Speaking Of Language

In our final episode of the season, Uttiyo Raychaudhuri, executive director of Cornell’s Office of Global Learning, discusses the importance of promoting global citizenship and international engagement. Listen to this important and moving episode! We will be back in the new year with new topics and guests. In the meantime, you can listen to our archived shows on our website or on iTunes. We wish all our listeners a wonderful holiday season.

Today, we welcome Christian Hilchey to our studio. Dr. Hilchey is a lecturer in the Department of Slavic and Eurasian Studies at the University of Texas, Austin and was a part of our LRC Speaker Series this semester. He gave a talk last week titled “Open Media and the Next Frontier in Open Education,” and we extend our conversations about open education and open-source software solutions on our podcast. The resources Christian mentioned in today’s conversation (and then some) are listed on this handout: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1j0fSo3BYDLYtYbe-m5fEGxxPh5xA9-JjGcTGg2ua038/edit

Members of Cornell’s student organization Language Expansion Program discuss the importance of language learning on campus in a comfortable, encouraging environment. Their weekly event Language Corner takes place at the Language Resource Center in Stimson Hall G27.

Stéphane Charitos, Language Resource Center director at Columbia University, discusses current national trends in language study and suggests four practical recommendations that can help uphold visibility and the importance of world language education in the U.S. The reports Stéphane references can be found here: American Academy of Arts & Sciences report: Commission on Language Learning. The American Academy of Arts & Sciences. (2016). The state of languages in the U.S.: A statistical portrait. Retrieved from https://www.amacad.org/multimedia/pdfs/publications/researchpapersmonographs/State-of-Languages-in-US.pdf National K-12 foreign language enrollment survey: American Councils for International Education (2017). The national K-12 foreign language enrollment survey report. Retrieved from https://www.americancouncils.org/sites/default/files/FLE-report-June17.pdf MLA enrollment report: Looney, D., & Lusin, N. (2018). Enrollments in languages other than English in United States institutions of hig

Patsy Lightbown, Distinguished Professor Emerita in Applied Linguistics at Concordia University, joins our podcast to discuss form-focused instruction and the balance between form-focused and meaning-focused learning activities.

In this episode, Jeremy Thompson, Research Associate and Lecturer in Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology, shares his experience with Jumpstart and Foreign Languages Across the Curriculum courses.

In this episode, Dan Gaibel and Angelika Kraemer talk about the role of technology in language learning. They discuss benefits and challenges of utilizing technology for language learning and share some of their personal favorites.

In this episode, Maureen Morris from the Library and Melina Draper from the Center for Teaching Innovation speak about the Cornell Portal. They explain the history of the Portal and ways it can be used for intercultural encounters that can enhance language and culture learning. The gold-painted shipping container is located just outside of Olin Library on the Arts Quad and is on campus through November 2018.

In this episode, Celeste Kinginger, Professor of Applied Linguistics at the Pennsylvania State University, joins our podcast to discuss what helps and hinders advancing language proficiency while studying abroad, including social-interactive and pragmatic aspects of language acquisition. Celeste also provides advice for students and instructors to make the most of their time abroad.

In this episode, Angelika Kraemer speaks with Derron Borders, the Residence Hall Director of Cornell’s Language House. They explore the history of the Language House and some of the current events and activities that allow residents and guests to immerse themselves in their language learning experience.

In this episode, we are joined by Stephanie Divo, Senior Lecturer in Asian Studies and Language Program Director of Mandarin Chinese. Stephanie talks about her program’s two-pronged approach to teaching beginning Chinese, fact and act.

In this episode, Angelika Kraemer speaks with Lisa Sansoucy, coordinator of language learning initiatives at the LRC, about LAC – the Languages Across the Curriculum initiative. Lisa outlines the history and structure of the program and they discuss the importance of interdisciplinary learning and teaching in today’s global society.

In this episode, LRC director Angelika Kraemer is joined by Bill VanPatten, host of the popular SLA radio show Tea with BVP. They discuss two perennial issues in language teaching: the roles of input and output and the role of explicit teaching. Bill also offers some advice for new and seasoned language teachers.   Listen live to Bill’s new call-in radio show, TalkinL2 with BVP, at http://www.talkinl2withbvp.com/. The show airs on Wednesdays at 6 pm ET.

