Workshop on New Trends of Literacy Movement and Cultural Literacy

Saturday, May 7, 2016
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP FOR K-12 TEACHERS
Saturday, May 7th, 2016
Olin Center, Tufts University
180 Packard Ave, Medford, MA 02155
 

Session 1: 1:00-2:50

"The New Trend of Literacy Movement"
Presented by: Yu-Lan LIN
In this workshop participants will be introduced to the notion of “new literacies” development
and will explore how traditional literacy development cab be connected with the new literacies to
further strengthen student’s literacy competency. Traditionally, literacy refers to the ability to
read and write, however, in today’s highly interactive and technology based information world,
traditional literacy skills may not sufficiently equip students with adequate skills to engage in
this fast pace ever changing world. This workshop will examine how to support language
teachers facing this most current trend of literacy movement through the New Literacies
framework, classroom examples and hands-on activities.

Coffee Break: 2:50-3:10

Session 2: 3:10-5:00

"Cultural Literacy"
Presented by: Lung-Hua HU
E.D. Hirsch published his first edition of Cultural Literacy (1987), in which he argued that to participate
fully in society, a person needs more than basic literacy, that is, the ability to read and write. He offered in
his book 5,000 terms that he thought culturally literate Americans should recognize. The list included
dates, historical persons, historical documents, figures of speech (idioms, metaphors), terms from science,
among others. As teachers teaching Chinese to American students, we often focus on helping students
develop their literacy towards Chinese culture, and rightly so. In this part of the workshop, however, we
will focus on applying the same principles onto ourselves regarding our understanding of the American
culture. We will discuss the importance of being culturally literate being a language teacher, especially
for those of us who immigrated here, examine how culturally literate (or illiterate) we are towards
American culture, and finally share tried and true ways to build up our competency. On a day-to-day
scale, this knowledge may benefit us in creating more relevant and engaging lesson plans, but on a larger
scale, a culturally thoughtful curriculum.

5 PDPs

A certificate of five professional development points, which may be applied toward
recertification in Massachusetts, will be issued upon request to participants who complete both
sessions.

Registration

Registration fee: $10 for NECLTA members; $20 for non-members.
Registration limit: 35. First come, first served.
Registration deadline: May 1st, or when the maximum number is reached.
Method of registration: http://neclta.org/programs/workshop-registration
Pay online after registration.
Registration fee will cover your coffee break.

Presenter

Yu-Lan LIN

Dr. Yu-Lan Lin has been a teacher/administrator for 34 years, retired from the position as the Senior
Program Director of World Languages from the Boston Public School system in 2013. She is currently
the Executive Director of the Chinese Language Association of Secondary-Elementary Schools (CLASS).
Dr. Lin has served on the Chinese AP Task Force Committee, AP Curriculum and Assessment
Development Committee, World Language Advisory Committee, and Academy Assembly Committee for
the College Board. She is the recipient of MaFLA’s Distinguished Service Award; NECTFL’s Nelson H.
Brooks Award for Outstanding Leadership in the Profession and ACTFL’s Florence Steiner Award for
Leadership in K-12 Foreign Language Education.

Lung-Hua HU

Hu Lung-Hua received her MA in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) from
Teacher's College, Columbia University in 1993. She is Chinese Program coordinator at Brown
University. Prior to Brown, she taught at CLASS (Chinese Language and Area Studies School in Taipei,
under U.S. State Department, 1987~1991), Princeton University (1994~1999), Princeton in Beijing
(1995~1999), Chinese Summer School at Middlebury (1992), and Columbia (2002) and Duke (2007)
summer programs in Beijing.
Her research interest is mainly focused on Mandarin Chinese phonology and phonetics. Her most recent
research is on second-tone and fourth-tone tone changes. She believes study in patterns of prevalent tone
changes such as these will enable teachers to fine-tune students’ natural speech flow.

Co-sponsors: Confucius Institute at Tufts University and NECLTA