

This session presents efforts that focus on developing Open Educational Resources (OER) dedicated to language teaching and learning especially those that focus on including themes of art, identity, and culture and whose design allows for easy adaptation and applicability across different languages. NeMLA Conference, March 6- 9, 2025.
This session shares an initiative to develop an Open Educational Resource (OER) repository for heritage language (HL) teaching and learning lesson modules. A collaborative effort by colleagues from the Yale Heritage Language Community, —Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, and Korean programs, this project aims to create four comprehensive modules focused on critical heritage themes such as heritage … Continue reading Upcoming Conference Presentation: Building an OER Repository of HL Teaching and Learning Modules
Language teachers everywhere strive to ensure that relevance is front and center in their language classes. One of the best ways to ensure relevance is to bring the real world into the classroom (Luukkonen, 2003). Bringing the real world into the classroom might start with using authentic materials but it does not stop there. This … Continue reading Bringing the Real World into the Language Classroom; involving the community
I was honored to accept the invitation to present the Yale OER Repository of Language Teaching and Learning Modules at the prestigious 6th International Hindi Conference, held in a stunning 150-year-old New York building. Our primary goal in creating this resource has always been to share it with the language-teaching community. We understand that developing … Continue reading Sharing Open Education Resources at The 6th International Hindi Conference
A Year of AI Intervention; Where Are We Now? A workshop at the Connecticut Council of Language Teachers’ Fall Conference on October 17th, 2024, at Southern Connecticut State University. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing various industries, and language education is no exception. This presentation looked into the practical applications of AI in language teaching, providing … Continue reading A Year of AI Intervention; Where Are We Now?
Organizing events that inspire both students and educators is a goal that I will always have in mind. Read more about it here. Arabic Shadow Puppetry Lecture and Workshop
Developing an OER repository for Language Teaching.
To enhance my knowledge of effective Heritage Language teaching practices, I enrolled in the National Heritage Resource Center’s online summer course. The four-week course focused on key concepts and pedagogical approaches in Heritage Language teaching, understanding and meeting the language needs of Heritage Language learners, and differentiated instruction – responding to the needs of individual … Continue reading HERITAGE LANGUAGE EDUCATOR WORKSHOP SUMMER 2024
The Great Powers of the Blue Genie is a reflective short story on the powers of AI. It tries to put in perspective that despite its novelty, the powers of AI were not the first that people were faced with. In an attempt to link the distant past with the vivacious present, the piece creates a link of similarities, poses a lot of questions, and leaves the final judgment to the reader.
AI was used in part in the process of creating the piece.
Click below to read and listen to the piece.
Leveraging AI for Richer Interactions A Flagship lead program hosted at Yale University June 3 – 7 / 2024 With much gratitude to the Yale Center for Language Study for providing us with this opportunity. And much appreciation for the wonderful collaboration of my teammates with whom I worked to produce our final model: Dinning … Continue reading Leveraging AI for Richer Interactions
The ‘Developing an OER Repository of Heritage Language Teaching and Learning Modules’ project at Yale University, initiated by Angela Lee-Smith (Korean) and developed in collaboration with Sarab Al Ani (Arabic), Ninghui Liang (Chinese), Peisong Xu (Chinese), and Mansi Bajaj (Hindi), is supported by the Yale Center for Language Study as part of Instructional Innovation Workshop 2024. This … Continue reading Open Education Resource; a Repository of Language Teaching and Learning Modules
In an article that is devoted to the Heritage Meets Heritage event (read about it here), the Arabic Heritage Track is featured shedding light on its role in serving our heritage students. Read the YDL article here.
My Heritage Language Educator colleagues and I were thrilled to present ‘Heritage Meets Heritage: A Celebration of Cultural Exchange’ in the Yale Share Group. This event, ‘Heritage Meets Heritage,’ was the culmination of months of collaboration between my Heritage Language Educator colleagues and me. We’re excited to continue and expand this collaboration in the future!” … Continue reading The collaboration continues.
Generative AI is playing an increasing role in language education. Therefore, It was important for me to seek professional development opportunities that help improve my knowledge in this field before I can use AI effectively in my classroom. All professional development opportunities below were successfully completed in the Academic year 23-24. 1. Generative AI in … Continue reading Generative AI: Professional Development
Read it here.
I was happy to be one of the organizers of Heritage Meets Heritage event2024. Students from 18 different Heritage Languages. Talking and Sharing experiences as Heritage Language Speakers. Discussing and listening to one another. Playing Kahoot and earning prizes. Participating in a Rafel and Earning some more prizes. It would not be a true Heritage … Continue reading Heritage Meets Heritage 2024