41st Annual Convention and Exposition American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) November 15-18, 2007 John B. Davis, Senior Lecturer in Spanish

What is ACTFL?  National organization dedicated to the improvement and expansion of the teaching and learning of all languages at all levels of instruction throughout the U.S.  Provides advocacy, professional development opportunities, resources and opportunities for members to interact and share ideas and experiences.

Some interesting facts…  Every child in Britain will start learning a modern foreign language in primary school from the age of seven.  73% of school districts in the U.S. are in need of foreign language teachers.

How many languages are spoken in the world today?  Of the 7,000 languages spoken around the world, one dies out every two weeks.  50% will disappear in this century.  More than 500 languages are spoken by fewer than 10 people.  Languages are undergoing a global extinction that greatly exceeds species extinction.

“ The Use of Emerging Technologies in the World Language Classroom ”  Technology can be easily integrated into the classroom as a way to encourage student involvement.  Multimedia projects and activities: blogs, EVOCA, Garage Band, IMovie

“ Creating Rubrics for Performance Assessment ”  Students are probably tired of trying to read our minds!  Step by step process of creating rubrics for a variety of activities.

“ Student Talk versus Teacher Talk: A Reality Check with Remedies”  The research…  How much time does a student speak in a teacher-centered classroom?  Accountability in the student centered classroom.

“ Making Connections: Bridging Academic and Professional Cultures for Language Students ”  Making language relevant to students  Increase involvement in language beyond the requirement with innovative recruitment tools.

“ Developing Learner’s Grammatical Competence ”  Attention to grammatical form without meaning does not lead to acquisition  Acquisition of language is error driven  Learning a subject matter through the second language

“ Social Interaction and Linguistic Gain During Study Abroad ”  Assessing language enhancement / improvement after study abroad  How many U.S. students studied abroad in ?  191,321, and most were in short term programs

 Factors that contribute to language improvement in the study abroad experience—surprising results  Interaction with native speakers, living with families or in dorms—no significant improvement in language proficiency.  Students who studied more language prior to the study abroad experience demonstrated more pronounced gains in oral proficiency.

 What has a negative impact on language acquisition while studying abroad?  Encouraging students to speak the target language among themselves.

Words to live by… “You don’t learn a language and use it. You learn a language by using it.” ¡Muchas gracias, UCET!