Program Information

In an intensive colloquium on March 1, 2002, through the formation of a virtual community during the Spring 2002 semester, and in a follow-up summary colloquium on May 10, 2002, CUNY faculty who teach languages other than English (LOTEs) will learn about and discuss practical and theoretical issues that arise in the use of instructional technology --- Internet-based technology in particular --- in LOTE instruction.

The timeline for the event is listed in the program page.

This program is open to faculty affiliated with any LOTE department throughout the CUNY system.  Because space is limited, please register for the program if you wish to participate.

Practical and Theoretical Applications

Recent advances in instructional technology, particularly those which take advantage of Internet-based technologies to distribute content material to students, present a tremendous opportunity for innovative and effective instruction in LOTEs.  Such technologies have greatly simplified the delivery of real language materials and of interactive learning activities.  The Internet also provides an endless supply of activities designed specifically to enhance proficiency in a multitude of languages:

• Exercises with instant feedback to improve grammatical knowledge
• Task-based assignments to expand vocabulary
• Interactive drills to sharpen pronunciation and sound discrimination

All of this can be delivered to the LOTE student electronically, for remote or campus-based access, on a centralized website, designed from scratch or created with the aid of course management tools such as Blackboard.

In combination with a curriculum that during contact hours focuses on communicative competence (knowledge of the principles that guide appropriate language use in particular contexts), Internet support for LOTE instruction provides a mechanism for students to work asynchronously on improving their grammatical competence (knowledge of the principles that generate grammatical sentences in a language).  Such technologies, some of which permit the student both asynchronous and synchronous distance interaction with an instructor and with classmates, also make feasible the development of curricula for distance language learning.

This faculty development program will address issues specific to the implementation of Internet-based instructional technology in the teaching of LOTEs.  These issues include:

• The suitability of "real language" materials for students with different language history profiles
• The appropriateness of task-based activities for the various levels of language instruction (beginning, intermediate, advanced)
• The adaptability of varying technologies for interacting with the user in a LOTE, using the standard orthography of the language

We thank the CUNY Faculty Development program for funding this event.
We thank the CUNY Council on Foreign Language Study and the Queens Consortium on Languages Other Than English for their sponsorship.