Dan E. Davidson | |
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Born | Wichita, Kansas, United States |
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Sub-discipline | Second-Language Acquisition,Russian studies,international education |
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Dan E. Davidson is an American linguist working at the intersection of Russian studies,second-language acquisition and international educational development. He is the president emeritus and [1] co-founder of American Councils for International Education and professor emeritus of Russian and Second Language Acquisition at Bryn Mawr College. [2]
Davidson received his B.A. from the University of Kansas in 1965,majoring in German,Russian,Humanities,and Slavic and Soviet Area Studies. He also studied Germanic and Slavic Studies at Rheinische Kaiser Friedrich–Wilhelms Universität (University of Bonn) in Bonn,Germany. He went on to complete his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Slavic Languages and Literatures from Harvard University,focusing on Russian Literature,Russian Linguistics,Serbo-Croatian,and German/Russian Literary Relations. Upon graduation,he taught Russian at Amherst College from 1971 to 1976,and then at Bryn Mawr College from 1976 to the present. He has also held adjunct or visiting professorships at Columbia University,Harvard University,University of Maryland College Park,and University of Pennsylvania.
In 1976,following several preliminary attempts by both American and Russian scholars to expand exchange of scholarship between the U.S. and the Soviet Union,Davidson co-founded the American Council of Teachers of Russian (ACTR),which would later become American Councils for International Education. The membership organization sponsored many activities associated with Russian language study,including efforts to expand existing scholarly and student exchanges in language and area studies between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. [3] Over the years,American Councils has expanded from a small membership organization with a single graduate exchange program to a well-known federally funded exchange organization that operates in over 80 countries,focusing on the instruction of critical languages and academic exchange with less commonly studied world regions and cultures. [2]
In addition to his work with American Councils,Davidson has held leadership roles in a number of international organizations and educational initiatives,including serving as co-chair of the "Transformation of the Humanities Program," funded by philanthropist George Soros,in Russia,Ukraine,and Belarus. The project produced over 400 new textbooks in the humanities and social sciences for use in Russia,Ukraine and Belarus between 1992 and 1995. [2] Davidson is the co-founder and chair (2006–present) of the Center for Education,Assessment and Teaching Methods (CEATM) in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan),the first independent,merit-based university admissions testing program in the former Soviet space. He also served as Vice President of the International Association of Teachers of Russian Language and Literature (MAPRYAL) from 1994 to the present and Vice-Chair of the Board of Governors of the European Humanities University from 2007 to 2016.
In the U.S.,Davidson served as elected Chairman of the Alliance for International Educational and Cultural Exchange from 1996 to 1999. He has also been a member of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) Committee on World Languages from 1999 to 2001 and 2007–2009,the Board of Directors of World Education Services from 2000 to 2007,and the Modern Language Association Executive Committee of the Division on the Teaching of Language from 2006 to 2010. Davidson was the elected President of the Joint National Committee for Language (JNCL) from 2008 to 2012,the chair of the World Language Academic Advisory Committee of the College Board from 2012 to 2015,and the president of the American Council of Teachers of Russian (ACTR). He currently serves as ACTR's Executive Director. [4]
In 2015,Davidson was named to the Commission on Languages,American Academy of Arts and Sciences,which produced reports at the request of the US Congress on the current state of U.S. capacity in languages other than English: The State of Languages in the U.S.:A Statistical Portrait [5] and America's Languages:Investing in Language Education for the 21st Century. [6]
Davidson has authored thirteen books and more than 60 academic articles,including a twenty-year longitudinal study of adult second language acquisition during study abroad. Davidson co-authored the Russian:Stage One textbook series,the first collaborative Soviet-American Russian language textbook,which continues to be used in its revised form today. [7]
His scholarly articles cover the disciplines of historical semantics ("N.M. Karamzin and the New Critical Vocabulary:Toward a Semantic History of the Term Romantic in Russian," 1974),lexical pragmatics ("The Bilingual Associative Dictionary of the Languages of Russian an American Youth," 2004), [8] and second-language acquisition ("The Development of L2 Proficiency and Literacy within the context of the Federally Supported Overseas Language Training Programs for Americans," 2015). In 2016,he published "Assessing Language Proficiency and Intercultural Development in the Overseas Immersion Context." In 2021,Davidson was editor and contributor for Transformative Language Learning and Teaching.
Transformative Language Learning and Teaching was awarded the AATSEEL Prize for Best Book in Pedagogy at the organization's National Conference in February of 2022,calling it "a groundbreaking volume on the theory and practice of transformative teaching in the language learning context." [9] In 2023,the Modern Language Association recognized Transformative Language Learning and Teaching with the Kenneth W. Mildenberger Prize for its comprehensive exploration of transformative learning theory and practice in the language field. [10]
Davidson's comparison of the face-to-face and "virtual immersion" on the linguistic and cultural growth of young adult English-speaking learners of Arabic,Chinese,and Russian,co-authored with Nadra Garas,“What Makes Study Abroad Transformative? Comparing Linguistic and Cultural Contacts and Learning Outcomes in Virtual vs In-Person Contexts”appeared in the University of California,Berkeley L2 Journal, 15(2),2023,pp. 71-91. [11]
Davidson's work has been cited on multiple occasions on the subjects of exchanges,language study,and the impact of changing U.S.-Russia relations on academic exchanges in The New York Times , [12] The Chronicle of Higher Education, [13] Inside Higher Education, [14] and other publications domestically and abroad.
Davidson has also presented oral testimony by invitation on four occasions to the U.S. Senate. In March of 1992,he testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Affairs. [15] On September 19th,2000,Davidson made a statement to the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs Subcommittee on International Security,Proliferation,and Federal Services. [16] He has testified twice before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management,the Federal Workforce,and the District of Columbia. [17] [18] The May 2012 hearing,titled "A National Security Crisis:Foreign Language Capabilities in the Federal Government," identified a shortage of personnel qualified to fill language-designated positions in key government agencies and offered strategies for increasing the number of Americans possessing advanced proficiency in both language and regional knowledge. [18]
He has presented oral testimony by invitation on two occasions to the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on State,Foreign Operations,and Related Programs. [19] [20] [21]
A second language (L2) is a language spoken in addition to one's first language (L1). A second language may be a neighbouring language, another language of the speaker's home country, or a foreign language. A speaker's dominant language, which is the language a speaker uses most or is most comfortable with, is not necessarily the speaker's first language. For example, the Canadian census defines first language for its purposes as "the first language learned in childhood and still spoken", recognizing that for some, the earliest language may be lost, a process known as language attrition. This can happen when young children start school or move to a new language environment.
Language education – the process and practice of teaching a second or foreign language – is primarily a branch of applied linguistics, but can be an interdisciplinary field. There are four main learning categories for language education: communicative competencies, proficiencies, cross-cultural experiences, and multiple literacies.
Language immersion, or simply immersion, is a technique used in bilingual language education in which two languages are used for instruction in a variety of topics, including math, science, or social studies. The languages used for instruction are referred to as the L1 and the L2 for each student, with L1 being the student's native language and L2 being the second language to be acquired through immersion programs and techniques. There are different types of language immersion that depend on the age of the students, the classtime spent in L2, the subjects that are taught, and the level of participation by the speakers of L1.
Second-language acquisition (SLA), sometimes called second-language learning—otherwise referred to as L2acquisition, is the process by which people learn a second language. Second-language acquisition is also the scientific discipline devoted to studying that process. The field of second-language acquisition is regarded by some but not everybody as a sub-discipline of applied linguistics but also receives research attention from a variety of other disciplines, such as psychology and education.
A language school is a school where one studies a foreign language. Classes at a language school are usually geared towards, for example, communicative competence in a foreign language. Language learning in such schools typically supplements formal education or existing knowledge of a foreign language.
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The Joseph H. Lauder Institute of Management & International Studies offers a joint degree program at the University of Pennsylvania, combining an MA in international studies from the School of Arts and Sciences with a MBA from The Wharton School or JD from the Law School.
Early immersion is a method of teaching and learning a foreign language. It entails having a student undergo intense instruction in a foreign language, starting by age five or six. Frequently, this method entails having the student learn all or much of his or her various "regular" subject matter via the foreign language being taught.
Language exchange is a method of language learning based on mutual language practicing by learning partners who are speakers of different languages. This is usually done by two native speakers teaching each other their native language. Language exchange is different from other Language learning methods as there is usually no set syllabus or activities. Language exchange is sometimes called Tandem language learning.
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World Learning is a 501(c)(3) international nonprofit organization that focuses on international development, education, and exchange programs. Based in Brattleboro, Vermont, World Learning "unlocks the potential of people to address critical global issues" through its core program areas: The Experiment in International Living, the School for International Training, and International Development and Exchange Programs.
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