ACTFL 2022 Reflections: Friday

This was my third ACTFL, and I’m noticing that it always feels the same: whirlwind, like I didn’t do enough, FOMO even while being there.

But I have definitely felt refreshed today while teaching, and looking at the list of sessions I attended, I got lots of the inspiration that I needed to continue through the doldrums of the winter. Here are the sessions I attended on Friday (too many thoughts for one post!), as well as my main reflections from being in those sessions. Where possible, I have linked social media accounts/websites/presentations from each presenter so you can also go check them out!

This Can Be Done: Materials for a Task-Based Curriculum (Dr. Claudia Fernández)

Tasks always seemed to be BVP’s pedagogical goal, but I have never felt comfortable claiming I knew exactly how to implement and evaluate them. Dr. Fernández’ presentation helped me feel more secure in what they are and how to build up to them.

In a Task-based curriculum, we are aiming to create conditions for language use in class. This means that we are setting students up to communicate: having goals with non-linguistic purposes: psychosocial, cognitive-informational, entertainment. Or, in plainer English, exchanging information to build relationships with others, learning something or sharing our own learning, or just being creative and having fun. Dr. Fernández said she doesn’t go to the ACTFL conference to practice her English as an L2 learner; she goes to give information to others about her professional experience. She has her communicative purpose!

This reminded me of one of the main through lines I found while reading Common Ground: always asking, “What are we going to do with this information?” Often, adding good Bloom’s Taxonomy-style verbs to our Task goals (rank, decide, design, convince, etc.) help add that purpose and make the Tasks more…Task-y. This helps the heavily input-based “pedagogical tasks” (as Dr. Fernández calls them) still maintain their communicative nature while building towards the final “target task.” I often think that it goes “input input input input TASK,” where the “input” is just trying to “expose” students to the necessary language via comprehensible input in whatever medium, but they need to be doing those actions listed above to keep it all communicative. What do students DO with any input?

I’m still mulling this over (and trying to be clearer with myself about the communicative goals of any given lesson), but this helped me synthesize some understanding of how to move towards a Task-based curriculum.

Incorporating BIPOC Practices and Products in the ML Classroom (Ben Tinsley)

[I am a huge Tinz fan (and work with him on LLLAB) so I’ll try not to gush too hard.] I ended up coming late to Ben’s presentation because I walked out of another one (woops), AND YET I still had my brain going wooooosh with the great ideas he was sharing.

One thing that really clicked for me during this presentation is the true power of context. Providing comprehended input is not just doing the fundamental CI skills (writing on the board, slowing down, using cognates, etc.). It is also building the context for the language and information to make sense in, and for the learning to find its seat in. This can be a story, a photo, a calendar, whatever.

Ben uses Map Talks to teach his students about the geography and cultures of countries with which his students might be less familiar, providing the context for learning about the products, practices, and perspectives of Black and brown French speakers across the world. My brain blast came when I realized that Map Talks can contextualize LITERALLY EVERYTHING.

A map is something students at the high school level know well enough as a schema, and it is easier to map any new language onto something that is very familiar to them. When we start discussing the 3 Ps after giving context with a Map Talk, students have a greater understanding of where even in the world we’re talking about, as well as what human geographical influences may have shaped those 3 Ps. Holy cow.

No joke, I planned Map Talks for 3 levels of German during this session that 100% made sense with everything I am presently teaching, and will provide such rich context to the cultural information and new language we are learning. Level 1 is going to talk about the hobbies of German youth based on a series of video interviews? Map Talk shows them where those kids live and how their area may have shaped their interests. Level 2 is talking about houses and dwellings in Germany and Switzerland? Boom Map Talk, the materials for those houses have to come from somewhere, and the climate will influence how the house has to be shaped. Level 3 learning about the education system of Germany? Boom Map Talk they get to see the 16 Bundesländer that each set their own education policies, and situate Germany’s notable universities in their geographic contexts. Boom goes the Map Talk! (Oops, I gushed, as I foresaw…)

This presentation also reminded me that even though there are no majority-Black German-speaking nations, there are still communities of Black German speakers across the world. My education, very much in white spaces, did not teach me about those communities, so I will have to do some searching for myself. (This had an influence on the sessions I ended up picking for Saturday!) If I don’t, there is a non-zero risk that my Black and brown students will hardly see themselves in my curriculum, and I don’t create the conditions for them to become joyful German users.

Alle für alle: Supporting LGBT+ Students in the Language Classroom (Alysha Holmquist Posner, Mariah Ligas, and me!)

I was lucky to present with my WA German teacher bestie and our awesome East Coast colleague Mariah (met her for the first time about an hour before the presentation!) on a topic that is incredibly important to me. Click the link above for access to our slideshow, with resources in Spanish, French, German, and more!

One thing that came out of this was a conversation I had with a teacher after our presentation was over. She was worried about teaching her nonbinary student a “wrong” pronoun or one that “people don’t use or understand.” It is tough for us language teachers in the US to find access points to discourse about gender and language from here – nothing beats actually being in community with other LGBTQ+ people to see how they talk about their lives. From afar, we have to do our very best to piece together what we can through lots of online research.

Whenever I do teach “xier” as a nonbinary pronoun in German, for example, I make sure to let students know that some German speakers may not recognize it, either because of not having heard of it yet or because they deny the existence of nonbinary people. (And then they might have linguistic qualms with it!) I also explain that there may be more NB pronouns that are less common, but still used. (Neopronouns abound!) I think ultimately, a nonbinary learner asking for information about this is seeking mostly to know that their nonbinary identity will be validated 1) in the language used in class and 2) by their instructor. It will take learners time to find the intuitively “right” pronoun in the L2 as they increase their exposure to the language. We can be their language guide and show them one nonbinary pronoun, validating them in our language and inclusion of their identities in the class. If we commit to this, and to continuing to learn, I think we’ll be alright.

Phew!

That was just Friday! I ended my evening with a great dinner with a colleague, and then some chats in the Omni lobby with so many teachers that I respect and admire. Not a bad deal for Day 1. I have two more posts with reflections from Saturday and Sunday, as well, if this has served you in any way. Happy reading and stay reflective!