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Call for Proposals - 2019 Convention
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AATG Sessions for the 2019 ACTFL Convention and World Languages Expo are designed to showcase and inspire the innovative and resourceful teaching and research in our profession. The sessions listed below have been organized and members interested in presenting in these organized sessions are invited to submit short descriptions (250 words) for presentation ideas to individual session organizers by January 4, 2019.
In addition, there is also an open call to all AATG Members for proposals for sessions, roundtables, practice-oriented paper presentations, research-oriented paper presentations, and electronic posters addressing areas of their interest and expertise. Find details here.
Please note that that all proposals undergo a blind review by both AATG and ACTFL program committee members, and no sessions are guaranteed inclusion in the program. All AATG sessions must include more than one presenter. All presenters must be members of AATG. Final submission deadline for proposals is January 11, 2019.
Articulation and Collaboration
Fresh Voices and New Perspectives in German Teaching
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We are lucky to have very active German teachers coming to ACTFL to present, but unfortunately we don't often get the chance to hear from colleagues who have been teaching a short while. This session will be comprised of German teachers who have no previous experience presenting at ACTFL, are within the first 5 years of teaching German, and are interested in sharing their perspective with other German teachers. The panel members will share with us their experiences so far with teaching German, their unique ideas and what they've learned so far. Their fresh voices, perspectives, and ideas will hopefully inspire everyone in attendance.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizer Alysha Holmquist alysha.holmquist@gmail.com.
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Innovative Use of Technology
Fostering Communicative Competence and Interaction in Our Online German Courses
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With advances in instructional technology and a trend towards offering more flexible modes of delivery, language instructors are teaching online more than ever before. How do they ensure effectiveness in proficiency-oriented language courses with no face-to-face component? What are their recipes for success? This session will aim to include distance education solutions for all levels of German, and will highlight innovative approaches to creating immersive, highly interactive environments. Proposals that specifically address communicative language learning via distance are especially welcome.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizer Mark Lewis mslewis@bu.edu.
Language Learning on the Go: The Highs and Lows of Teaching Distance and Hybrid Language Courses
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How can we create and teach distance and hybrid courses to best meet the needs of learners, while maintaining a communicative approach to language learning? This session invites proposals addressing best practices of creating and teaching online and hybrid language courses.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizer Carol Hollen cehollen@cofc.edu.
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Interculturality
30 Years Without a Wall: Integrate Recent Political and Social Issues in the German Class
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Recent political and social movements both in Europe and in the US have sparked yet again heated debates and controversial political and social issues. Looking back at 30 years of life without a wall and borders in DACHL, how can the world language instructor integrate presentational, interpretive and interpersonal modes by using authentic articles, videos or literature both from DACHL in the curriculum? What type of activities will engage students in critical thinking activities and civil debates? How do instructors become good mediators and guides in a comparative analysis of similar political issues in DACHL? This session invites proposals promoting the use of DACHL political and social issues materials by engaging learners with reading, listening, and viewing media created in German-speaking countries in the last 30 years since the fall of the Berlin wall.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizer Raluca Negrisanu negrisanu@etsu.edu.
Before the Wall Came Down - Stories from East and West Germany
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What happened 30 years ago on both sides of the wall? Perception, experiences, and memories of the same historical event vary largely from East to West Germany and even within each side of the wall – or do they? This round-table session attempts to bring participants from different backgrounds and age-groups together to share their experiences and highlight the roles they played in the events leading up to November 9, 1989. Eyewitnesses from both sides of the iron curtain are invited to tell their stories, to share their unique perspectives, and to contribute to a discussion that will bring history to life for those who only know it through media and textbooks.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizer Anja Moore anja.moore@cpschools.com.
