progress report

September 2003

Announcements
As part of its collaboration with the regional foreign language associations, NVIA has asked the Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages to adopt research as a special priority. Marjorie Hall Haley, associate professor and director of foreign language education at George Mason University, will serve as NECTFL’s representative to NVIA.
A special session at the 2003 ACTFL Conference in Philadelphia will be devoted to presenting some results of the NVIA survey and to considering their implications in light of the criteria for research elaborated in the No Child Left Behind Act. Panelists include Richard Donato, University of Pittsburgh; Rebecca Fox, George Mason University; Rebecca Kline, Northeast Conference; Jocelyn Raught, Cactus Shadows Public Schools (AZ); and Bill VanPatten, University of Illinois at Chicago.

Proposals
A major project for the 2003-2004 academic year will be the organization of a summit to bring together individuals active in the area of FLA research, both basic and applied. These individuals may include action researchers in the P-12 context, directors of the NFLRCs, leaders of associations such as AAAL, heads of university programs, journal editors, promising graduate students, award winners, and researchers at all levels of instruction. Leaders in educational research from outside our field (AERA, ASCD, etc.) and representatives of funding agencies and foundations may also be invited. Costs incurred by participants (travel, lodging, etc.) would be covered by task force funds. The specific purpose of the summit will be to determine whether New Visions can facilitate a redefinition of the research community in our profession, such that both the value of research in shaping practice and the value of including practitioners in the research process are acknowledged.

A second initiative to help us fulfill our mission, and in keeping with the “expanded vision of research” priority established by the June 2000 New Visions meeting, is the creation of a month-long summer workshop to train interested colleagues in the techniques of qualitative research. Such a workshop would be of particular interest to action researchers, journal review and editorial boards, researchers trained in quantitative methods, and those seeking opportunities to collaborate with colleagues in the social sciences or in education.

A third project is our participation in the analysis and dissemination of the results of the national NVIA survey.

Finally, the Research Task Force will seek to support the other task forces in their search for outstanding models of teacher recruitment and retention, teacher development, curriculum, instruction, assessment and articulation.

Communication
As task force members indicate their willingness to continue to serve, and as new members join, we will create a listserv to facilitate communication. In the meantime, all interested individuals are encouraged to contact the task force chair: