Events
- Annual Convention
- Great Teaching Round-up
- Leading from the middle
- fall conference for faculty leaders
- Webinars
"I think there is something more important than believing: Action! The world is full of dreamers, there aren't enough who will move ahead and begin to take concrete steps to actualize their vision."
Events: 2008 Foreign Language Schedule
Foreign Language Summary
Friday, 11:15 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.
"Beliefs About Language Learning:
What Teachers, Students, and Researchers Say"
Speaker: A. Raymond Elliott,
Chair and Associate Professor of Spanish, University of Texas-Arlington
Saturday, 9:00 - 10:15 a.m.
"Student Talk versus Teacher Talk:
A Reality Check with Remedies"
Speaker: Audrey Heining-Boynton,
Professor of Education and Spanish, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Friday, February 22nd, 11:15 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.
Friday morning the Foreign Language Section will explore "Beliefs About Language Learning: What Teachers, Students, and Researchers Say," with A. Raymond Elliott, chair and associate professor of Spanish at the University of Texas-Arlington.
Dr. Elliott says: "Beliefs are a central construct in every discipline that deals directly with human behavior, teaching and learning. Consequently, both teachers and students of foreign languages hold preconceived ideas or beliefs about first/second language acquisition and what learning a second language entails. These beliefs, either consciously or subconsciously, influence teaching and learning strategies and impact learner outcomes. In this talk, I compare students' and teachers' beliefs about second language acquisition and compare those to what Second Language Acquisition research reveals about the underlying principles and cognitive processes of second language learning. We will examine students', teachers' and researchers' beliefs as they relate to the role and importance of grammar instruction, vocabulary learning, L1 interference, error correction, child-adult differences, and language learning and teaching strategies, to name a few.
In addition, I look at how our beliefs determine the strategies that students and teachers use in the classroom that either promote or impede the language acquisition process."
Dr. Elliott received his Ph.D. from Indiana University-Bloomington in 1993. His areas of specialization are Spanish applied linguistics, second language acquisition, the acquisition of second language phonological skills, and historical development of Spanish. He has published several articles, book chapters, and reviews in The Modern Language Journal, Hispania, and with Georgetown University Press.
He served as a panelist in the McGraw-Hill Annual Teleconference on Authentic Materials, and as a member of the Academic Advisory Board for the package to accompany Nuevos Destinos. He is the author of Nuevos Destinos: Espa–ol para hispanohablantes, coauthor of the Instructor's Annotated Editions of Puntos en Breve and Que tal! Dr. Elliott directs UT-Arlington's Study Abroad Program in Cuernavaca, Mexico.
Saturday, February 23rd, 9:00-10:15 a.m.
Saturday the group will learn about "Student Talk versus Teacher Talk: A Reality Check with Remedies," presented by Audrey Heining-Boynton, professor of education and Spanish at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
The presenter says, "Sobering research exists regarding teacher talk versus student talk time. This interactive session will offer an abundance of creative teaching strategies as well as pair and group activities for college instructors of beginning Spanish language classes. Result results will be presented briefly, followed by a wide array of interactive classroom activities as well as methodological strategies. These simple steps are guaranteed to dramatically increase students' talk time in class.
Dr. Heining-Boynton has taught Spanish and Education courses for many years. She has won many teaching awards, is a frequent presenter at national and international conferences, and has published more than seventy articles, curricula, textbooks, and manuals, as well as having won nearly four million dollars in grants to help create language programs in North and South Carolina. She has also held many important positions in various language associations, including serving as the 2005 president of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
Foreign Language Section Chair:
Dr. Janett Hillar, Houston Community College -
Southwest