Netta Avineri
Office
McCone Building M102B
Tel
(831) 647-6560
Email
navineri@middlebury.edu

Dr. Netta Avineri is professor of TESOL/TFL. She also serves as the Institute’s Intercultural Competence Committee Chair and co-founded the Intercultural Digital Storytelling Project. She teaches Service Learning and Teacher Education courses at California State University, Monterey Bay. Dr. Avineri is passionate about building community partnerships through critical service-learning and narrative. She is committed to collaborative environments in which societal inequities can be both explored and resisted through the inclusion of diverse voices and ways of knowing.

Dr. Avineri is an applied linguist and linguistic anthropologist who teaches Anthropology, Education, Intercultural Competence, Linguistics, TESOL/TFL and Service-Learning courses. Previously she taught at UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, CSU Long Beach, and Pierce College. Dr. Avineri has co-developed curricula for service learning in TESOL, international internships, Spanish-English tandem learning, and intercultural competence for practitioners. In addition, she has served as coordinator, consultant, and trainer for language assessment program and writing centers. In 2014 Dr. Avineri was awarded the Russ Campbell Young Scholars Award in Heritage Language Education, and in 2010 she received the American Association of Colleges and Universities K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award. She currently serves as the American Association for Applied Linguistics Public Affairs and Engagement Committee Chair.

Courses Taught

Course Description

How and why do we bring learning out of the traditional classroom context and into broader communities? In what ways does this process expand what counts as knowledge? What skills of intercultural communication are necessary to facilitate bridging these different cultures, and what abilities does one develop as a result? And how do issues of hierarchy, status, power, and identity play a role in diverse interactions among students and community partners?

Service-learning is an innovative pedagogical methodology in which students actively participate in civic engagement to enhance their academic curriculum and share in critical reflection throughout their service to community organizations; it is a means to bridge theory and practice throughout one’s educational experience. In this 2-unit elective you will identify historical philosophies and contemporary paradigms associated with service-learning and civic engagement, along with a number of successful case studies and models. You will also have the opportunity to become a short-term service-learner in a community partner organization in the Monterey Bay region, engaging in critical reflection throughout the process. Overall, you will develop relevant knowledge, skills, and dispositions to approach service-learning in critical, respectful, and ethical ways as a means to building meaningful and sustainable partnerships.

Learning Outcomes:
1. Identify historical philosophies that underpin international & domestic service-learning and civic engagement
2. Distinguish various contemporary civic engagement paradigms (e.g., volunteerism, internships, immersive learning, traditional SL, critical SL, “alternative spring breaks”)
3. Examine case studies & models for service-learning and civic engagement
4. Identify the multiple knowledges involved in these case studies & models, and assess how these knowledges could be conflicting and/or complementary
5. Participate in meaningful short-term service-learning projects
6. Practice essential intercultural communication skills, including active listening, perspective-taking, and audience coalescence
7. Analyze & evaluate your own experiences with service-learning through ongoing reflection (individual, group, anonymous, shared)
8. Identify elements of your identity that may shape your intercultural interactions and reflect upon the multiple identities of those with whom you work
9. Integrate course material through application to future service-learning projects in which you and/or your students will participate
10. Collaboratively create an intercultural communication toolkit that can guide interactions across diverse contexts (including ethnographic field methods like observation, field notes, and interviews)

Terms Taught

Fall 2022 - MIIS, Fall 2023 - MIIS

View in Course Catalog

Course Description

Language Teaching for Social Justice

This course aims to increase language teachers’ capacity to benefit from the transformative potential of language instruction to eliminate any kind of discrimination and to raise social justice and equality at large. Some of the objectives of the course include enabling language teachers:

To acquire and employ the appropriate vocabulary and language to identify and address the critical issues discussed;

to develop their critical consciousness through which they will recognize the systems of oppression and inequality;

to better value students’ diversity, to better establish a caring and inclusive learning environment, and to better demonstrate trust and solidarity in the classroom;

to make curricula relevant and applicable to all their students through accommodating and differentiating instruction;

to create a learning environment that promotes critical thinking and agency;

to become curriculum leaders who can participate in complicated conversations and advocate for social change;

This course explores pedagogical principles and practice opportunities for language teachers who would like to integrate social justice issues into their classes. The course will cover the following critical issues:

Immigration and peacebuilding

Environmental education and sustainability

Gender equality

LGBTQ+ inclusive pedagogy

Race and ethnicity

Class and economy

Terms Taught

Fall 2022 - MIIS, Summer 2023 - MIIS, MIIS Second Half of Term, Fall 2023 - MIIS

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Course Description

The course focuses on general approaches to teaching online (as entirely online courses, hybrid/blended models, and online elements for face-to-face classes) as well as specific approaches to teaching languages online. Discussions and class activities will focus on debates around online education; relationships among SLA theories, teaching philosophies, and online teaching; and online language teaching/learning tools. Students will have the opportunity to create and deliver an online lesson, and build online language learning units that match their pedagogical & professional interests.

