Language Resource Center Speaker Series - Cori Crane

"Creating Pathways of Perspective-Shifting through Structured Critical Reflection"
Cori Crane
Associate Professor and Language Program Director of German, University of Alabama 

Providing second language learners with space and guidance to critically reflect on their past and current learning experiences can set them up to better understand and evolve their own worldviews as they learn about and engage with ones different from their own (Crane & Sosulski, 2020; Cranton, 2016; Johnson, 2015). While reflection is often acknowledged as playing an important role in leading language pedagogies such as literacy-based approaches and intercultural language learning, it is rarely theorized from a pedagogical perspective, let alone integrated into formal language assessment. As reflective practice in language instruction has become more mainstream, it is important for educators to understand the diverse outcomes associated with different reflection activities and the learning conditions and instructional scaffolding needed to support students' ability to critically reflect on their learning. As Ash and Clayton (2009) note, "a critical reflection process that generates, deepens, and documents learning does not occur automatically—rather, it must be carefully and intentionally designed" (p. 28).

In this talk, I explore the role of critical reflection in language instruction with an eye toward employing reflection strategically at various points across a curricular pathway. In the first half, I address what we mean by critical reflection and what educators see as the main benefits of integrating reflection activities into their instructional practice. Here, I locate and describe common reflection practices used in language learning contexts. In the second half, I provide examples of critical reflection used in beginning, intermediate, and advanced German language instruction to illustrate how reflective practice can be staged meaningfully across a curriculum to support level-specific learning and cultivate a practice of reflection among learners and teachers. 

References
Ash, S., & Clayton, (2009). Generating, deepening, and documenting learning: The power of critical reflection in applied learning. Journal of Applied Learning in Higher Education, 1, 25-48.
Crane, C., & Sosulski, M. J. (2020). Staging transformative learning across collegiate language curricula: Student perceptions of structured reflection for language learning. Foreign Language Annals, 53(1), 69-95.
Cranton, P. (2006). Understanding and promoting transformative learning. Jossey-Bass.
Johnson, S. M. (2015). Adult learning in the language classroom. Multilingual Matters.

Bio: Cori Crane (Ph.D., Georgetown) is Associate Professor and Language Program Director of German at the University of Alabama. Before joining UA, Dr. Crane taught German, applied linguistics, and world language pedagogy, as well as coordinated the lower-division undergraduate German programs at the University of Illinois, University of Texas, and Duke University. Dr. Crane’s research interests closely align to her curriculum development and teacher mentoring work, with recent projects located in the areas of language teacher education, reflective teaching and learning (i.e., exploratory practice; transformative learning), and systemic functional linguistics and literacy-based instruction.
She is co-editor (with Carl Niekerk) of Approaches to Ali and Nino:  Love, Identity, and Transcultural Conflict (Camden House, 2017) and co-author (with Heidi Hamilton and Abigail Bartoshesky) of Doing Foreign Language: Bringing Concordia Language Villages to Language Classrooms (Prentice Hall, 2005). Her publications have appeared in Foreign Language Annals, L2 Journal, Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German, System, ADFL Bulletin, Profession, and various AAUSC volumes. She currently serves on ACTFL's Research and Assessment Committee and on the editorial boards for Second Language Research & Practice, Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German, Korean Language in America, and Foreign Languages & the Literary in the Everyday. 
In her free time, Dr. Crane enjoys cooking, dancing, walking, and spending time with her husband Mike and their dog Buster.
 

This event will be held in person in G25 Stimson and will also be streamed live over Zoom. Join us at the LRC or on Zoom.

The event is free and open to the public. Campus visitors and members of the public must adhere to Cornell's public health requirements for events.