American Association of Teachers of German

Deadline: September 15, 2008
Please include with your abstract: Name and Affiliation; Email address; Postal address; Telephone number; A/V requirements (if any; $10 handling fee). The complete Call for Papers for the 2009 Convention will be posted in June: www.nemla.org.

Interested participants may submit abstracts to more than one NeMLA panel; however panelists can only present one paper.  Convention participants may present a paper at a panel or seminar and also present at a creative session or participate in a roundtable. The Role of Music in Foreign Language Instruction In the last decades, music has played an important role in Foreign Language Instruction. Either within 'humanistic' methods or within 'communicative' approaches, music has been used in different ways and with a wide variety of purposes: to lower the 'affective filter'; to enhance relaxation (Suggestopedia: Lozanov 1978); to activate the right-hemisphere functions, favoring the 'bimodal learning' (Danesi 1988); to improve listening comprehension skills; to promote structure and/or vocabulary acquisition; to make reading and writing more effective, or just to raise motivation by adding fun to the Foreign Language class. However, it is still a matter of debate whether and to what extent introducing music in Foreign Language Instruction can influence students' acquisition. On the other hand, the fast changing technology has made many user-friendly tools available to teachers who want to retrieve materials and use digital music in their Foreign Language courses (either inside or outside class): from YouTube to iTunes, from PowerPoint to more sophisticated programs, there is a wide range of possibilities that let instructors optimize strategies and activities while using music and songs in their courses. What is the added value of these tools? Do they let music have a more powerful role in language acquisition and how? Topics for consideration include: new experimental studies about the impact of music on language learning; music and technology in and outside the FL classroom; reports on specific projects integrating music/songs in basic language courses or in advanced content courses (examples in any modern language). Send 1-page abstract in English. Papers are expected to be presented in English.

Rita Pasqui
Full Time Faculty
Italian Language Coordinator
Department of Foreign Languages
New School University
64 W 11th Street, Room 116
New York, NY 10011
Tel. 1 212 229 8947 x2795
https://wfs.gc.cuny.edu/RPasqui/www/index.html