Mira Canion
CCFLT President 2007-2008
Dear Colleagues,
Ask any second language teacher: learning another language is
important. Why doesn’t everyone agree? Often it feels like we are
pirates trying to snatch dropped coins from the treasure chest of
educational funding and national policy. How could we commandeer
foreign language instruction into more prominence? In what ways
could we encourage the larger community to better validate our
work?
Unfortunately, too many Americans have the impression that second
language study is comprised mainly of verb conjugation and endless
vocabulary lists. Seems the more pertinent question is whether or
not our students understand a language group’s cultural behaviors,
history, economics, political institutions, and societal values.
Furthermore, after several years of foreign language study, would our students be better able to
help steer U.S. foreign policy, navigate a small business within a global economy, or contribute
innovative solutions to global issues?
Our conference theme of Commandeering the Seven Cs may prove to address these questions by
helping steer our instructional ships through the 5 Cs of the National Standards: Communication,
Culture, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities. The 5 Cs propose that students
purposefully use a language in order to access all types of information. That’s a shift from
traditional instruction that promotes the study of language within communicative topics.
Combining with the 5 Cs are the two Cs of CCFLT. Our annual Spring Conference serves as the
best foreign language professional development in the state. Some of the best classroom practices
and approaches are represented in our extra workshops: thematic units, story-based, input-rich,
and technology. The presenters are outstanding. Helena Curtain is considered one of the leading
experts in foreign language education. Period.
Our Friday keynote luncheon speaker, John De Mado, is sure to keep you laughing. Every hour
boasts a language-specifi c session: Chinese, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish. There are
also two technology sessions per hour. Even Saturday sessions are so packed you’ll be wishing
you had an eye patch to choose just one session an hour. So jump on board and bring along a few
pirates looking to steal ideas.
We extend a special welcome to our new friends from SOCALLT -- the South Central Association
for Language Learning Technology -- who are collaborating with us on this year’s Spring
Conference.
The 2008 Spring Conference is dedicated to our very own treasure,
the late Kris Wells, who steered me in hotel selection, theme, work
ethic, and passion for language teaching.
Conference Ahoy! See you in February!
Respectfully,
Mira Canion
