<b>Purpose:</b> Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate many mechani... more <b>Purpose:</b> Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate many mechanisms of lexical acquisition that support language in typical development; however, 1 notable exception is the shape bias. The bases of these children's difficulties with the shape bias are not well understood, and the current study explored potential sources of individual differences from the perspectives of both attentional and conceptual accounts of the shape bias.<b>Method:</b> Shape bias performance from the dataset of Potrzeba, Fein, and Naigles (2015) was analyzed, including 33 children with typical development (<i>M</i> = 20 months; <i>SD</i> = 1.6), 15 children with ASD with high verbal abilities (<i>M</i> = 33 months; <i>SD</i> = 4.6), and 14 children with ASD with low verbal abilities (<i>M</i> = 33 months; <i>SD</i> = 6.6). Lexical predictors (shape-side noun percentage from the MacArthur–Bates Communicative Development Inventory; Fenson et al., 2007) and social-pragmatic predictors (joint attention duration during play sessions) were considered as predictors of subsequent shape bias performance.<b>Results: </b>For children in the low verbal ASD group, initiation of joint attention (positively) and passive attention (negatively) predicted subsequent shape bias performance, controlling for initial language and developmental level. Proportion of child's known nouns with shape-defined properties correlated negatively with shape bias performance in the high verbal ASD group but did not reach significance in regression models.<b>Conclusions: </b>These findings suggest that no single account sufficiently explains the observed individual differences in shape bias performance in children with ASD. Nonetheless, these findings break new ground in highlighting the role of social communicative interactions as integral to understanding specific language outcomes (i.e., the shape bias) in children with ASD, especially those with low verbal abilities, and point to new hypotheses concerning the linguistic content of these interactions. [...]
In this work we report on a collaborative project at a large Northeastern University, in which we... more In this work we report on a collaborative project at a large Northeastern University, in which we explored how to best collaborate to develop interdisciplinary teaching units, which integrate intercultural citizenship (Byram, 2008) into world languages, mathematics and social studies sixth grade curricula. We argue for the importance of addressing current critical areas in education. After introducing a framework that allows teachers to focus on the development of intercultural citizenship while at the same time fostering skills in the diverse content areas, we report on how we worked with a group of graduate students, teachers and administrators in order to co-design interdisciplinary units focused on intercultural citizenship. An example of such an interdisciplinary unit is provided along with lessons learned about how we can facilitate this type of interdisciplinary collaboration. Our recommendations are based on qualitative analyses of the notes, memos and observations documente...
In the pursuit of education, teachers and students have an ethical responsibility related to the ... more In the pursuit of education, teachers and students have an ethical responsibility related to the production and expansion of human knowledge that can be addressed through a thoughtful approach to world language education fully considering the context in which we operate." (Osborn, 2006, pp.8) introduction to the topic What comes to mind when we think of a Spanish Foreign Language Elementary School (FLES) classroom? We might imagine a group of children singing songs, completing simple sentences through memorization, or playing simple games. Traditionally, objectives associated with these activities are the development of speaking and listening skills and cultural awareness (Reeves, 1989). Now let us zoom into a different classroom environment: A Spanish teacher and a group of children are looking at a graph that they created together in their combined Mathematics and Spanish lesson. The graph is based on data the students collected for their Spanish class. The teacher asks in Spanish, "How many 'personas' eat five pieces of fruit or more per day?" The children look at the graph and raise their hands. Then the children start asking questions. The questions are real and sometimes unexpected. In some cases the teacher has to promise to find an answer and bring it to next class. During another class meeting the students explore a Google map, again based on the data collected by students.
