The 2018-2019 academic year was full pf presentations, conferences, and publications for the UWEC Languages Department.
Mari Bodensteiner was invited to Washington, D.C., to facilitate a weeklong orientation for 200-plus educators preparing to serve overseas in a variety of educational contexts for the next 10 months. Her workshop was titled "Teachers Working Together: A Successful Community of Practice." During the panel Bodensteiner discussed strategies to overcome cultural barriers and her experience working in local communities across Southeast Asia.
As part of the Lower Mekong Initiative Embassy Regional Grant, Mari Bodensteiner and Ami Christensen, implemented the LMI Women's Leadership Forum Jan. 9-11 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The three-day event included participants from Cambodia, Laos PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. Learn more.
Dr. Josh Brown edited a special volume of the Journal of Language Contact with Dr. Joshua Bousquette (University of Georgia), titled "Heritage Languages in North America: Formal Linguistic Approaches."
Dr. Josh Brown was quoted in the article "Amish dairy farmers at risk of losing their living and way of life as their buyer drops their milk," which was published in the Dec. 31, 2018, issue of The Bullvine.
Dr. Josh Brown recently gave three invited lectures: "Language Death or Language Life? The Postvernacularity of Pennsylvania Dutch" at Pennsylvania State University on March 13, "Amish Identities in Changing Contexts" at Elizabethtown College on March 28 and "Recruitment and Retention in University Language Programs" at Southern Connecticut State University on April 5.
Dr. Josh Brown presented "Heritage language ego-documents: Letters that didn't cross the Atlantic" at the Society for German-American Studies annual symposium April 11-13 in Madison. He also presented "Primary sources and the Wisconsin Idea" as part of a panel on making primary source materials more accessible.
Dr. Marcela Depiante had her book chapter, titled "Null Complement Anaphora," published in "The Oxford Handbook of Ellipsis," edited by Jeroen van Craenenbroeck and Tanja Temmerman and published by Oxford University Press.
Dr. Anne Cummings Hlas has received the 2018 Wisconsin Association for Language Teachers Recognition of Merit Award, which is presented annually to individuals who have demonstrated excellence in teaching or who have made significant contributions to the language teaching profession.
Dr. Anne Cummings Hlas was the keynote speaker at the FLESFEST 2019 conference in Milwaukee. Her presentation was titled "Creativity in the World Language Classroom: Practical, Powerful, Essential!" In addition, she presented the workshop "Making Creativity Work in Your Classroom" with UW-Eau Claire alumna Cammy Rathsack and student Hannah Apold.
Dr. Anne Cummings Hlas was invited to write an introduction to the topic "Connecting Research to Our Practice" with co-author Dr. Corinne Crane of Duke University. Following is the full citation: Hlas, A.C. & Crane, C. (2019). Connecting research to our practice. Language Educator, 14(2), 30-33.
Dr. Paul Hoff gave a presentation titled "It is a Happy Talent to Know How to (Role) Play" at the fall conference of the Minnesota Council on the Teaching of Languages and Cultures, held Oct. 26-27 in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.
Dr. Paul Hoff gave a presentation titled "It is a Happy Talent to Know How to (Role) Play" at the fall conference of the Wisconsin Association for Language Teachers, held Nov. 1-3 in Appleton.
Dr. Paul Hoff and Nuria Ibarrechevea Hoff co-authored three student activity manuals: “¡Qué chévere! 1: Grammar and Vocabulary,” “¡Qué chévere! 2: Grammar and Vocabulary,” and “¡Qué chévere! 3: Grammar and Vocabulary, 2nd edition.” The manuals were published by Carnegie Learning (EMC World Languages), Pittsburgh (2019).
Dr. Tomomi Kakegawa and Dr. Kaishan Kong along with Dr. Valerie Barske from UW-Stevens Point, participated in a panel discussion at the Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs Annual Meeting Oct. 19 in St. Paul, Minnesota. The panel theme was “SoTL and the Teaching of Asia.” Dr. Kakegawa’s presentation was titled “Developing and assessing extensive reading program in Japanese,” and Dr. Kong’s presentation was titled “Bridge-building in class: how language and perspectives support learning.”
Dr. Kaishan Kong earned a second-place prize in the Cengage Learning Award for Innovative Excellence in the Teaching of Chinese as a Foreign Language competition for her project, titled "Interactive corrective feedback & language gains between peers in Chinese speaking class." It was awarded by the Chinese Language Teachers Association (CLTA), a national professional organization devoted exclusively to the study of Chinese language, culture and pedagogy.
Dr. Kaishan Kong presented her project, "Technology-enhanced language learning in Chinese class,” at the 27th International Conference on Chinese Language Instruction April 27 at Princeton University.
Dr. Kaishan Kong had her paper, titled "Embracing an integrative approach toward emotion in language teaching and learning," published in The Modern Language Journal, 103(2), 539-544, 2019.
Dr. Kaishan Kong gave a poster presentation, "Tandem learning within and beyond the classroom: a win-win situation," at the Japan Second Language Association annual conference on June 1 in Japan.
