特邀讲座

演讲人：Professor Heidi Byrnes 

讲座主题：Assessing (intercultural) Content Learning in L2 Learning: A Case Study

时间：12月9号（星期五）14:00

地点：华东师范大学闵行校区外语学院319会议室

主持人：杨延宁

Introduction of the Speaker:

Heidi Byrnes is George M. Roth Distinguished Professor of German Emerita at Georgetown University. Her research, scholarship, and teaching have focused on adult instructed second language learners, specifically the development of advanced levels of literacy. She is a member of several editorial boards, is a past president of the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) and is the recipient of numerous professional association awards, including AAAL’s Distinguished Scholarship and Service Award and Georgetown University’s lifetime research achievement award. She currently serves as editor-in-chief of the Modern Language Journal.

Topic：

Assessing (intercultural) Content Learning in L2 Learning: A Case Study

Abstract:

Three closely interrelated claims, assumptions, and learning goals frame my talk: First, the claim that language learning is inherently about learning content, particularly ‘intercultural’ content. Second, the assumption that learning ‘content’ presupposes the ability to use certain language resources. Third, the belief that competently using another language and expressing content in another language should manifest itself in a kind of knowledge construction with an intercultural arc, thereby revealing the inherently multilingual competence of the L2 user. While these claims and assumptions reiterate long-standing educational goals that affirm the study of language as a humanistic and values-laden enterprise, providing evidence for their attainment that rises above superficial and/or non-theorized pronouncements continues to be a challenge for the language studies field.

In my talk I will report on a project in my home department, the German Department at Georgetown University, the so-called humanities assessment project, in which we sought to ascertain the extent to which our language learners were in fact also multicompetent knowledge creators. In other words, we sought to answer the question: on the basis of what evidence would we know the extent to which these claims actually hold? The data come from writing by early advanced L2 users. I will present the steps we took in that project, its major findings, and consider some instructional and programmatic implications. 

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图文编辑：朱湘凝