Summer workshops for language teachers at Michigan State University

Every summer since 1997, the Center for Language Education and Research
(CLEAR) at Michigan State University has offered professional development
workshops. Teachers of all levels from all over the country have come to MSU's
campus for these practical, informative and timely courses. Join us for one or
two courses from our tenth anniversary series of professional development
workshops!

Conducting Action Research in the Foreign Language Classroom
July 9-11, 2007

Action research is research conducted by practitioners (i.e., language teachers) with
the aim of making positive changes in teaching practices and learning outcomes.
This workshop is designed for practicing language teachers with little to no prior
research experience who would like to implement an action research project in their
own classrooms.

Integrating Technology and Assessment for Language Teaching and Learning
July 12-14, 2007

Advances in technology and developments in the field of language assessment come
together in this CLEAR workshop, which is designed for teachers of all languages.
The overall goal is to show how technology facilitates assessment, and how
assessment in turn facilitates learning. 

Focus on Form in the L2 Classroom
July 16-18, 2007

This workshop will address how to integrate attention to accurate use of  language
within activities that are designed to promote fluent oral production. Should teachers
correct learner errors during communicative activities? If so, how should errors be
corrected? Which errors should be addressed? These questions, among others, will
be explored in detail during this workshop.

Keeping Teacher and Student Talk in the Target Language 
July 19-21, 2007

Most teachers and teacher educators believe that maximal use of the target
language in foreign language classrooms is best for facilitating language
acquisition. Sometimes, however, various obstacles preventthe teachers
and students from speaking the target language. This workshop will focus
on both teacher and student language use and strategies to maximize target
language use by both groups.

Making the Most of Video in the Foreign Language Classroom
July 30-August 1, 2007

Teachers and researchers agree that video materials can enhance the learning
environment in foreign language classrooms by providing rich, contextualized
input. This workshop will consider multiple uses of video as well as techniques
for adapting authentic materials to learners of various proficiency levels.

Language Teaching and Technology
August 2-4, 2007

Technology in the classroom can ease your classroom management tasks, provide
a change of pace for your students, provide you with an opportunity to include the
target community, and provide you with easy access to written documents of
students' language production.During the workshop you will experience technology
from a learner's perspective and at the same time you will be provided with activities
for your own teaching. You will also have the opportunity to develop your own materials.