Leading Lines Episode 5: Digital Textbooks and Language Instruction
by Derek Bruff, CFT Director
In our latest Leading Lines episode, we feature an interview with Lee Forester, Professor of German at Hope College, and Bill VanPatten, Professor of Spanish and Second Language Studies at Michigan State University. The CFT’s Stacey M. Johnson, Assistant Director for Educational Technology, sat down with Forester and VanPatten at a language teaching conference last summer. Both faculty members have developed online learning materials, including textbooks, for language instruction, and Stacey’s conversation with the two professors explored ways that instructors use digital textbooks and publisher-provided learning platforms.
As a companion to this podcast episode, Stacey Johnson has created a new teaching guide on working with publisher-provided online platforms, shared as part of the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching’s collection of more than 70 teaching guides on various topics. The new guide features more audio from Lee Forester and Bill VanPatten, as well as other language instructors Stacey interviewed recently.
More on this episode’s guests:
- Lee Forester is Professor of German at Hope College, where he teaches all levels of German. He is the co-founder of a small textbook publishing company called Evia Learning, and co-author of three language textbooks: Auf geht’s! (beginning German), Weiter geht’s! (intermediate German) and Ritmos (beginning Spanish). His research and curricular work focus on effective use of technology, intercultural learning and creating language materials that promote personal transformation for students.
- Bill VanPatten is Professor of Spanish and Second Language Studies at the Michigan State University. He has published seven books, seven edited volumes, six language textbooks (including the movies Sol y viento, Liaisons, and the tele series Destinos), and 120 articles and book chapters. Two of his articles are listed in the top ten citations for articles in Studies in Second Language Acquisition and he has received local and national awards for his research, teaching, leadership, and mentoring. He is a frequently invited speaker within the United States and abroad. He is also the host of a popular podcast on Second Language Acquisition called Tea with BVP.
For other episodes in the podcast, you can visit the Leading Lines website, search for “Leading Lines” in iTunes or other podcast app, or subscribe via RSS. You can also follow us on Twitter, @LeadingLinesPod.
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