Speaking Of Language

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.

We speak with Daniel Bass, of Cornell’s South Asia Program, and host of WRFI’s Monsoon Radio, about music, cultures, and languages. For more information on Daniel's show, visit the links below: https://www.facebook.com/MonsoonRadioWRFI/ https://www.radiofreeamerica.com/show/monsoon-radio-w-daniel-bass-wrfi-community-radio  

Theresa Schenker discusses the benefits of telecollaborative photo exchanges for language learning and intercultural competence.

Brenna Fitzgerald, Arbias Llolluni, and Thamora Fishel talk about the Afterschool Language and Culture Program that is offered through Cornell’s Area Studies Centers in the Einaudi Center and the Public Service Center. The program provides opportunities for Cornell undergraduate and graduate students to share their knowledge of a language and culture with curious students from local schools. If you are interested in getting involved as a foreign language teacher volunteer or school partner, please contact the Program Manager at outreach@einaudi.cornell.edu. https://seap.einaudi.cornell.edu/afterschool-language-and-culture-program

Andrew Campana joins us to share his research into audio games, cinepoems, and other boundary-breaking forms of media emanating from Japan. Dr. Campana and the LRC’s Sam Lupowitz discuss the ways in which media and literature can be reimagined to communicate ideas in new ways, to previously overlooked communities. More information on Dr. Campana and his work can be found at the links below: https://asianstudies.cornell.edu/poets-artists-game-makers-and-new-media https://asianstudies.cornell.edu/andrew-campana Andrew’s articles referenced in the episode can be found at the following link: https://killscreen.com/articles/real-sound-audiogames-blindness-shadow-history-gaming/

Mona Eikel-Pohen joins our podcast to talk about language learning and disabilities and some strategies and considerations for creating inclusive classrooms. Her article titled “Assessing Disability-Inclusive Language Teaching Methods with Multimodality and Universal Design Principles” will appear in the spring issue (52.1) of the AATG journal Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German. A brief description of the seven principles of Universal Design Mona mentions on the episode can be found at deploy.lrc.cornell.edu/sol/7principles.pdf. A full text transcription of this episode can be found at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mBaFsh1ereF0wy1kwQ3spDii6tjzBdR4BShydgVipmw/edit?usp=sharing.

The Shared Course Initiative uses high-definition videoconferencing to connect language classrooms at Cornell, Columbia, and Yale. By sharing instruction across three sites, the SCI increases the number of languages available at each university. Listen to the language center directors of these three universities (Columbia’s Stephane Charitos, Yale’s Nelleke Van Deusen-Scholl, and your host, Angelika Kraemer) discuss the SCI and what it takes to make this cross-institutional collaboration work.

We are joined by Michelle Cox, Director of Cornell’s English Language Support Office. She talks about the programs they offer to support, empower, and engage international graduate and professional students on campus and in the community.

In our first episode of season 3, we speak with Dr. Jolene Rickard, Director of the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program, about the United Nations 2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages. In addition to offering some of her own personal history, Dr. Rickard talks about the benefits of honoring and learning about the language and culture of the indigenous peoples of the Americas and the world. Access the Speak Cayuga app here.