Summer professional development opportunity roundup

It’s hard to believe spring is right around the corner with the cold weather we’ve been having in New Haven and across the East Coast. Yet, a steady stream of announcements about professional development opportunities for language educators during summer months leaves no doubt that it’s time to start making plans.

In this post I’ve brought together several opportunities I’m aware of–thanks to Suzanne Young for much help with this! Please leave a comment below if you’re aware of others. The listing is generally in order of dates, although there is some overlap.

Here’s to a productive (and warm) summer!

1. CAL (Center for Applied Linguistics) Institutes, Washington, D.C.

From the CAL website:

CAL is continuing to expand its successful series of professional development institutes focusing on key issues for educators. CAL Institutes provide research-based strategies and practical, hands-on tools to help you develop effective classroom activities, including meeting the demands of the Common Core State Standards.

Sessions include:

• Spanish Literacy Institute (May 20-21)
• What’s Different Training of Trainers (June 25-27)
• SIOP Training of Trainers: Foundations (July 14-17)
• SIOP Training of Trainers: Advanced (July 14-17)
• Research-Based Vocabulary Instruction for English Learners – Grades K-12 (July 18)
• What’s Different Direct Strategies (July 22-24)
• Hot Topics in ELL Education: Developing Academic Literacy and Language in the Content Areas (Aug 4-5)
• Hot Topics in ELL Education: Oral Language, Math and Science (Aug 6-8

2. CALPER (Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research) 2014 Summer Workshops, Penn State University. Priority registration deadline: May 12.

From the CALPER website:

The Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research (CALPER) at the Pennsylvania State University is one of fifteen Title VI Language Resource Centers (LRCs) in the United States which are funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

CALPER’s particular focus is to improve the environment of advanced-level foreign language teaching and learning, and assessment.

Sessions include:

• Vocabulary Teaching and Learning (June 9-10)
• Discourse Analysis and the Teaching of L2 Writing (June 11-12)
• Designing Projects for the Chinese Classroom (June 13)
• Google Apps for Teaching Chinese (June 14)
• Concept-based Language Instruction (June 16-17)
• Badges and Language e-Portfolios (June 18-19)

3. ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) Proficiency Assessments Summer Institute, hosted by Brigham Young University.

From the ACTFL website:

ACTFL is proud to present the first ever Proficiency Assessments Summer Institute hosted by Brigham Young University. We are offering a diverse range of workshops to better meet the growing demand for newly certified testers and raters across assessments and certifications.

Sessions include:

• OPI Assessment Workshop (June 17-20)
• MOPI Assessment Workshop (June 19-20)
• OPI Advancement Training Workshop (June 19-20)
• WPT Rater Training Workshop (June 17-18)

4. CARLA (Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition) Summer Institutes 2014, University of Minnesota. Early Bird registration deadline: May 30.

From the CARLA website:

[CARLA] at the University of Minnesota has offered a summer institute program for second language teachers since 1996. The institutes offered by CARLA reflect our commitment to connecting research with practice as well as our ongoing mission to share what we’ve learned with teachers and their second language learners. Linking research and theory with practical applications for the classroom, each institute includes discussion, theory-building, hands-on activities, and networking with colleagues.

Sessions include:

• Using the Web for Communicative Language Learning (July 7 – Aug 10)
• Using Technology in Second Language Teaching (July 14-18)
• Second Language Acquisition Basic for Teachers (July 14-18)
• Improving Language Learning: Styles- and Strategies-Based Instruction (July 14-18)
• Content-Based Language Instruction and Curriculum Development (July 21-25)
• Culture as the Core in the Second Language Classroom (July 21-25)
• Developing Assessments for the Second Language Classroom (July 28-Aug 1)
• Language and Culture in Sync: Teaching the Pragmatics of a Second Language (July 28-Aug 1)
• Developing Materials for Language Teaching (July 28 – Aug 1)
• An Introduction to Immersion Teaching for Chinese and Japanese (July 21-25)
• An Introduction to Immersion Teaching (July 28 – Aug 1)

5. NFLRC (National Foreign Language Resource Center) Language for Specific Purposes Summer Institute, University of Hawai’i at Manoa. Application deadline: March 31.

From the NFLRC website:

Language for specific purposes (LSP) courses and programs focus on developing learner communicative competence in a particular professional or academic field (e.g., Korean for business, Japanese for health care providers, etc.). This summer institute will provide accepted participants with training and experience in developing LSP courses (including doing needs analysis, setting goals and objectives, assessing, developing materials, teaching, and evaluating LSP) for their home institution…

Session dates: July 7-11.

6. CLEAR (Center for Language Education and Research) 2014 Summer Workshops, Michigan State University. Early bird application deadline: May 16. Regular application deadline: June 1.

General introduction from the CLEAR website:

As [a Language Resource Center], CLEAR strives to promote and support the teaching and learning of foreign languages in the United States through its various projects and outreach activities […] In the upcoming years, CLEAR will continue to develop materials for foreign language teaching and learning, conduct research on the teaching and learning of foreign languages, and provide professional development opportunities for educators in the field.

Sessions include:

• The Basics of Creating Assessments: From Principles to Practice (July 14-16)
• Rich Internet Applications for Language Learning: Introductory Techniques (July 17-19)
• Speaking Activities for Oral Proficiency Development (July 21-23)
• Using Authentic Materials in all Levels of Foreign Language Classes (July 24-26)

7. NHLRC (National Heritage Language Resource Center) 2014 STARTALK/NHLRC Teacher Workshop, UCLA.

From the NHLRC website:

This workshop is designed to help language teachers face the challenge of teaching heritage language students. It will prepare them to understand the differences between teaching L2 and HL learners, the issues involved in heritage language teaching, and how to address them. Participants will explore ways to design their own curriculum and select materials and assessment tools. They will learn how to involve students as ACTIVE participants in the learning process. The five Cs recommendations from the National Standards will be implemented throughout the workshop.

Session dates: June 23-27. Sponsored languages include: Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Swahili, Turkish, Urdu.