Terms Taught

Spring 2022 - MIIS, Summer 2023 - MIIS, MIIS Second Half of Term

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Course Description

Terms Taught

Summer 2023 - MIIS

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Course Description

This two-unit J term course addresses key issues related to language program administration (LPA). The course is predominately asynchronous, with a few synchronous sessions to be determined in consultation with students. Course topics include (but are not limited to) innovation, customer service, decision making, governance, ethics, human resources, project management, quality assurance, and strategic planning. The course will help students to recognize macro- and micro-level issues involved with LPA work and evaluate strategies for handling future situations in LPA contexts.

Terms Taught

Spring 2024 - MIIS, MIIS Winter/J Term only

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Course Description

Power & Identities in Intercultural Contexts

Power and identity are central to our understanding of cultures and intercultural interaction. In this class we will explore the role of situated and transportable identities at the individual and collective levels as well as power at the “me-cro”, micro, meso, and macro levels. In addition, we will consider topics including intersectionality, positionality, diversity, inclusion, equity, ethics, privilege, marginalization, markedness, and epistemologies and how they manifest across contexts. We will discuss ethical intercultural methods as well as how power and identity connect with and shape social justice processes and goals. Through in-class discussion, hands-on activities, discussion of case studies, interviews, and presentations, students will investigate their personal conceptions of power and identity in order to identify their professional philosophies and practices moving forward.

There are eight main Student Learning Outcomes for this course:

Conceptualize power and identity (and the relationships between them) at “me-cro”, micro, meso, and macro levels

Explore the roles of intersectionality, positionality, diversity, inclusion, equity, ethics, privilege, marginalization, markedness, and epistemologies in diverse contexts

Identify the roles of power and identity in social justice processes and goals

Examine case studies in intercultural contexts in relation to key course concepts

Practice intercultural communication skills, including active listening, perspective-taking, and audience coalescence

Use ethical intercultural methods (observation, interviews, critical discourse analysis) to explore power and identity across contexts

Articulate your professional philosophies and practices in relation to power and identity in intercultural contexts

Analyze and interpret your own experiences with power and identity through ongoing reflection (individual, group, anonymous, shared)

Terms Taught

Fall 2022 - MIIS, MIIS Workshop, Fall 2023 - MIIS, MIIS Workshop

View in Course Catalog

Course Description

How and why do we bring learning out of the traditional classroom context and into broader communities? In what ways does this process expand what counts as knowledge? What skills of intercultural communication are necessary to facilitate bridging these different cultures, and what abilities does one develop as a result? And how do issues of hierarchy, status, power, and identity play a role in diverse interactions among students and community partners? Service-learning is an innovative pedagogical methodology in which students actively participate in civic engagement to enhance their academic curriculum, and share in critical reflection throughout their service to community organizations; it is a means to bridge theory and practice throughout one’s educational experience. In this 2-unit elective you will identify historical philosophies and contemporary paradigms associated with service-learning and civic engagement, along with a number of successful case studies & models. You will also have the opportunity to become a short-term service-learner in a community partner organization, engaging in critical reflection throughout the process. Overall, you will develop relevant knowledge, skills, and dispositions to approach service-learning in critical, respectful, and ethical ways as a means to building meaningful and sustainable partnerships.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Identify historical philosophies that underpin international & domestic service-learning and civic engagement

2. Distinguish various contemporary civic engagement paradigms (e.g., volunteerism, internships, immersive learning, traditional SL, critical SL, “alternative spring breaks”)

3. Examine case studies & models for service-learning and civic engagement in international & domestic contexts

4. Identify the multiple knowledges involved in these case studies & models, and assess how these knowledges could be conflicting and/or complementary

5. Participate in meaningful short-term service-learning projects

6. Practice essential intercultural communication skills, including active listening, perspective-taking, and audience coalescence

7. Analyze & evaluate your own experiences with service-learning through ongoing reflection (individual, group, anonymous, shared)

8. Identify elements of your identity that may shape your intercultural interactions and reflect upon the multiple identities of those with whom you work

9. Integrate course material through application to future service-learning projects in which you and/or your students will participate

10. Collaboratively create an intercultural communication toolkit that can guide interactions across diverse contexts (including ethnographic field methods like observation, field notes, and interviews)

Terms Taught

Spring 2022 - MIIS, MIIS Workshop, Spring 2023 - MIIS, MIIS Workshop, Spring 2024 - MIIS, MIIS Workshop

View in Course Catalog

Course Description

Terms Taught

Spring 2023 - MIIS

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Course Description

Introduces the interplay between language and society. Discusses regional and social dialects as well as the role of linguistic attitudes and language variation in language learning and teaching.

