Perspective-Making in World Language Classrooms
Perspective-Making in World Language Classrooms: Intercultural Learning Across NYS Checkpoints
Presenters: ÌýDr. Erin Kearney and Dr. Tasha Austin
Webinar date & time:Ìý Tuesday, January 27th, 2026, 4:00-5:00 pm via Zoom
The Office of Bilingual Education and World Languages (OBEWL) of the ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú (ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú) presents this first webinar in the 2026 professional learning series, Perspective-Making in World Language Classrooms: Intercultural Learning Across NYS Checkpoints.Ìý This webinar is offered free of charge for world language educators and administrators working and studying in New York State educational institutions.Ìý 1 hour of CTLE credit is offered.
Webinar description: ÌýEncouraging development of learners’ intercultural competence is more than teaching about cultural products and practices. It is deeply rooted in helping students appreciate target culture perspectives by more fully recognizing their own. Ultimately, intercultural learning in the world language classroom has the potential to reshape students and teachers’ perspectives. In this webinar, the presenters will draw on their research and the NYS Learning Standards for World Languages to illustrate how perspective-making can guide language instruction at all proficiency levels. Participants will be invited to pause, reflect, and share insights in the chat as they model ways to connect language, identity, and perspective across Checkpoints A, B, and C. Teachers will leave with concrete ideas for designing lessons that expand learners’ interculturality and communicative depth.
Registration process: ÌýAll participants are encouraged to pre-register for this event.Ìý Pre-registration will close on Friday, January 23, 2026; there will be no same-day registrations. ÌýOnce the registrant's email address has been verified as being from a New York State school, college, or university, an email confirming their registration will be sent.Ìý Twenty-four hours prior to the event, all registered individuals will receive login instructions with the link to join the webinar.Ìý Only pre-registered attendees will be eligible for a certificate documenting attendance and/or CTLE hours.Ìý
Click here to download the webinar flyer.
Click to access the registration form.
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Presenters:
Erin Kearney, PhD is a professor of world language education at the University at Buffalo, where she works with future and current language teachers as well as emerging language education researchers. A former French teacher, her research explores how language instruction can foster learners’ cultural understanding, expanded meaning-making capacities, and identity development. She also investigates how world language teachers evolve in their practice – how they learn, grow, and refine their pedagogical approaches over time. In addition to her scholarship, Dr. Kearney has been a long-time advocate for the profession, serving on the ACTFL Board of Directors and representing higher education and teacher education in NYSAFLT leadership roles. Her work appears in journals such asÌýForeign Language Annals,ÌýLanguage Awareness, andÌýThe Modern Language Journal, and she is the author of a book on intercultural language teaching. She is deeply committed to supporting educators in centering and growing students’ linguistic and cultural identities.
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Tasha Austin, PhD is an assistant professor of teacher education, language education, and multilingualism at the University at Buffalo. A former Spanish teacher, she draws on her classroom experience to inform her research, which explores how discourses of racialization impact both students and educators – especially how anti-Blackness can emerge in language classrooms and teacher preparation programs. Grounded in critical race theory and Black feminist thought, her work highlights the voices of Black language educators and reimagines how teachers learn alongside their students. Dr. Austin’s scholarship has been recognized with multiple national awards, including two Outstanding Dissertation Awards from the American Educational Research Association. She is currently leading a Spencer-funded study on the oral histories of Black world language teachers, and her work appears in journals such asÌýApplied Linguistics,ÌýForeign Language Annals, andÌýEducational Linguistics.