Fall 2024 Professional Development Series

September 12

Translanguaging, multilingualism, plurilingualism: Placing individuals and their languages at the center of language acquisition

Date and Time: Thursday, September 12th at noon

Location: THH 309H

Who are the students populating language classrooms today and why are they studying languages? Who are we as language instructors and what should we be teaching them? The answers to these questions are very different from the answers we might have given only twenty years ago. Answering these questions today means reflecting on the why, how, where, who and what of language pedagogy and communication in the twenty-first century.  By focusing on the pedagogies of translanguaging, multilingualism and plurilingualism, my talk will outline why now, more than ever, we need to understand the individual we are serving in language classroom settings.

Presenter: 

Clorinda Donato

Clorinda Donato is professor of French and Italian at California State University, Long Beach, where she also directs the Clorinda Donato Center for Global Romance Languages and Translation Studies. She is an eighteenth-century scholar of French and Italian literature with a research specialization in Intercomprehension and multilingual teaching as well.  In the field of applied linguistics she has published several articles and the textbook Juntos: Italian for Speakers of English and Spanish with co-authors Oliva, Zappador-Guerra, and Romero, (Hackett Publishing 2020).  French-language Juntos is currently being beta tested. She was the Principal Investigator for the NEH-funded project “French and Italian for Spanish Speakers” 2011-2014.  Her volume, The Life and Legend of Catterina Vizzani, which deals with translation and transgender in the eighteenth century, won the AATI Inaugural Book Prize in its category in 2021.

October 18

Dornsife Language Faculty Spotlight: Celebrating Our Year of Achievements

Date and Time: Friday, October 18th at 11:00am

Location: online

Presenters: Seojin park, Atiyeh Showrai, Julia Chamberlain, Mina Soroosh, Suzanne Wali

Meeting ID: https://usc.zoom.us/j/93513705976

Description:

This event is for Dornsife language faculty who have presented at a national or international conference and/or have received grants in the last academic year will share their experience with us.

November 1st

Dornsife Language Faculty Spotlight: Presentation by the recipients of the Language Teaching Innovation Grants

Time: November 1st at 11:00 am

Meeting ID: https://usc.zoom.us/j/91465373578

Professor Eunju Na and Professor Xiang Jian have received the Language Teaching Innovation grants in the 2023- 2024 academic year. This grant allows Dornsife language faculty to explore innovative methods, strategies, and tools in the field of language teaching to provide students with a wider array of learning opportunities, resources, and tools. Professor Na and Professor Jian will present their innovation, findings and recommendations.

November 15

Translanguaging Pedagogies in the World Language Classroom

Date and Time: Friday, November 15, 12pm

Meeting ID: https://usc.zoom.us/j/97933017990

Translanguaging and translanguaging pedagogies are increasingly common phrases in discussions of educational settings and language teaching. As a result, many language teachers have questions like “what is translanguaging exactly?” and “what do translanguaging pedagogies look like in practice? This presentation provides answers to these questions in the context of the world language classroom. First, I give a theoretical overview of translanguaging as an ideological shift away from monolingual language ideologies. Second, I provide examples of translanguaging pedagogies in the world language classroom, drawing from my own experience as an Arabic teacher. Finally, I demonstrate how adopting translanguaging pedagogies in the world language classroom includes both reframing existing activities and creating transformative opportunities.

Presenter: 

Emma Trentman is an Associate Professor of Arabic at the University of New Mexico and Director of the Language Learning Center. She is an applied linguist whose research examines language learning during study abroad, virtual exchange, and in the language classroom, with a focus on language ideologies and multilingual approaches. She is co-editor of Language Learning in Study Abroad: The Multilingual Turn (Multilingual Matters, 2021), and her research has appeared in various journals and edited collections including The Modern Language Journal, Foreign Language Annals, The L2 Journal, Study Abroad Research, and System.  She directs the Arabic program at the University of New Mexico and is co-editor of the Critical Multilingualism Studies Journal.

CLC Professional Development Certificate

The Center for Languages and Cultures (CLC) offers Professional Development Certificates to Dornsife RTPC language faculty and assistant lecturers who attend or watch four of the professional development events organized by the center in the academic year 2024-2025. To receive CLC’s professional development certificate please fill out this form by April 27, 2025.