Spanish and French continue to be the most common foreign languages taught in
elementary schools.
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Strategies & Methodology
Click here for information on the latest in early language teaching methods.
Materials & Curricula
Discover a wealth of information on foreign language curricula and teaching materials.
Student Assessment
Find information on how to assess students' foreign language skills.
Search a database to find programs in your area.
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Courses & Workshops
Here you will find workshops and courses of particular interest to early foreign language teachers. In addition to online courses, the list includes courses offered both during the school year and over the summer, arranged in alphabetical order by state. Also, please check our resources under Teacher Certification Programs and Calendar of Events.
If you would like your workshop or course listed or know of others, please send us an e-mail.
Online Courses
Foreign Language Teaching Methods Online
The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and Weber State University (Ogden, UT) have developed a graduate online teaching methods course for preservice and inservice K-12 foreign language teachers. The course was described in a feature article of LanguageLink (2002).
Spanish/French Language and Culture Online
These graduate courses, offered by Bennington College,
VT, allow students to explore cultural issues in the target language
through authentic texts. The weekly workload for these courses averages
5–6.5 hours/week. Three graduate language credits. For more
information or to register, contact Nancy Pearlman at 802-440-4710
or npearl@bennington.edu.
Developing Leaders Through Teacher Research: Action Research for Teachers
Because action research can be complex and dynamic, students
are assigned a mentor who will support them through the research process.
Students are required to correspond with their mentor at least once a
month, developing and refining their projects as they unfold. Students
are also encouraged to enter into online discussions with the other students
in their mentor’s care to strengthen both their cohort ties and
their research skills by helping each other. The weekly workload for this
course averages 6–8.5 hours/week. Four graduate education credits.
For more information or to register, contact Nancy Pearlman at 802-440-4710
or npearl@bennington.edu.
Connecticut
Central Connecticut State University
CCSU offers two summer courses, "Methods and Materials for Teaching World Languages at Elementary School Level," and "Teaching World Languages II: Language Acquisition in Young Children."
Connecticut Department of Education
World Languages K-8: Methods, Materials, and Curriculum Development. A 10-day course offered at Maloney Interdistrict Magnet School, Waterbury, CT, July 9-20, 2007. For information, contact Jessica Haxhi.
Iowa
National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center at Iowa State University
The Center usually offers summer institutes on a variety of topics, including leadership development.
Maine
Summer Methods Workshop, University of Maine, Farmington
This graduate level three-credit class is designed to help teachers incorporate modern languages into the K-8 curriculum. The course is based upon the Learning Results of the State of Maine and is appropriate for teachers from any state who wish to incorporate foreign language teaching and learning standards into their classrooms. It can be taken for French or Spanish.
Michigan
Center for Language Education and Research (CLEAR)
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
CLEAR offers summer workshops for teachers. past topics included: (1) Developing online language materials and (2) Toward friendly assessment in the foreign language classroom. CLEAR offers Continuing Education Units (CEUs) from the State of Michigan, which are free of charge and may count toward teacher certification. More information is available on the Web site or by phone at 517.432.2286 or email.
Minnesota
Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA)
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Weeklong workshops on: Maximizing Study Abroad: Strategies for Language and Culture Learning; Material Development for Less Commonly Taught Languages; Developing Assessments for the Second Language Classroom; Focusing on Learner Language: Basics of Second-Language Acquisition for Teachers; Styles of Strategies Based Instruction (SSBI); Proficiency-Oriented Language Instruction and Assessment (POLIA); Immersion 101: An Introduction to Immersion Teaching; Meeting the Challenges of Immersion Education: Is Immersion for All?; Culture as the Core in the Second Language Classrooms; Using Technology in the Second Language Classroom. For more information, see the CARLA Web site or contact by telephone (612) 626-8600 or email.
Concordia Language Villages
Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota
This graduate course in second language methodologies focuses on immersion language instruction and how it can be applied to the K-12 language classroom. After an introduction to immersion teaching principles and their application to the language classroom, participants visit the Concordia Villages to see the methods in action. For a half-day the participants become villagers at one of the Scandinavian Language Villages, experiencing what it is like to be beginning language-learners. Subsequent visits to the Villages allow teachers to observe how the language they teach is taught and reinforced throughout the day. They are encouraged to participate in all the activities offered throughout the day from language-learning sessions to songs, dances, soccer, artwork, café, and nature hikes.
Languages: 13 languages, including German, French, Spanish, Arbaic, Scandinavian, and Asian languages. Three credits are possible through Concordia College after fulfilling requirement. Cost is 1135.00; scholarships are available to teachers of the Central States and for German language teachers through
AATG.
Information at
the Web site or by phone (800-222-4750) or
email.
New Jersey
The Foreign Language Educators of New Jersey (FLENJ)
Offers regular workshop of interest to early language educators.. For more information, registration, and directions, go to their Web site.
Upcoming workshops include how to use student performance data and curriculum adjustments to maximize student performance.
Ohio
Summer Program East Asian Concentration at Ohio State University
Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
Training Programs for Teachers of Japanese and Chinese as well as language immersion classes; Learning East Asian Languages in Cross-Cultural Contexts; Presentation of East Asian Languages and Cultures.
For more information, consult the Web site or contact by phone (614) 688-3080; or email.
Texas
National FLES Institute of Texas
The Hockaday School, Dallas, Texas
This 4 1/2 day intensive workshop is
offered in teh summer. It is intended to provide detailed instruction to all FLES teachers, program administrators, and foreign language supervisors involved with the teaching of foreign language at the elementary level.
For more information, check the Web site or contact Marcela Gerber, Institute Director & Founder.
Isabelle Kaplan Center for Languages & Cultures at Bennington College
Bennington, VT.
Summer Graduate Immersion Residency Courses in French and Spanish
This three-week Immersion program combines a Language and
Culture course with an Assessment course. The courses are integrated with
each other and taught in the target language. In the Language and Culture
course, a content-based pedagogy is explicitly modeled, providing a basis
for analysis in the Assessment course.
Six graduate credits (3 language credits, 3 education credits). For more
information or to register, contact Nancy Pearlman at 802-440-4710 or
npearl@bennington.edu.
Virginia
American Association of Teachers of German, TPRS Coaching and Learning Seminar
July 22-27, 2007, Sweet Briar College in Sweet Briar, Virginia.
Course description: TPRS is a method that is revitalizing German programs. Come learn how to use
TPRS in your classroom or improve your TPRS skills. This workshop is taught by
Julie Baird (Wawasee High School, Syracuse, IN), Rob Williams (Fairfax High
School, Fairfax, VA), and Hank Schwab (North Central High School, Indianapolis,
IN), three respected German TPRSers. The workshop is arranged with break-out
sessions for beginning, intermediate and advanced TPRS teachers with some whole
group instruction. Beginners learn the basics. The intermediate group will cover
basics and move on to tackle some of the more difficult components of teaching
in a TPRS classroom. The advance session is a coaching session to practice those
difficult skills that make or break a TPRS lesson. All participants will
experience learning Japanese through TPRS. For more information, see the AATG Web site.
Washington, D.C.
NCLRC Summer Institutes for Foreign Language Educators
Georgetown University, The George Washington University, Center for Applied Linguistics; Washington, D.C..
NCLRC offers a wide variety of workshops that focus on teaching Arabic, French, Spanish, Chinese, assessment, video production, and culture, among others. For more information, see the Web site or call 202-973-1086.
Updated
July 6, 2007
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