Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian as “the least commonly taught” languages in the United States: challenges and perspectives.

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Abstract

The roundtable is convened by the faculty teaching the languages of the Baltics at university level and heritage schools in the United States. We proceed from our research interests that include community and diaspora language education, multilingualism and translanguaging in language education and learner motivation. We will discuss our teaching experiences in a variety of contexts, modes and situations, including online, hybrid and intensive courses, traditional classroom and conversation hours, teaching heritage learners and speakers. We will propose future directions for teaching our languages against the background of the current state of foreign language instruction in the U.S. (e.g., Heidrich Uebel et al. 2023, roundtable at NWREECAS 2023, several sessions on Less Commonly Taught Languages at the ACTFL 2023 conference), including new methods and technologies, curricular changes and strengthening of ties between institutions and communities across contexts of learning and teaching. We invite participation of researchers, instructors, learners and stakeholders.


References
Heidrich Uebel, E., Kronenberg, F.A., and Sterling, S., (Eds). 2023. Language Program Vitality in the United States: From Surviving to Thriving in Higher Education, Springer.
Roundtable: Challenges of Teaching Small-Enrollment REECAS Languages at the
University of Washington. The 29th Annual Conference for Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies, April 2023, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

Short Bio

Piibi-Kai Kivik is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Central Eurasian Studies, Hamilton Lugar School at Indiana University, Bloomington.
She is an applied linguist with interest in second language interaction, interactional and usage-based linguistics and language pedagogy. She teaches courses in Estonian language and culture.

Guntis Šmidchens is Kazickas Family Endowed Professor in Baltic Studies; Associate Professor of Baltic Studies and the Head of Baltic Studies Program at the University of Washington. He has research interests in Baltic Studies; Baltic Languages and Cultures; Folklore; Russian Folklore; Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian languages and literatures. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Slavic, Executive Board member at the Ellison Center for Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies, and past President of the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies (AABS).

Inga Daraškienė is an Acting Instructor at the University of Washington (USA), a junior researcher, and a Ph.D. student at Vilnius University (Lithuania). She also works at Saturday Lithuanian Heritage School Linas in Seattle, WA. Her research interests are easy-to-read language, linguistic landscapes, and foreign language teaching. She is a co-author of a Lithuanian language textbook for foreigners.


Solvita Burr is a Senior Researcher at the Latvian Language Institute of the University of Latvia (Latvia) and an Acting Instructor at the University of Washington (Seattle, USA). Her research includes comprehensive studies of linguistic, semiotic, and cultural landscapes in terms of multilingualism, language policy, language management, multimodality, and language pedagogy. In 2020, she published a methodology book and a textbook (both in Latvian), both concerning how to include public texts in the language-learning process. She is editor in chief of the journal “Linguistica Lettica”.

Līga Miklaševiča (MA in Philology, University of Latvia) is Acting Instructor of Latvian Language and Culture at the University of Washington, Seattle. She has written about Latvian and Lithuanian traditional music.

Sub Unit

• Literature and Linguistics

Chair

• Piibi-Kai Kivik, Indiana University

Participants

• Guntis Šmidchens, University of Washington

• Solvita Burr, University of Latvia

• Inga Daraškienė, University of Washington

• Liga Miklaševiča, University of Washington