NYSAFLT Annual Conference 2024

What digital tools can students utilize to better their Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational communication skills? Join us as we explore software, and apps within the Google Suite, that will enhance understanding, and allow for student voice and choice. Time will be spent on Interpretive options for YouTube/ closed-captioning, Presentational communication choices within Google Slides, Canva, and the Screencast app, and Interpersonal communication enhancers within Canva and MOTE. Please bring a device if you would like to try out any of the software/apps during our guided practice time.

This session reports on one professor’s experience taking beginning and intermediate Spanish classes at the college-level. Sitting among the students provided a unique perspective to reflect on student learning, language acquisition, and language instruction. Instead of blaming students for not studying, we discuss the issues found among most freshmen and ways to help them. Delving into Second Language Acquisition theories, we examine the advantages and limitations of explicit grammar instruction. Finally, we offer concrete suggestions for language teachers at all levels to incorporate four strands (Nation, 2012) in their classroom: comprehensible input, comprehensible output, deliberate language study, and fluency development.

At its core, manipulatives are physical cards that show words, letters, or images that will be used to facilitate language acquisition and production that are often, but not always, accompanied by an authentic video or reading passage. This session will show the usefulness of manipulatives as an activity that can help language acquisition through critical thinking skills, repeat exposure,
physical movement, and fun. In the workshop, different types of manipulatives will be shown such ask Vocabulary Based, Sentence Makers, and Pictographs. Participants will learn how manipulatives can be used for all levels of language learners and by all types of language teachers in the three modes and to compare and contrast cultures and acquire language.

This presentation explores the intersection of Social-Emotional-Cultural Learning (SECL) and language education. Through a research-based approach, participants will discover how SECL principles can serve as foundational pillars for fostering connections between students, teachers, and the greater community. The session will offer research-based lessons and class activities designed to instill classrooms with values of cooperation, equality, justice, understanding, kindness, teamwork, diversity, and tolerance. Attendees will learn strategies to cultivate a vision of success and establish an inclusive environment that celebrates diversity, thereby enhancing cultural competence and global citizenship among students.

Do you want your students to feel connected to their work and why they are doing it? Do you want your students to see the connections with the target language and culture?
In this session, the presenter will walk you through several teacher-created examples that focus on connecting authentic resources, realistic purposes, and real audiences, while incorporating and soliciting
student interest through transfer tasks that have been created while working with Dr. Jennifer Eddy of Queens College. The Spanish examples shown will include the sources, rubrics, and other related
materials. The projects shown can be modified for different levels and languages. If there is time, participants can begin their own during the session.

Do you want to hear your students use more target language in your classes? There is one simple and easy-to-implement solution: Chat Mats. Chat Mats provide students with the words or phrases that they need to keep the conversation going and maintain the use of the target language. In this workshop, attendees will get a quick overview of Chat Mats (the what, and the why) followed by a tutorial on creating your very own chat mats (the how). Attendees will leave with tons of ideas and a ready made Chat Mat to bring into their classes on Monday.

This proposal promotes the integration of community-engaged learning (CEL) methodologies into the French language classroom curriculum. By blending theory with practical experience, students not only enhance their linguistic skills but also develop cultural understanding and empathy. We will delve into the theoretical framework supporting CEL and showcase its application through a case study of collaboration between the French language program at Nazareth University and Rochester Refugee Resettlement Services in Rochester. Through this partnership, students engage in meaningful interactions with refugee communities from French-speaking Africa, enhancing their language skills while fostering social justice and intercultural competence.