Keynote Address

Keynote Information:

What is sociocultural competence, and what is its role in teaching multilingual learners? How does focusing on sociocultural competence help us learn about, affirm, and leverage the languages, knowledge, and stories that these students bring to our schools and classrooms? Based on a recently completed practitioner-researcher collaboration with dual language educators, Dr. Howard will define sociocultural competence, discuss reasons why it is important to promote it and assess it, and share an activity bank of classroom activities to promote sociocultural competence that teachers can easily incorporate into existing routines and lessons. ht/

Liz Howard is an associate professor of bilingual education in the department of Curriculum and Instruction. Her current research focuses on the development of sociocultural competence among dual language students in the U.S. and Costa Rica, and she was recently awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Education to investigate the development of sociocultural competence among dual language students and its relationship to equitable bilingualism and biliteracy outcomes. Previously, she has served as the principal investigator or co-PI of three large-scale, federally funded studies of the literacy development of Spanish-English bilinguals – a recently completed study of argument writing among Latino 4th grade students, a cross-linguistic vocabulary intervention for middle schoolers, and a longitudinal study focusing on cross-linguistic influences on the spelling development of students in the upper elementary grades. She was also the co-PI of a faculty learning community designed to build the capacity of teacher education faculty members to support pre-service teachers’ learning about emergent bilinguals. Prior to coming to UConn, she was a senior research associate with the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) in Washington, DC, where she directed a number of projects related to dual language education and biliteracy development, including the longitudinal CREDE Study of Two-Way Immersion. In addition, she has worked as a bilingual elementary school teacher in California and Costa Rica, and has also taught adult ESL and literacy courses as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica.

More information:https://education.uconn.edu/person/elizabeth-howard/ ht/