CARLA Summer Institutes

The Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) at the University of Minnesota has provided high-quality professional development for language teachers for over 25 years. Launched in 1996, this internationally known program reflects CARLA's commitment to link research and theory with practical applications for the classroom. Each institute is highly interactive and includes discussion, hands-on activities, and networking.

The 2024 CARLA Summer Institute program
has concluded. Watch for the 2025 program announcement in November!

Who Participates in the CARLA Summer Institutes?

CARLA summer institute participants—more than 7,900 to date—have come from every state and countries all over the world. They have included foreign/world language, ESL/EFL, heritage language and immersion educators at all levels of instruction, as well as program administrators, curriculum specialists, and language teacher educators.

2024 CARLA Summer Institute Program

In 2024, CARLA offered fourteen online and in-person summer institutes for language educators. Over 260 language educators from across the globe participated in the 29th annual CARLA Summer Institute program. Check out the impressive statistics below.

By the Numbers

• 14 summer institutes offered: 3 asynchronous and 7 synchronous online institutes, and 4 in-person institutes held at the University of Minnesota.
• 307 language educators engaged in the program in 2024: 269 participants and 38 instructors/guest presenters.
• Participants hailed from 35 states, Puerto Rico, and 10 countries outside of the U.S.: Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Pakistan, Qatar, Trinidad & Tobago.
• Instructors represented 6 states and 2 countries outside of the U.S.: Canada and Japan.
• Teachers of 28 languages attended the institutes: Arabic, ASL, Chinese, Dakota, ESL/EFL, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hmong, HoChunk, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Ojibwe, Portuguese, Russian, Sauk, Shiwi'ma Bena:we, Spanish, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese, and Yiddish.
• CARLA offered a total of 32 summer institute scholarships to language educators: 15 Priority Teacher Professional Development Scholarships, 4 Teaching Excellence in Action in Minnesota (TEAM) K-12 Scholarships, 5 UMN P&A Language Instructor and Graduate Student Scholarships, and 8 free registrations for MN K-12 teachers to attend Minnesota Bilingual Seals: Establishing and Expanding Programs in Schools.
  
  

Fun Fact: Over the past 29 years, CARLA has offered 316 summer institutes to a total of 7,974 language educators from all 50 states and 72 countries/US territories.

CARLA Summer Institute Participation by Location (2007–2023)

What Participants Say About the CARLA Summer Institutes

It is clear from reading the institute evaluations that these professional development opportunities make a significant difference for language teachers and their students. Comments by participants show that CARLA is seen as the “go-to” center for resources and support for language instruction, and they greatly appreciate that our instructors are some of the best in the field.

Read some of the quotable quotes from 2024:

Asynchronous Institutes

• I learned a very systematic framework for culture teaching in the language classroom during this summer institute. This course has provided me with practical strategies to integrate cultural understanding with language learning, which I am excited to implement in my teaching.
       –Zhuo Li (Culture as the Core in the Second Language Classroom)
• I highly recommend this Summer Institute. It perfectly linked research and practice on L2 pragmatics, and provided lots of interesting and useful ideas on how to incorporate pragmatics instruction into my own teaching. As I'm completing the last activities, these past weeks I've been reflecting a lot on my own teaching and research, and I hope to continue further developing in the future the insights gained here..
       (Language and Culture in Sync: Teaching Linguistic Politeness and Intercultural Awareness)
• I appreciate the opportunity to participate in the CARLA Summer Institute. Learning from the esteemed faculty and my classmates has been invaluable. The readings were highly informative, and the videos effectively highlighted key concepts. The discussions encouraged critical thinking and deep engagement with the material. I cannot wait to bring the new knowledge and tools to advance the development of heritage language programs in my school. Thank you!
       –Yung Chi Sung (Practical Program Evaluation for Heritage Language Programs)

Synchronous Institutes

• The Content-Based Language Instruction and Curriculum Development institution was deeply enlightening. This course has given me not just theoretical knowledge but also a solid structure to keep in mind when planning a CBI unit.
       –Edwin López (Content-Based Language Instruction and Curriculum Development)
• This workshop was exactly what I had hoped. The instructor provided an in-depth look at three social media platforms and multiple examples of how to use them in the language classroom. We were provided time to explore and ask questions. Everything we covered was specific to our own potential uses, which was refreshing.
      –Aroline Seibert Hanson (EmojiEd: Integrating Authentic Social Media in Language Teaching)
• This was a game-changing professional development opportunity for me. The institute really opened my eyes to how I can incorporate career readiness at multiple levels in my class and program. I see this not only as a tool to advocate for myself (translating the relevance of what I'm teaching to a broader audience) but furthermore as a key component of advancing equity among our students.
      –Lizz Huntley (Integrating Career Readiness into Language Programs)
• The Introduction to Dual Language Immersion (DLI) class was jam-packed with practical and research-based frameworks and strategies that will assist aspiring, new and experienced DLI teachers.
       –Janelle R. Johnson (Introduction to Dual Language Immersion)
• This summer institute provided us with a wealth of important resources and information, the opportunity to ask questions to deepen our understanding, and the time to put together our 'toolkit' to use in the implementation of the program. It was a wonderful experience, thank you!-
       –Lourdes Flores-Hanson (Minnesota Bilingual Seals: Establishing and Expanding Programs in Schools or Districts)
• This has been one of the best PD experiences I have ever had! There was a great mix of theory and practice to boost my teaching capacity for the year to come. Sarah and Cory were phenomenal. They modeled the teaching strategies and pedagogies they advocate for, and it is truly effective.
       –Jenna Walhout (Secondary Dual Language and Immersion: Achieving the Promise of Continuation Programs)
• This class helped me get to a deep understanding of what proficiency is and how to get my students to attain it. I can't wait to try these strategies in my classroom!
       –Tamrah Munk (Teaching for Proficiency in Dual Language Immersion)

In-person Institutes

• This institute was well-designed and conceptualized at every level. We were given a chance to see examples of each teaching modality, try them out for ourselves as learners, and propose new designs as educators. This experience was exactly the shot of inspiration I needed to bring new energy into my teaching.
       (Creativity in the Language Classroom)
• This week has been very transformational for me as a person and teacher. I learned a lot and will be able to help my students realize their potential and recognize their knowledge and power from being bilingual.
       –Mónica M. (Critical Approaches to Heritage Language Education)
• This institute on Social Justice in Language Education was excellent! The instructors gave me all the tools I was looking for to adapt lessons with a social justice frame to help students think critically about vital societal inequities and solutions. I also appreciated the collegiality and professionalism of the group!
       –Tracey Kloeckl-Jimenez (Planning Social Justice Lessons: Critical Pedagogies in Action)
• It was amazing to be in a room with people from all over the world who were passionate language educators! Even though we came from different institutions, educational settings, grade/age levels, languages etc. everyone was there to learn together and become better educators for our students. This institute was very practical and relevant to my every day work and I look forward to sharing what I learned with colleagues so we can better support our students learning through Project Based Language Learning..
       –Elysia Batres (Getting Started with Project-Based Language Learning)

See a list of all the summer institutes CARLA has offered since the program began in 1996.

The institutes have been developed and are supported, in part, by the U.S. Department of Education’s Title VI Language Resource Center program. The summer institutes are co-sponsored by the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development and College of Liberal Arts.