Today, we introduce Angelika Kraemer, the new director of the Language Resource Center at Cornell University. In the first episode of our second season, Angelika speaks with Sam Lupowitz, the LRC’s media manager, about communicative language teaching: using your immediate surroundings to contextualize your expression and interpretation of language. Dr. Angelika Kraemer is the Director of the Language Resource Center at Cornell University. She also currently serves as Co-Editor of the journal Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German published by the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG) and as Co-Coordinator of the International Association for Language Learning Technology (IALLT) Survey Committee. Angelika’s research interests include technology-enhanced language learning, program development, early language learning, community engagement and service learning, and assessment. When she is not in Stimson, you’ll find her running around Beebe Lake, watching Netflix, drinking tea, or traveling. As Media

Dick Feldman is director of the Language Resource Center at Cornell University, and has been so for nineteen years. Dick is retiring in a couple of months, so in this episode of Speaking of Language, we discuss some bigger-picture ideas, such as the importance of having a unit dedicated to technology support in language learning. We talk about teachers’ attitudes towards technology, and what the future might look like for language teaching at Cornell.

In this episode, we sit down with Meejeong Song, senior lecturer and coordinator for the Korean language program at Cornell University. We talk about the wide set of teaching schools that she utilizes for her classes, from facilitating teacher/student interaction via web-based audio, to coordinating travel abroad programs in which students are learning Korean while immersed in the rich culture of South Korea. Ms. Song received her M.A. in Korean Studies (Teaching Korean as a Second Language) in 1998 and her B.A. in Korean Language and Literature (Major) and English Language and Literature (Minor) in 1995 from Ewha Women’s University, Seoul, South Korea.  Her M.A. Thesis Title: A Study on Using Small-Group Work to Teach Korean as a Foreign Language to Beginners. Ms. Song has experience teaching all levels of Korean at Cornell. Her research interests include Second Language Acquisition, web-based teaching material development, interactive student group project development, and technology-aided teaching methodol

What is the connection between art and language classes? Dick Feldman from the Cornell Language Resource Center talks to María Luisa Parra, Senior Preceptor in Romance Languages and Literatures from Harvard University. They discuss how visual art can function as a link to culture that can build a deeper connection to, and fluency in, language. “Considered as “windows” into other cultures’ perspectives and world views, visual arts allow for the use of languages to describe, retell, analyze and think critically about cultures. Students benefit from these pedagogical exercises as they build their translingual and transcultural competencies, along with a deeper understanding of the ‘Other’.” For further information, view Dr. Parra’s paper, “Expanding Language and Cultural Competence In Advanced Heritage- and Foreign-Language Learners through Community Engagement and Work with the Arts” from the Heritage Language Journal, or watch her talk “Designing Magic Portals,” delivered at the Cornell Language Resource Cente

Where do you call home? In this episode, we speak to Alice Wu, an intercultural consultant at Cornell University. Alice is the creator of a series of films about Global Nomads and Third Culture Kids: people who have spent their developmental years living in multiple countries, building relationships to many cultures “while not having full ownership in any” (David Pollock). Alice discusses the challenges and benefits of growing up this way, and what people of transcultural backgrounds have to offer our increasingly interconnected world. Alice’s films are available at https://sales.lrc.cornell.edu/collections/intercultural-materials “Global Nomads in the Age of Technology is a fascinating series of interviews with today’s university students who come from a wide range of internationally mobile childhood experiences. It not only showcases the increasing cultural complexity of those called Global Nomads/Third Culture Kids, but also helps us answer the question: “Has technology changed the GN/TCK experience?” It i

We all know there are two types of human languages: “dead” ones and “living” ones.  But what would happen if a dead language came back to life, if contemporary people started speaking it, and teaching it?  In today’s episode we interview Professor Michael Fontaine, professor of Classics and Associate Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education at Cornell.  He himself is a Latin speaker and teacher.  How does that work? This episode also references the work of Christophe Rico, of the Polis Institute in Jerusalem.

Last week, Dick Feldman and Chris Kaiser talked about the benefits of a distance-learning program that can unite learners of a less-commonly taught language across locations. Today, Dick speaks with Adeolu Ademoyo, who is approaching fifteen years of teaching Yoruba at Cornell University, as well as to students at Columbia and Brown via videoconference. An experienced and adventurous instructor in the distance-learning environment, Adeolu discusses his creative methods for unifying his multi-site classes, as well as his philosophy on using storytelling and narrative to teach language. Adeolu Ademoyo is a senior lecturer in Yoruba language and culture at Cornell. His research interests include: African Philosophy: Ethics, Epistemology and Aesthetics, the locus of African Languages in delineating met-ethical concepts in African moral discourse, gender issues, and family and social structures.