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International Conference on the Local Languages and Local Cultures of China

International conference on the local languages and local cultures of China.

Web Technology for Foreign Language Study: A conference at Brown University

The Center for Language Studies will organize and host a two day conference on aspects of the application of web technology to the teaching and study of foreign languages. Speakers will give presentations and demonstrations of materials in six languages: Japanese, Czech, German, French, Italian, and Portuguese. During the morning of the second day, selected participants will attend a separate hands-on workshops in German, French, and Japanese.

Spanish Writing Center

The project will help establish a Spanish Writing Center at Brown which will assist students in intermediate and advanced undergraduate Spanish courses to improve their writing in Spanish. The Spanish Writing Center will be housed initially in the Language Resource Center and will be staffed by three graduate students from Hispanic Studies. It will provide consultations in person, by telephone, or via e-mail for 27 hours each week.

Pluma: Spanish Writing Center - Continuation

Pluma, the Spanish Writing Center at Brown University, was established last year with a campus-based grant from the Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning. It has been operational since January, 2004. For it we have created a web site with resource links and an online appointment system. Each semester the Center has employed three graduate students who have seen hundreds of undergraduates seeking assistance with course papers for Hispanic Studies literature and culture courses. We have used all of the original funding to fund the first year of operation, and request an additional 3,000 to hire two graduate consultants for the spring of 2005. This spring we will explore the transition to a model whereby we would train undergraduate consultants who are native speakers of Spanish, to be paid from the Hispanic Studies department budget for undergraduate assistants.

Developing Technology Applications in Language Teaching

What does it take to manage projects in the application of technology to language teaching? A symposium at Brown University will address the various aspects of this question. Presentations will demonstrate three innovative projects using digitial technology in language instruction. The symposium will conclude with a group discussion of the issues raised.

New Course Initiative: Language for Special Purposes - Business Japanese

Project will involve conducting interviews with American students of Japanese who engage in business with Japanese counterparts. Materials in print, audio and video format will be purchased for use in developing lessons and activities in Business Japanese.