Undergraduate Language Programs Research Articles

Neither Portugal nor Brazil: An Investigation of the Decolonial Efforts in Instructional Materials Adopted in Early Portuguese Courses at US Universities

Abstract: This study investigates the efforts towards promoting the decolonial teaching of Portuguese as a foreign language in instructional materials adopted in early Portuguese courses at higher education institutions in the United States. A framework for qualitative analysis of course materials, textbooks, and syllabi was designed based on Zavala's (2016) model for decolonial education and Rodríguez's (2015) studies on deep and surface culture. Eleven Portuguese undergraduate language programs in the United States submitted materials for consideration. Seven of these programs use the same textbook, which splits its linguistic and cultural instruction between Brazil and Portugal, and often presents limited views of other Portuguese-speaking countries. Two programs replace Portugal for Brazil as the core linguistic and cultural content of their course, which may suggest a shift away from colonialism, but towards economic power. The remaining materials adopted by two programs, however, promote the pluricentricity of Portuguese and delve into issues beyond surface-level celebrations of culture or the dissemination of factual information about minority Portuguesespeaking countries. Their materials expose the power imbalances between all Portuguese-speaking countries and give learners the opportunity to hear from the subalterns. Findings show a shortage of Portuguese-oriented materials as well as resources for decolonial language teaching. To help address this shortage, intervention ideas for educators planning to promote decolonial thinking in the Portuguese classroom are proposed.

Envisioning a Future of Re-examination of Foreign Language Teacher Education

Envisioning a Future of Re-examination of Foreign Language Teacher Education Comfort Pratt Keywords foreign languages/lenguas extranjeras, language proficiency/proficiencia de lengua, Portuguese/portugués, Spanish/español, teacher education/formación docente Response to "The Future of K–12 Teacher Education: Spanish and Portuguese" The precarious situation facing the foreign language community in the United States presages a future of re-examination of foreign language teacher education. However pervasive the shortage of foreign language teachers may be as evidenced by Swanson (2012, 2013), of equal concern are the target language proficiency levels and pedagogical skills of the teachers, as well as their knowledge about their students' motivations for studying the languages (Brooks and Darhower 2014; Pratt, Agnello, and Santos 2009; Rhodes and Pufahl 2008; Richards, Conway, Rosvist, and Harvey 2013), but I will limit my response to language proficiency. The Standards for the Preparation of Foreign Language Teachers proposed by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (ACTFL/CAEP) require preservice teachers of Portuguese and Spanish to have a minimum proficiency level of Advanced Low (ACTFL/CAEP 2013). This is also the widely accepted minimum requirement for certification. However, the literature indicates that students coming out of US foreign language undergraduate programs hardly ever achieve that level (Darhower 2014; Glisan 2013; Tedick 2013), and only 54% of teacher candidates attain Advanced Low oral proficiency (Glisan, Swender, and Surface 2013). Rhodes and Pufahl (2008) also report that more than one quarter of elementary school foreign language teachers are not certified, and the percentage of elementary schools that had uncertified language teachers increased from 17% in 1997 to 31% in 2008. VanPatten (2015) cautions about the dearth of experts in language acquisition and notes that the combined expertise (linguistics, language acquisition, language teaching) of tenure-line faculty members at PhD granting institutions in Spanish is about 20% and only 6% of them has expertise in second-language acquisition. That, to him, indicates a major lacuna in "language departments," and he questions: "Who is driving the bus of language development?" (2). He expresses the concern that since very few language experts are exiting doctoral programs, most of the people who will be at the helm of language departments and programs will not be language experts. He explains that "language acquisition is the place where the rubber meets the road" as language acquisitionists are the ones who have the best chance of informing language teaching(5). He adds that without a strong presence of language experts, there is a predominance of old myths such as the belief that language is a list of rules, which in my view explains the continued pervasive use of grammar-based curricula despite the abundant literature on the indispensability of communicative approaches for communicative competence. Therefore, school districts will increase the hiring of Spanish and Portuguese native speakers from other countries until there is a consistent flow of homegrown teachers who meet the [End Page 268] required language proficiency standards. The "Visiting Teachers from Spain in the USA and Canada" program of the Ministry of Education of Spain for example continues to gain popularity in school districts. Comfort Pratt Texas Tech University WORKS CITED ACTFL/CAEP. (2013). "ACTFL Program Standards for the Preparation of Foreign Language Teachers." Web. 2 June 2016. PDF. Google Scholar Brooks, Frank B., and Mark Anthony Darhower. (2014). "It Takes a Department! A Study of the Culture of Proficiency in Three Successful Foreign Language Teacher Education Programs." Hispania 47.4: 592–613. Print. Google Scholar Darhower, Mark Anthony. (2014). "Literary Discussions and Advanced-Superior Speaking Functions in the Undergraduate Language Program." Hispania 97.3: 396–412. Print. Google Scholar Glisan, Eileen. (2013). "On Keeping the Target Language in Language Teaching: A Bottom-Up Effort to Protect the Public and Students." Modern Language Journal 97: 541–44. Print. Google Scholar Glisan, Eileen, Elvira Swender, and Eric Surface. (2013). "Oral Proficiency Standards and Foreign Language Teacher Candidates: Current Findings and Future Research Directions." Foreign Language Annals 46: 264–89. Print. Google Scholar Pratt, Comfort, Mary Frances Agnello, and Sheryl Santos. (2009). "Factors That Motivate High-School Students' Decisions to Study Spanish." Hispania 92.4: 800–13...

