The Language Collaboratory – Past Events
The pandemic offered us opportunities to deepen our existing collaborations through virtual connections across distance and institutions. In the Fall of 2020, we launched a robust professional development series focusing on three challenges – accessibility, inclusivity, and learner autonomy and agency. Representatives from all five institutions informally addressed one of these challenges from their perspective as a practitioner or researcher and engaged with what we hope has been a stimulating dialog with both their local conversant and the session attendees.
Academic Year 2022-2023
Postgraduate success: Connecting language students with needs, wants, and expectations of the world beyond the classroom
From New Pathways From College to Career: Preparing Students for a Rapidly Changing Workforce
“Where do you see yourself in 10 years?” was an answerable question for graduates in an era when workers started and retired from the same company. But, not only are few of today’s college graduates likely to stick with a single employer, their job responsibilities will change many times over the course of their careers. Preparing students for career exploration and flexibility is a skill they will need throughout their work lives. The challenge for colleges will be to design pathways to careers that remain navigable even as the jobs themselves morph and shift.
The Language Collaboratory’s fall sessions focus on situating language programs, language learning and instruction in the rapidly-changing world society, responding to the needs and wants of spaces beyond the classroom. Specifically, our discussants will address elevating career readiness in the language curriculum, promoting service learning and other forms of community engagement, articulating the value of transferable skills and competencies gained during one’s language-learning journey, and other ways of preparing students for success after they graduate.
Guiding questions
- How do you forge connections with life and work skills in your teaching?
- How can the language curriculum better equip students with global competencies?
- How do you prepare students for career exploration?
- How can the language classroom better connect students with career networks?
- How can the language classroom better prepare students to adjust to change and flexibility?
- How can language programs remain competitive to recruit and retain students in a changing job market?
- What role and responsibilities do language faculty have in career readiness approaches?
Fall 2022 Discussion Themes
- Career Readiness/Postgraduate Success
Schedule
- Monday, October 3
- Postgraduate Success for Language Learning: Framing Questions and Undergraduate Student Perspectives.
- Dianna Murphy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Claire Frances, University of Iowa.
- Thursday, October 27
- Designing a New Curriculum from the Ground Up.
- Felix Kronenberg, Michigan State University, Wonneken Wanske, University of Ottawa
- Thursday, November 3
- Marketable Language Competencies.
- Rebekah Pryor Paré, Associate Vice Chancellor, Washington University in St. Louis.
- Note: CeLTA is hosting a watch party for this event in the main space – B-135 Wells Hall. If you’d like to attend in person, no need to register or RSVP. If you’ll attend via your own device, please do register. We’ll see you there!
- Thursday, December 1
- Lead with Language: Putting Language Skills to Work.
- Kaitlin Koehler, Rising Phoenix Early College High School, Toni Landis, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Spring 2023 Discussion Themes
- Career Readiness/Postgraduate Success
The Spring series of the Language Collaboratory will continue the umbrella theme of postgraduate success. It aims to focus on three sub themes:
- Formal recognition of proficiency levels
- Marketing competencies vs degrees
- Students’ career-driven agendas for their studies
The sessions in the series will focus on programmatic and strategic collaborations and partnerships with outside partners and industry. In addition, sessions will address competencies sought-after and valued in industry-jobs.
The first session of the series explores a look within by examining the success rates of proficiency programs, and discusses implications for language programs.
Schedule
- Monday, February 20
- Understanding success in undergraduate language certificates: Success rates and their implications.
- Amanda Dalola, Adolfo Carrillo Cabello, University of Minnesota
- Thursday, April 20
- From language students to Duolinguists.
- Parker Henry & Elisa Camps Troncoso, Duolingo
- Monday, April 24
- Language Beyond the Classroom : Engaging with Communities of Migrant Workers and Asylum Seekers.
- Dominique Butler-Borruat & Mabel Rodríguez, University of Michigan Residential College