Bill Langley

ACTFL | NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements A collaboration between NCSSFL and ACTFL

Any thoughts on the new Can-Do statements from actfl? www.actfl.org/educator-res... #langchat

tried a new management phrase in class today, all you gotta do is incredulously and pointedly say "perdóname", and look confused

There are things besides hockey on threads?

The memes are great but the discussion is sub-mid

Yall see the new Can-Do statements from @actfl.bsky.social ? What’re your thoughts? #langchat

Ok, I’m back, who’s still here? I am ready to build connections once again! #langchat

Lovely! How was the presentation?

Additionally, we're doingbook club with @stacywitkowski.bsky.social with "Proficiency Based Instruction: Teaching Grammar for Proficiency" on our FB Page. Grab your copy at the ACTFL store, and get ready to Gaslight, Gatekeep, and Girlboss the book with us starting the week of August 18th. #langchat

SLAyyy: Second Language Acquisition for Everyone

Ben and I just finished recording the first episode of the new Season of SLAyyy! So check out the new episode on Monday!

slayyypod.com
#langchat

My biggest ask for PD this year is that everything we do makes me a better teacher or a better member of our school community. #langchat #edchat #edusky

A Unit Planning Framework for a Content-Based CI Unit Through a lot of trial, error, and student feedback, I think I have found the right combination of activities and pacing for my level 4 class. Hopefully, something that worked for me will work for …

See if you can come up with a sequence/framework for how you like your units to go. For my lvl 4 it goes: Hook, read/discuss an article, collaborative writing, class review, read/view/discuss resources, Ss create something to demonstrate comp, review, assessment. languageley.com/2025/06/09/a...

Grammarly "tone" detector. Says the tone of curious is on brand, but that the tones of directness and confidence are "off brand".

Count your days, Grammarly. Telling me my tone sounds off because I sound "confident" >.>

Could this have any application to reading instruction/comprehension if someone uses bilateral beats while reading/studying? #langsky Like, if I'm reading and I've got the sounds moving between ears, could it help with retaining/processing information?

A question for #psycholinguistics or #neurolinguistics folks: in therapy, EMDR or bilateral stimulation helps to process past events/trauma by, I think, activating both brain hemispheres. Sometimes it's done through auditory means. A beat moves from the left ear to the right ear. #langsky

I think choice is a very important piece, and you're right, it is hard, but we find ways.

The discussion then becomes “what does success look like” and I think that’s something we have to define for ourselves in our own contexts. That’s why I think it’s important to know our goals. Then we can look at if we are being equitable in achieving those goals.

Thanks for your thoughtful replies! On this one I think some tend equate academic success with equity. That could be true for anything though, not just CI.

Same with our textbooks, exams seem to be improving, there are only a few national tests that I know of that test explicit grammar. Some grammatical awareness is beneficial, I think. But I prefer "pop-up" grammar, brief, in-the-moment explanations that support comprehension.

There's a reason I teach about the Spanish Civil War every year... I'm just teaching history through language, I can't help it if my students are critical thinkers and see history repeating itself.

When planning, I try to keep in mind: Lead with CI, do no harm, then add whatever else feels appropriate (whether it's explicit grammar or vocabulary practice, a role play, etc). The CI and content will hopefully reach all Ss, and then we can add whatever differentiation we deem necessary

I think cognitively, that may very well be true. Where there seems to be contention with that claim is that equitable teaching should also consider who and what are represented in curricular materials, and how we talk about that representation.

Thanks for giving me something to think about!

I think that would fit nicely into UDL. Honestly, I think the more we learn about how languages are learned the more we will naturally fall into UDL. I don't know a lot about memory research, but I know some Ts in the US incorporate varieties of delayed dictation activities (like running dictation).

I owe a lot of learning about equitable teaching to @doriec.bsky.social @stacywitkowski.bsky.social @mrfishersays.bsky.social @amandabenavidez.bsky.social @lanierlingvista.bsky.social and many many more. I'd love to know what you think of this post I wrote for an EdD. assignment

Universal Design for Learning and Comprehension-Based Teaching I used to think teaching with comprehensible input (CI) was inherently equitable. I'd argue, "it's the only thing we KNOW students need to acquire language". I still think that's true. And while CI is still the first thing I consider when planning for student language acquisition, I have reflected and learned a lot about what it means to be equitable in a world language classroom.

We need to make sure language is accessible to all students in our class, that it is engaging enough for most, that we offer a variety of ways for Ss to demonstrate learning, and make sure that we regularly audit our materials for bias #LangChat

#LangChat Essential questions, IMO, help students see why what we learn is important. I try to write them in such a way that Ss can leave class and *know* what they think about a particular topic.

So now I'm thinking about what will a S's answer to an EQ tell ME about the student.

A possible flow chart to help with this #langchat #langsky

She just came out with a new book “el niño” that I’m interested in reading, too!

Graphic showing progression from topic to research question

Speaking of moving from topic to something more, I think I’ve been viewing essential questions like developing a research question. #langchat

First and foremost, allow yourself enough time to write and rewrite it. This is not a one-all-nighter assignment. You might have something done to turn in by the deadline if you do this, but chances are pretty good that you'll have done all that work without really gaining much understanding, or making much progress on your final paper, as a result. And that defeats the purpose of having you write the literature review early on: The whole point of making you write a literature review prior to turning in your final paper is to help you make progress on that final paper. Sometimes—rarely—that progress is the words you wrote in that first submitted literature review. More often, it's the ideas you develop during that drafting process that help the most.

Good reminder for me as a grad student, AND a good perspective to adapt and teach to students. #langchat #teachers