Title

Presenters

Description

Location and

Interest Section

Speaking Needs of IMBA Students

Denise Mussman, University of Missouri-St. Louis

The presenter will discuss the results of an eight-month long study on oral communication challenges and coping strategies of MBA transfer students to the U.S. from China and Taiwan, who then participated in internships at local businesses in St. Louis, MO. She will focus on factors that improved their listening comprehension and confidence to speak in classes and at work, the strategies the students formed, and ways instructors can help.

The presenter will discuss the results of an eight-month long study on oral communication challenges and coping strategies of MBA transfer students to the U.S. from China and Taiwan, who then participated in internships at local businesses in St. Louis, MO. She will focus on factors that improved their listening comprehension and confidence to speak in classes and at work, the strategies the students formed, and ways instructors can help.

Salon A

University/Higher Education

Students' Writing Center Experiences

Padam Chauhan, Options Charter School, Noblesville, IN

The paper presents a qualitative research study that explored the effectiveness of the Writing Center (WC) in a Midwestern U.S. university. Data were collected from in-depth interviews conducted with thirty undergraduate ESL students representing different linguistic, cultural, and academic backgrounds and were analyzed following Braun and Clarke's (2006) thematic analysis approach.

The study revealed WC's effectiveness in enhancing the writing skills of ESL students. The ESL students found that WCs as non-hierarchical, student-focused support centers, where peer and professional writing tutors helped them by offering constructive feedback on higher-order and lower-order concerns and citation styles, online resources, and coping strategies. During consultations, the tutors also involved tutees in dialogic interaction, which helped them understand assignment expectations, build confidence, and encourage them to write regularly. The study informs the writing tutors, ESL writing instructors, and WC administrative staff regarding the efficacy of WCs, which may bring changes in ESL courses and classroom pedagogy to improve ESL students writing skills and increase their academic success in the context of US higher education.

The paper concludes with some recommendations on how WCs, ESL writing instructors, and ESL students' peers could improve ESL students to improve their academic writing skills.

Salon B

Secondary Schools, Teacher Education, University/Higher Education

Joining conversations through rhetoric

Harris Bras, Purdue University

; Heejeon Bras, Purdue University

Classical Rhetoric offers tools to help second language learners explore texts and unpack unfamiliar cultural norms. This session will present two rhetorically oriented techniques: a neo-Aristotelian Rhetorical Analysis assignment comparing and contrasting two dissimilar persuasive essays and a SOAPSTone strategy for academic reading and writing.
 
Concerns with rhetoric and cultural thought patterns can lie at the foundations of second language writing studies. Rhetorical Analysis tasks often ask students to identify and categorize appeals in editorials or advertisements under ethos, pathos, or logos. However, asking language learners to compare two dissimilar argumentative essays problematizes simplistic views of “western” rhetoric as linear (often derived from TOEFL preparation and standardized testing), provides models of multiple ways arguments can be designed and executed, and creates opportunities to discuss recent insights from fields like social psychology.

The SOAPSTone strategy can be used to help students understand narrative and expository texts. This skill becomes particularly important with academic reading and writing as many second language learners have underdeveloped inferential skills. SOAPSTone stands for Speaker; Occasion; Audience; Purpose; Subject; and Tone.

Assignment sheets and rubrics for both techniques will be provided and discussed.

Salon C

University/Higher Education

Hiring/Career Fair for ENL/ESL Educators

(Continues until 3:45)

Donna Albrecht, Indiana University Southeast

This event will provide a space for school districts, Intensive English Programs, Adult/Community English Programs, Universities, and other entities who are hiring or may be hiring in the future to provide information about their institution and job opportunities to potential candidates. Participants must either be conference participants or vendors for the INTESOL 22 Conference. 

Salon D

Adult/Community Programs, Intensive English Program, K-12, Teacher Education, University/Higher Education

Plain English in Multilingual Classrooms

Kelly Farkas, Purdue University

; Vikrant Chap, Purdue University

Demands on the classroom teacher are ever increasing. Every year educators are faced with new initiatives and fancy acronyms to memorize and implement. The Plain English Movement, with origins in David Mellinkoff’s book Language of the Law, has been in existence for decades, yet it is not a common area of inquiry in educational research. This is not to say that Plain English is entirely absent from education. Publications such as Oxford Guide to Plain English shape the approach to literacy instructions. Based on good intentions, the aim of plain English or plain language is to create “wording, structure, and design so clear that the intended audience can easily find what they need, understand what they find, and use that information” (Redish, 2014). In our presentation, we will draw upon the relevant literature to discuss the specifics regarding the origins of the movement, its spread world-wide, and what this means for the K-12 classroom teachers in the multilingual realm. Specific to Indiana K-12 classrooms, the growing demographics of culturally and linguistically diverse students call for equitable and inclusive classroom practices. Is Plain English a viable possibility to accessibility and inclusivity? This session will speak to this question in detail.

