Dr. Miles Turnbull President of Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers
Dr. Miles Turnbull, an associate professor in the Faculty of Education, was elected President of the Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers (CASLT) at the CASLT Annual General Meeting held recently in Toronto.
Dr. Turnbull is Director of a new joint pre-service program with l'Universitand#233; de Moncton for French second language teaching, with a special focus on teaching French Immersion. He also teaches in the graduate program in leadership and learning. Before joining the faculty at UPEI, he was an assistant professor in the Modern Language Centre at OISE-UT (University of Toronto), and he worked in Core and Immersion French programs in three Canadian provinces.
Dr. Turnbull plans to strengthen ties between CASLT and associations such as the Canadian Association Applied Linguistics, university based language and research centres and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) for improved dialogue and support of second language research in Canada. He will pursue a stronger involvement for CASLT in supporting teacher educators and in promoting FSL teaching as a viable andrewarding career. He stated, "We must attract new and enthusiastic people into the teaching profession, and specifically into teaching French as a second language. We must support these new teachers through flexible professional development opportunities and provide them with a strong professional learning community for them to grow in their chosen careers." He also hopes to help steer CASLT as a leader in coordination of the implementation of the federal government's Action Plan on Official Languages.
CASLT, established in 1970, promotes the advancement of second language learning and teaching throughout Canada by creating opportunities for professional development, by encouraging research, and by facilitating the sharing of information and the exchange of ideas between second language educators. Members believe that second language learning, encompassing both official and international languages, is an essential component of a formal education and that every second language teacher should have the opportunity to learn and grow in a supportive professional community.