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 2018
Purpose Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate many mechanisms of lexical acqui... more Purpose Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate many mechanisms of lexical acquisition that support language in typical development; however, 1 notable exception is the shape bias. The bases of these children's difficulties with the shape bias are not well understood, and the current study explored potential sources of individual differences from the perspectives of both attentional and conceptual accounts of the shape bias. Method Shape bias performance from the dataset of Potrzeba, Fein, and Naigles (2015) was analyzed, including 33 children with typical development (M = 20 months; SD = 1.6), 15 children with ASD with high verbal abilities ( M = 33 months; SD = 4.6), and 14 children with ASD with low verbal abilities (M = 33 months; SD = 6.6). Lexical predictors (shape-side noun percentage from the MacArthur–Bates Communicative Development Inventory; Fenson et al., 2007) and social-pragmatic predictors (joint attention duration during play sessions) were consi...
We share and engage participants in a discussion of the results of collaborative interdisciplinar... more We share and engage participants in a discussion of the results of collaborative interdisciplinary work to create interdisciplinary (mathematics, world languages, social studies) curriculum units integrating intercultural competence and social justice for 6th grade. We present initial results of the analysis into the essence of the collaboration along with challenges.
This chapter bridges theories of social justice (e.g., Osborn, 2006) and intercultural citizenshi... more This chapter bridges theories of social justice (e.g., Osborn, 2006) and intercultural citizenship (e.g. Byram, 2008) to classroom practices in an introductory German course at a research university. By interpreting a fairy tale [Cinderella], 16 university students reflected on issues of gender roles and (in)equality both in historical and current contexts. Several activities in a 75-minute online session are described. In this brief intervention, students demonstrated the ability to contemplate complex, real-life issues such as gender roles and stereotypes using the target language.
Every year, students from different indigenous communities in Colombia set out on a journey to hi... more Every year, students from different indigenous communities in Colombia set out on a journey to higher education. Although previous research has looked into students' challenges at university, there is still the need to understand indigenous students' mobility trajectories in terms of how they come to grips with the new material, semiotic, and symbolic realities they face upon leaving their reservations. In this conceptual paper, we provide a discussion of research in mobility, critical intercultural dialogue, and critical pedagogy to answer the question, "How can conceptualizations of mobility and critical interculturality shed light on our understanding of indigenous students' experiences at public universities?" We combine the concept of mobility with elements from a decolonial, critical intercultural view, and critical intercultural pedagogies. We conclude that mobility trajectories are highly marked by placed-based identities that connect students to their territories. Students contest processes of symbolic deterritorialization and deculturation by engaging in forms of re-contextualization and material and symbolic rearrangements of university sites which allows them to embody and enact their identities. We end the article with principles and strategies proposed in culturally sustaining pedagogies and other critical intercultural pedagogies which have significant potential to facilitate indigenous students' intercultural mobility on university campuses.
This article focuses on how attitudes toward HLLs have changed, both with regard to program devel... more This article focuses on how attitudes toward HLLs have changed, both with regard to program development and in learning and teaching. First, the ambiguity towards heritage language preservation is illustrated by examining historical aspects of heritage languages in the United States. Secondly, a closer look at two examples of heritage language learning, namely Korean and Spanish, reveals the complexity of language policies and funding decisions regarding HLL. Finally, research in language teaching and linguistics confirms that a shift in attitude toward the HLL is underway. Rather than considering HLL as a pedagogical challenge or problem, researchers and practitioners start investigating and reporting the opportunities of HLL for the classroom as well as for second language acquisition research. Non-English language education has been a source of controversy for over 170 years, since Germans entering the United States wanted to hold onto their religious and linguistic heritage, saw saving the faith as synonymous with saving the language (Edwards, 2006). In Ohio, in 1840, German-speaking citizens lobbied for and won the passage of a law requiring the teaching of German in the local school system if the number of requests reached 75. At least seven other states followed suit. In St. Louis, as well, persuaded by a threat of public school boycott, the board initiated