Listen Now

In episode 153, Stacey interviews Omar Rachid who currently teaches middle school French at a high school in Washington state. For the previous seven years, he has lived and worked in Singapore where he taught at an American school. In this interview, he shares his experiences in a program where French and Spanish are the less commonly taught languages and students move up to the next level of instruction when they meet their proficiency goals. For links and show notes, visit https://wp.me/p88mlO-jwA We welcome feedback, resources, and diverse perspectives on this topic! To contribute to the conversation started here, follow us on Twitter @weteachlang or leave a comment at weteachlang.com.

In episode 152, Stacey interviews Dr. Doran Katz from the Middlebury School of Hebrew. Dr. Katz, or Dodie, talks about the work she does in teacher preparation, some of the myths that many people have about second language acquisition, and how metacognitive strategies can help our language students learn. For links and show notes, visit https://wp.me/s88mlO-152 We welcome feedback, resources, and diverse perspectives on this topic! To contribute to the conversation started here, follow us on Twitter @weteachlang or leave a comment at weteachlang.com.

In episode 151, Stacey interviews Dr. Julio Torres about TBLT (Task Based Language Teaching), a methodology that centers communicative tasks as the organizing feature of instruction. Julio discusses how TBLT might work in any language classroom but especially with heritage language learners. If you are curious about what TBLT looks like in the classroom or how to better support your heritage learners, tune in for this discussion with a TBLT instructor, curriculum leader, and researcher. For links and show notes, visit https://wp.me/s88mlO-151 We welcome feedback, resources, and diverse perspectives on this topic! To contribute to the conversation started here, follow us on Twitter @weteachlang or leave a comment at weteachlang.com.

In episode 150, Stacey and Maris share one interview from their live podcast recording this past summer with the Virtual Summit hosted by PEARLL. In this episode, we learn from Vicky Masson, an experienced teacher and leader who talks about some of her most meaningful experiences in summer institutes, fellowships, and micro-credentials. All of this professional learning has led to some pretty impressive classroom projects and collaborations around topics such as poetry, challenge-based learning, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. For links and show notes, visit https://wp.me/s88mlO-150 We welcome feedback, resources, and diverse perspectives on this topic! To contribute to the conversation started here, follow us on Twitter @weteachlang or leave a comment at weteachlang.com.

In episode 149, Stacey and Maris share one interview from their live podcast recording this past summer with the Virtual Summit hosted by PEARLL. In this episode, we learn from Trudy Anderson, middle school Spanish teacher and current NECTFL Teacher of the Year, who talks about how she fosters community engagement and experiences in her school and community. Trudy also talks about how team work makes local community engagement possible! For links and show notes, visit https://wp.me/p88mlO-juu We welcome feedback, resources, and diverse perspectives on this topic! To contribute to the conversation started here, follow us on Twitter @weteachlang or leave a comment at weteachlang.com.

In ep 146, Stacey sits down with Maris Hawkins and Florencia Henshaw to dig into the role of the teacher in the language classroom and the facilitator in professional development. What is the teacher or leader supposed to do? How does the facilitator ensure learning happens? What is our job? Dig into these topics with Maris, Florencia, and Stacey, and then be part of the conversation by connecting with us over Twitter or Facebook. For links and show notes, visit https://wp.me/p88mlO-fIw We welcome feedback, resources, and diverse perspectives on this topic! To contribute to the conversation started here, leave us a voicemail or send a text message to (629)888-3398. Or you can follow us on Twitter @weteachlang or leave a comment at weteachlang.com.

In ep 147, Greta Lundgaard moderates a panel discussion with experienced language teachers Henny Chen, Catherine Ousselin, Carmen Scoggins, and Thomas Soth as part of the monthly virtual teacher panel from the NFLC (National Foreign Language Center). Each month, this series gathers a different group of experienced teachers via video conference to discuss a domain of the TELL (Teaching Effectiveness for Language Learning) framework. The panel considers questions including: How do we build up a feeling of trust and respect? What sequence of learning activities and learning targets is most effective in online and socially distanced face-to-face classroom? How do you decide what parts of the curriculum to focus on and which to let go? For links and show notes, visit https://wp.me/p88mlO-c8w We welcome feedback, resources, and diverse perspectives on this topic! To contribute to the conversation started here, leave us a voicemail or send a text message to (629)888-3398. Or you can follow us on Twitter @weteachlang or leave a comment at weteachlang.com.