Dr. Jonathan Rylander, Center for Writing Excellence director/assistant professor of English; Andrew Suralski, Center for Writing Excellence assistant director/ associate lecturer of English; Ami Christensen, lecturer in the department of languages; and Dr. Kaishan Kong, assistant professor of Chinese in the department of languages, co-presented "Where Writing Centers and Language Departments Meet: Building a Community of Practice for Cross-Cultural Communication" at the UW System OPID Spring Conference on Teaching and Learning April 11 in Madison. At this panel, they shared their collaborative work through the Faculty Writing Fellows Program and explored intersections among writing center practices, second language acquisition, and education studies.
Dr. Jessica Sertling Miller organized and hosted the Fourth Annual Wisconsin French Studies Roundtable Oct. 12-13 at UW-Eau Claire, with support from the Office of Research of Sponsored Programs, the Visiting Minority Scholars and Artists Committee and the department of languages. Various events over those two days attracted language students, K-12 teachers and university professors.
At the Fourth Annual Wisconsin French Studies Roundtable Oct. 12 at UW-Eau Claire, Dr. Virginie Cassidy, assistant professor of French at UW-La Crosse and Dr. Jessica Sertling Miller co-presented "Long-distance Relationship: Building Complementary Programs to Strengthen French in Wisconsin." Dr. Lise Hoy presented "Food Studies and Interdisciplinarity in French Language, Culture and Literature Courses."
Dr. Jessica Sertling Miller presented "French in America: Learning the Languages and Cultures of Underrepresented Francophone Communities through Environmental Themes" at the second symposium of CARES21 (Consortium for Agro-Ecological Research and Education in Sustainability in the 21st Century) on interdisciplinary approaches to integrating sustainability and global engagement in the curriculum, which was held Jan. 9-13 in San Pedro de Poás, Alajuela, Costa Rica.
Dr. Jessica Sertling Miller had her review of the textbook "La traduction: un pont de départ" by K. Lappin-Fortin published in the current issue of The French Review, 92(3), page 194.
Dr. Jessica Sertling Miller and Dr. Martina Lindseth had their article, “Taking Ownership: Making Program Assessment Doable, Sustainable, and Rewarding,” published in The Language Educator, Vol. 14, issue 2, pages 40-43.
Dr. Jessica Sertling Miller had her article, “Bienvenue à Marly-Gomont,” published in "Allons au cinéma: Promoting French through film, Vol. 3," a handbook published by the American Association of Teachers of French, pages 179-186. This publication collects peer-reviewed, in-depth pedagogical material to accompany French-language movies. The theme in Vol. 3 is "Immigration and Identity.” Miller's work has appeared in all three volumes.
Dr. Kong Pheng Pha co-authored (with Dr. Aline Lo of Allegheny College) an article titled "Hmong American Literature and Culture," published in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature, edited by Josephine Lee, 1-26. Oxford University Press, October 2018. See article summary.
UW-Eau Claire hosted the Ninth Workshop on Immigrant Languages in the Americas Oct. 25-27, where several faculty members presented their research. Dr. Fabiola Varela-García presented “Isleño Spanish language preservation in Louisiana: 227 years of abandonment, language contact, and invisible immigration”; and Dr. Josh Brown, and undergraduate linguistics student Rachyl Hietpas presented “Postvernacular Dutch in Wisconsin.”
The department of languages was well represented at this year's convention of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, held Nov. 15-18 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Following are the UW-Eau Claire faculty participants and their presentation titles: Dr. Anne Hlas, Pete Swanson (Georgia State University), Ann DeVault (the University of Iowa), Susan Hildebrandt (Illinois State University) and Pam Wesely (University of Iowa) presented "edTPA Profiles: The View from Three States." Hlas also presented "Teacher's Toolbox: Reading Strategies for Interacting with Authentic Texts" with Kelly Conroy (Metropolitan State University of Denver) and Sharon Meilahn Bartlett (Rockford University). Dr. Kaishan Kong, Martha Bigelow, (University of Minnesota) Johanna Ennser-Kananen (Boston University), Ping Peng (Minnetonka Public Schools) and Alice Yang (University of Minnesota) presented "The Intercultural and the Interpersonal in Chinese Language Teaching." Kong also led the ACTFL Teaching and Learning of Culture Special Interest Group Business Meeting with Isabelle Drewelow (University of Alabama) and Jessica Greenfield (Oberlin College & Conservatory). Dr. Martina Lindseth, Cynthia Martin (University of Maryland) and Irina Dolgova (Yale University) presented "Personalizing Instruction Right from the Beginning." Dr. Jessica Sertling Miller, presented "Giving a Voice to Underrepresented Francophone Communities."
Dr. Matt Waters gave an invited presentation titled "What Could Go Wrong? Marriage Alliances and the Path to Peace in Elam" at the Seventh Melammu Workshop at the University of Padova on Nov. 6, 2018. The workshop was held in conjunction with the conference "Making Peace: Transitions after War from Antiquity to the Present," commemorating the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice of Villa Giusti at the close of World War I.
Dr. Matt Waters had his article, "Cyrus Rising: Reflections on Word Choice, Ancient and Modern," published in "Cyrus the Great: Life and Lore," edited by R. Shayegan, 2019, Boston: Harvard University Press, pages 26-45. He also gave an invited lecture, "Assyria's Revenge: The Achaemenid Persian Empire. Assyrian Ideological Continuity in Persian Guise," Feb. 21 at the University of Colorado.
