Gwyneth Cliver - University of Nebraska at Omaha

UCAT Travel Grant Report, 2012
Gwyneth Cliver
Department of Foreign Languages and Literature
On November 18 th and 19 th , 2011, I attended the annual convention of the
American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages in Denver,
Colorado. In addition to my own presentation, I attended three sessions to
improve my teaching.
The first, “Flexible hybrid/blended courses for German for the Professions,”
included three instructors who described techniques for teaching business
courses both online and in the classroom. I was hoping to gain insight into
the relative advantages and disadvantages of such a methodology, because
I am considering similar tactics for the German program here at UNO.
Unfortunately, the presentations primarily involved explanations either of
specific activities or of programs at very different institutions from UNO (for
instance, one was on the relationship between the languages programs and
the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania). One
speaker did present a recently published new edition of his textbook on
Business German, an update I had been eagerly anticipating. Not only did
he acquaint the audience with updates to his work, but he also provided us
with access to a wealth of online content he has created. I am certain this
information will prove extremely helpful in the spring of 2013, when I will
offer a course on professional German.
The second presentation, “Smart Boards in the Foreign Language
Classroom,” offered the audience hints for applying SMART board
technology to its lesson plans. Although not stated in the program, this talk
was meant for instructors already familiar with SMART software and
therefore was occasionally confusing for me, as I have no experience with
the interactive boards. I was able to glean basic skills from the
presentation, however, and I now have a sense of the variety and richness
of SMART’s capabilities. I am currently planning a tutorial for my colleagues
in the foreign languages department, which will take place at the end of
February. I have also submitted an abstract to UNO’s Colloquium on

Language Teaching. If my proposal is accepted, I will also train beginners
there in basic usages of the technology.
Finally, I attended the panel, “Cinema Across Borders: Swiss Film in the
German Language Classroom.” Because I have little knowledge of
Switzerland, I was hoping to broaden my scope as a teacher. As the only
full-time German instructor at UNO, my advanced students do not receive
the breadth of expertise they would in a program that has a larger faculty.
As an expert on Germany, I always seek to gain additional knowledge about
Austria and Switzerland for the sake of my students’ growth. Unfortunately
for this end, the panel included more traditionally scholarly and analytical
talks than I had anticipated. Although I did become acquainted with titles of
films with which I look forward to working, I did not increase my knowledge
of Switzerland and its culture.
While my experience at ACTFL was not quite as helpful as I had hoped in
terms of expanding my teaching methodologies, I was able to glean
important lessons or information from all three sessions, and I also
collected materials, such as a game and many useful web addresses and
book titles.
I am extremely appreciative of UCAT for providing me with the opportunity
to travel to the most important national convention on foreign language
teaching for the first time. I value highly the exposure to language teaching
materials and to experts in pedagogy, access that is lacking in the
conferences I most frequently attend, which are primarily focused on
critical theory and German studies.