NECTFL: Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

The Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

Highlights of NECTFL 2008

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This year's "iGeneration: Turning Instruction Inside Out" brought technology home for 2500 conference attendees at the 55th annual Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages held March 27-29, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.

Thursday's program opened for about 500 foreign language professionals who attended their choice of more than 25 three and six-hour workshops on topics ranging from ipods in the classroom to using theater, film and art in the foreign language class. Attendees were invited to an evening reception, hosted by Conference Chair, Sharon Wilkinson, of Simpson College, where they met with colleagues and Northeast Conference Board members. Thank you to The College Board for providing the sponsorship for this event!

Friday morning events started with the opening of one of the best exhibits of foreign language materials in the country including textbooks and software, as well as travel/tour companies, embassies from several countries, government agencies and other associations. The exhibit hall was open both Friday and Saturday of the Conference and offered free coffee and muffins to early birds, thanks to McGraw-Hill High Ed. Several booths had refreshments available throughout the day, including delicious gelato from the Italian Cultural Institute of New York. Vista Higher Learning held a very nice reception at their booth in the hall, in addition to providing attendees with a full-color 100-page Conference Program. We are extremely grateful for the generosity of all our exhibitors who not only provide refreshments throughout the day, but also give away free posters and other materials for attendees to take home.

The Northeast Conference welcomed guest speaker Marc Prensky, internationally acclaimed speaker and author of Digital Game-based Learning and founder of Games2train. Mr. Prensky spoke Friday morning to attendees about technology in the iGeneration. He interviewed students and also welcomed questions from the audience. Thank you to Holt McDougal for hosting this event!

Following the opening session, attendees could choose from more than 200 sessions and several workshops covering topics ranging from AP literature to classroom games, inclusive of all levels and many languages. There were sessions presented by exhibitors and several best of state sessions that were chosen from the conferences held in the 14 states of the Northeast region. The Northeast Conference is proud to have included on its program presenters from 12 different countries and 37 states!

On the 9th floor promenade of the hotel, conference attendees could venture into the NECTFL Tech Playground. Sponsored by Apple, several tech stations equipped with computers and monitored by Apple educators and students, were set up for attendees to try out iMovie, iChat, blogs, etc. Wondering what all the kids are talking about? The Tech Playground was a great place to get the scoop on what today's iGeneration learner is using to access information.

The annual Awards Ceremony began shortly after the final sessions of the day on Friday. Colleagues in the foreign language field were recognized for several awards: The Brooks Award, for leadership, and The Freeman Award, for best published article, were given. Also recognized at the ceremony, were recipients of Embassy Scholarships, and the first Marjorie Hall Haley Graduate Student Scholarship. The 2008 Mead Fellows were presented.

Many organizations use NECTFL as a place to hold their own events, including: NADSFL, NNELL, and ACTFL. The central location of New York offers an excellent opportunity for groups to network with each other and attend a great conference. We want to thank them and the corporate sponsors who supported them!

Once again, NECTFL hosted the annual Meeting with the States. Each year, several delegates from each of the 14 states in the northeast region meet at the conference for information sharing and a chance to network. Lunch was provided by Pearson whom NECTFL thanks for helping facilitate the strengthening of NECTFL's relationship with the states in its region.

Finally, the conference, held in Times Square, gave attendees a great chance to mix both professional development and time spent taking advantage of the great offerings of New York City: theater, museums, concerts and restaurants were mentioned as being enjoyed by many conference goers!