Salon E

K-12, Teacher Education, Interdisciplinary

Mary Encabo Bischoff, Purdue University Fort Wayne;

Olivia Jovevski, Purdue University Fort Wayne;

Alex Pamin, Purdue University Fort Wayne;

Jenn Litchfield, Purdue University Fort Wayne 

School & Families Together:  Our Story

Amy Halsall, MSD of Warren Township

Do you want to learn more about creating a welcoming environment for your school’s multilingual learners? Do  you want your families to be fully engaged and an integral part of your school? Do you have a passion for learning new strategies for your multilingual students and families? If so, then this session is for you.

 The  presenter works at a dual language school and has classroom experience, and experience teaching multilingual learners and is multilingual herself. She will use her background to engage with you and enrich your understanding of working with multilingual learners and their families. She hopes that you will learn new strategies to take back to your school and is excited to share her story with you.
Participants will be inspired by heartwarming stories and will learn best practices and strategies to co-create a welcoming environment for multilingual learners and their families. Our school motto is World Learners Today-World Leaders Tomorrow (Alumnos del mundo hoy y líderes del mundo mañana). Participants will learn how to welcome students and families from the moment they enter the building and beyond. Participants will also learn how to partner with families so that students and families feel welcomed and valued

GB 4

Advocacy, Elementary Education, K-12

Pull the Lever, Kronk!

Nichole Seal, Perry Township Schools

Participants in this session will be able to apply the examples and the tool immediately to their current role whether it be teacher, coordinator, or administrator, etc.  Participants will have multiple guides and tools to assess where they need to grow next.  If you have ever thought:
We are stuck and not sure what we should do next?
Our data doesn't look very good?  What can we do?
It seems like we are not growing this one group of Multilingual Students.
How do we create shared ownership among the staff? 

If these questions are ones that you have asked and/or wondered, please join this session to get ideas and answers!

Let's pull some levers!

GB 5

Advocacy, K-12, Refugee Concerns, Secondary Schools, Teacher Education

Intensive Learning for underachievers

Yixin Zhang, Purdue University

English language learning is still a big challenge for Chinese students, especially for those who need to pass some English test to further their study which has nothing to do with English language skills. Students of all majors are struggling with their English learning if they want to get enrolled in graduate schools, because it is a mandatory part of the national Postgraduate Admission Test. This research seeks to find out if the intensive/immersive reading and learning method could work for those who have always been underachievers in English learning. 29 participants were volunteered to take the course and all the tests. The results show some inconsistency in terms of whether they have made a significant increase in their learning outcome. Even though the data do not pass the paired-sample t-test, the mean score in the two sets of data all increased, which is worthy of further discussion and follow-up research.

GB 6

Elementary Education, Intensive English Program, K-12

Contemplative Listening for Educators

Susan Adams, College of Education, Butler University

In this facilitated 45 minute workshop session, participants will get some quiet, reflective time in which to think, remember, write, share, and listen to the stories of other educators. We will reclaim some sanity, remember why our work matters deeply, and reconnect with our deepest professional intentions and identities. In addition to experiencing the benefits of engaging in this contemplative personal work, participants will be asked to identify potential applications and adaptations of our process for use in their own professional education settings.

Veterans 1

Adult/Community Programs, Advocacy, Elementary Education, Intensive English Program, K-12, Refugee Concerns, Secondary Schools, Teacher Education, University/Higher Education

Untold Stories for Speaking & Listening

Jennifer Jump, Teacher Created Materials

In this session, educators will:
*  Experience an Untold Story, worthy of reading, showcasing an ordinary person who does extraordinary things.
*  Engage with high-utility strategies to provide students with ample and authentic opportunities to speak and listen.
*  Practice designing lessons that support students' language development

Veterans 2

Elementary Education, K-12, Teacher Education

SEL & Culturally-Responsive Books

Cristiane Howard, Indiana University Southeast

First, I will discuss Cultural Competency by sharing examples in which students' cultural background and/or past trauma played a role into their school behaviors.

Then, I will share brief insights from Hammond's book - Culturally-Responsive Teaching and the Brain.

After that, I will share discussion questions I created to use with a culturally-responsive book in order to get to know students' stories and trauma, and activities I created to use with another book to address negative feelings towards learning English and acclimating to the American culture.

 Next, I will share how I used a book to promote diversity in a school wide event.

Lastly, a list of more culturally-responsive books will be shared.

Veterans 3

Refugee Concerns, Socio-Emotional Needs of Newcomers