BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//events.la.psu.edu//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20201101T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20200308T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16893-68e7932698bae07309c428cdb3d0c9b0@events.la.psu.edu DTSTAMP:20260609T021424Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20201009T090000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20201009T103000 SUMMARY:PSUxLing6: Esther Brown (University of Colorado) & Gillian Lord (Univers ity of Florida) DESCRIPTION:The World Is Not Flat\, So Why Are Our Textbooks?\nDr. Gilli an Lord\nFollowing the Modern Language Association’s (2007) recommendati ons\, and in the face of declining enrollments nationwide\, language pro grams are beginning to undertake serious self-reflection with respect to curricula and pedagogical approaches. This process often reveals the ne ed to reenvision the approach to teaching languages\, literatures\, and cultures. One such way language educators look to innovate their teachin g is by embracing digital tools\, whether of their own design or those t hat accompany textbook packages. While there is no doubt that digital ma terials facilitate opportunities for fostering the “translingual and tra nscultural competence” called for by the MLA\, it is less clear when and how these technologies will cease to be add-ons and begin to serve a mo re integrative function in transforming teaching and learning. To this e nd\, Dr. Lord argues that the paper-based textbook has outlived its usef ulness in today’s world\, both logistically and pedagogically\, and that the change we need in terms of how we teach cannot fully take place unt il we change the materials we use to teach. To demonstrate\, Dr. Lord ex plains the theoretical underpinnings that went into the design and devel opment of her new co-authored digital beginning Spanish textbook\, Contr aseña. To conclude\, Dr. Lord will analyze student outcome data from lea rners using this program in order to show that this transformed approach benefits both students and instructors.\n\n \;\n\nThe Long-Term Acc rual in Memory of Contextual Conditioning Effects\nDr. Esther Brown\nSch olarly research on variable production of linguistic forms has provided a clear understanding of the ways in which factors of the target context can shape realizations of sounds\, words\, and constructions. Studies i nvestigating variation in speech seek to consider\, or statistically con trol\, linguistic\, extralinguistic\, and/or discourse~pragmatic factors operating upon the target form of interest\, because these predictors c onstrain the variation in anticipated ways. Conditioning factors of the context of use\, in other words\, affect linguistic form in probabilisti c fashion. Usage-based research has determined that these forms\, which reflect the probabilistic conditioning of the factors of the production context\, become registered in memory as variant forms of words (and/or constructions). Thus\, contexts of use affect linguistic productions and such productions\, in turn\, can impact lexical representations. Nevert heless\, words differ significantly with regard to their exposure to con ditioning factors of the discourse context. That is\, opportunity biases arise naturally in use whereby some words co-occur with specific condit ioning factors significantly more than others. The conditioning effects of contextual predictors accumulate differentially\, then\, across the l inguistic forms of the lexicon. As such\, it is productive in studies of variation (and change) to consider words’ proportion of use in specific discourse environments conditioning variation.\n\nThis talk will substa ntiate each of these claims [(ii) that context of use shapes linguistic form\, (ii) that linguistic forms become registered in memory\, (iii) th at words differ in their likelihood of occurrence in conditioning contex ts] using data from Spanish. Dr. Brown will present projects on phonetic reduction (durational shortening of words) and morphosyntactic variatio n (variable subject personal pronoun expression) that reveal evidence of lexically specific accumulation in memory of words’ ratio of occurrence in discourse contexts conditioning variation. Dr. Brown will discuss ef forts to disambiguate whether these results reflect outcomes of opportun ity biases (predictability of contexts)\, episodic traces of experiences (counts of produced forms)\, or both. Results of both projects are inte rpreted as supporting Exemplar Models of lexical representation.\n\nFor more details: https://events.la.psu.edu/event/psuxling6-esther-brown-uni versity-of-colorado-gillian-lord-university-of-florida/ X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

The World Is Not Flat, So Why Are Our Textbooks?

Dr. Gillian Lord

Following the Modern Language Association’s (2007) recommendations, and in the fa ce of declining enrollments nationwide, language programs are beginning to undertake serious self-reflection with respect to curricula and pedag ogical approaches. This process often reveals the need to reenvision the approach to teaching languages, literatures, and cultures. One such way language educators look to innovate their teaching is by embracing digi tal tools, whether of their own design or those that accompany textbook packages. While there is no doubt that digital materials facilitate oppo rtunities for fostering the “translingual and transcultural competence” called for by the MLA, it is less clear when and how these technologies will cease to be add-ons and begin to serve a more integrative function in transforming teaching and learning. To this end, Dr. Lord argues that the paper-based textbook has outlived its usefulness in today’s world, both logistically and pedagogically, and that the change we need in term s of how we teach cannot fully take place until we change the materials we use to teach. To demonstrate, Dr. Lord explains the theoretical under pinnings that went into the design and development of her new co-authore d digital beginning Spanish textbook, Contraseña. To conclude, Dr. Lord will analyze student outcome data from learners using this program in or der to show that this transformed approach benefits both students and in structors.

 

The Long-Term Accrual in Memory of Contextual Conditioning Effects

Dr. Esther Brown

Scholarly research on variable production of linguistic forms has provided a clear understanding of the ways in w hich factors of the target context can shape realizations of sounds, wor ds, and constructions. Studies investigating variation in speech seek to consider, or statistically control, linguistic, extralinguistic, and/or discourse~pragmatic factors operating upon the target form of interest, because these predictors constrain the variation in anticipated ways. C onditioning factors of the context of use, in other words, affect lingui stic form in probabilistic fashion. Usage-based research has determined that these forms, which reflect the probabilistic conditioning of the fa ctors of the production context, become registered in memory as variant forms of words (and/or constructions). Thus, contexts of use affect ling uistic productions and such productions, in turn, can impact lexical rep resentations. Nevertheless, words differ significantly with regard to th eir exposure to conditioning factors of the discourse context. That is, opportunity biases arise naturally in use whereby some words co-occur wi th specific conditioning factors significantly more than others. The con ditioning effects of contextual predictors accumulate differentially, th en, across the linguistic forms of the lexicon. As such, it is productiv e in studies of variation (and change) to consider words’ proportion of use in specific discourse environments conditioning variation.


This talk will substantiate each of these claims [(ii) that c ontext of use shapes linguistic form, (ii) that linguistic forms become registered in memory, (iii) that words differ in their likelihood of occ urrence in conditioning contexts] using data from Spanish. Dr. Brown wil l present projects on phonetic reduction (durational shortening of words ) and morphosyntactic variation (variable subject personal pronoun expre ssion) that reveal evidence of lexically specific accumulation in memory of words’ ratio of occurrence in discourse contexts conditioning variat ion. Dr. Brown will discuss efforts to disambiguate whether these result s reflect outcomes of opportunity biases (predictability of contexts), e pisodic traces of experiences (counts of produced forms), or both. Resul ts of both projects are interpreted as supporting Exemplar Models of lex ical representation.

For more details: https://events.la.psu.edu/event/psuxling6-esthe r-brown-university-of-colorado-gillian-lord-university-of-florida/ END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR