Language Educators: Are you looking for some light summer reading?

The digital short, “Integrating Career Preparation into Language Courses” (don’t forget to use the discount count for 30% off) is a practical guide full of specific activities to integrate into already-existing language courses. The goal can be twofold: to streamline the administration of your own courses while also preparing students for practical, professional applications of the work they are doing in your language courses. Topics include professional written correspondence, gatekeeping, networking, and digital skills.  

Each chapter is organized into sections on “what you’re already doing,” “what to add,” and “specific pedagogical materials and assessments.”  For example, the chapter on professional written correspondence opens with a few paragraphs on the ubiquity of email correspondence between students and their instructors, the parallels between lesson plan writing and agenda writing, and the usefulness of cover memos.  The next section goes into the rationale for training students to use email in a professional manner, to plan for workplace meetings within the context of your planning and execution of class meetings, and to use memo writing to avoid the biggest pitfalls associated with academic writing. Each chapter concludes with specific lesson plans and activities for immediate use in your language courses. Assessment rubrics are included and, where possible, activities are divided into beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels.

All suggestions are meant to be used in a “pick and choose” manner so that you only integrate the materials that will help you with your course goals–and reminders of that appear frequently within the text.

Darcy Lear is a career coach specializing in  job search documents, interview preparation, and academic documents. She is the author of “Integrating Career Preparation into Language Courses” from Georgetown University Press.  For help customizing your job application documents and navigating your career transition, contact Darcy: darcylear@gmail.com