Sessions

Say It Because You Mean It: Empowering Student Voice

Many students have a strong desire to develop confidence in the use of their second language, but how can we support them in that seemingly intangible goal? According to many coaches, confidence is built upon a progression of practice, skill, and success. However, even – or especially – within the language classroom, there are aspects to student success that lie beyond grammar, paragraph structure, or presentation skills. We will begin this session with a brief description of the concept of "student voice" and then explore how teachers can use this concept to guide students in developing, maintaining, and building upon a pattern of success. Participants will be encouraged to share their own ideas, examples, or experiences of integrating student voice into the structure and discipline of academic writing and speaking, and will be challenged to find new ways to do so in the coming year.