U of A World Languages, Literatures and Cultures to Host Townhall Meeting and Symposium

The World Languages, Literatures & Cultures Department at the U of A will host a two-day event promoting the world language education in Arkansas. A townhall meeting and reception focused on "Mapping the Future of Language Teaching in Arkansas" will be held on Friday, April 8, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Inn at Carnall Hall. The Spanish & World Languages Symposium will be held on Saturday, April 9, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. Registration and free online presentation link below).

On Friday, keynote speaker Sam Eisen, director of programs of the National Security Education Program (NSEP) of the U.S. Department of Defense, will present on "World Languages for National Security and Global Competitiveness: Needs, Opportunities, Careers." The presentation addresses the language gaps in the national security sector (including Spanish), some of the economic needs identified in some of the state roadmap projects and showcases the grant and scholarship programs as well as careers for the NSEP alumni. The keynote presentation will be preceded by a performance of Latin American music by Lía Uribe, Miroslava Panayotova, Matt Brusca and Fernando Valencia.

On Saturday, keynote speaker Kim Potowski, University of Illinios, Chicago, will present "Apples and oranges: Best approaches in working with Spanish heritage speakers."

Heritage speakers are increasingly common in Spanish classrooms around the U.S., and they differ in important ways from beginning second language students. What are some typical profiles of heritage speakers ("apples") and how are they linguistically and affectively different from second language students ("oranges")? How can we determine appropriate curricular goals, instructional approaches and placement procedures to best serve heritage speakers? And what can instructors do when a separate heritage speaker course is not possible, resulting in a classroom with a mix of "apples" and "oranges"? Teachers of both types of students are invited to learn more about this important aspect of our profession.

The townhall meeting is part of a forthcoming report on Spanish in Arkansas, addressing the following questions: what is the state of world languages education in Arkansas? How far are we from meeting national standards, and how do we compare to our surrounding states? What are the challenges and opportunities in world language education in our state? The report will be a policy guiding document that will assess the state of Spanish Pre-K-16 education in Arkansas and make key recommendations to further world language education in our state. The report is scheduled to be released in the fall of 2022.

The Spanish & World Languages Teaching Symposium is a collaborative effort of the Department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures of the U of A and the World Language Department of the University of Arkansas Fort Smith.  

The primary goal of the symposium is to provide an opportunity for Spanish and other world language instructors at the elementary, secondary and university levels to come together to share ideas, best practices and cutting-edge research on teaching languages, literatures and cultures.    

Home to global corporations and vibrant multilingual immigrant communities, world language education is highly relevant in Arkansas today, providing our students an education that will allow them to build more just and inclusive communities and be effective and ethical global citizens and world leaders.

Both initiatives, the Spanish Landscape Report and the Spanish and World Languages Symposium, are part of the grant Arkansas Participation in a 500 Million Person Community; Building Capacity for Innovation in Spanish Teaching State Wide, a two-prong project funded by the U of A Chancellor's Humanities Grant, and co sponsored by the World Languages, Literature and Cultures Department; the Spanish Program; the Comparative Literature & Cultural Studies Program; the Latin American and Latino Studies Program; the Diane D. Blair Center for Southern Politics & Society; and Vista Higher Learning.  

The project is led by professors Luis Fernando Restrepo, Brenda Magnetti, Raquel Castro Salas and Elkin Pérez, and doctoral student Chloe Spellman. Professor Rebecca Foote, Betina Arellano and Clinton School of Public Service intern Farrah Beck have also participated in this project.

For registration or more information, visit spanishroadmap.uark.edu or write to sroadmap@uark.edu. 

Friday's presentation by Eisen can be accessed here via Zoom.

Saturday's presentation by Potowski can be accessed here via Zoom.