German-language classes at the elementary level. Enrollment consisted not only of students of German descent, but also Anglo-American pupils as well (Tyack, 1974). Tyack (1974) describes this process as "immigrant groups seeking symbolic affirmation of their worth" (p. 108). But, this affirmation often includes attempting to block the introduction of other languages. Tyack (1974) reports of a German-American leader who decried the potential introduction of the languages of Hungarian, Polish, and Italian peoples, and documents other language curricula that were introduced into the common school, including Polish, Italian, Czech, Norwegian, French, Spanish, and Dutch, among others. However, beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, Dicker (1996) reports, the Englishspeaking population became increasingly concerned with the increase of linguistic diversity in
Alvino E. Fantini, School for International Training, USA: This book offers educators an approach... more Alvino E. Fantini, School for International Training, USA: This book offers educators an approach to developing &#39;intercultural citizenship&#39; and illustrates ways in which teachers and learners can cooperate to develop an openness and willingness to learn about others and to resolve conflicts peacefully. The world today desperately needs more citizens competent to do just this. Youzhong Sun, Beijing Foreign Studies University, China: Foreign language education for intercultural citizenship is a bold and beautiful idea. Those who care about globalisation and its consequences, and foreign language education and its cultural dimensions, are strongly advised to read this book and join Michael Byram&#39;s global club of teacher-researchers who have the vision and courage to implement that bold and beautiful idea in the classroom. Prue Holmes, Durham University, UK: This international research-led anthology – on teaching and learning about intercultural democratic citizenship through language education – is important, timely, and practical in an increasingly interconnected world. The chapters, developed by language teacher-researchers from the CULTNET network (Durham University, UK), offer new theoretical and practical innovations for language educators everywhere as they seek to develop intercultural understanding and active citizenship in their language learners. Editors: The contributors to this volume have collaborated to present their work on introducing competences in intercultural communication and citizenship into foreign language education. The book examines how learners and teachers think about citizenship and interculturality, and shows how teachers and researchers from primary to university education can work together across continents to develop new curricula and pedagogy. This involves the creation of a new theory of intercultural citizenship and a procedure for implementation. The book is written by teacher researchers who aim to help other teachers, and concludes with reflections on the lessons they have learnt which will help others to implement these ideas in their own practice. The book is essential reading for foreign language educators and researchers, students in pre-service teacher training and teachers in in-service training.
<b>Purpose:</b> Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate many mechani... more <b>Purpose:</b> Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate many mechanisms of lexical acquisition that support language in typical development; however, 1 notable exception is the shape bias. The bases of these children's difficulties with the shape bias are not well understood, and the current study explored potential sources of individual differences from the perspectives of both attentional and conceptual accounts of the shape bias.<b>Method:</b> Shape bias performance from the dataset of Potrzeba, Fein, and Naigles (2015) was analyzed, including 33 children with typical development (<i>M</i> = 20 months; <i>SD</i> = 1.6), 15 children with ASD with high verbal abilities (<i>M</i> = 33 months; <i>SD</i> = 4.6), and 14 children with ASD with low verbal abilities (<i>M</i> = 33 months; <i>SD</i> = 6.6). Lexical predictors (shape-side noun percentage from the MacArthur–Bates Communicative Development Inventory; Fenson et al., 2007) and social-pragmatic predictors (joint attention duration during play sessions) were considered as predictors of subsequent shape bias performance.<b>Results: </b>For children in the low verbal ASD group, initiation of joint attention (positively) and passive attention (negatively) predicted subsequent shape bias performance, controlling for initial language and developmental level. Proportion of child's known nouns with shape-defined properties correlated negatively with shape bias performance in the high verbal ASD group but did not reach significance in regression models.<b>Conclusions: </b>These findings suggest that no single account sufficiently explains the observed individual differences in shape bias performance in children with ASD. Nonetheless, these findings break new ground in highlighting the role of social communicative interactions as integral to understanding specific language outcomes (i.e., the shape bias) in children with ASD, especially those with low verbal abilities, and point to new hypotheses concerning the linguistic content of these interactions. [...]
