BU Romance Studies at ACTFL
Romance Studies language programs were well represented at the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) Annual Convention and World Languages Expo, November 18-20. Fourteen Lecturers and graduate students shared their expertise on a wide variety of topics.
Célia Bianconi co-presented “Conversa Fiada”, “chitchat in Portuguese, which arose from the “need to provide uninterrupted learners talk-time in remote world language classes.” The project was motivated by the need for learners to use “their own unrehearsed content and repertoire in a closer-to-realistic cultural context,” without instructor intervention. Célia also presented at the Portuguese Special Interest Group Business Meeting.
Maria Bobroff explored “alternative types of class participation and assessment”: how instructors can “encourage all learners, even the most introverted ones, to participate” and how they can “assess participation equitably, without favoring natural extroverts.”
Alison Carberry, Sue Griffin, and Kate Lakin-Schultz gave a Virtual On Demand session titled “Designing Your Best Program: Build on Strengths, Find Solutions Together.” She writes, “To build the best language program possible, collaboration across courses and ranks is fundamental. Leadership entails not just individual vision but also buy-in from one’s team.” Her presentation addressed programmatic curricular development, program assessment and creative approaches to professional development.
Elena Carrión-Guerrero presented a Virtual On Demand session on “Audiovisual Translation and Accessibility in the Spanish Classroom”, in order to “empower educators to bring the novelty of the entertainment world to the classroom in the form of closed captioning and audio description.” Elena teamed with BU PhD Christopher Eldrett for another virtual session, “Black Poetry: Art and Social Engagement in the Spanish Classroom,” featuring Black poetry in Spain, Latin America and the Caribbean as a way to address issues of race and social justice.”
Kirby Chazalshared how “a project-based approach can be used in a language teaching methods course to guide novice language teachers in the development of Integrated Performance Assessments (IPA), as well in the enhancement of curriculum and assessment through the integration of digital technologies.” Kirby also co-presented in a session on Promoting Student Autonomy and Learning with Self-Assessment.
María Datel spoke on “integrating indigenous perspectives into the Spanish curriculum,’ explaining that the knowledge production of indigenous peoples in Latin America can present “alternatives to addressing contemporary issues.” You can see her PowerPoint here. María also gave an ACTFL “Bookmark Session” on “Representing Disability in the Language Curriculum,” exploring “how educators can represent disability as a part of human diversity” in the language classroom, and make second-language learning accessible for all.
Liliane Duséwoir and Verónica Rodríguez Ballesteros teamed up for a session called “Intrinsic Motivation, Growth Mindset and the Joy of Learning: Game On!”: “Through hands-on activities, such as immersive role-play, gameful learning design examples and play-based techniques,” the audience experienced “the powerful shift to 100% engagement, challenge and risk.”
Molly Monet-Viera offered a workshop exploring “upgrading as a means to avoid unconscious cultural and economic biases and foster a relationship of trust, respect and empathy between educators and students.”
In “Spanish for School Leaders: Strengthening the Family-School Connection,” Borja Ruiz de Arbulo and co-presenter Julie Caldarone of Boston Public Schools described an innovative language program that enables school leaders to communicate better with Spanish-speaking families. Their presentation showcased “key components of a transformative adult learning experience” offering the audience “tools to advocate for more inclusive schools.”
Graduate students Evgenia Prikhodko and Rosana Hernández Nieto spoke, in another Virtual On Demand session, on “Improving Presentational Writing Skills Through Visual Tasks.” Their session involved “two activities aimed at improving writing skills through highly visual tasks: Instagram posts and concept maps,” activities which “help students wrap up information and insights about a variety of content.”
And last but not least, Dennis Looney, Gisela Hoecherl-Alden’s former colleague at the University of Pittsburgh, received the Wilga Rivers Award. Dennis, a Professor of Italian, became interested in that subject while taking Italian courses—including Dennis Costa’s—at Boston University.