Supporting the Professional Development of Foreign Language Graduate Students: A Focus on Course Development and Program Direction

AbstractThe 2007 Modern Language Association report spurred research regarding the professional development of foreign language graduate students. This article first reviews existing proposals for the professional development of graduate students, then addresses the relevance of helping graduate students to develop the knowledge and skills that are needed to direct undergraduate language programs, describes a course on this topic, and reports the results of end‐of‐semester course evaluations completed by students.

O ensino de literatura em língua inglesa no curso de Letras: uma abordagem dialógico-pragmática

RESUMOEste artigo objetiva participar das discussões sobre o ensino de literatura em língua inglesa (LLI) no cotidiano da sala de aula do Curso de Letras. Para tal, discute os desafios propostos pelas DCN de Letras, bem como a realidade do professor que trabalha com um número pequeno de horas de LLI na matriz curricular e um número alto de alunos com conhecimento limitado dessa língua estrangeira. A partir da concepção dialógica de linguagem e da possibilidade de cooperação entre áreas de conhecimento, apresentamos uma proposta de trabalho entre a ADD e a Pragmática, mostrando as consonâncias e as dissonâncias entre as duas áreas. Além disso, apresentamos parte da análise do conto Her Sweet Jerome, de Alice Walker, feita por alunos que apontaram para a possibilidade de a Pragmática, nesse contexto de trabalho de LLI com alunos com conhecimento limitado dessa língua estrangeira, ser um passo inicial para uma análise dialógica dos textos literários.

Реферативный обзор диссертации Джеффри Джеральда Меринг «Бакалавры, обучающиеся по программе EFL в Японии: пилотное исследование их внутреннего состояния посредством образовательной технологии «перевернутого обучения»

It is commonly believed that the pedagogical model of an inverted learning facilitates learning in students with somatic disorders (for example, hearing and visually impaired), who have sensory difficulties in course of a traditional lecture learning. Practice shows that this model also proved useful in teaching philological disciplines, in training of translators, managers, and psychologists in multicultural schools. As an example, the article describes the framework of the undergraduate language program "English as a Foreign Language» in the population of Japanese students as bearers of historically isolated ethnic group of languages. The article presents a psycho-pedagogical situation in which the language is initially culturally alien to trainees, but the processes of globalization urgently require language skills and communicative abilities. Readers may be interested in the description of the dynamics of the internal conditions of the students in the process of such training, the formation of conscious positive relation to contemporary educational technologies

Literary Discussions and Advanced-Superior Speaking Functions in the Undergraduate Language Program

During the last decade, researchers of foreign language pedagogy have become increasingly interested in the “language-literature divide” (Donato and Brooks 2004). The purpose of the current study is to contribute to this growing body of research by investigating the extent to which whole class discussions in three third-year undergraduate Spanish literature/culture courses provided opportunities for learners to engage in the communicative functions corresponding to the advanced and superior levels of the “ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines—Speaking.” The analysis included teacher questions, quantity of learner versus teacher speech, and distribution of teacher and learner verb forms. The results showed that, although there were some opportunities for learners to converse at the advanced and superior levels, the majority of learner discourse occurred below the advanced level. Recommendations for further research and pedagogy are provided.

Argumentación en la formación del profesorado

Este artículo es la continuación de otro en el que se enfatizaba la importancia del análisis del discurso, el plan argumentativo, la coherencia, la cohesión y el uso de los códigos elaborados en el desarrollo de las competencias comunicativa y argumentativa. En esta ocasión el centro de la discusión está en las competencias que necesitan los profesores en ejercicio y en formación para tomar decisiones responsables y documentadas frente a los temas y enfoques que seleccionan para sus clases. Se sugiere fortalecer el componente crítico y argumentativo en los programas de licenciatura en lenguas extranjeras mediante el uso de técnicas argumentativas que busquen las habilidades de convicción y principalmente de persuasión de la población involucrada.

Multitasking, Multilevel, Multimedia Software for Intermediate‐Level French Language Instruction: Ça continue…

ABSTRACT Researchers and practitioners in the field alike cite the importance of in put from native speech in the language acquisition process. Whether one believes in a theoretical perspective emphasizing the value of input (Krashen 1981; 1982) or the dynamic interaction relation between input and output (Bialystok, 1978), there is little doubt that providing students with sufficiently interesting input material (readings, videos, etc.) in the target language can, if used properly, enhance student interest and subsequent language learning. An example of a multimedia program developed at Penn State using a videodisk selection (Teledouzaine, Francis Cabrel's “Encore et Encore,” PICS 1985) illustrates the use of authentic materials with potential for adaptations for various levels, tasks, and media. This particular software project fits in well with the newly designed technology classrooms and the French curriculum of a large IBM‐funded multimedia undergraduate language program at Penn State, the Language 3 Initiative and can be used as a model for similar developments in the other languages involved in the Initiative and elsewhere.

The Purdue Language Program

The Forgotten Man in the Purdue undergraduate language program was, as in most such programs, the non-major. Required to “pass off” four semesters of a foreign language, he endured (and we endured him) for two years of grammar and translation, usually interlinear, of the classics. Meanwhile our attention was primarily devoted to the dwindling minority of majors and minors. But the forgotten man did not forget us. Every June, as seniors became graduates, there was an increase in the ranks of the more or less influential citizens who remembered without enthusiasm their deadening experience with a presumably living language. It seems likely that a considerable portion of American isolationism and apathy to the national need for foreign languages can be traced to this experience on the part of our former students.