What do you do at the University of Oregon, and how are you connected to LTS?
I am faculty at the American English Institute and the Associate Director of Educational Technology at the Northwest Indian Language Institute (NILI). I specialize in CALL, pronunciation and intonation, and International Graduate Teaching Fellow (IGTF) Training, as well as work with indigenous language revitalization. I teach classes in the LTS program on CALL in the Spring and Summer terms. One of my favorite classes is the Summer CALL class where I get to witness firsthand the metamorphosis of the project papers into academic presentations. I love seeing the creative and innovative ways LTS students come up with to present their work to the UO community.
What do you think is most important for LTS students to get out of the program?
Since I work with small, endangered languages I am a bit biased. I feel the LTS program offers a rare opportunity for new teachers to raise their awareness of the issues of minority languages and the threats to linguistic diversity, both here in the US and around the globe. This is something my MA program in TESOL did not do.
Just as we are witnessing the severe threats to endangered species around the globe, similarly we are seeing the world’s languages disappearing. The teaching of major languages like English is not the cause of the problem, but it certainly can exacerbate the problem. I think the LTS program – with its emphasis on building language education professionals rather than English teachers – leaves graduates with a sensitivity to these issues. I think LTS grads see mother tongue language as a basic human right. As language professionals we should “tread lightly” on smaller, more vulnerable languages. We should not leave our students with the explicit or even implicit assumption that some languages are more valuable, useful or more fit for the modern world than others. LTS students get to experience this first hand through exposure to faculty and peers working on less commonly taught and endangered languages.
What message do you have for LTS students this week?
August 6, 2015 at 9:03 am
Thank you Robert for your advice and guidance these last few terms! Having a solid framework for the presentations was really invaluable and definitely helped me to envision the product in a way that would be helpful for my audience. We’re lucky to have your support!