Speaking Of Language

We dive into Cornell’s Translator-Interpreter Program, a student-run organization that offers its services to the surrounding community. Student executive board members Dana Slayton, Pearl Ngai, and Ruby Li join us to discuss what TIP has to offer. To learn more about TIP, visit https://cornell.campusgroups.com/tip/home/

Since ASL is a visual form of communication, we present this episode as a video, rather than the usual audio-only format. You can view the video here: https://youtu.be/cIcmaj7kkpk A transcription of this conversation, adapted from the real-time translation occurring in the studio, is available at https://tinyurl.com/brendaschertz. A second version of the conversation, with a new translation, is forthcoming. For the final episode of the fourth season of the Speaking of Language podcast, Sam and Angelika speak with Brenda Schertz, the senior lecturer in American Sign Language and coordinator of the ASL Program here at Cornell. Brenda holds a BFA from the Art Institute of Boston, and a Masters in Sign Language Education from Gallaudet University. Brenda and interpreter Mareike Larsen discuss interpreter training, art, film, and all things American Sign Language. 

In honor of Thanksgiving, Sam and Angelika ask students, faculty, and staff around the LRC what they're thankful for. We'll be back next week with our special final episode of the semester!

Amanda Brown lets us in on the sometimes surprising results of her research into immersive and non-immersive language teaching. Dr. Brown is Associate Professor of Linguistics at Syracuse University. She was on campus as part of our monthly LRC Speaker Series, and gave a talk titled “Immersive versus Non-Immersive Language Teaching: Experimental Studies in English, French, and Arabic Classrooms.”

We’re taking a breather this week and are re-broadcasting one of our favorite older episodes, our December 2018 season finale featuring Cornell’s Uttiyo Raychaudhuri. Since this conversation took place, Dr. Raychaudhuri has moved from his position as the first Executive Director for the Office of Global Learning at Cornell to serve as a strategy consultant to the Office of the Vice Provost for International Affairs. Whether you’re listening for the first time, or revisiting the conversation, we hope you enjoy and appreciate Dr. Raychaudhuri’s vision for international engagement and global citizenship.

Sam and Angelika are joined by Cornell's Abby Cohn and Katie Blake to recap the premier Cornell World Languages Day. The pilot event brought high school students from the community to Cornell's campus to celebrate world languages and cultures. The four discuss the impact it had on participating students and Cornell participants. Learn more about Cornell World Languages Day at http://wld.lrc.cornell.edu/

In this episode, two Cornell colleagues join us to discuss their experiences teaching language to incarcerated students. Makda Weatherspoon is a Senior Lecturer of Arabic, and Tess Wheelwright is the Academic Director of the Cornell Prison Education Program (CPEP). Learn more about CPEP at https://cpep.cornell.edu/

Leah Sweet, the Lynch Curatorial Coordinator for Academic Programs at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art on Cornell’s campus, discusses how museums can be integrated into language teaching. She also touches on the current Johnson exhibition of contemporary art about the movement of people across the globe.

Margaret Malone is the Director of the Assessment and Evaluation Language Resource Center at Georgetown University, a Research Professor at Georgetown, and she is also the Director of ACTFL’s Center for Assessment, Research and Development. She was on campus as part of our monthly LRC Speaker Series and gave a talk titled “What do students and instructors need to understand about language assessment and what do language assessment developers and researchers need to know about students and instructors?” We continue to discuss strategies for overcoming the potential disconnect between test users and test developers in language assessment in this episode. A video of Margaret's talk is available at lrc.cornell.edu/speaker-series and on the LRC's YouTube channel.

Allyssa Ford, a student at Cornell’s S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management, discusses her experience as a linguist for the United States Navy, and her time in their intensive language school as well as working with civilian language analysts in the NSA.

Cornell undergraduate Nisa Burns shares her experiences learning multiple Southeast Asian languages and how study abroad has influenced her future aspirations for language revitalization.

How does a state government affect language education on a national or global level? Candace Black joins us from the New York State Education Department’s Office of Bilingual Education and World Languages to share her experience. More information about her office and the revisions to the New York State Standards for World Languages can be found at http://nysed.gov/world-languages/. Candace can be reached at candace.black@nysed.gov or 518-473-7505. Learn more about New York's language teachers' association NYSAFLT at https://nysaflt.org.

Edvan Brito joins us to discuss what the Brazilian settlements called favelas can teach us about how language, race, and geography intersect. Dr. Brito is Assistant Professor and Director of the Portuguese Program at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. He was on Cornell's campus as part of the monthly LRC Speaker Series, and gave a talk titled “Using Social and Cultural Issues to Promote Language Learning and Cultural Awareness: Language Variation, Race, and Migration.” Watch Dr. Brito's talk here.

This week, we take a trip to the movies as we investigate how two Cornell PhD students created an alien language for the blockbuster film Captain Marvel. LRC Media Manager Sam Lupowitz speaks with Joseph Rhyne and Ryan Hearn, two PhD candidates in Linguistics at Cornell. Joseph and Ryan created the “ConLang,” or “Constructed Language,” of the planet Torfa for this entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which stars Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson.

Speaking of Language returns for a new academic year! Cornell LRC Director Angelika Kraemer fills us in on lessons learned during summer travels to conferences, both domestic and international. Media Development Manager Sam Lupowitz remembers by the end that he went on his honeymoon. Call for chapter submissions to the 2021 Language Center Handbook.

Cornell undergraduates Hezekiah Thompson and Justin Kang talk about what they have gained from their language learning experiences, and their advice for incoming freshmen, or any prospective language student. With this episode, our third season of Speaking of Language comes to an end. We will be back in September with new topics and guests. In the meantime, you can listen to our archived shows on our website at lrc.cornell.edu, on iTunes, or wherever you get your podcasts. We wish all our listeners a wonderful summer.  

Charlene Polio discusses facts and myths about the challenges of language learning, and suggests strategies for framing the learning process, whether your students are motivated or anxious. Dr. Polio is Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Linguistics & Germanic, Slavic, Asian & African Languages at Michigan State University, where she teaches in the Master’s Degree Program in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and also in the Second Language Studies Program. She gave a talk last week as part of our monthly LRC Speaker Series titled “Are Some Languages Really More ‘Difficult’ to Learn?” and we will extend our conversation about language difficulty on our podcast.

Amanda Seewald of Learning Kaleidoscope grew up in a monolingual household. By the time she was in college, she was advocating for language education in Washington, D.C. Later on, she founded Maracas, a homegrown language immersion program that uses music and rhythm to teach Spanish to young learners. This week, we hear her story, and learn about what you can do to help build a global, multilingual future.

Sarah Mercer discusses the importance of teacher wellbeing for effective language teaching and offers concrete steps for preventing burnout. Sarah discusses the “Greater Good in Action” website in her interview; that can be viewed here: https://ggia.berkeley.edu/ Donations in memory of Dan Gaibel can be made to Hospicare of Ithaca, https://www.hospicare.org/. Dan also established a GoFundMe to support his young son: https://www.gofundme.com/khm42-dan

Sara Lee talks about language learning and dyslexia and offers helpful suggestions for supporting dyslexic learners in and outside the classroom. Learn more about the Orton-Gillingham Approach Sara mentions and check out this recent article about Dyslexia, Bilingualism, and Learning a Second Language.