Panel
To Study or Not to Study Language: Student Perspectives and Potential Responses
As part of ongoing efforts to bolster recruitment and retention efforts within language education, we need to understand what students are thinking: Why are students taking language courses? Why are students not taking language courses?
In this panel, we’ll hear from scholars and practitioners who are actively investigating these questions and who have created initiatives that respond directly to student needs and beliefs, with a specific focus on connecting language study to career trajectories.
In Part I, Dianna Murphy (University of Wisconsin, Madison) will present findings from two large-scale studies done at two R1 universities in the midwest on why students do and do not take language classes.
In Part II, we’ll hear from four presenters on specific initiatives that connect language study to careers in different and innovative ways, including internships and professional certificates (Claire Tourmen, UCB French Department); the transferable skills of language learning (Heather Willis Allen, University of Wisconsin, Madison); creating professional courses connected to student interests (Kaishan Kong, University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire); and K-12 teaching opportunities (Elisa Salasin, UCB School of Education).
In addition to the opportunity to explore initiatives that might be relevant for your language programs, you will receive specific information about their rationale, development, and implementation, with opportunities to follow-up with any questions in the Q&A.
Understanding the Reasons U.S. Undergraduate Students Do and Don't Study Languages
Dianna Murphy
University of Wisconsin-Madison
This presentation will share findings and practical implications from a research study to investigate how important proficiency in languages other than English (LOTEs) is to U.S. undergraduate students in terms of their personal interests, current or intended major(s), and career plans; the students' reasons for enrolling (or not enrolling) in LOTE courses as undergraduates; and considerations that would make the students more likely to study a LOTE at the university in the future. The research is based on census surveys of the full undergraduate population at two U.S. universities, to include students who studied LOTEs as undergraduates, as well as students who did not. Findings from the study may be useful in informing initiatives to address declining LOTE enrollments at the collegiate level.
Bio:
Dr. Dianna Murphy directs the Language Institute at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a center for collaborative initiatives in research, education, advising, and outreach related to the study of human languages. Murphy is also co-director of the UW–Madison Russian Flagship, a core member of the Doctoral Program in Second Language Acquisition, and co-coordinator of the Language Ideologies and Linguistic Discrimination working group.
First Lessons Learned from the New Professional Paths at UC Berkeley French Department
Claire Tourmen
University of California, Berkeley
I will present the new Professional Paths implemented at UC Berkeley French Department since 2023: their objectives, the program, the first results and a few lessons learned along the way. They have benefited from a grant from French Embassy/Face Foundation and the support of the Berkeley Presidential Chair Fellow grant. I will conclude on the possible implications for other language departments.
Bio:
Claire Tourmen has been a lecturer in the UC Berkeley French Department since 2017, in charge of implementing the new professional paths since 2023, with the help of her colleagues and two grants (from the French Embassy/Face Foundation + Berkeley Presidential Fellows). Claire is also a researcher in Education Science with a specialization in adult, professional and intercultural learning.
Designing a Chinese Language Course for Sustained Engagement and Global Competence
Kaishan Kong
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
This presentation will discuss the process of developing a new Chinese language course to motivate students’ continuous engagement with the language. The speaker will share the teaching context, rationale, and strategies for aligning course topics with students’ learning needs, and will explain how the course’s topics and structure relate to global issues. The presentation will also highlight how this new course connects with existing offerings to foster sustained learning, intercultural competence, and global citizenship.
Bio:
Kaishan Kong is a Professor of Chinese at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire. She teaches courses related to Chinese language and culture and has been part of the Collaborative Language Program in the University of Wisconsin system for almost 10 years. Her research focuses on second language acquisition, mediated learning in study abroad, intercultural communication, virtual exchange, and teacher training. Her work appears in peer-reviewed journals such as The Modern Language Journal, Foreign Language Annals, and Second Language Research & Practice. She is the co-editor of Intercultural Citizenship in Language Education: Teaching and Learning through Social Action (Multilingual Matters, U.K.).
Targeting the Transfer of Learning in Advanced Undergraduate Language Courses
Heather Willis Allen
University of Wisconsin-Madison
How can language educators make the personal, professional, and societal benefits of learning second and additional languages tangible for today's students? This presentation argues for prioritizing transfer of learning in the design of advanced undergraduate L2 courses. Examples are provided of how transferrable skills and dispositions can be integrated into learning objectives, assessments, and classroom instruction.
Bio:
Heather Willis Allen is Associate Professor of French in the Department of French and Italian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She teaches undergraduate French culture and writing courses and graduate courses in applied linguistics and directs the elementary- and intermediate-level French language program. Her collaborative publications include A Multiliteracies Framework for Collegiate Foreign Language Teaching, Alliages Culturels: La Société Française en Transformation, and Educating the Future Foreign Language Professoriate for the 21st Century. Her new book, published in August 2025 by Routledge, is entitled A Design Orientation to Second Language Writing Instruction.
Language Teaching to Embody the Values, Relationships, and Experiences of a More Just World
Elisa Salasin
UC Berkeley School of Education
Talk to your students about becoming a public-school language teacher! What are current credentialing requirements? How can you help students to prepare for entering the profession? What questions might students have? What is important to know about credential programs? In this presentation I’ll share information about the credentialing options and process for earning a California World Languages teaching certification, along with an introduction to the offerings and philosophy of the Berkeley Teacher Education Program.
Bio:
Elisa Salasin co-directs the Berkeley Teacher Education Program (BTEP). She has been involved in Bay Area education since 1989, as an elementary school teacher, mentor to student teachers, university-based supervisor, Bay Area Writing Project Teacher Consultant, and teacher education lecturer. She also served as co-director of UC Berkeley's Project IMPACT, supporting teacher inquiry groups for K-12 classroom teachers–especially novices–who chose to serve in the Bay Area's low income, low-performing public schools. She was Program Director for the Developmental Teacher Education program at Berkeley from 2010 to 2018. Particular areas of interest include mulitilingual learners and literacy development, beginning teacher development and teacher inquiry, especially around issues of equity in classroom and school contexts.
Tuesday, September 16, 2025
Zoom Only, 3-5 pm
This lecture is sponsored by the College of Letters and Science.
Accessibility information.