This is the event to discuss "Reconciling the Language-Literature Split through Literacy." Anyone who has read the article is invited to attend. The idea is to prepare our minds to better integrate the Zyzik talk into our thinking by reading and discussing this article that she recommends as germane to the talk.

Abstract:
This talk will explore a critical question being asked by many in the language teaching profession: Do content-based courses provide second language learners with (sufficient) opportunities to develop their language skills? This question is contextualized by the recent Modern Language Association (MLA) report and other scholarly perspectives on the language-literature dichotomy still practiced in many foreign language departments. Although recent trends stress the importance of introducing literary texts at beginning levels (i.e., in first- and second-year courses), little attention has been paid to a complementary approach: integrating more language-focused instruction into existing literature/culture classes. After reporting the results of a multiple case study involving fourth-year Spanish literature classes (Zyzik and Polio, 2007; Polio and Zyzik, in press), I will examine a range of pedagogical solutions to the problem of integrating language and content goals in the foreign language classroom.

Eve Zyzik is just moving from Michigan State to University of California, Santa Cruz. She is the co-author of "Incidental Focus on Form in University Spanish Literature Courses" MLJ 92:1, Spring 2008, pp. 53-70. As preparation for this talk, she recommends reading Richard Kern, "Reconciling the Language-Literature Split through Literacy," ADFL Bulletin, 33:3, Spring 2002, 20-24.
This year, to increase the benefit from these talks, the LRC will host pre-talk discussions of papers suggested by the speakers, in this case the Kern paper. These will be usually one week before the talk, on the same weekday. So the first of these will be Tuesday, September 9 at 4pm. Place TBA.

This year we have quite a few new teachers. This is a time for them to meet each other and all teachers can meet and welcome them. Come and meet your new colleagues!

Abstract: A considerable amount of empirical research has been reported on various aspects of TBLT over the past 20 years. Continuing lines of inquiry include relationships between text modification types and L2 comprehension, and pedagogic task-types and L2 production. Meanwhile, other as yet unsolved problems in TBLT of considerable practical importance need attention. Examples include identifying reliably measurable parameters of task complexity and criteria for pedagogic task sequencing, both of which are major issues for instructors and materials writers, alternatives in task-based testing, and TBLT program evaluation. I will briefly review current issues facing TBLT theorists and practitioners, and illustrate potential solutions to some of remaining problems.

For an introduction to this field, Professor Long recommends Long, M. H., & Norris, J. M. (2000). Task-based teaching and assessment. In Byram, M. (ed.), Encyclopedia of language teaching (pp. 597-603). London: Routledge. [link coming soon]
For an excellent structured synthesis of Long's SLA principles and structures, see "Optimal psycholinguistic environments for distance foreign language learning," Doughty, C. J., & Long, M. H. (2003)Language Learning and Technology. Volume 7, Number 3 (September) 2003, 50-80. This is a discussion of teaching/learning principles for any situation really, not just distance learning.
Finally, for this particular talk, Long recommends Long, M. H. (2007). Texts, tasks, and the advanced learner. In Long, M. H., Problems in SLA (pp. 119-38). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. [link coming soon]

More information coming soon.

More information coming soon.

More information coming soon.

More information coming soon.

This event will be via videoconference. More information coming soon.

Claire is of course one of the leading figures in culture and language learning. She was one of the authors of the MLA report, "Foreign Languages and Higher Education: New Structures for a Changed World."