Collaborating to Develop Intercultural Competence in the K-16 German Curriculum
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For this panel, we invite proposals sharing experiences of teaching and research collaborations through which intercultural competence was fostered in K-16 German programs. Questions addressed include: How can K-16 educators and administrators collaborate to systematically integrate intercultural competence in their German curriculum? What are some examples of successful collaborations? What was the context? Which theoretical framework was used? What were the outcomes and how were they assessed? What were some challenges and lessons learned? In addition to providing answers to these questions, successful submissions will provide materials to participants that can be used by other programs to engage in similar collaborations to foster intercultural competence in their contexts. Discussions of next steps and possible larger-scale collaborations will be discussed.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizer Manuela Wagner manuela.wagner@uconn.edu.
Diversity and Inclusion in the German Curriculum
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We are seeking contributions for a panel series on diversity and inclusion. We welcome hands-on papers that explore challenges and highlight best practices considering questions such as: How do we make sure that all our students are represented in our German classes (material, textbooks) and all have access to that material (class/wealth/poverty)? How do we counter the unmarked Whiteness of German Studies (race, religion)? In what ways do our syllabi, assignments, and assessment reflect consciousness about diversity and inclusion? How do we adjust ableist teaching strategies common in the language classroom (TPR)? How do we confront stereotype threat and implicit bias in our teaching? How do we make sure that we do not only teach inclusive topics but also use inclusive language (e.g. gender-sensitive language)? We also welcome more theoretical approaches on topics such as: Diversity and inclusion in hiring and the education of future German teachers.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizers Steffen Kaupp skaupp@nd.edu, Claire Scott clairesc@live.unc.edu, and Nicole Coleman ncoleman@wayne.edu.
Engaging Host Communities – Service Learning in Germany
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There is a growing body of research on how students are transformed through their participation in International Service Learning. This panel inquires how study abroad programs in German-speaking countries can participate in this growing trend. How can German instructors engage host communities and develop meaningful projects for students? How does Service Learning abroad differ from service learning at the students' home institution? Can two-way reciprocal relationships be established between host communities and US students? How can instructors deal with cultural differences in the concept of “service”? We are particularly interested in projects with reflective intercultural components that investigate the concept of international service learning. We are also interested in longitudinal data of student language acquisition in service opportunities.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizer Karin Baumgartner karin.baumgartner@utah.edu.
First Encounter: German Immigrants and Their Encounters in the New World
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For centuries, Germans have come to live in North America. They have flavored American culture like cinnamon in an Apfelkuchen. And they have assimilated so well, we barely notice them. But what did they seek and what did they encounter when they reached the shores of the “promised land?” This session invites proposals promoting this topic to students of German at all levels. Preference will be given to innovative teaching materials that engage students with reading, listening, viewing media, that can serve as a model for students’ creating their own heritage story.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizer Iris Bork-Goldfield ibork@wesleyan.edu.
German Programs in Collaboration with World Languages
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Collaborations between language programs can increase the visibility of each contributing language, connect a community of learners around a theme or event, foster intercultural learning, and strengthen world language programs. This session welcomes presentations on innovative courses, events or activities that link German programs with other language programs. What points of contact between languages and cultures generate strong engagement and rich critical analysis? What are some creative ways in which the language barrier can be overcome? What are effective strategies for outreach between and beyond the language programs? What long-term effects can be expected from such collaborations? What pitfalls do collaborators need to avoid? Interactive presentations of interest to a broad range of languages are particularly welcome.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizer Gizem Arslan garslan@smu.edu.
The Middle Ages for Young Readers
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Jo Sanders in Anchorage used to teach many different medieval German texts in her middle and high school, using simplified texts, and with great success. Young readers love adventure stories, and certainly the mystique of the Middle Ages. I have recently written a book about the Middle Ages for young readers (forthcoming), and propose to organize a session in which we explore approaches to the Middle Ages that help us invigorate the German classroom. This session will draw on any historicizing texts, including historical ballads, modern movies about the Middle Ages, picture books, video games, etc.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizer Albrecht Classen aclassen@email.arizona.edu.
