CARLA Lunchtime Presentation

Thursday, November 1, 2018
12:20 – 1:10 pm
University International Center 101

Over the past two decades, scholars and practitioners have been exploring ways to apply multiliteracies (ML) principles and practices to postsecondary language programs. Yet adopting new teaching paradigms can be challenging for teachers: The few studies that have investigated how teachers learn about and implement ML pedagogy underscore the long-term nature of teachers’ conceptual development and their difficulties in applying conceptual knowledge in instruction. In this presentation, we discuss a qualitative case study that contributes to this line of research. Specifically, we investigate whether and how concepts related to communicative language teaching (CLT) (e.g., comprehensible input, language functions, affect) are manifested in teacher discourse around ML pedagogy. Findings indicate that participants’ discourse reflected CLT concepts to differing degrees, despite similarities in their teaching histories. We conclude with implications of the study's findings for socializing FL teachers into ML pedagogy.    

Presenters:
Kate Paesani is the CARLA Director and affiliate Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota. Her research is focused on literacy-based curriculum and instruction and foreign language teacher development.
Mandy Menke is an Assistant Professor of Hispanic Linguistics and Director of Language Programs in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies. She researches topics related to second language acquisition and foreign language pedagogy, at both the university and K-12 levels.
Lauren Truman is a doctoral candidate of Hispanic Linguistics. Her research interests include bilingualism, language and identity, language maintenance, and language policy. Her work focuses on the sociolinguistics of Spanish and Maya in the Yucatan and bilingual education policy in the United States.