Publication Date

2022

Abstract

In this critical conversation, two language educators reflect on their experiences of online instruction after nearly two years of teaching during the Covid 19 pandemic. The duoethnographers share the challenges they faced to adapt their teaching and assessment for remote delivery, as well as how their pedagogical orientations transformed to engage with learners online. The discussion focuses on teaching both synchronously and asynchronously, re-thinking language assessment, and the authors’ strategies to manage a sustainable and healthy workflow. This last aspect is of significant importance given how much these two educators had to learn to teach in ways and through media they had not been trained for. By unpacking their efforts to respond to their learners’ needs, the authors propose capitalizing on these challenges as valuable professional development opportunities and invite other language teachers to share their experiences.

Author Biography

Dr. Marlon Valencia is Assistant Professor, and Director of the ESL Program, the Open Learning Center, and the Certificate in the Discipline of Teaching English as an International Language in the Department of English at Glendon College, York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He teaches content ESL and applied linguistics. His research interests include: multiliteracies; language politics; the use of technology in the language classroom; as well as the intersection between creativity, imagination, teachers’, and language learners’ identities.

Dr. Miguel Rincón is Assistant Professor of Spanish at Bellarmine University. He earned his Ph. D. in Spanish Linguistics from Purdue University. He teaches introductory to advanced Spanish as a foreign language, as well courses in Spanish Linguistics and Translation. His research interests include phonetics, phonology, dialectology, translation, language teaching, and computer assisted language learning.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Download

Share

COinS
 

What Have We Learned After One Year of Remote Teaching and Learning? A Critical Conversation between Two Language Educators

In this critical conversation, two language educators reflect on their experiences of online instruction after nearly two years of teaching during the Covid 19 pandemic. The duoethnographers share the challenges they faced to adapt their teaching and assessment for remote delivery, as well as how their pedagogical orientations transformed to engage with learners online. The discussion focuses on teaching both synchronously and asynchronously, re-thinking language assessment, and the authors’ strategies to manage a sustainable and healthy workflow. This last aspect is of significant importance given how much these two educators had to learn to teach in ways and through media they had not been trained for. By unpacking their efforts to respond to their learners’ needs, the authors propose capitalizing on these challenges as valuable professional development opportunities and invite other language teachers to share their experiences.