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Successful defense!

I was ecstatic to have defended my dissertation “Simultaneous and Sequential Bilinguals in a German Bilingual Program”. The committee’s questions were challenging to be sure, but that was to be expected, especially in light of the many disciplines that were represented around the table. There were certainly times during this whole process when I felt that I may have bitten off more than I could chew. Having chosen such an in-depth project required equally detailed writing. The end product, including those edits that I had to make afterward, is the result is as much about learning to writing as it is about the content. I wish I knew then what I know now and I certainly aspire to apply what I have learned to future writing.

I was especially delighted to have four guests at my open defense, who shared in the excitement and also gave me some excellent feedback.

Looking back, I wish I had gone to some doctoral defenses before my own. I felt confident about the process, having witnessed a few Master’s defenses. In hindsight, I realize that doctoral defenses are that much more difficult and it would have helped to attend one.

Looking forward, I have plans for articles stemming from this dissertation and a few courses lined up to teach in the fall semester. The job search continues as well.

 

 

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Writing my dissertation

I thought I had posted more recently, but the work of writing my dissertation consumed most of the last few months. There is the feeling that it will never be done, never be perfect, and some days, even the feeling that it is all wrong! Then there comes a point when it comes together and one can be satisfied, maybe even content. The near final edits occur (of course, there is more editing after the defense) and the document is printed and distributed. I submitted my dissertation to my committee on June 25 and now I am preparing for the defense.

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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.

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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!

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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.

 

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

Update: The full citations for these articles are:

Dressler, R. (2010). “There is no space for being German”: Portraits of willing and reluctant Heritage Language Learners of German. Heritage Language Journal, 7(2), 162-182. Retrieved from www.heritagelanguages.org

Dressler, R. (2011). German-English bilingual programs: Transitioning to a dual immersion model? Forum Deutsch, 19(1), 11-22. Retrieved from http://www.forumdeutsch.ca/f/nf30catg