Staging Migration: Drama-Based Pedagogy for Linguistic and Intercultural Competence
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How can embodied learning connect foreign language proficiency to self-reflexive thinking about intercultural identity and migration? This session invites proposals that promote drama and theater as a reflective space to explore issues of migration, ethnic and postmigrant identity, and to promote intercultural understanding and tolerance. Proposals may focus on drama-based activities or on dramatic texts in a course that culminates in a performance.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizer Lisa Parkes lparkes@fas.harvard.edu.
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Languages Across the Curriculum
German for the Professions on All Levels
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How can we prepare students for the professions in our regular German language and culture courses? A national survey by the AATG German for Professional Purposes (GPP) committee has shown that an increasing number of colleges in the US are offering content-based courses for students majoring in other disciplines, including German courses for Business, Engineering, Law, Medicine, Music, Translation, etc. Many of these courses are upper level courses that students take in addition or instead of a regular German course. This session invites proposals promoting an integrated approach to German for Professional Purposes across the curriculum. We are seeking presentations about teaching materials that integrate interdisciplinary GPP topics with more "traditional" topics on all levels. We are especially welcoming proposals that demonstrate how this can be done as early as in the first year.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizer Niko Tracksdorf niko@tracksdorf.com.
Where is the Learning in Service-Learning Projects in German Courses?
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How can language instructors meaningfully extend learning beyond the classroom to promote language acquisition as well as critical thinking, intercultural competence and civic literacy? This session invites proposals exploring how these learning objectives can be realized through service-learning projects. Examples of best practices might include (but are not limited to) intercultural communication skills (such as perspective transformation) and service-learning, student motivation and service-learning, student interpersonal and personal skill development and service-learning, understanding and applying German outside the classroom, and critical thinking and service-learning. Presentations might focus on service projects with community partners in the US and in German-speaking countries.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizer Isolde Mueller immueller@stcloudstate.edu.
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Leadership and Advocacy
Where to Find and How to Get Project Fundings for Saturday Schools - Panel Discussion
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For this session we would like to invite representatives from different institutions such as the ZfA, and additional members of the Netzwerk Deutsch, to learn about opportunities on where and how to apply for funds/grants for various projects, teacher's trainings, etc. Most Saturday German Language Schools have very limited resources (not only financial resources) and are in need of reliable support.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizer Kerstin Hopkins khopkins@giswashington.org.
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Literacy
Didaktisieren wir! Creating Targeted Activities for Learning with Current Authentic Materials
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Participants share their best practices for assessing and adapting current authentic resources for teaching and learning languages and cultures. Topics for working effectively with authentic materials may include critical or liberatory pedagogies, early integration for novice learners, social justice and social change, and inclusive practices. Learner-contextualized authentic current materials may include TV series like Babylon Berlin or Dark, signs in built environments and nature, visual art, tattoos, advertisements, and other texts. This session invites participants to share methods and critical approaches, as well as examples of successes and failures with the "Didaktisierung" of specific genres and texts.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizer Erika Berroth berrothe@southwestern.edu.
Migration, Refugees, and the Migrant Experience in Multimedia Texts
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As the issue of the migration of peoples seeking refuge and asylum continues to crucially affect the German-speaking countries, more and more information, cultural expression, and commentary have been produced in recent years to address these themes and related issues, such as feature films, documentary films, social media content, information published by government agencies and other organizations, music and music videos. This session invites proposals that connect these contemporary, authentic materials in meaningful and compelling ways to the development of learners' literacy in approaching multimedia texts, by creating, critiquing, analzying, and evaluating them, using each of the three modes of communication.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizer Cornelius Partsch cornelius.partsch@wwu.edu.
Promoting Literacy through Research-Driven Grammar Instruction
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Significant scholarship has demonstrated the value of grammar study, often linking it to literacy (e.g. Kern, Literacy and Language Teaching, 2000; Byrnes, "Emergent L2 German writing," 2009). In addition, SLA experts have provided a wealth of research on adult learners’ L2 grammar acquisition (e.g. VanPatten & Benati’s 2010 metastudy Key Terms in Second Language Acquisition), with many studies (e.g. Larsen-Freeman, "Research into practice," 2015) specifically addressing pedagogical concerns. The research on L2 grammar, therefore, is vast. This panel seeks how-to approaches to implementing this research in classroom teaching. Proposals should link the development of grammar abilities to the development of literacy, drawing heavily on current practical and theoretical research while also acknowledging the concrete realities of classroom teaching. If desired, panelists may opt for a joint presentation to enable new insights and more discussion time at the conference.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizer Scott Windham swindham@elon.edu.
Secrets, Spies, and Solidarity: German-American Connections in Deutschland 83 and 86!
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Recent years have seen a promising selection of historical, suspenseful, popular, and critically acclaimed German TV series that are distributed by US-American providers. This session invites contributions that present creative approaches to integrating the German-American spy drama series Deutschland 83 and/or its sequel Deutschland 86 in the curriculum. A focus on selected episodes or on the series as a whole is welcome, as are projects, units, and activities that address relevant cultural, political, social, or scientific and technological aspects of the Cold War. Topics may include youth culture, communism, social democracy, nuclear armament, control by state and media, popular and classical music, the concept of home, the national military, the green movement, the LGBTQ community, and generational conflict in East and West Germany, Europe, the US, and in other parts of our global society.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizer Ingrid Zeller izeller@northwestern.edu.
Vom Buch zum Film und vom Gedicht zum Lied: Lehr- und Lernmaterialien für den DACH-Unterricht
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The better our students are prepared to appreciate the linguistic and cultural diversity of the German-speaking world, the more successfully they will be able to participate in the social worlds of the German-speaking Europe. When trying to adopt a pluricentric approach in their German classrooms, teachers often meet a lack of materials and face time constraints. This session invites proposals with examples of ready-made units that incorporate DACH literature, music and film and bring CLIL into German classrooms.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizer Maria Gallmeier mgallmei@utk.edu.
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Personalized Learning
Amplifying Grenzenlos Deutsch: Inclusivity through Feminist Pedagogy (Sponsored by Women in German)
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Our German language classroom has become increasingly diverse. This requires not only rethinking and adjusting our curriculum to ensure that it is relevant to and reflects today's world but also adapting our modes of teaching. This session will provide feminist practices for fostering inclusion in the German language classroom, making Deutsch grenzenlos. It will show how an inclusive classroom and curriculum builds on the students' individual differences, various backgrounds and experiences to avoid feelings of exclusion, lack of motivation and very often also anxiety. The participants in this panel will contribute to Grenzenlos Deutsch by suggesting ideas for teaching and learning that include, engage, and challenge all learners, such as creating an environment of inclusion that dismantles ableist strategies and encourages a growth mindset; using language inclusive of all genders and sexual identities; or delivering equality of access to instruction and instructional materials.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizer Regine Schwarzmeier regine.schwarzmeier@belmont.edu.
Creative Writing Strategies in the Classroom
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The pedagogical objective of creative writing workshops is to strengthen participants’ language skills by drawing out their imagination and originality—so, couldn’t students of world languages also benefit from creative writing workshop strategies? How might employing creative writing activities not just exercise students’ listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in ways that are meaningful to them, but create lifelong learners who see the world language classroom as a space uniquely suited for individual expression? This session invites proposals that consider how German-language, preferably college-level instructors can implement strategies from creative writing workshops in creating a student-centered classroom.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizer Elizabeth McNeill emcneill@umich.edu.
