hybrid Language Learner? by Professor Robert Blake, Spanish and Classics, University of California, Davis. What factors make for a successful online L2 learning experience? What is the ideal profile of a hybrid language learner with access to both online and classroom meetings? While previous studies have examined online learning in comparative […]
Lecture by Andrew Cohen, February 25, 2011
Teaching Pragmatics in the L2 Classroom by Professor Andrew Cohen, Second Language Studies, University of Minnesota. This presentation makes the point that it is not enough these days for teachers simply to teach the language forms; that it is imperative that they also teach their learners strategies for interpreting the language used by others and […]
Lecture, February 11, 2011: Carol Pfaff
Language Development in an Urban Migrant Community: The Turkish/German/English of Children and Adolescents in Berlin by Professor Carol Pfaff, Department of Linguistics, John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies, Freie Universität Berlin Photos from the event: Abstract: In the course of my 30+ years in Berlin, I have conducted several empirical studies of the […]
Lectures by BLC Fellows (W. A. Heidenfeldt, H. Sunkari, T. Lindsey), December 3, 2010
Fall 2010 BLC Fellows William Allen Heidenfeldt, Hepzibah Sunkari, and Traci Lindsey presented the results of their semester-long research projects to improve the understanding and practice of language instruction. Here are some photos from the event; abstracts from the presentations appear below the images. Congratulations to all the fellows, and thanks to all who were […]
Lecture by Glenn Levine, November 5, 2010
The Ecology of the Foreign-Language Literature Classroom: Complexity Theory as a Model for Pedagogy by Glenn Levine, Associate Professor, University of California – Irvine. In recent years, complexity theory has been adapted from the natural and physical sciences as a sort of meta-theory for applied linguistics. The purpose of this presentation is to show how […]
Lecture by David Dollenmayer, October 19, 2010
Pesky Pronouns and Pusillanimous Publishers: Some Reflections on the Practice and Business of Literary Translation David Dollenmayer, Professor of German, Worcester Polytechnic Institute Using the example of a work in progress – a translation of a novella by the contemporary Austrian writer Michael Köhlmeier – I will reflect on literary translation: what brought me to […]
Lecture by Deborah Brooks, September 17, 2010
Teaching Without Books or Photocopies by Deborah Brooks, Lecturer in TESL, Peralta Colleges. I create the format/structure; my students create the content. This takes much less prep time AND students learn faster since all of the content is meaningful. For passive voice, I ask, “Have you ever been robbed?” For comparative adjectives, I ask them […]
Lectures by BLC Fellows (A. Bellezza, M. Kim, J. Vivrette, U. Bhattacharya) , April 30, 2010
Presentations by the Spring 2010 BLC Fellows: Audio for all presenters is available below, for both streaming and download. “Teaching Italian through Theatre: A performative approach” by Annamaria Bellezza, Lecturer, Italian Studies Theatre provides the ultimate interactive experience, and as such it represents a powerful, holistic, and comprehensive approach to foreign language teaching, serving as […]
Lecture by Lera Boroditsky, April 16, 2010
How the Languages We Speak Shape the Ways We Think by Lera Boroditsky, Assistant Professor, Stanford University, Department of Psychology. How do the languages we speak shape the ways we think? Do speakers of different languages think differently? Does learning new languages change the way you think? Do bilinguals think differently when speaking different languages? […]