PALS-Professional Seminars

Text Box: For further information on any of the presentations listed below, please contact
Dr. Minoo Varzegar at (973) 353-5013, or varzegar@aol.com.

Upcoming Presentations

Text Box: Wednesday, April 22, 2009 The Fifth Professional Development Seminar of 2008–2009 Presenter: Ms. Jessica Wilson, “Turning the Tables: Language Immersion Teacher as Language Immersion Student ” For ESL instructors, studying other languages can enhance their teaching proficiency in the English as a Foreign or Second Language classroom. However, the language immersion experience is vastly different from studying a foreign language in the comforts of one’s own country. The language immersion teacher who studies other languages in intensive/immersion settings gains skills beyond merely the knowledge of learning a foreign language in a school-like venue. Placing oneself in the language immersion milieu enables one to “turn the tables” and better put oneself in the students’ places. This presentation details some of the lessons learned by a teacher of intensive ESL who has spent nearly a decade studying foreign languages in immersion settings. It explores the evolution of a teaching style that germinated from rote Curriculum and Instruction pedagogy courses to become more personal and introspective, probes teachers’ responsibilities in an intensive language teaching setting, and considers how sharing the language immersion study experience helps ESL teachers better understand their students’ perspectives from a more empathetic angle. 2:30-3:50 Conklin Hall, Room 346