Community Engagement

Annual Colloquium on Language Teaching

The Annual Colloquium on Language Teaching seeks to create a community of language teachers & learners, promote interdisciplinary collaboration, and encourage research in the field of Language Education.

The 18th Colloquium on Language Teaching was held on Saturday, February 10, 2024.

This year’s Colloquium included a Keynote Address by Dr. Claudia Fernádez (University of Illinois at Chicago). With more than 20 years of language teaching experience, Dr. Fernández' research interests are in the area of task-based language teaching, materials development, and input processing.

She is the co-editor of Using Language Learning Materials: Theory and Practice (Cambridge Scholars Publishing), the co-author of the textbooks Aula en acción (Klett World Languages) and the author of "What is and what is not comprehension-based communicative language teaching?" (Klett World Languages, 2024).

She is the current recipient of the Teaching Recognition Program award at UIC for excellence in teaching.

Note: The department of World Languages and Literature is hosting the Hispanic Linguistics Symposium in October 2024. Because of this, we are canceling the Annual Colloquium on Language Teaching this school year. We will resume the colloquium in 2026.

Essay-Writing Contest

Why Languages Matter 2024

Students participating in the 2024 essay-writing contest hosted by the Department of World Languages (WLL) and Literature and the M.A. in Language Teaching program answered the following prompt:

“The president of West Virginia University (WVU), E. Gordon Gee, recently announced that they would close the department of World Languages, Literatures and Linguistics. One reason for this decision, President Gee argued, is that students could achieve language training through apps. For this writing contest, write a 200-400 word letter in your target language (i.e., the language that you are studying currently) to E. Gordon Gee, WVU’s president, explaining why the department of World Languages, Literatures and Linguistics should be kept open and continue to provide their students with quality foreign language education”.

We are happy to announce this year’s winners, selected by a Jury composed of eight WLL faculty members:

1st Prize:

Ibrahim Ramírez: Junior; Bellevue East HS. Target Language: Spanish.

Runners-Up:

Morgan Blaha: Senior; Bellevue East HS. Target Language: Spanish.
Aleaya Strong: Senior; Bellevue East HS. Target Language: Spanish.

Congratulations! Felicitaciones!
Claudia García, Ph.D.

csgarcia@unomaha.edu

Why Languages Matter 2023

Students participating in the 2023 essay-writing contest hosted by the M.A. in Language Teaching program answered the prompt: ‘Language courses often make use of music in the target language to introduce students to the vocabulary, culture, etc. For you, as a language learner, what is the role of music in your language learning trajectory? In your essay, explore how music in the target language has been instrumental in your own personal discoveries and explorations.’

The First Prize was awarded to “Mi música y mi inglés,” by Marina González Macías, from Benson High Magnet School (Honors Spanish).

The Second Prize went to “Untitled,” by Layla Cromwell, from Bennington High School (French III).
Both Marina and Layla are currently juniors.

• Writing Contest Rubric
• SPAN 1110 – Playlist 1
• SPAN 1110 — Playlist 2
• SPAN 1110 – Playlist 3
• SPAN 1110 – Playlist 4
• SPAN 1110 – Playlist 5

Why Languages Matter 2022

Students participating in the 2022 contest answered the prompt: ‘Identify one of the major challenges for the world, your own community, or anywhere in between, in the decades ahead and describe how knowing multiple languages can help address it.’

The 2022 Grand Prize Winner was Magda García, a student at Bryan High School in a Spanish For Heritage Speakers 5-6 class.

The 2022 Runner-up Winner was Danielle Manning, a student at Lincoln Southwest High School in an AP French class.

The purpose of this event is to provide students a space to express how language matters in society today. We ask students to consider the ways in which language not only reflects our everyday reality, but also creates bridges and connections toward a better future.