Course

EDUC7621: Bilingualism, Second Language, and Literacy Acquisition [S22] [Roche]

Ended Aug 17, 2022

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Full course description

Bilingualism, Second Language, and Literacy Development 

Please note that the course officially begins on March 7, 2022. However, you may access the course materials starting March 3rd.

Time:  Hybrid with 4 - 5 face-to-face online meetings

Location: Online

Who Should Enroll?

The course is designed for K - 12 Catholic educators who are seeking to partially fulfill the subject matter knowledge requirements for Massachusetts bilingual education endorsement, or for any teacher who is interested in deepening their understandings about contemporary theory and research in bilingualism and second language acquisition as they pertain to daily classroom practice.

Course Description:

This course is designed to provide practitioners with exposure to contemporary theory and research in bilingualism and literacy, with an eye toward instructional applications. The content covered in this course applies across any instructional context in which multilingual learners are present. Such settings include: Transitional and dual language bilingual education, ESL, SEI, and “mainstream” classrooms.  The course is a hybrid course model, with a majority of coursework taking place online, with periodic face-to-face meetings, and assignments that are meant to interface with your day-to-day responsibilities as a teacher, interventionist, specialist, or administrator.

Optional Live Sessions:

  • Meeting 1 — TBD
  • Meeting 2 — TBD
  • Meeting 3 — TBD
  • Meeting 4 — TBD
  • Meeting 5 — TBD

Course Benefits:

Completion of the course will provide exposure to the following topics:

  1. First language development, bilingual language development, and second language acquisition;
  2. Processes of literacy and biliteracy development and their relationship with first language development, bilingual language development, and second language acquisition;
  3. Theories of bilingualism as a social, cognitive, educational, and political phenomenon;
  4. Issues of assessment, the measurement of bilingualism, content knowledge, and English proficiency;
  5. Bilingualism, exceptional learners, and special education;
  6. Ideologies, identities, and language maintenance: Who gets to be bilingual, and who gets celebrated for it?

Certification of Completion: 

Please note that all participants from outside Boston College will not receive academic credit nor a transcript documenting their participation in this workshop series. However, all participants will be awarded a certificate of completion and Professional Development points to apply to their professional development plans. 

Fees and Policies:

Payment is due by credit card at registration. Tuition includes all instructional materials. 

Refunds will only be granted up until the course begins. No refunds will be granted for registration or technical errors on the participant's part (such as incorrect name/email, login failure, etc.).

Additional offerings from the Lynch School Professional & Continuing Education Office can be found on our website

Course Facilitator

Dr. Elena Sada, program director for the Roche Center's Two-Way Immersion Network of Catholic Schools (TWIN-CS), has more than 20 years of experience working with teachers and leaders implementing dual language and world language programs. As TWIN-CS program director, Elena oversees a national network of 21 dual language Catholic schools that share research, ideas, techniques, and resources to support students in becoming bilingual and biliterate. She holds a doctorate in bilingual education from the University of Connecticut.

Course Designer

Patrick Proctor is a professor and educational researcher focusing on bilingualism, bilingual education, language, and literacy. Theoretically, his work attempts to merge critical and developmental perspectives on language, literacy, and bilingualism in education. In terms of praxis, he works directly with teachers and administrators on issues of bilingual education and language-based literacy instruction, particularly in schools and districts characterized by student (and ideally teacher) multilingualism.