tedu 500 Language Variation in the Classroom: An educator’s toolkit

2011 Dates TBA
3 graduate credits

In this course, we will examine some of the major differences in the speech and writing of students who are who are speakers of Southern English and/or African-American English and students who are new learners of English. We will share assessment tools needed to recognize language variation and distinguish language diversity from student error in listening, reading, and writing in students of all ages. We will also explore other aspects of communication, such as word choice, slang, tone, silence, and loudness, and how variation in their use can affect learners in the classroom.  We will demonstrate methods and activities that educators can use to address language variations in their students’ speech and writing. We will practice strategies designed to help non-standardized English-speaking students approach reading and standardized test taking.

What will you take home?

Participants will develop a set of materials based on their new knowledge of language variation, including lesson plans and project plans, that they can incorporate into their own classroom materials. The creation of teacher journals, lesson plans, project plans, and presentations will help educators develop their sociolinguistic knowledge and will serve as take-home materials that teachers can bring back to their classrooms and schools.

Extended Opportunities for Participants

Participants in this workshop have the opportunity to apply to become an Educator Consultant in a National Science Foundation funded grant titled "An Examination of Effective Methods of Communicating About Language Variation to Educators." Participants will be compensated with a stipend of $250 to attend an additional workshop and to provide feedback during the next school year. Textbooks and materials will be provided for use in con-junction with the workshops (valued at $100) and an additional $100 for educator materials for their own content development. Click here to learn more.

Instructor Bios

Dr. Anne Harper Charity Hudley
Assistant Professor of English
Program in Linguistics
William & Mary Professor of Community Studies
The College of William and Mary
acharity@wm.edu
http://wmpeople.wm.edu/ahchar

Anne H. Charity Hudley is Assistant Professor of English, Professor of Community Studies, and Director of the Linguistics Laboratory at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA. She teaches service-learning centered courses on African-American English, language variation and change, and speakers’ attitudes towards language variation in the United States. Dr. Charity Hudley has worked with K-12 teachers through lectures and workshops sponsored by the American Federation of Teachers and by public and independents schools in many districts across the United States. Charity Hudley has served as a consultant to the National Research Council Committee on Language and Education and to the National Science Foundation's Committee on Broadening Participation in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) sciences.

Dr. Christine Mallinson
Assistant Professor in the Language, Literacy & Culture Program
Affiliate Assistant Professor in the Gender & Women’s Studies Program
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
mallinson@umbc.edu
http://userpages.umbc.edu/~clmallin/

Christine Mallinson is Assistant Professor in the Language, Literacy, and Culture Program and Affiliate Assistant Professor in the Gender and Women's Studies Program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). At UMBC, she teaches graduate courses on research methods and seminars related to sociolinguistics.  Mallinson teaches a service-learning course on language, race, and ethnicity, in which UMBC graduate students serve as interns, partnering with teachers at a small Baltimore charter high school that primarily serves lower-income students to develop educational projects on the theme of Diversity in Language and Culture.

Contact Us

For more information about this workshop, contact Eleanor Sharp at (804) 828-8831