In this work we report on a collaborative project at a large Northeastern University, in which we... more In this work we report on a collaborative project at a large Northeastern University, in which we explored how to best collaborate to develop interdisciplinary teaching units, which integrate intercultural citizenship (Byram, 2008) into world languages, mathematics and social studies sixth grade curricula. We argue for the importance of addressing current critical areas in education. After introducing a framework that allows teachers to focus on the development of intercultural citizenship while at the same time fostering skills in the diverse content areas, we report on how we worked with a group of graduate students, teachers and administrators in order to co-design interdisciplinary units focused on intercultural citizenship. An example of such an interdisciplinary unit is provided along with lessons learned about how we can facilitate this type of interdisciplinary collaboration. Our recommendations are based on qualitative analyses of the notes, memos and observations documente...
In the pursuit of education, teachers and students have an ethical responsibility related to the ... more In the pursuit of education, teachers and students have an ethical responsibility related to the production and expansion of human knowledge that can be addressed through a thoughtful approach to world language education fully considering the context in which we operate." (Osborn, 2006, pp.8) introduction to the topic What comes to mind when we think of a Spanish Foreign Language Elementary School (FLES) classroom? We might imagine a group of children singing songs, completing simple sentences through memorization, or playing simple games. Traditionally, objectives associated with these activities are the development of speaking and listening skills and cultural awareness (Reeves, 1989). Now let us zoom into a different classroom environment: A Spanish teacher and a group of children are looking at a graph that they created together in their combined Mathematics and Spanish lesson. The graph is based on data the students collected for their Spanish class. The teacher asks in Spanish, "How many 'personas' eat five pieces of fruit or more per day?" The children look at the graph and raise their hands. Then the children start asking questions. The questions are real and sometimes unexpected. In some cases the teacher has to promise to find an answer and bring it to next class. During another class meeting the students explore a Google map, again based on the data collected by students.
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 2018
Purpose Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate many mechanisms of lexical acqui... more Purpose Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate many mechanisms of lexical acquisition that support language in typical development; however, 1 notable exception is the shape bias. The bases of these children's difficulties with the shape bias are not well understood, and the current study explored potential sources of individual differences from the perspectives of both attentional and conceptual accounts of the shape bias. Method Shape bias performance from the dataset of Potrzeba, Fein, and Naigles (2015) was analyzed, including 33 children with typical development (M = 20 months; SD = 1.6), 15 children with ASD with high verbal abilities ( M = 33 months; SD = 4.6), and 14 children with ASD with low verbal abilities (M = 33 months; SD = 6.6). Lexical predictors (shape-side noun percentage from the MacArthur–Bates Communicative Development Inventory; Fenson et al., 2007) and social-pragmatic predictors (joint attention duration during play sessions) were consi...
We share and engage participants in a discussion of the results of collaborative interdisciplinar... more We share and engage participants in a discussion of the results of collaborative interdisciplinary work to create interdisciplinary (mathematics, world languages, social studies) curriculum units integrating intercultural competence and social justice for 6th grade. We present initial results of the analysis into the essence of the collaboration along with challenges.
This chapter bridges theories of social justice (e.g., Osborn, 2006) and intercultural citizenshi... more This chapter bridges theories of social justice (e.g., Osborn, 2006) and intercultural citizenship (e.g. Byram, 2008) to classroom practices in an introductory German course at a research university. By interpreting a fairy tale [Cinderella], 16 university students reflected on issues of gender roles and (in)equality both in historical and current contexts. Several activities in a 75-minute online session are described. In this brief intervention, students demonstrated the ability to contemplate complex, real-life issues such as gender roles and stereotypes using the target language.
Every year, students from different indigenous communities in Colombia set out on a journey to hi... more Every year, students from different indigenous communities in Colombia set out on a journey to higher education. Although previous research has looked into students' challenges at university, there is still the need to understand indigenous students' mobility trajectories in terms of how they come to grips with the new material, semiotic, and symbolic realities they face upon leaving their reservations. In this conceptual paper, we provide a discussion of research in mobility, critical intercultural dialogue, and critical pedagogy to answer the question, "How can conceptualizations of mobility and critical interculturality shed light on our understanding of indigenous students' experiences at public universities?" We combine the concept of mobility with elements from a decolonial, critical intercultural view, and critical intercultural pedagogies. We conclude that mobility trajectories are highly marked by placed-based identities that connect students to their territories. Students contest processes of symbolic deterritorialization and deculturation by engaging in forms of re-contextualization and material and symbolic rearrangements of university sites which allows them to embody and enact their identities. We end the article with principles and strategies proposed in culturally sustaining pedagogies and other critical intercultural pedagogies which have significant potential to facilitate indigenous students' intercultural mobility on university campuses.
