Archived Content from Conference Held in May 2015

Changes and Challenges in Language Teacher Education

Ninth International Conference on Language Teacher Education

May 14–16, 2015
The Commons Hotel
Minneapolis, MN

Deadline extended for conference proceedings submissions--new due date is August 10, 2015.

A NOTE ON SELECTED CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

We are planning to publish a selection of papers from this conference as a juried proceedings. We encourage presenters to submit their papers presented at the conference for possible inclusion in this volume.

If you would like your paper to be considered for inclusion in this publication, please send a complete manuscript of the paper by August 3, 2015 to the address given below. The paper should be no longer than 25 pages double-spaced, and should conform to standard APA format.

Since the papers will be blind reviewed, please do not indicate the author’s name in the manuscript, but include a cover sheet with the title of the manuscript, name of author(s), institutional affiliation, address, office and home telephone numbers, fax number, and e-mail address as a separate document. The manuscript and cover sheet should be submitted as Microsoft Word documents via email.

Manuscripts should be sent to Elaine Tarone (etarone@umn.edu) and Kendall King (Kendall@umn.edu).

Featured Plenary Speakers

Stories of Linguistic and Cultural Resilience:
What Heritage Language and ESL Teachers Need to Know
Maria Carreira, Professor, California State University, Long Beach

Living Critical Sociocultural Theory in Classroom Practice
Annela Teemant, Associate Professor, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

Sharing the Destination:
The Role of Assessment in Student and Teacher Development
Fernando Rubio, Associate Professor, University of Utah

Mediating the Learning of Teachers of Languages:
Towards an Interpretive, Reflective Orientation
Angela Scarino, Associate Professor, University of South Australia

This unique biennial conference focuses on the needs of those who prepare and provide professional development for language teachers. Its broad mission addresses the education of teachers of all languages, at all instructional and institutional levels, and in all the many national and international contexts in which this takes place, including: English as a Second or Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) instruction; foreign/modern/world language teaching; bilingual education; immersion education; indigenous and minority language education; heritage language education; and the teaching of less commonly taught languages. The conference brings together teacher educators from these many contexts to discuss and share research, theory, and best practices and to initiate and sustain meaningful professional dialogue across languages, levels, and settings. The conference will focus on the following four broad themes:

Theme I: The Knowledge Base of Language Teacher Education

A central issue in language teacher education is the question of what constitutes the knowledge base of language teaching and how it relates to the processes and content of teacher education. This theme will include research and perspectives on: teachers’ knowledge and beliefs; teacher learning informal and informal contexts; teachers’ ways of knowing; teacher socialization; professional development; and the nature of disciplinary knowledge.

Theme II: Social, Cultural, and Political Contexts of Language Teacher Education

Language Teacher Education takes place in multiple contexts and with diverse populations, where language, culture and identity are intricately bound together. These contexts are often impacted by actions taken by formal and informal decision-making bodies, which may or may not involve the participation of teacher educators. This theme will include critical and analytical perspectives on: institutions, communities, and discourses within which teacher education practices are situated; language education policy and planning; power, status, and authority in language teacher education; diversity and equity in language teacher education, including issues of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and language; the socially situated nature of language and learning; and issues related to policy, such as standards, legislative mandates, recruitment and retention, and advocacy by language teacher organizations.

Theme III: Collaborations in Language Teacher Education

A key element in teacher development is effective collaboration between those individuals and institutions preparing teachers and their professional counterparts currently engaged in language teaching and learning. This theme will examine: ways in which teacher education recognizes the shared development of professionals; models or structures of collaboration that stress ongoing teacher development including mentoring and professional development schools; examples of and/or research on collaboration in which teacher development and research inform each other; and research, projects, or practices that recognize teacher expertise and the teacher voice as pivotal in addressing issues of language teaching and learning.

Theme IV: Practices of Language Teacher Education

The practices of language teacher education refer to the ways in which the knowledge base is conceptualized and operationalized in teacher preparation and professional development. This theme will examine: program design; curriculum models; pedagogy; teacher assessment; organization of instruction; field experiences; observation/supervision; self-study of practice; and action research.

More Information

Get on the Language Teacher Education Conference mailing list
Questions? Email: carla@umn.edu

Download Ppts and Handouts from the Presentations
Look for the links on the workshops and schedule pages.

Pictures and Quotes from previous LTE conferences

Conference Sponsors

The conference is sponsored by the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) at the University of Minnesota with partial funding from the U.S. Department of Education’s Title VI Language Resource Center program. The conference is organized in partnership with the National Heritage Language Resource Center at UCLA. The conference has also received generous support from the following University of Minnesota partners:

College of Education and Human Development

College of Liberal Arts (Office of the Dean and Office for Undergraduate Education)

Department of Curriculum and Instruction

Department of German, Scandinavian and Dutch

Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies

Global Programs and Strategy Alliance

Immigration History Research Center

Second Languages and Cultures Education Program

Conference Planning Committee

Kendall King, University of Minnesota (co-chair)
Elaine Tarone, Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (co-chair)
Maria Carreira, National Heritage Language Resource Center
Margaret Malone, Center for Applied Linguistics
Mandy Menke, University of Minnesota
Betsy Parrish, Hamline University
Dan Soneson, University of Minnesota

Conference Administrative Team

LeeAnne Godfrey, Graduate Assistant
Marlene Johnshoy, Technology Coordinator
Liz Hellebuyck, Program Associate
Karin Larson, CARLA Coordinator