AATK Conference

The 15th Annual Conference & Workshop
The American Association of Teachers of Korean
Reconceptualizing Korean Teaching: Blueprints for Program Development from K to 16 and Beyond

Thank you to all who attended.  We had a successful conference!

June 24-26, 2010
Washington University in St. Louis

The conference will be held in Seigle Hall.

Keynote Speakers:

June 24, Plenary Lecture for Workshop: Elizabeth Bernhardt, Director, Stanford Language Center, Professor of German Studies, Stanford University

"Standard Setting as a Facilitating and Frustrating Process" 

Prof. Bernhardt will chronicle the development of a Standards-based curriculum across multiple languages in a university setting.  Fundamentally, the talk is a tale of success and satisfaction.  More than 50 language teachers are 'on the same page' in their conceptualization of goals for themselves and their students.  This status enables these teachers to talk across languages in a productive fashion.  For students, the Standards-setting process has helped them to understand the teachers' directions and goals and to appreciate what their teachers have in store for them.  Yet, this tale is not without its twists and turns and potholes.  Getting by in, resisting what comes easy and focusing on what is right, and being honest about falling short on some of the Standards is a key part of the story.

June 26, Plenary Lecture for Conference: Junko Mori, Professor of Japanese Language and Linguistics and Chair of the Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures, University of Wisconsin-Madison

"Whose Language? Whose Culture? Whose Communities?  Some Critical Reflections of a Language Teacher"

Environments surrounding language learners and educators have dramatically changed over the last two decades.  Global population movements, frequent international travel, and advancement of technology have made our world much smaller, and affected the ways in which our students are exposed to a "foreign" language and culture outside of the classroom.  How should we, as language teachers, respond to such transformations taking place outside of the classroom?  How should we conceptualize language and culture to be introduced in our classroom?  What kinds of communities do our students aspire to join through their study of the language and culture?  In this presentation, Prof. Mori will explore these questions by sharing her own reflections as a classroom language teacher.  The presentation will also refer to some key concepts of the National Standards for Foreign Language Learning and examine them from the social and ecological perspectives recently underscored in second language acquisition and socialization research.

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