This article focuses on how attitudes toward HLLs have changed, both with regard to program devel... more This article focuses on how attitudes toward HLLs have changed, both with regard to program development and in learning and teaching. First, the ambiguity towards heritage language preservation is illustrated by examining historical aspects of heritage languages in the United States. Secondly, a closer look at two examples of heritage language learning, namely Korean and Spanish, reveals the complexity of language policies and funding decisions regarding HLL. Finally, research in language teaching and linguistics confirms that a shift in attitude toward the HLL is underway. Rather than considering HLL as a pedagogical challenge or problem, researchers and practitioners start investigating and reporting the opportunities of HLL for the classroom as well as for second language acquisition research. Non-English language education has been a source of controversy for over 170 years, since Germans entering the United States wanted to hold onto their religious and linguistic heritage, saw saving the faith as synonymous with saving the language (Edwards, 2006). In Ohio, in 1840, German-speaking citizens lobbied for and won the passage of a law requiring the teaching of German in the local school system if the number of requests reached 75. At least seven other states followed suit. In St. Louis, as well, persuaded by a threat of public school boycott, the board initiated German-language classes at the elementary level. Enrollment consisted not only of students of German descent, but also Anglo-American pupils as well (Tyack, 1974). Tyack (1974) describes this process as "immigrant groups seeking symbolic affirmation of their worth" (p. 108). But, this affirmation often includes attempting to block the introduction of other languages. Tyack (1974) reports of a German-American leader who decried the potential introduction of the languages of Hungarian, Polish, and Italian peoples, and documents other language curricula that were introduced into the common school, including Polish, Italian, Czech, Norwegian, French, Spanish, and Dutch, among others. However, beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, Dicker (1996) reports, the Englishspeaking population became increasingly concerned with the increase of linguistic diversity in
Alvino E. Fantini, School for International Training, USA: This book offers educators an approach... more Alvino E. Fantini, School for International Training, USA: This book offers educators an approach to developing &#39;intercultural citizenship&#39; and illustrates ways in which teachers and learners can cooperate to develop an openness and willingness to learn about others and to resolve conflicts peacefully. The world today desperately needs more citizens competent to do just this. Youzhong Sun, Beijing Foreign Studies University, China: Foreign language education for intercultural citizenship is a bold and beautiful idea. Those who care about globalisation and its consequences, and foreign language education and its cultural dimensions, are strongly advised to read this book and join Michael Byram&#39;s global club of teacher-researchers who have the vision and courage to implement that bold and beautiful idea in the classroom. Prue Holmes, Durham University, UK: This international research-led anthology – on teaching and learning about intercultural democratic citizenship through language education – is important, timely, and practical in an increasingly interconnected world. The chapters, developed by language teacher-researchers from the CULTNET network (Durham University, UK), offer new theoretical and practical innovations for language educators everywhere as they seek to develop intercultural understanding and active citizenship in their language learners. Editors: The contributors to this volume have collaborated to present their work on introducing competences in intercultural communication and citizenship into foreign language education. The book examines how learners and teachers think about citizenship and interculturality, and shows how teachers and researchers from primary to university education can work together across continents to develop new curricula and pedagogy. This involves the creation of a new theory of intercultural citizenship and a procedure for implementation. The book is written by teacher researchers who aim to help other teachers, and concludes with reflections on the lessons they have learnt which will help others to implement these ideas in their own practice. The book is essential reading for foreign language educators and researchers, students in pre-service teacher training and teachers in in-service training.
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