BCATML attends SCOLA Annual General Meeting

This week, BCATML President, Rome Lavrencic, attended the Standing Committee on Language Articulation (SCOLA) Annual General Meeting at the University of the Fraser Valley Abbotsford Campus. SCOLA is a sub-committee of the BC Council on Admissions & Transfer (BCCAT) comprised of University or College Faculty Staff representing modern languages and in some cases Indigenous languages of British Columbia.

BCATML has attended the last three AGMs and has given updates on the work that BCATML has done in the area language education. This year's focus presented the work towards redesigning the Core French Curriculum. Highlights included:

• Understanding the KDU Framework
• Updates made to draft curriculum
• Ministry's response regarding the CEFR
• BCATML's call for a CEFR round table discussion with other language associations
• Proposed timelines for curriculum implementation and changes in assessment
• Plans to redesign BC's other languages curricula (ASL, German, Japanese, Mandarin, Punjabi and Spanish)
• BCATML proposal to translate the First Peoples Principles of Learning poster

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SCOLA Co-Chairs, Charlotte Jones (Okanagan College) and Meike Wernicke-Heinrichs (UBC) presented a number initiatives undertaken by SCOLA including highlights from the Joint Annual Meeting, the Transfer Innovation Fund, and a discussion for supporting the province's indigenous languages. SCOLA members passed a motion responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action for supporting the maintenance, revitalization and strengthening of Indigenous languages, the development of Indigenous language teachers and the Indigenous language degree and diploma programs at the college and university level in British Columbia.  

Three professors were asked to discuss initiatives they have each undertaken this past year. Dr. Grisel Garcia-Pérez (UBCO) gave a very lively and interactive demonstration on how she used Karaoke as a means to improve pronunciation in foreign languages classes (see video to the left). Dr. Samuel Navarro (UBC) explored the benefits of native/non-native online interactions in year-year Spanish students using a software tool called Talkabroad. Finally, Marie-Christine Rey-Bilbey (TRU) discussed alternatives to cancelling small classes.

SCOLA AGM 2017 will be held on April 28, 2017 at the Okanagan College, Kelowna Campus.

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