In ep 146, Thomas Sauer leads a panel discussion with four language educators,  Marta Silva, Georges Chahwan, Natalie Stamper, and Elizabeth Matchett, as part of the monthly virtual teacher panel from the NFLC (National Foreign Language Center). Each month, this series gathers a different group of experienced teachers via video conference to discuss a domain of the TELL (Teaching Effectiveness for Language Learning) framework. We Teach Languages has partnered with NFLC to disseminate these panel discussions in audio format as well. In this episode, the panel considers questions such as: How do you create positive relationship with students in online and hybrid environments? How can teachers collaborate with students to create a safe environment? How do we focus on language performance under the constraints of an online/hybrid format? What is the role of intercultural thinking in language learning?. For links and show notes, visit https://wp.me/p88mlO-fIw We welcome feedback, resources, and diverse perspectives on this topic! To contribute to the conversation started here, leave us a voicemail or send a text message to (629)888-3398. Or you can follow us on Twitter @weteachlang or leave a comment at weteachlang.com.

In ep 145, Dr. Stephanie Madison interviews Dr. Nelson Flores, Associate Professor of Educational Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania. Nelson in particular looks at the intersections of language and race in a bilingual education context. In this interview, Nelson describes the harm that racialized students experience as a result of policies and common practices in bilingual education and breaks down some of the historical context for the current state of English language education in the US. He also discusses issues in heritage language education by unpacking some of expectations placed on Latinx heritage speakers in Spanish language classrooms. For links and show notes, visit https://wp.me/p88mlO-c8w We welcome feedback, resources, and diverse perspectives on this topic! To contribute to the conversation started here, leave us a voicemail or send a text message to (629)888-3398. Or you can follow us on Twitter @weteachlang or leave a comment at weteachlang.com.

In ep 144, Stacey interviews Dr. Priscilla Layne about her teaching and research, both of which include the language and literature of immigrant and Black German communities. Priscilla describes how her background influences the way she interacts with and teaches texts and how that might be applicable in language classrooms. She also talks about Black German Afrofuturism and how this genre helps us imagine a new future. Teachers of German will find specific texts, authors, and examples in this episode, but all language teachers will find useful practices and ideas for centering target language users from diverse communities. For links and show notes, visit https://wp.me/p88mlO-6Z3 We welcome feedback, resources, and diverse perspectives on this topic! To contribute to the conversation started here, leave us a voicemail or send a text message to (629)888-3398. Or you can follow us on Twitter @weteachlang or leave a comment at weteachlang.com.

In ep 143, Stacey invites Regina O'Neal, a secondary Spanish teacher and department head, to share her award winning presentation from MFLA, NECTFL, and ACTFL. Regina discusses concrete ways she highlights Black culture and communities in her Spanish classroom by connecting with other content areas and community resources, by discussing aesthetic beauty, and by guiding students to appreciate Black art and literature.. For links and show notes, visit https://weteachlang.com/2020/07/17/143-with-regina-oneal We welcome feedback, resources, and diverse perspectives on this topic! To contribute to the conversation started here, leave us a voicemail or send a text message to (629)888-3398. Or you can follow us on Twitter @weteachlang or leave a comment at weteachlang.com.

In ep 142, Dorie Conlon Perugini interviews Dr. Jonathan Rosa about his work exploring race, language, and education. Jonathan discusses what sorts of language practices are deemed legitimate in educational contexts, and how language teachers participate in institutions that are not serving multilingual students. In this episode, listeners will find new ways of thinking about language education and students' language and literacy practices. For links and show notes, visit https://wp.me/p88mlO-6nP We welcome feedback, resources, and diverse perspectives on this topic! To contribute to the conversation started here, leave us a voicemail or send a text message to (629)888-3398. Or you can follow us on Twitter @weteachlang or leave a comment at weteachlang.com.

In ep 141, Stacey interviews Dr. Vijay Ramjattan, a scholar of accent, race, and work. Vijay talks about how racialized international teaching assistants communicate in their second language and the listener's role in comprehensibility. Implications for teaching pronunciation in any language are also discussed. Language teachers who want to take a critical approach to pronunciation instruction will find thought-provoking and useful suggestions. For links and show notes, visit https://wp.me/p88mlO-6nx We welcome feedback, resources, and diverse perspectives on this topic! To contribute to the conversation started here, leave us a voicemail or send a text message to (629)888-3398. Or you can follow us on Twitter @weteachlang or leave a comment at weteachlang.com.

In ep 140, Stacey interviews Angélica Amezcua, a PhD candidate at Arizona State University and the author of a recent paper on how classroom instruction affects heritage language learners' motivation to maintain their language. Angélica discusses why some language communities in the US have low ethnolinguistic vitality and how state policies create conditions that prevent bilingual students from maintaining their home language. Angélica also shares her research on classroom strategies that heritage language teachers can adopt to promote language maintenance and community connection.  For links and show notes, visit https://wp.me/p88mlO-6k4 We welcome feedback, resources, and diverse perspectives on this topic! To contribute to the conversation started here, leave us a voicemail or send a text message to (629)888-3398. Or you can follow us on Twitter @weteachlang or leave a comment at weteachlang.com.