Terms Taught

Fall 2022 - MIIS, Fall 2023 - MIIS

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Course Description

Examines the syntax and discourse of modern English for ESL and EFL teaching. Spotlights practical applications for the classroom. Prerequisite: Language Analysis

Terms Taught

Spring 2022 - MIIS, Spring 2023 - MIIS, Spring 2024 - MIIS

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Course Description

Terms Taught

Fall 2022 - MIIS, Spring 2023 - MIIS, Fall 2023 - MIIS

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Course Description

Intro to Sociolinguistics
Introduces the interplay between language and society. Discusses regional and social dialects as well as the role of linguistic attitudes and language variation in language learning and teaching. The dates of this course are AUGUST 24 through DECEMBER 11. Registering for this course signals your interest in taking the course. You will be notified via email on August 21 whether you can officially enroll in the course. . The dates of this course are AUGUST 24 through DECEMBER 11. Registering for this course signals your interest in taking the course. You will be notified via email on August 21 whether you can officially enroll in the course.

Terms Taught

Fall 2020

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Course Description

Structure of English
Examines the syntax and discourse of modern English for ESL and EFL teaching. Spotlights practical applications for the classroom. Prerequisite: Language Analysis (Open to Juniors and Seniors only) (Open to students who have taken Language Analysis or equivalent, you must contact Kathi Bailey from Monterey (kb@middlebury.edu) for review of MIDD course background.) The dates of this course are JANUARY 31 through MAY 20. Registering for this course signals your interest in taking the course.

Terms Taught

Spring 2022, MIIS courses in College Term

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Areas of Interest

Dr. Avineri’s research interests include critical service-learning and interculturality, language and social justice, and heritage and endangered languages. Recently, she has co-written about topics including the “language gap”, sports team mascot names, bilingual education, the confederate flag, silence in social justice movements, and professional precariousness in academia. Her individual and collaborative research has been published in various media outlets, academic journals, and books, and her book, Research Methods for Language Teachers: Inquiry, Process, and Synthesis was published by Palgrave MacMillan in 2017. She is co-editor of the forthcoming volume Language and Social Justice: Case Studies on Communication & the Creation of Just Societies with Routledge Publishers.

Academic Degrees

  • PhD in Applied Linguistics from UCLA
  • MA in Applied Linguistics/TESL
  • BA in Anthropology

Professor Avineri has been teaching at the Institute since 2013.

Publications

Research Methods for Language Practitioners

Avineri, N. (2017). Research Methods for Language Teaching: Inquiry, Process, and Synthesis. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

Language & Social Justice

Uzum, B., Yazan, B., Avineri, N., & Akayoglu, S. (in press). “A Very Difficult Topic to Talk About”: Discursive Constructions of Cultural Practices in a USA-Turkey Telecollaboration. Special Issue on Technology for Equity and Social Justice. International Journal of Multicultural Education

Avineri, N. (under preparation). “Child Language”. Language and Ethnicity Section (Associate Editor Bonnie Urciuoli). In J. Stanlaw (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Linguistic Anthropology. [INVITED ENTRY]

Avineri, N. (under preparation). “Audience (and Audience Design)”. Language and Culture Section (Associate Editor Laura Graham). In J. Stanlaw (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Linguistic Anthropology. [INVITED ENTRY]

Avineri, N., Graham, L.R., Johnson, E.J., Conley Riner, R., & Rosa, J.D. (Eds.). (2018). Language and Social Justice in Practice. Routledge Publishers.

Avineri, N. & Perley, B.C. (2018). Mascots, Name Calling, and Racial Slurs: Seeking Social Justice Through Audience Coalescence. To appear in Avineri, N. Conley, R., Graham, L.R., Johnson, E.J., & Rosa, J.D. (Eds.). Language and Social Justice in Practice. Routledge Publishers.

Avineri, N. (2018). Innovative Pedagogies, Interculturality, and Language and Social Justice”. https://dlinq.middcreate.net/digital-literacy/innovative-pedagogies-dpl-2018/

Johnson, E.J., Avineri, N., & Johnson, D.C. (2017). Exposing Gaps in/between Discourses of Linguistic Deficits. In (Eric J. