CARLA Working Paper Series

This edited volume on language teacher education includes fourteen refereed papers based on presentations at either the 6th International Conference on Language Teacher Education (held in Washington DC in May 2009) or 7th International Conference on Language Teacher Education (held in Minneapolis, MN in May 2011). The papers showcase research and practice related to the education of language teachers from many different national and international contexts including foreign language education, English as a Second/Foreign Language, and heritage language instruction. This sharing of ideas and insights into language teacher education in such diverse international, national, and disciplinary contexts is truly intended to help all language teacher educators to expand their horizons and improve their practice.

See the Table of Contents.

This handbook provides dual language and immersion educators with rich information and practical resources that address common concerns with children who struggle with language, literacy and learning. It includes: Real Stories—case narratives that recount lived experiences with struggling learners from a range of educational specialists, administrators and teachers; Background information and research summaries that provide important information about the existing knowledge base on this topic; Discussion of issues as they relate to language minority and language majority learners; Guiding principles to inform program policies and practices; Reference materials and useful web resources to assist educators in meeting the needs of a wide variety of language and learning challenges.

Eight papers originally presented at the Fifth International Conference on Language Teacher Education were selected for inclusion in this volume dedicated to the diversity of voices in the field. While each paper speaks to a different teaching context, they all highlight ‘best practices’ in language teacher education. Some of the papers address practices in different contexts and others challenge readers to rethink the knowledge base of language teacher education, to think critically about what this knowledge consists of and why, and to describe classroom and professional tools that will best equip language teachers to help their students achieve their language learning goals.

Created as a companion to Maximizing Study Abroad: A Students’ Guide to Strategies for Language and Culture Learning and Use, this guide provides language teachers and study abroad professionals with a both a solid understanding of language and culture learning theory and concrete ways to use this knowledge to support students in their skill development. This instructional guide is written with the busy professional in mind and features a “tool kit” of more than 100 hands-on activities that are ready for use in pre-departure, in-country, and re-entry initiatives for study abroad programs, as well as in language classroom at home and abroad. With its creative activities, practitioner-friendly theory sections, teacher-tested tools, and professional advice, this user-friendly guide will allow you to quickly and easily integrate or adapt then to meet the unique needs of your classroom or study abroad program.

Aimed at students who want to make the most of their study abroad experience, this flexible and user-friendly guide helps students identify and use a wide variety of language and culture learning strategies. The Guide begins with three inventories designed to help students be more aware of how they currently learn language and culture. The following sections of the guide provide students with tools and creative activities that they can use to enhance their favored learning strategies and try out unfamiliar ones. Students can use this guide as they prepare for study abroad, during their experience, and once they return.

Examine sample activities from the Maximizing Study Abroad Program Students' Guide.

This book provides both principles and practical guidelines for LCTL teachers of all levels and languages to transform raw materials into activities for the language classroom. Grounded in research, the author lays out a series of principles that serve to remind teachers of the possibilities that exist when they consider using authentic materials in the classroom. Each principle in the book is accompanied by numerous practical examples in a wide variety of languages created by the author and by teachers who have participated in a summer institute led by Bill Johnston and Louis Janus at CARLA since 1999.

CARLA Working Paper Series · 193 pp.

Styles- and strategies-based instruction helps students become more aware of their learning style preferences and gives them a set of strategies to maximize their language learning ability. This guide helps teachers to identify the individual needs of their students and incorporate opportunities for students to practice a wide range of strategies for both language learning and language use.

Each chapter in this guide begins with background material on topics related to styles- and strategies-based instruction and provides a bridge from theory to practice by including fun, hands-on activities for teachers to use in their own classrooms. This guide is a complete revision of Strategies-Based Instruction: A Teacher-Training Manual (1997). While it is now more explicitly targeted at the classroom teacher, it also includes important information for professionals engaged in research and teacher development.

This volume of fourteen selected papers presented at the Fourth International Conference on Language Teacher Education showcases work from eight different national contexts in settings as diverse as English as a Foreign Language (EFL), English as a Second Language (ESL), French immersion education, and Spanish and Japanese language instruction. Echoing the theme of the conference, these papers highlight a diverse range of teacher educator voices as they interact with the vision of conceptual frameworks teacher educators have come to share.The ideas and insights presented in these papers help to push forward our understandings and our practice of language teacher education.

CARLA Working Paper Series # 24 · 337 pp

The papers in this volume were selected from presentations originally presented at the Third International Conference on Language Teacher Education held in Minneapolis in May 2003. Rooted in different instructional settings, the selected papers offer a window into many of the issues touched upon at the conference and suggest directions for future discussions in the field of language teacher education. This volume is organized according to three themes of the conference: a) The Knowledge Base of Language Teacher Education; b) Social, Cultural, and Political Contexts of Language Teacher Education; and c) Process of Language Teacher Education.

The introduction to the selected papers written by the editors of the volume is available as a PDF document on the CARLA website at: http://www.carla.umn.edu/resources/LTE_conference_proceedings.pdf

CARLA Working Paper Series Technical Report

The technical report outlined the results of a study aimed to promote the development of more complex academic language and linguistic structures by giving immersion students the opportunity to enhance their inner voice in that language. Since the development of L2 inner voice in elementary immersion students has not been investigated to any extent, this study set out to determine how the enhancement of the students L2 inner voice in the immersion classroom might influence linguistic knowledge and the ability to comprehend and produce language. It was posited that it might be possible to stimulate increased use of the immersion language by students while also enhancing the academic vocabulary and grammatical structure of the language that they use for specific tasks. More specifically, the pedagogical intervention included: (1) modeling by the teacher and the research assistant (RA) in the use of Spanish academic language to solve problems in science and history, and (2) supporting the students in developing their own L2 inner voice in Spanish through modeling and follow up activities.

CARLA Working Paper Series #23

This directory lists colleges and universities in North America that teach less commonly taught languages originating in Africa, the Pacific, and the Americas.

A Minnesota Articulation Project Initiative · Revised Edition · 635 pp.

This handbook is designed to provide world language teachers with the background knowledge, ideas, and resources for implementing proficiency-oriented language instruction and classroom-based performance measures into their curriculum. Rooted in research and theory, the Handbook is packed with practical tools for teachers to help their students meet challenging standards and become more proficient in their second language.

CARLA Working Paper Series #22 · 93 pp.

This Spanish-language science curriculum was developed by immersion language teachers for use in instructional settings at levels K-8. With funding from the U.S. Department of Education's Group Projects Abroad, a group of Spanish immersion teachers, under the direction of Professors Diane Tedick and Constance Walker at the University of Minnesota, traveled to Ecuador in July 1999 to study issues of biodiversity and environmental protection in Spanish. Based on their in-country research, the immersion teachers worked together with the project leaders to create a high quality content-based science curriculum for use in Spanish immersion programs around the country.

CARLA Working Paper Series #21

This directory lists colleges and universities in North America that teach less commonly taught languages originating in Asia.

CARLA Working Paper Series #20 · 53 pp.

This paper reports on a study of the influences of the assessment criteria and the rating process on holistic scores assigned to second language writing portfolio components. Conducted in the context of an English as a Second Language program for adult international students, the findings of the study raise questions as to whether holistic scoring is the most valid scoring procedure in assessing the variety of writing found in portfolios.

CARLA Working Paper Series #19 · 297 pp.

These fifteen selected papers from the First International Language Teacher Education Conference in 1999 focus on three particularly important areas in the field of language teacher education: the knowledge base of language teaching; processes of language teacher education; and sociocultural and political contexts of language teacher education.

>> The Introduction and the Index of LTE Conference Proceedings (papers included in this volume) are available online.

CARLA Working Paper Series #18 · 149 pp.

A study of L1 (English) and L2 (Spanish) use by three 5th graders in an immersion classroom, identifying the contexts in which the L1 and L2 are used.

>> An overview of this research was published in the ACIE Newsletter, June 2000

CARLA Working Paper Series #17 · 67 pp.

This paper explores a range of issues related to successful instruction of literacy-level ESL adults, and describes types of programs as well as factors that affect this population. Includes suggested curricula, handout materials for workshops, student materials and a reading list.

