@The Library

What is the difference between acquiring a language and learning a language formally?  What do first and second language learning have in common? What does “bilingual” mean? If you're living in a multilingual household and want to know more, curious about language acquisition or teach in a multilingual classroom, this evening is for you.

During our open discussion we'll explore the great variety of learning situations from  “picking up” a language  to learning in a classroom and examine the diverse factors involved, including attitude towards the language and what makes for successful learning.

Incorporated into the conversation will be the various perspectives  - your own learning and experience, information gleaned from the field of language acquisition and applied linguistics, as well as 40 years of language teaching expertise. This promises to be a rich discussion, full of provocative questions, and perhaps, just a few definite answers.

About Jacqueline Garçon

Jacqueline (Jackie) Garçon has worked in teacher education for over twenty years, including TEFL certificates programs and Master-level programs in the U.S. and France. She has taught EFL/ESL and French at the University of California, Harvard University and in France for 40 years, holding Masters Degrees in French and in TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages). Jackie has published articles and given numerous workshops on teaching/ learning languages, teacher education and using literature. She has been involved in applied linguistics and second language acquisition research as guides to language learning in and outside the classroom.  Four years ago she founded the association, Languages & Lifelong Learning.