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By Steven Sacco Don't get excited! I'm being facetious when it comes to flash fluency in a foreign language. Yesterday, while watching the Super Bowl, I decided to start German lessons on Duolingo. Tim Ferriss, of THE 4-HOUR WORKWEEK fame, claims it's the best online language learning method he has ever used and he's studied 10+ languages. I like Tim Ferriss' books so I decided to give Duolingo a shot. During the four hours of the Super Bowl, I experienced an acid flashback taking me back to my high school days grinding through a Grammar-Translation method textbook used in Father Harold Ostdiek's French 1 and 2 class in 1969. With Duolingo I translated over 100 sentences and phrases from English to German and German to English in those 4 hours. There was, however, a smudge of dictation…

By Sheri Spaine Long Right now I am working on a study with my Graduate Research Assistant, Liane She, that embeds leadership in a Spanish literature course at UNC Charlotte by hybridizing the traditional approach to teaching literature through a focus on leadership. Through special activities, materials, and reflection, students think critically and creatively about literary content relating it to their overall leadership experiences. We consider questions like: Do students connect literature and leadership? Can students make personal connections to fictional leaders? Do they uncover similarities and differences across cultures in leaders/leadership? We plan to present our findings at SCOLT (Southern Conference on Language Teaching 2016) as we examine approaches to fusing leadership and literature. We had a number of sources of inspiration during the project. One book in particular…

By Ann Abbott Critical Reflection. Because I combine Languages for Specific Purposes (LSP) with Community Service Learning (CSL), all my students must engage in critical reflection using a framework that poses three questions: What? So what? Now what? They do this in class and outside of class; individually and in small groups; written and spoken; at the beginning of the course and at the very end. In 2007, after three years of teaching CSL, it suddenly occurred to me that I would benefit from critical reflection, too. Just like me, you probably think about your teaching and your students long after the school day has ended. When you reflect on your class, your week or even your whole semester, you learn a lot. Blogging about those lessons-learned and inspiration for…

By Carolina Egúsquiza As language teachers, we promote language and cultural exchange programs among college and university students. However, for various reasons, the majority of students will not complete internships in foreign countries or study abroad programs during their college years. For this reason, universities need to develop international curricula and expand language and digital learning so that students who are not mobile can also acquire global skills. Computer-mediated learning environments such as MOOCs can potentially be a form to exploit virtual mobility, defined by the Being Mobile team as a “form of learning which consists of virtual components through an ICT supported learning environment that includes cross-border collaboration with people from different backgrounds and cultures working and studying together, having, as its main purpose, the enhancement of intercultural understanding…

By Rita Jesus Leduc Business Portuguese courses are growing in demand as Portuguese-speaking countries develop economically and as Portuguese language becomes one of the most used languages on social media. While teaching in Ireland, I noticed that teaching resources for Business Portuguese were scarce and that very few studies were being done to improve this situation. That led me to conduct my own study on Business Portuguese courses focusing on course analysis and students’ feedback. In this NOBLE webinar and post I share the results of that research. A website analysis indicated that very few free websites provide Business Portuguese content. In addition, a survey applied to Business Portuguese students showed that even though courses in general provide a good variety of written learning resources, they often neglect the development…

By Carolina Egúsquiza There is great controversy over whether Languages for Specific Purposes (LSP) should be taught at the basic language levels. The truth is that teachers cannot anticipate which specific skills their students will need in the workplace or which specific work situation they will encounter. Students often don’t know that either so every academic course should aim at transferring meaningful skills to students to become successful professionals. With that in mind, Annie Abbott and Holly Nibert presented their approach on how to connect language instruction with professional information during the last NOBLE webinar. They suggest implementing a variety of activities and tasks that introduce professional related vocabulary, promote reflection and intercultural dialogue, and explore careers and professional behaviors. In addition, they suggest implementing alternative professional-focused writing and oral…