Plenary Speaker: Dr. Bill VanPatten
An internationally known scholar of both second language acquisition and second language teaching, Bill has published widely with too many publications to mention here. In addition, he is the author of pedagogical materials in both Spanish and French. His more recent books, While We’re on the Topic (published by ACTFL) and Key Questions in Second Language Acquisition (published by Cambridge) are must-reads for everyone. But Bill is more than a scholar. As an entertainer, he has performed standup comedy and has recently turned his attention to writing fiction. His first novel, Seidon’s Tale, recently received the 2019 Kops-Fetherling International Books Silver Phoenix Award for Best New Voice in Fiction. He is currently wrapping up his second and third novels while also finishing several publications in second language acquisition. Catch him next year, after the pandemic, as he launches his one-man farewell show “Almost Suitable for Work.”
"Barriers to Innovation in Language Program Direction"
Abstract: We have all heard about revolutions in language teaching—big leaps in thinking that offer insights and new methods for the classroom (e.g., The Direct Method, ALM, Communicative Language Teaching). Yet, such revolutions wither quickly and never really take root. It seems that innovation in language teaching is difficult if not impossible. Why is this? In this talk, I will first differentiate between what I call “real innovation” and “pseudo-innovation”, suggesting that the vast majority of what people call innovation in language teaching is actually pseudo-innovation. I will then outline five interrelated barriers to real innovation: knowledge, personnel, institutionalized education, power, and time. Each barrier suggests radical reformation of how we view the profession, perhaps explaining why real innovation is so difficult. I will conclude with a discussion of what I call “incremental innovation”, focusing on whether such a thing is possible in lieu of real innovation.