Professor Barry Olsen and Professor Laura Burian demonstrate the power of human cognition as they explain the subtle but important differences between professional translators and interpreters with assistance from Miguel Garcia (French), Weihao Zhang (Chinese) and Beatriz Rodriguez (Spanish). Click here to watch the video clip.
Barbara Sawhill gave an engaging two-hour interactive talk last Friday to TESOL/TFL students on the importance of renouncing a “multi-paged, intricately detailed, iron-clad syllabus” and replacing it with a student-centered, participatory class outline with collaborated class goals between the students and teacher. Barbara teaches Spanish at Oberlin College and is the Director of the Cooper International Language Center.
photo from: cogdogblog
Barbara renounces the old Factory Model of Education, which in her opinion lacks a context for students’ learning. This “Fordist” classoom is out of touch with the world around it and sees students as empty vessels who simply absorb and memorize, rather than experience and create.
As an educator, Barbara sees her job as “making this experience [in the classroom] as meaningful for you [the student] as possible”. She insists that as educators, we need to listen and model for students what we expect of them. As learners, we don’t need to simply find all of the answers, but learn how to create “really well-rounded, thoughtful questions”.
Four questions that Barbara asks her students at the beginning of each term are:
How do you learn?
Why are you here?
What do you want to learn?
How can we help you get there?
You can check out her work and ideas at http://languages.oberlin.edu/lab-info/center-staff/ and http://languagelabunleashed.org/ and typical posts like http://languagelabunleashed.org/2010/03/15/the-backwards-syllabus/ Barbara introduces herself at http://vimeo.com/19050537 .You can read about her Spanish class at http://languages.oberlin.edu/courses/2010/spring/hisp205/ and http://languagelabunleashed.org/tag/hisp205/
Marciel Santos will be the next speaker this Spring, He will be talking on April 14 from 3-5 pm. Stay aware of fliers around campus for more information!
On February 23 at 12pm, Richard Korn will be guest speaking in the Irvine Auditorium as a part of The Monterey Institute’s Spring Lecture Series. Mr. Korn will also be a member of the Career Fair panel. His lecture is titled, “Medical Device Localization: The Day in the Life of a Localization Manager”.
The world of a localization manager at a medical device company is exciting and diverse. Products that diagnose or treat life threatening conditions require heightened quality and a focus on procedures and regulations. The growth of international markets for medical devices in recent years emphasizes the importance of exploring creative localization and testing techniques. Regulatory, marketing, technical and quality goals all play a part in the day of a localization manager.
photo: http://aomid.comThe juggling act continues as the regulations shift, at times, on a weekly or daily basis. Please join Richard Korn as he discusses the unique nature of medical device localization and how he formed a localization unit at St. Jude Medical from the ground up.
In December, the Principles and Practices in Language Education classes came together and showcased some of their knowledge on educational macrostrategies that they had been studying over the semester. The Kumar Trade Fair (named after B. Kumaravadivelu) has become a tradition for the TESOL/TFL students and represents a chance for the students to talk to people outside of the language education department about different teaching approaches.
For the Trade Fair, a small team of students designed and demonstrated a series of tasks that students could do as part of a language lesson. Some of the tasks included tasting salads to learn about different food cultures, thinking about dream jobs, and learning about cultural differences through watching a Saturday Night Live skit.
After the Trade Fair, the students gathered and discussed what they had learned from the Trade Fair, and most students agreed that it was interesting to see how a single macrostrategy could be represented in so many different ways. A member from another department mentioned that she had always considered her own department to be the one that tried to “save the world”, but she was pleased and surprised to see that the language education students were also creating activities which worked toward the same goal.
Photo: jcolman
A panel of four MIIS International Policy Studies professors will analyze the upcoming US elections at 12:15 Tueday, October 26 in Irvine Auditorium.
Professor Steve Garrett will speak about the foreign policy factor in the elections; Professor Moyara Ruehsen, about economic issues; Professor Jason Scorse, about environmental policy; and Professor Peter Grothe, about political aspects. MIIS Translation and Interpretation students will be interpreting the event.
Comments and questions will follow the presentation.
The American elections are scheduled for Tuesday, November 2nd.
For more information contact Peter Grothe, at pgrothe [at] miis [dot] edu.
The time has nearly come for the Fall Forum, hosted by our MIIS Translation and Interpretation Program! This semester, Friday, November 19th, 2010, professionals will come to discuss Sex Education.
Photo: veni markovski
Fall Forum Schedule
1:30pm – 3:30pm “How does the media shape the way we approach sex education?”
3:30pm – 3:45pm Break
3:45pm – 5:45pm “The birds and the bees: different versions for boys and girls”
5:45pm Reception
There will be guest speakers from Argentina, China, Japan, Korea, Paraguay, Russia, Taiwan and the United States.
What’s This All About?
You never know what a guest speaker might say, especially on a topic like “Sex Education.” Are we talking about China’s one child policy, teenage pregnancy in the U.S., the fact that there was “no sex” in the Soviet Union, or tourists finding racy items for sale in vending machines in Japan?
We will look at this concept from all angles from a social and cultural point of view, in a multi-language setting. Topics will include the media’s impact on our views of sex, how sex is taught in schools, child marriage in some countries, as well as other sensitive issues.
There will be two panel discussion sessions simulating an international conference. Each delegate’s comments will be interpreted consecutively by MIIS student interpreters. Each session will last approximately two hours with a short break in between.
A special reception will follow, and refreshments will be provided.
Admission to this event is FREE, so come on down, and listen to what these professionals have to say!
Pertinent Details
MIIS Fall Forum 2010: What do you know about Sex Education?
When: Friday, November 19, 2010 (1:30pm-6:00pm)
Where: MIIS Irvine Auditorium
Admission: FREE!
In conjunction with the 51st Annual Conference of the American Translators Association
Friday, October 29, 2010
5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.
Rialto Cafe
Art Gallery Room
The Courtyard Marriott Denver Downtown
934 16th St., Denver, CO 80202
Please join Dr. Renee Jourdenais, Dean of the Graduate School of Translation, Interpretation, Language and Education (GSTILE), at the annual MIIS alumni reception held in conjunction with the ATA conference. Dean Jourdenais will speak to the alumni about news on campus, and will be joined by Translation, Conference Interpretation, Translation & Interpretation, and Translation & Localization Management faculty and staff.
Complimentary appetizers. Cash bar available.
Please register to attend by October 21, 2010 at http://alumni.miis.edu. Click on the Events button to register online. Additional RSVPs can be submitted via email to alumni@miis.edu or by telephone to 831-647-3557.