We will read and discuss "Language Acquisition in a Nutshell: A Primer for Teachers" by Drs. Bill VanPatten and Russel Simonsen.

The BCLCA Book Club is FREE (see details below) and open to EVERYONE. 

You will have the opportunity to meet and ask questions to the highly esteemed and beloved Bill VanPatten, father and self-proclaimed Diva of Input Processing in Second Language Acquisition.

Dates, Chapters & Zoom Links:

Thursday, October 17, 2024: Chapter 1; https://ca01web.zoom.us/j/61472647633

Thursday, November 28, 2024: Chapter 2; https://ca01web.zoom.us/j/61935589512

Thursday, January 23, 2025: Chapter 3; https://ca01web.zoom.us/j/63974219174

Thursday, February 20, 2025: Chapter 4; https://ca01web.zoom.us/j/69578215973

>>> Thursday, March 13, 2025: Meet Dr. Bill VanPatten! https://ca01web.zoom.us/j/68964580657

Time & Location:

3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

On Zoom. Sessions will be recorded. The links are posted above.

Who is Invited to the BCLCA Book Club?

Anyone and everyone interested in how we actually acquire languages as opposed to teach or learn them, and how we can create these favorable language acquisition conditions in our own classrooms. 

Investment:

This Book Club is sponsored by the BCLCA (BC Language Coordination Association) and is FREE to all participants. 

Please order your own copy of the book through Indigo, Amazon or ACTFL. If you attend all five BCLCA Book Club sessions (live or video recording) and you are an educator in BC, you will get fully reimbursed for your book at the end of the BCLCA Book Club. Please keep your receipt. More information will follow.

Until Thursday, March 20, you can apply to get reimbursed for your book by clicking this link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdaTAA8P4Awa4y0UeXYRi17daz6GxALcFSSPmqtPXGNFtCVzQ/viewform

Your BCLCA Book Club Hosts:

Michelle Metcalfe: Michelle a highly knowledgeable and experienced language teacher in the West Vancouver School District who has been teaching successfully with Communicative Comprehensible Input-Based strategies since 2010. She has met BvP and Steven Krashen at numerous conferences. Michelle is a Linguistics Major and a graduate of SFU and has a passion for linguistic theory and Second Language Acquisition and their applications in the classroom.

Dr. Fränzi Karlen: Fränzi is the Language Coordinator for SD73, Kamloops-Thompson. She is committed to raising awareness of and promote methods compatible with language acquisition theory. Fränzi speaks four languages fluently and has been an educator for over 32 years. Fränzi is a member of the Executive Committee of the BCLCA.

Our Commitment to You:

Your Hosts are committed to facilitating a friendly, safe, engaging, fun and transformative Book Club environment.

Format of the BCLCA Book Club:

At the beginning of each Book Club session, the Hosts will provide a brief summary of the chapter to refresh our memory. The majority of Book Club time will be spent discussing the implications of our reading, including our questions and "yeah-buts. " Thank you for coming to Book Club prepared as it will allow us to have a conversation at a much higher level.

The BCLCA Book Club will be conducted in English.

How to Prepare for the BCLCA Book Club:

Please come to the BCLCA Book Club having read the designated chapter (see Dates & Chapters above). Each chapter is about 30 pages short and is written in an easy-to-read, engaging and practical manner.

Summary of the book, Language Acquisition in a Nutshell:

Language Acquisition in a Nutshell: A Primer for Teachers will be your definitive guide on second languages and how they are acquired. Written in an easy-to-understand tone with an occasional touch of light-heartedness, Language Acquisition in a Nutshell is made for both teachers and teachers in training. It will show you new ways to think about second-language acquisition, while providing practical ways to implement your new insights. Language Acquisition in a Nutshell does not tell teachers how to teach or what to teach. Rather, the authors help teachers be as informed as possible as they make decisions about what they do and what they expect of their learners— and perhaps what they expect of themselves.

(Published 2022, ISBN-13: 978-1942544760)

Register here.