Professors from the Department of Modern and Classical Languages recently presented on a variety of language education topics at the FLAVA Fall Conference, drawing significant attention from many Virginia Educators.
The annual three-day conference, held this year at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott, provides professional development and networking opportunities for Virginia's world language educators. This year's theme was "Rooted in Language."
Here are the presentations given by MCL faculty at the FLAVA conference:
Professor Jennifer Leeman and Associate Professor Carla F Burns from the Spanish program presented on the topic of "From Roots to Voice through Digital Storytelling: Elevating Students’ Language, Identity, and Strengths in the Spanish Heritage Language Classroom”. In her presentation, Professor Leeman shared an approach that rejects curricula that prioritize “standard Spanish” and frame heritage speakers as deficient, they share an asset-based approach that incorporates students' linguistic, cultural, and familial roots and builds on their existing knowledge. The presenters outline the pedagogical and sociolinguistic foundations of their approach and present sample activities that affirm students’ identities and promote their agency in telling their own stories. Participants will leave with concrete strategies for the classroom.
Professor Natalia Dudnik from German Studies presented “Exploring German-Speaking Cities” in the presentation, the presenter introduced how to teach German-speaking cities in a content-based curriculum contained practical tips on how to include cities to facilitate cross-cultural competence and enhance language and critical thinking/research skills on all levels of German.
Assistant professor Alexia D Vikis and Senior instructor Saima Ashraf-Hassan presented "Making a Meaningful Environment for Belonging in Elementary and Intermediate World Language Classrooms". In their presentation, the presenters led an interactive session that shared practical teaching strategies and student-centered activities designed to foster inclusive classrooms where students feel seen, valued, and motivated to learn. They also addressed common barriers to belonging and proposed thoughtful solutions, including activities that highlight and celebrate students' strengths and identities.
Assistant professor Younga Jung, senior instructor Daeyong Kim and professor and Hye Young Shin from American University presented “Enhancing Cultural Understanding Through Learner-centered Projects” and proposed multimodal and reflective instructional strategies that open the door to genuine communication and deeper human interactions, ultimately to benefit our Korean language learners to become interculturally-equipped global citizens.
The department of Modern and Classical Languages also operated a booth promoting the MCL programs. Jennifer Leeman, Carla Burns, and Young Jung advertised MCL Graduate Programs (Chinese, Korean, French, Spanish, Spanish Bilingual/Multicultural Education, Spanish and French) and Spanish and French) and Graduate Certificate in Spanish Heritage Language Education. Many K-12 teachers, local and international language educators, and recent graduates of world language majors stopped by the booth and showed interest in the graduate programs offered.
October 20, 2025