Plenary Speaker

Opening Plenary by Dr. L.J. Randolph Jr.

Abstract: The language classroom has the unique potential to be a space for critical reflection and transformative learning on the path to proficiency in the language studied. This talk will examine various frameworks that inform social justice in language education and will explore ways to connect critical and social justice-oriented pedagogies to language learning goals. I will share resources and ideas for planning, implementing, and assessing learning experiences at a variety of proficiency levels, with a focus on novice and intermediate language learners. We will also explore how this field has evolved in recent years and imagine future directions.

About the presenter: L. J. Randolph Jr. is an assistant professor of World Language Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He received his Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Randolph’s teaching career has spanned 20 years, including a decade as a Spanish and ESL teacher at the secondary level. At the post-secondary level, he has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in Spanish language, contemporary Latina/o/x cultures, and second language teaching methods. He has also directed study abroad programs in China, Mexico, Spain, and the Dominican Republic for secondary, undergraduate, and graduate students.

Dr. Randolph’s research, publications, and professional engagement have focused on a variety of critical issues in language education, including teaching Spanish to heritage and native speakers, incorporating justice-oriented/anti-racist/anti-colonial pedagogies, and centering Blackness and Indigenousness. He has authored/co-authored several publications and given dozens of scholarly presentations on those topics. He is a co-editor of the forthcoming book How We Take Action: Social Justice in PreK-16 Classrooms.

An advocate for equitable, accessible, and transformative language education, Dr. Randolph has served in leadership roles in various language organizations, including president of the Foreign Language Association of North Carolina (FLANC), president of the North Carolina Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP), coordinator of the Cape Fear Foreign Language Collaborative (CFFLC), board member for the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), and founding vice-chair of ACTFL’s special interest group for Critical and Social Justice approaches.