CLA Outstanding Service Awards: Language Department Honorees

February 8, 2018
2:30 - 4:30 p.m. (program begins at 3:00 p.m.)
Memorial Hall, McNamara Alumni Center
RSVP online by Thursday, February 1, 2018

The following language department instructors and staff are being honored at the CLA Outstanding Service Awards:

• Brittany Anderson, American Indian Studies & Chicano and Latino Studies

• Helena Ruf, German, Scandinavian and Dutch

• Stephanie Anderson, Elizabeth Lake, Margaret Anderson, Ellie Sjordal, The Voc/zes Group, Department of Spanish & Portuguese Studies,

TandemPlus Spring 2018 Registration and Orientation

Welcome back to a wintery campus! Classes are underway away, and that means TandemPlus registration is open for Spring 2018. The free, voluntary TandemPlus Program provides language learners the opportunity to improve second language skills while gaining cultural insight by engaging in conversation exchange with native speakers of the language they are learning. Any and all language and culture learners are encouraged to sign up or re-register. Registration at tandem.umn.edu takes no more than five minutes.

Don’t forget! The TandemPlus Student Association will continue to host monthly events this semester, beginning with the Spring Kick-off and Orientation event on January 30, 2018 from 6:40 to 8:30 p.m. in Bruininks Hall, 412. More information on this event, and a complete list of spring activities for TandemPlus participants will be available soon.

For more information about TandemPlus, visit the Language Center’s Website, or send us an email at tandem@umn.edu.

PACE Workshop: Vocabulary learning and language proficiency

Friday, January 19, 2018
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m
Tate B85
Registration required

Why is teaching vocabulary important? How do we understand and learn the meaning of new vocabulary? How do you select vocabulary for teaching when using authentic texts? How do you embed activities for vocabulary learning in thematic units? How do you work with new vocabulary in each mode of communication?

Join us as we work collaboratively on three selected modules from the series Building Vocabulary: The key to building proficiency, presented by Laura Terrill and developed by ACTFL. In this workshop, we will watch selected content from three modules, complete worksheets, and will develop level-specific activities for vocabulary learning, and will explore strategies for making vocabulary learning an intentional part of instruction. Participants are encouraged to bring a sample authentic text (e.g., text, imagery) to practice integrating ideas presented. Each module will take roughly one hour, and participants are welcome to attend part or all of the workshop. However, everyone planning to attend must register. Refreshments will be provided.



Facilitators:
Cecily Brown, Department of Spanish and Portuguese
Hossam Elsherbiny, Department of Asian Languages and Literatures
Dan Soneson, CLA Language Center
Adolfo Carrillo Cabello, CLA Language Center

The PACE Project is funded by a grant from The Language Flagship.

Preparing for Spring 2018 Classroom Activities at the Language Center

As you prepare for the Spring semester, if you are planning a Language Center computer classroom activity that you'll be doing for the first time (or haven't done in a while), please let the Language Center know so we can provide you with the best possible experience. We would be happy to work with you to help ensure that your planned classroom activities make effective use of technology, and are compatible with the software or web plugins installed on Language Center computers. If you are a coordinator of multi-section courses and have specific tools and activities in mind, or any training needs, please let us know. Please contact Adolfo Carrillo Cabello at carri093@umn.edu or Diane Rackowski at dianer@umn.edu.

New Korean and Somali Proficiency Tests

Language Proficiency Exams (LPEs) are now available for most modern languages taught at the University of Minnesota, as the Korean and Somali tests are officially approved. The LPE is a four-part test that includes reading, listening, writing and speaking sections. Passing this test is one method of completing the CLA second language requirement.

The Korean LPE highlights Korean culture and daily life. Several items in the listening test use audio from modern Korean films showing natural and interesting interactions between native speakers. The Somali LPE is set locally in the Twin Cities and explores the lives of immigrants integrating with the larger community as they share their language and culture.

The two exams were developed over several years. The development teams include:

Korean: Hangtae Cho, Yunseong Cheong, Saena Ryu and Bryce Johnson

Somali: Said Ahmed, Abdulkarim Maalin and Ahmed Yosuf

Development was coordinated by Gabriela Sweet, Andie Wang and Anna Olivero-Agney. Many other instructors, students, staff and community members assisted in the development as it moved from conception through completion.

Approved LPEs are now available for the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Hmong, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Somali, Spanish and Swedish.