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THE GRADUATE STUDENT CAUCUS OF THE MODERN LANGUAGESGRAD EXPERIENCES: PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE MLA 2016 – Austin, Texas – January 9, 2016

Fabrizio FornaraFlorida State University

Boost Your Chances to Get Hired: The Interdisciplinary Expertise

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Educational Background

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Academic Experience

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Academic Experience (cont.)Language Faculty Advisor (IES Abroad):• Taught undergraduate-level Spanish

courses;• Served as Spanish language faculty

coordinator;• Advised students;• Contributed to the development of the

Spanish language curriculum.

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The field of instructional design and technology encompasses the analysis of learning and performance problems, and the design, development, implementation, evaluation and management of instructional and noninstructional processes and resources intended to improve learning and performance in a variety of settings, particularly educational institutions and the workplace (Reiser, 2001).

Instructional Design & Tech-nology

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Instructional Designers (ID) draw up the specifications of a course, after analyzing the training needs, define the learning scope and objectives and decide on the format, as well as on the assessment method. Subject Matter Experts (SME) communicate their knowledge, offer an outline of the subjects that should be covered, define the resources and check the accuracy of the material provided by the ID team, but they are usually not the ones creating a course (Pappas, February 26, 2013).

Instructional Design & Technology (cont.)

Interdisciplinary Knowledge

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Knowledge that spans the disciplines and interdisciplinary fields and crosses the space between the academy and society at large (Frodeman, 2010).

Disciplines

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Universities: Colleges and Departments

Disciplinary knowledge – Formal accreditation

Disciplinary labor market(Weingart, 2010)

Disciplines (cont.)

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Emergence of inter- and transdisciplinary structures that would replace traditional disciplines (Jacobs, 2014).Growing number of specialties: New recombinations New interdisciplinary research fields

Interdisciplinarity

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Primary drivers of interdisciplinarity:• The inherent complexity of nature and

society;• The desire to explore problems and

questions that are not confined to a single discipline;

• The need to solve societal problems;• The power of new technologies.(National Academy of Science, 2004, in Thompson Klein, 2010)

Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL)

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Organizations: The Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium (CALICO), EuroCALL, IAALT, APACALL, WorldCALL, etc.Journals: CALICO Journal, Language Learning and Technology, CALL Journal, ReCALL, System, IAALT Journal, etc.

Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Stu-dents

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Disciplinary and interdisciplinary

Intellectual communitiesResearch paths Identitie

s(Graybill & Shandas, 2010)

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Putting it into Practice

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Courses taught:• ITA 1120 – Elementary Italian 1• ITA 1121 – Elementary Italian 2• ITA 2220 – Reading and Conversation• SPN 1120 – Elementary Spanish 1• SPN 1121 – Elementary Spanish 2• SPN 2220 – Intermediate Spanish 1• FOL 3930 – Italian for Spanish Speakers 1 and 2

Teaching

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• Promoting L2 Interpersonal Written Communication Using WhatsApp. (MLA 2016)

• Factors Influencing Second Language Student Production on Twitter. (AECT 2015)

• Micro-input: Effects of an Instructor Model on L2 Student Practice on Twitter. (CALICO 2015)

• Exploring the Intercomprehension Approach: The Case of a Multilevel Italian Course. (AAIS 2015)

• Pull your Students to the Target Language: Facebook for Language Learning. (NeMLA 2014)

Conference Presentations

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• Intercomprehension and Plurilingual Education (Online, forthcoming)

• Social Media for Active Learning (MOOC, 2014)

• Italian for Spanish Speakers (Face-to-face, FSU, 2012)

• Advanced Spanish for Liberal Arts (Face-to-face, IES Abroad, 2010)

Design and Development

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As an interdisciplinary Ph.D. student, you have an extra challenge on the job market because you are “not as instantly appealing as candidates whose Ph.D.’s are actually in those fields” (Kelsky, June 16, 2014). When you are still in grad school, however, you can build an academic record that places you firmly in your disciplinary field. At the same time, you can apply the principles and methodologies of your discipline to a second discipline and become the ideal candidate for an interdisciplinary position.

Job Market

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Assistant Professor in Technology & Second Language AcquisitionThe Department of Modern Languages […] invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) with a specialization in technology in SLA […]. The applicant should have additional expertise in at least one of the languages taught in the department and have native or near-native competency in that language. Requirements include: a Ph.D. or equivalent in Second Language Acquisition, Applied Linguistics, or related field, with a particular focus on the use of technology in SLA. The successful candidate will have expertise in technology-enhanced language pedagogy, as well as experience with technology-enhanced curriculum development, materials, and assessments.

Job Search: Faculty

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Assistant Professor of Educational TechnologyThe School of Education […] invites applications for a tenure track faculty position in Educational Technology at the rank of Assistant Professor […].Faculty in the School of Education seek a dynamic, innovative, and enthusiastic colleague who brings strong research and teaching expertise in educational technology […].The successful candidate will join a collegial team of leading educational technology educators and researchers in the Center for Technology in […].

Job Search: Faculty (cont.)

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The experience and the knowledge gained in graduate school can be excellent preparation for a variety of occupations in the university sector. […] There is a whole array of alternative academic positions in Higher Education, known sometimes as “alt-academic” or “para-academic” careers: Researchers, administrators, librarians, senior managers, learning technologists, policy-makers, grant-writers, grant-administrators, fundraisers, and others (Kennedy, 2014). (The Grad Caucus Chronicle, Issue #19)

Job Search: Alt-Academic

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Instructional DesignerThe Center for Learning and Teaching (CLT) […] is seeking candidates for the Instructional Designer (full-time, 12 month) position. This position plays a key role in […] University’s efforts to provide consultation in pedagogy, instructional design, and course development to University faculty and teaching assistants. These areas of consultation are typically related to courses, modules, and whole curriculum activities for traditional (face-to-face), online, and hybrid course projects.

Job Search: Alt-Academic (cont.)

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ff11@my.fsu.edu @ffornara

MLA 2016 – Austin, Texas – January 8, 2016

Fabrizio FornaraFlorida State University

Good Luck!