Honors

  • Joseph Borkowski was honored with the Information Systems & Technology (IS&T) 2020 Infinite Mile Award recognizing his contribution to the Canvas & Teach Remote project. MORE.

Publications, Projects

  • Takako Aikawa published 学習者の非用・誤用文から考える日本語らしさ (“An analysis of Japanese language learners’ errors and misuses”) in The Proceedings of the 26th Princeton Japanese Pedagogy Forum in December.
  • Tong Chen co-authored a new textbook for intermediate-high and advanced-low non-heritage students China from Different Perspectives.
  • A.C. Kemp published a feature article on teaching slang to English learners, “Slang Lessons That Slay. No Cap,” in TESOL Connections in November. She was invited by TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of other Languages) to be a regular blogger. Check out her blog posts. A.C. Kemp also relaunched and updated her website Slang City.
  • Haohsiang Liao launched MITx: Chinese Language in Culture, Level 1, a novice-level MOOC course offered on edX. in August. As of today, the course has over 5000 learners enrolled from 133 countries across the globe.
  • Leanna Rezvani published an “Introduction to the First Day of the Heptameron” for the 72 Days of Heptameron project.
  • Larysa Smirnova‘s article, “Emma Bovary Re-Imagined,” has been accepted for publication in Romanic Review.
  • Emma Teng‘s review of Chien-Hsin Tsai, A Passage to China: Literature, Loyalism, and Colonial Taiwan, (Harvard 2017) was published this summer in the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Volume 79, Nos. 1 & 2.

Conferences, Presentations, Lectures

  • Takako Aikawa gave a virtual presentation in December, “リモート時代の日本語教授法作りに向けて:テクノロジーと教師の役割” (Toward the development of Japanese language pedagogy at the age of remote instruction: the role of technology and language teachers) at The 11th International Conference on Practical Linguistics of Japanese for The National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics in Tokyo. In November, she gave a virtual presentation, “リモート・インストラクション環境下における言語教育の課題” (Challenges for Language Education at the Age of Remote Instruction) at the Cyber Symposium to Share the Situations of Remote Instruction since April for the National Institute of Informatics, in Tokyo. In June she gave a webinar, “The role of language teacher in the age of remote instruction,” at the Middlebury Language Schools Alumni Event. And also in June she gave a virtual workshop, “Use of multimedia applications for teaching Japanese,” for the Middlebury Japanese Language School.
  • Tong Chen chaired a panel at The 9th NECLTA Annual Conference and gave a presentation entitled “Issues in the Compilation of Chinese Textbooks for Intermediate-high and Advanced-low Students.” Tong Chen was also invited to give a talk on “Teaching and Learning Chinese Through Cultural Activities” to the graduate students majoring in teaching Chinese as foreign language at Monterey Institute of International Studies September 12.
  • Nilma Dominique participated in a virtual panel, “Pretuguês: Teaching Portuguese in the USA while Black” as part of the annual conference of the American Organization of Teachers of Portuguese (AOTP/EMEP). The discussion was live streamed and is still viewable on YouTube.
  • Hee-Jeong Jeong co-presented “Blended-Learning Modules for Business Korean” with S. Lee and J. Song at the 25th American Association of Teachers of Korean (AATK) Conference held remotely by Columbia University in June.
  • Maria Khotimsky participated in the panel sequence “Anxiety of Translation” during the annual convention of the Association of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, serving as the  panel chair and discussant for “Soviet School of Translation between Accuracy and Ideology” panel, as well as the panel chair for “Poet as Translator” panel in November.
  • Min-Min Liang presented “Community Building: Thinking Routines and Differentiated Instruction,” as an invited speaker to the Chinese Language Teachers Association – SIG online Conference, October 17. She also presented a paper, “Community Building: Thinking Routines and Differentiated Instruction,” at the 9th New England Chinese Language Teachers Association Annual Conference, Tufts University, October 4.
  • Haohsiang Liao presented “MITx: Chinese Language in Culture – Its Pedagogy and Beyond” as a panelist at the Sixth International Conference on Teaching and Learning of Chinese as a Second Language, for the Singapore Centre for Chinese Language in September. In addition, he co-chaired the academic committee for The 6th International Conference for Chinese Heritage Education by the National Council of Associations of Chinese Language Schools in August.
  • Emma Teng’s talk “Learning from the Hidden Histories of Transpacific Mixed Families between China & the U.S.” was presented to a Gender and Sexuality Studies webinar in October for the East Asia Center and Women of the University of Virginia in October. Her talk, “Boston’s King Incident of 1905: Chinese Students and the Intersectionality of Race and Class” was given online for the Modern China Seminar of Columbia University in September. In August she presented “Asian American Citizenship: Historical Overview” for New England Chinese Youth Summer Camp (NECYSC). And in June she was a commentator for the online Graduate Student Research Workshop for SOAS University of London.

Building Community / MIT Events

Adventures in Remote Teaching

In the Media

Professional Service

  • Joseph Borkowski was chosen as the President-Elect of NERALLT – the New England Regional Association for Language Learning Technology – in June.
  • Tong Chen was elected to the board of directors of Chinese Language Teachers Association (CLTA), and serves as CLTA Chair of Honors Society Committee, 2020 – 2023.
  • Kurt Fendt served again on the jury of the Annual Boston Turkish Film Festival (Documentary and Short Film Competition) in November-December.
  • Hee-Jeong Jeong served as a journal reviewer of The Korean Language in America for 2021 and served as a Selection panelist for Critical Language Scholarship Program for 2021.

Food for Thought

  • Dagmar Jaeger hosted a Feiner Apfelkuchen virtual bake-along for students in the Tutmonda. You may have missed the event, but you can still try out her recipe!
  • Emma Teng put together a presentation about gingerbread — with scholarly tidbits from humanities faculty about its place in history, literature, and more.

Brice Kapel performed for and talked with Leanna Rezvani’s French students during virtual concert Nov. 19.

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