Curricularizing Language: Unexamined Assumptions and Interacting Mechanisms

Posted by University of Pennsylvania on September 8, 2015

The Language and Literacy in Education group of the Graduate School of Education is proud to invite you to

the 25th Annual Nessa Wolfson Colloquium

Curricularizing Language: Unexamined Assumptions and Interacting Mechanisms

Dr. Guadalupe Valdés
Stanford University

September 9, 2015
9am-2pm

Coffee hour: 9am-10am
Lecture: 10am-12pm
Lunch: 12pm-2pm

Irvine Auditorium, Amado Recital Hall
3401 Spruce Street
University of Pennsylvania

Abstract: In this presentation, I will focus on unexamined assumptions underlying the “teaching” of additional languages in academic settings and on the various interacting mechanisms that inform the design and implementation of language teaching programs. I argue that because our theoretical and pedagogical understandings about language (however defined) and the various visions of multicompetence are still in motion, we must develop a body of knowledge that allows us to work across subspecialties to interrogate problematic popular notions that contribute directly to already established deficit theories and undermine the work that can support the rich multicompetence of Latin@s and other speakers of minoritized languages.

Dr. Valdés’ research explores many of the issues of bilingualism relevant to teachers in training, including methods of instruction, typologies, measurement of progress, and the role of education in national policies on immigration. Specifically, she studies the sociolinguistic processes of linguistic acquisition by learners in different circumstances–those who set out to learn a second language in a formal school setting (elective bilingualism) and those who must learn two languages in order to adapt to immediate family-based or work-based communicative needs within an immigrant community (circumstantial bilingualism). Her research in these areas has made her one of the most eminent experts on Spanish-English bilingualism in the United States.

She is a founding partner of Understanding Language, an initiative that focuses attention on the role of language in subject-area learning, with a special focus on helping English Language Learners meet the new Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards.