Continuing Education

I just returned from a three week seminar in Germany. Sponsored by the German government, I was able to join German teachers from all over the world (from China and Georgia to Ecuador and Paraguay) for a multi-purpose seminar. We studied topics pertinent to second language pedagogy (e.g. literature in the classroom), observed German schools in session, became familiar with five important German cities (Cologne, Leipzig, Weimar, Dresden and Berlin) and worked on projects that we then shared with one another for immediate use in the classroom. It was also an opportunity to improve our academic German as our only shared language was German! It was an intense three weeks with twelve hour days, but well-worth the time and effort.

Job search

Anticipating the completion of my Ph.D. this academic year, I have been responding to job postings for Assistant Professor (Tenure Track) positions. This has involved the creation of a teaching and researching portfolio of quite some length. Online resources such as youtube videos from university HR departments and sample Statements of Research Experience and Statements of Teaching Philosophy have been insightful as to ways others have found of expressing what they do and why, as well as what employers look for and why. None of this replaces in-person mentorship for which I am extremely grateful to several professors who have been willing to read over my writing and provide me with constructive feedback. The job market for professorial positions is competitive and despite preparations for success, one must somehow also prepare for rejection. I am grateful to those university personnel who take the time to update applicants on the status of one’s application.  Wish me luck!

Stair Climbing Challenge update

The Stair Climbing Challenge is over and our team, the Superwomen, did not win for most stairs or most money collected. We decided that our biggest contribution was in the way of team spirit. Here is a link to an article with our picture.

Yesterday I took part in another United Way fundraiser “Are you smarter than a Linguist?”. It turns out none of us were, as the Lingwits, the team from Linguistics, won the overall championship. I feel proud that our team, the Best of All Worlds, representing four different faculties, pulled together to make it to the semi-finals. All in the name of fun and fund raising.

Fundraising for the United Way

Since the Education Tower is the tallest building on campus, it boasts the most stairs. The Faculty of Education has issued a challenge to see who can climb the most stairs during the week of Nov 14-18. I am joining a team of women who are planning to face the stairs with gusto. Read about us: http://www.ucalgary.ca/news/utoday/october13-2011/climb. (I am the Ph.D. candidate mentioned in the article). We have decided to dress up and climb the stairs from the basement to the thirteen floor at noon every day during that week. That’s over 234 stairs! Stairs have previously been my enemy, but every since I have joined the team, I have tried to work stairs into my daily movements around campus. My record so far is from the first floor to the 11th. The trick is to travel light, wear sensible shoes and don’t forget to breathe!

University Teaching

I have three opportunities to teach this semester. The first is part of a LANG course through the Language Research Centre. Open to senior undergrads and graduate students, this block week course offers lectures on the theme “Global Issues in Language Teaching and Learning”.  For more information, check out http://arts.ucalgary.ca/lrc/. I will be teaching on Wednesday: “Global Schooling Solutions for Linguistic Diversity”.

The second course I am teaching is a section of GERMAN 202 Beginner German. I look forward to teaching university students interested in acquiring a second language. I hope to integrate drama, film, music and technology where suitable.

The third course is a teacher preparation course. I will provide one weekly seminar to students in their first year of an after-degree program. The course is still in development and I am part of a larger team, so I look forward to learning more about it this month.

Language Research Centre

Over the course of my M.A. and Ph.D., I have had numerous opportunities to attend lectures at the Language Research Centre (LRC) of the University of Calgary. Topics range from language acquisition to theoretical linguistics to educational or social issues within the fields language teaching and language learning. This April I attended a symposium on Adult Language Learning for International Adult Learner’s Week. I decided to write an article for teachers in the journal Notos based on that event. This article goes beyond reporting the event and involves tracking down the research behind the claims made by panel members. The article has been accepted for publication and should appear in September. Once it is, I am hoping to provide a link.

Data collection

When people ask me how my research is going, I always tell them that I am now in the most satisfying part: data collection. I just love the feeling of getting stuff done. After a long period of conceptualizing the research, it is wonderful to be able to DO research. On top of that, I love working with children and teachers and so find myself in an environment where I feel really at home. It is great to begin transcription of the interviews and tasks and hear some of the comments that support my proposed arguments. Everything is on schedule to conclude data collection at the end of this month. Then the writing begins!

Publications

Publications are encouraged, but it takes considerable time to get an article from idea to reality. My experience has been quite varied. With my Heritage Language Journal article, I responded to a call for papers in January 2008, submitted the first draft in September of that year, received feedback in 2009 and it was published in 2010.  This week, an article stemming from my pilot study last year was published. This came out of a presentation I made in August 2010, which was written up as a first draft in September 2010. I received feedback in January 2011 and immediately the opportunity to edit and have the final article published online in time for the annual gathering of German teachers February 25-27, 2011 in Oakville, Ontario. Have a look at these two articles (www.heritagelanguages.org volume 7 #2 and www.forumdeutsch.ca volume 19 #1).  I can be contacted for feedback at rahdress {at} ucalgary.ca.

Bilingual identity

I was asked during my candidacy exam, what my conceptualization of bilingual identity was. I must confess that I don’t think it was one of my better answers, but I believe I do a much better service to the answer in this newly-published article from my Master’s data. It can be found in the online Heritage Language Journal at www.heritagelanguages.org in issue 7(2), the special issue on identity. I have been anticipating its publication for some time and was delighted to receive the email announcement of its publication on the day following my candidacy exam.

Candidacy oral exam successfully completed

I am still debriefing from my candidacy oral examination that took place yesterday. The paper provided the springboard for questions on theories behind the methodologies and application of the methodological tools to my research proposal. Some questions were truly challenging, because it was clear that the questioner had something particular in mind, but had to craft the question in such general language that it was difficult to decide which direction to take the answer. The post-examination feedback is perhaps most useful. I now know what area of reading I need to concentrate on before beginning my literature review. I also have a few points to discuss with committee members with regards to the wording of specific interview questions that generated a great deal of discussion. For example,  how does one ask parents what dialect they speak at home when the term dialect may convey connotations of judgment regarding the validity of that language variety?

The next step is to receive Ethics Approval from both the University and the School Board, but both processes are underway, so I feel confident that my data collection will begin in the new year.