In ep 139, Stacey interviews Matthew Griffin, an applied linguist and instructor of Spanish who recently published a paper analyzing textbooks for how they present "voseo" to novice learners. "Vos" is a pronoun used widely in Latin America, and not used in European varieties of Spanish. Matthew goes on to talk about the concept of linguistic variation, as well as how and why we should point out and celebrate different varieties of the languages we teach. For those interested in teaching voseo, this interview and the accompanying open-access article provide a practical and research-based exploration of this topic.  For links and show notes, visit https://wp.me/p88mlO-6ia We welcome feedback, resources, and diverse perspectives on this topic! To contribute to the conversation started here, leave us a voicemail or send a text message to (629)888-3398. Or you can follow us on Twitter @weteachlang or leave a comment at weteachlang.com.

In ep 138, Stacey interviews Dr. Stephanie Madison, author of the recently published article entitled "Integrated Performance Assessments: A Review of the Literature and Steps to Move Forward". If you have ever wanted to dig deeper into why IPAs work and how to make them even more practical in your language classroom, this interview and the accompanying open-access article provide a wealth of practical and research-based advice.  For links and show notes, visit https://wp.me/p88mlO-6gE We welcome feedback, resources, and diverse perspectives on this topic! To contribute to the conversation started here, leave us a voicemail or send a text message to (629)888-3398. Or you can follow us on Twitter @weteachlang or leave a comment at weteachlang.com.

In ep 137, Stacey shares an interview with Dr. Elizabeth Miller, whom she met in February at Duke University's inaugural language symposium event. After hearing her talk about her research on emotional labor among language teachers, Stacey sat down with Liz to discuss emotional labor, emotional management, and what language teachers need to know about emotions at work.  For links and show notes, visit https://wp.me/p88mlO-6dT We welcome feedback, resources, and diverse perspectives on this topic! To contribute to the conversation started here, leave us a voicemail or send a text message to (629)888-3398. Or you can follow us on Twitter @weteachlang or leave a comment at weteachlang.com.

In this rerun of episode 9 of We Teach Languages, Stacey talks with Claire Knowles about teaching college Spanish in a fully online, asynchronous format. Claire tells us about how she uses performance assessments instead of tests to assess learning and how she elicits feedback and reflection from students in every unit. For links and show notes, visit https://weteachlang.com/2020/03/20/we-teach-languages-episode-9-rerun-performance-assessment-in-a-fully-online-college-spanish-course-with-claire-knowles We welcome feedback, resources, and diverse perspectives on this topic! To contribute to the conversation started here, leave us a voicemail or send a text message to (629)888-3398. Or you can follow us on Twitter @weteachlang or use this contact form to send us an email.

Language teachers everywhere are trying to figure out how to maintain instruction online when meeting face-to-face with our students is no longer possible. This seems like a good time to rerun a few of our favorite tech-focused episodes from the last three years. We hope this episode will spark some great ideas for you about how you can effectively and efficiently teach with technology. Stacey also wants listeners to know that she is collecting resources, how-to's, and tools into one place over on her blog. The blog post is called Putting our Language Courses Online: A Resources Round-Up (and a Work in Progress) and is updated regularly with new stuff from around the web. In ep 103, Maris Hawkins interviews French teacher and SCOLT Teacher of the Year Heidi Trude about tech tools for the language classroom. You'll want to to take notes and visit the show notes to learn more about all the things you can do with Gimkit, Quizlet, Flipgrid, Google Cardboard and many more! For links and show notes, visit https://weteachlang.com/2020/03/13/we-teach-languages-episode-103-rerun-tech-tools-for-the-language-classroom-with-heidi-trude We welcome feedback, resources, and diverse perspectives on this topic! To contribute to the conversation started here, leave us a voicemail or send a text message to (629)888-3398. Or you can follow us on Twitter @weteachlang or leave a comment at weteachlang.com.

In ep 136, Dorie Conlon Perugini interviews Dr. Uju Anya on a range of topics related to the experiences of African-American language learners both in classrooms and in study abroad contexts. The two scholars discuss Uju's award-winning book, bias and inclusion in the language classroom, and why the concept of investment is more useful than motivation for analyzing student engagement.  For links and show notes, visit https://wp.me/p88mlO-67Y We welcome feedback, resources, and diverse perspectives on this topic! To contribute to the conversation started here, leave us a voicemail or send a text message to (629)888-3398. Or you can follow us on Twitter @weteachlang or leave a comment at weteachlang.com.