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Proficiency-Oriented Language Instruction
Authentic Texts for Cultural Competency
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The adaptation and incorporation of authentic texts can be an arduous, yet incredibly rewarding process, and is an excellent way to develop cultural competency. Instructors are often faced with challenges and questions during this process: How can one best adapt texts to make them accessible to students? In what ways can texts be utilized in the curriculum to enhance students' understanding of the target culture? Furthermore, how can one ensure that these didacticized materials are thoughtfully selected, as well as presented, avoiding stereotypes and tokenism? This session invites proposals offering an approach to the adaptation of authentic texts for the German classroom with the purpose of developing student cultural competency. In particular, the session looks to explore the challenges of incorporating authentic texts in beginning-level courses.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizer Mary Allison mallison@tamu.edu.
Evidence-Based Vocabulary Instruction in L2 German
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What are the most effective ways of promoting vocabulary development in German as a second language? For this session we invite proposals that explain, exemplify, and justify effective methods of teaching German vocabulary. Proposals focused on integrating effective treatment of vocabulary within meaning-oriented (communicative, task-based, content-based) language instruction are particularly welcome.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizers Friederike Fichtner ffichtner@csuchico.edu and Joe Barcroft barcroft@wustl.edu.
GOAL! Get Your Students Communicating with German Soccer!
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How can German instructors engage learners and teach their curriculum? How can they assign proficiency-based reading, listening, writing, and speaking tasks that also incorporate the vocabulary and grammar topics they teach? Where can teachers find authentic sources for interpretive tasks that are also accessible for beginning learners? Finding a balance between novelty and curriculum can be difficult, but soccer offers German teachers the ideal vehicle to do just that - and even at the beginning levels of instruction. This session invites proposals that showcase innovative, communicative methods of teaching and assessing familiar topics (grammar, geography, etc.) through the lens of German soccer.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizer Wendy Brennan wmbrennan@mpsomaha.org.
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Program and/or Educator Effectiveness
German for Professional Purposes: Career Ready through German
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How can German programs best prepare students for careers that use German language and cultural knowledge? This session invites proposals that highlight professions that require the regular use of German language and cultural knowledge in professional settings such as, but not limited to: translation/interpretation, localization, dual trainee manufacturing programs, etc. The goal of this session will be to highlight how educators can craft pedagogical approaches to teaching German with market demands in mind.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizer Kacy Peckenpaugh kacypeckenpaugh@weber.edu.
Helpful Hints for Beginning Teachers
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How can beginning teachers make their life easier? What can be done to reduce the hours and hours spent on grading? How can lesson planning be made a bit easier? How can class room management become less cumbersome? How can total burnout be avoided? These and many other questions beginning teachers might have will be answered in this session.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizer Elke Lorenz elkelorenz9@gmail.com.
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Teacher Preparation
Preparing German Teachers for the 21st Century
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Our profession has been transformed over the years. Teaching approaches and methods, curricula, textbooks, access to authentic materials, assessment, standards, classrooms and virtual learning spaces, technologies, and even learners themselves have all changed in profound ways. Has teacher training changed, too? Has it kept up with the demands and responsibilities of teaching German in the 21st century? This session seeks engaging presenters to share how they prepare reflective practitioners to educate future K-16 learners of German and meet changing language program needs.
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizer Jeanne Schueller jmschuel@wisc.edu.
Teaching Protest Cultures in East and West Germany
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The so-called 68er/student movement is typically attributed to West Germany, however, scholars such as Susanne Rinner have rendered it a transnational phenomenon and have drawn attention to East German movements of dissent as well. This session aims to gather teaching approaches and ideas for capturing the breadth and complexity of East and West German protest cultures. The session invites proposals that engage the following questions: what texts, films, etc. lend themselves to a comparative perspective that shows both uniqueness of various movements and their common goals? When approaching the Cold War period, what activities/assignments aid students in critically assessing biased historical perspectives on and from the student movements? How can we connect the material to students' own political endeavors outside the classroom in a meaningful way? What types of protest and violence emerge in text/film from and about this time, and how do we talk about them in the classroom?
Send a short description (250 words) by January 4, 2019 to the session organizer Lauren Hansen lahansen@ncf.edu.
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