Applications being accepted for Oral Proficiency Workshop Dec. 14-18, 2019

Oral Proficiency Workshops for Southeast Asian Language Teachers

 University of Wisconsin, Madison, December 14-18, 2019

Sponsored by Southeast Asia Language Council (SEALC)

You are invited to apply to participate in the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) and Language Specific Oral Proficiency Guidelines (OPG) Workshops for Southeast Asian Language Teachers at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Participants should plan to arrive in Madison on the evening of December 13, 2019.  Workshop activities will take place from December 14-18, 2019.

Applications are due by October 4, 2019.

The OPI workshop will introduce the ACTFL rating scale, the structure of the ACTFL OPI, techniques for conducting and rating the interviews, and its applications in the language classroom.

By the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

- interview learners to assess oral proficiency by evaluating interpersonal and presentational modes of oral communication. 

- apply proficiency principles to the tasks of curriculum design and instructional methods. 

- pursue ACTFL certification as OPI tester of your target language if you so desire.

On the last day of the workshop (the 18th), there will be sessions to discuss the development of language-specific Oral Proficiency Guidelines (OPG) for the SE Asian languages. The goal of this language-specific OPG project is to formulate proficiency guidelines that will address specific attributes of your language. This standardization will promote better communication among instructors and allow for more reliable tests. The language specific OPG will provide a common yard stick for the field and also allow students to gauge their own progress.

Those who have had prior OPI training are invited and encouraged to join the OPG workshop on December 18 (arriving on Dec 17).

Upon completion of the workshop, there will be follow-up activities online, involving collaboration among colleagues within language groups where there are sufficient numbers of teachers to form a working group. The language specific groups will collect and rate oral proficiency interviews. For those collecting and rating interviews, there will be a second workshop in Fall 2020 to consolidate the data and to formulate the oral proficiency guidelines (OPG) for your language (SEALC will provide modest honorarium and cover major travel expenses for this 2020 workshop).

Priority will be given to those applicants who make a firm commitment to participate in the follow-up activities.

Applications should be submitted online at https://uwmadison.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8uGqJoTvm6xJvXD by October 4, 2019.

To apply to participate in the Oral Proficiency workshops, please submit:

1. A one page statement describing your background in teaching a Southeast Asian language and your commitment to apply the knowledge you gain from the training to participate in the OPG project for your language.

(For those with prior OPI training who would like to join the Dec 18 OPG workshop and follow-up project, please state where and when your OPI training was obtained and your commitment to participate in the OPG project for your language)

2. Your CV covering your language teaching experience.  

With acceptance, your registration cost for the workshop is covered. 

To request funding support for travel and accommodation

3. Submit a statement of need including information from your institution indicating what portion of the cost they can cover.  It is expected that participants from NRCs will seek travel funds from their institutions, but if full funding is not available, please specify level of travel support your institution can offer.

Active membership in COTSEAL is required to participate in the ACTFL workshop. To renew or become a member please fill out this form: http://cotseal.net/COTSEAL_membership_form.pdf

Questions should be addressed to sealc@iris.wisc.edu.