CARLA Working Paper Series #16 · 615 pp.

This directory lists colleges and universities in North America that teach less commonly taught languages originating in Europe.

CARLA Working Paper Series #15 • 201 pp.

This is the second CARLA collection of conference papers on the very important issue of integrating culture into the second language classroom.

>> Culture as the Core Working Papers #11 and #15 have been republished by InfoAge and are no longer available through CARLA.

CARLA Working Paper Series #14 · 91 pp.

This paper examines motivational factors and learning strategies mentioned in a language learner's diary from a ten-week Korean class.

CARLA Working Paper Series #13 · 141 pp.

A practical guide for Russian teachers that features a curricular framework, benchmarks, and sample assessments, all tied to common standards.

CARLA Working Paper Series #12 · 134 pp.

A practical guide for Japanese teachers that features a curricular framework, benchmarks, and sample assessments, all tied to common standards.

CARLA Working Paper Series #11 · 165 pp.

This CARLA working paper is focused on the important issue of integrating cuture into the second language classroom. Seven of the papers were originally presented at a symposium held in 1991, which examined culture and language issues from an interdisciplinary perspective. The final chapter is a reflection on the 1991 symposium and the follow-up conference held by CARLA in 1994.

>> Culture as the Core Working Papers #11 and #15 have been republished by InfoAge and are no longer available through CARLA.

CARLA Working Paper Series #10 · 134 pp.

These selected conference proceedings highlight the presentations and discussions held at the conference on immersion education held at the University of Minnesota in October 1995. The papers report on the challenges related to policy and planning and pedagogical and assessment issues.

CARLA Working Paper Series #9 · 63 pp.

This report summarizes the plenary talks and group discussions at the LCTL summit meeting. Summit sessions covered: promoting and protecting the LCTLs; pedagogy and materials; and governance and technology.

CARLA Working Paper Series #8

This teacher-training video illustrates how strategies-based instruction has been applied at the University of Minnesota. The videotape contains seven different examples of strategies-based activities, taught by four university-level language instructors. It was originally created as a companion piece to the Strategies-Based Instruction: A Teacher-Training Manual (1997) which was revised and retitled Styles-and Strategies-Based Instruction: A Teachers' Guide (2006).

The video is now available free of charge on the CARLA website: http://www.carla.umn.edu/strategies/video/strategies.html

Technical Requirements: your browser needs a Flash plugin to view these videos. If you do not have the appropriate plugin, you will be notified and given a link for where to download it.

CARLA Working Paper Series #7 · 220 pp.

Note: This publication has been replaced by the Styles-and Strategies-Based Instruction: A Teachers' Guide listed above.

CARLA Working Paper Series #6 · 23 pp.

This paper examines the conflict between theoretical frameworks prescribed by academics and the real world issues faced by researchers conducting studies in the classroom.

CARLA Working Paper Series #5 · 26 pp.

This document provides preliminary item analysis findings based on data collected on entrance and graduation language proficiency tests combining the results based on an item response theory model with classical test theory analyses.

CARLA Working Paper Series #4 · 50 pp.

This research report outlines the methodology and results of a study done at the University of Minnesota on the benefits of providing second language learners with formal training in the application of strategies across skills, with an emphasis on speaking.

CARLA Working Paper Series #3 · 27 pp.

This paper considers five problematic issues that have arisen in dealing with language learning strategy terminology: the distinction between the term strategy and other terms, the issue of whether learning strategies need to be conscious in order to be referred to as strategies, criteria for classifying language learning and use strategies, a broadening of the concept of strategic competence, and the linking of learning strategies.

CARLA Working Paper Series #2 · 152 pp.

Reformulation is a second language writing technique in which a non-native's work is rewritten by a native in order to look more native-like. This diary study of a lower-intermediate learner of German shows how the technique can be used as an effective learning strategy by second-language learners.

CARLA Working Paper Series #1 · 60 pp.

This paper considers the issues in developing a principled, theory-based, computer adaptive test (CAT) of second language (L2) reading proficiency. The paper reviews a variety of models and scales and discusses an operational framework for text selection and item development.