The University of Chicago Language Center participated in an exhibit at the 27th annual Conference of the National Council on Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL).
The conference, which took place from April 18th until the 21st, is held annually in order to advocate innovative approaches in research and practices, maximizing professional exchanges and collaboration among LCTL educators, and leveraging resources and strengths in the less commonly taught languages community.
The Language Center partnered with the Office of Language Assessment to demonstrate why UChicago remains a hub for innovative assessment and pedagogy across all languages.
Participants at the conference learned about the Center’s professional development programs, based on a proficiency oriented, assessment-driven reverse design approach, meant to deliver agency to instructors as they transform their curricula and reframe language learning for their students as real-world skills to take out into the world.
A UChicago instructor also participated on a panel regarding Differentiated Instruction, or tailoring instruction to meet individual student’s needs.
The panel, presented by the Shared Less Commonly Taught Languages Symposium (SLCTLS) and hosted by the Michigan State Center for Language Teaching Advancement and the UChicago Language Center, was preceded by a keynote address by Dr. Thomas Garza, the University Distinguished Teaching Associate Professor at the University of Texas, Austin.
Dr. Megan Tzeitel Marshall, the incoming Coordinator of the Spanish Heritage Language Program at UChicago, discussed the benefits of tailoring instruction to match what students need in the classroom alongside Thiago Brito Santos of Purdue University, Dr. Adrien Smith of the University of Texas, Austin, and Dr. Kanjana Thepboriruk of Northern Illinois University.