Madison Shumway
Staff Writer
More than 80 educators and students traveled to ISU October 6 and 7 for the annual Idaho Association of Teachers of Languages and Culture conference.
Attendees came from all over the state for two days of instruction on teaching techniques and standards. The schedule featured a mix of specialized breakout sessions and conference-wide gatherings.
“Every year that I come down to this conference, I go back with new ideas and new energy,” said Linda Hall, an educator from Bonner’s Ferry who is retiring this year. “When I come here, I feel like I’m part of a family.”
Some workshops targeted only French, German or Spanish teachers, while others were intended for all audiences. Specialists in the field shared effective teaching strategies for high school classrooms and led discussions.
Topics ranged from “Pourquoi Brexit?” to presenting movies in the Spanish classroom. Teachers could receive professional development credit for attending.
“I learned several things that I can immediately employ in my classroom to get my students to use the language more,” said David Swenson, a Spanish teacher at Highland High School in Pocatello.
The association conducted general business and elected new officers at the end of the conference. Sponsors and supporters included ISU’s Diversity Resource Center, the College of Arts and Letters, the Department of Global Studies and Languages and ISU Credit Union.
The theme of the conference, which is the 55th the association has hosted, was “Quality of the World Language Classroom.”
A keynote speaker, Chris Loether of ISU’s anthropology department, discussed national World-Readiness Standards for teaching world languages.
The standards fall under five categories, known as the five C’s: communication, cultures, connections, comparisons, and communities. The five areas are goals of teaching languages to students.
“I hope [teachers] take back a lot of enthusiasm to their own classrooms, because to me, language learning is always fun,” Loether said. “You see some students always struggle, and I can understand … but I think you really need to make it fun. Because it really is.”
Loether mentioned his experiences with other languages and cultures, incorporating anecdotes with the specifics of the standards. He emphasized the impact culture has on language.
For example, it’s considered rude in Navajo to talk to strangers, or in Welsh to ask a person his or her occupation. He said he was surprised to learn that the news differs in other languages because what is important to the people differs.
The professor speaks German, Spanish, Welsh, Swedish, Japanese, Hebrew and Arabic at different levels. Originally a political science major, Loether found his calling in a Native Americans in the Southwest course and eventually studied linguistic anthropology.
Loether discussed his time studying the Mono language in central California. In the 70s, when he first met a native speaker, the language was only spoken by a dozen people.
Now, Loether has helped publish two Mono dictionaries and is working on a book of pedagogical grammar to teach the language in schools.
“Learning a language is like being a violin player. You’ve got to practice,” he said. “You’ve got to put in the time every day … It’s a lot of work, but it’s very rewarding at the end.”
After Loether’s speech, IATLC president Valia Tatarova presented the association’s Teacher of the Year awards to Heather Ohrtman Rogers from Jenifer Junior High and Cassie Shelton from Mountain View High School.
“I know that not every student is going to leave my class fluent. Most won’t,” Shelton said.“But if they can leave with an appreciation for a culture and a language that is not their own, and their perspective of the world can be broadened, then I’ve done my job.”
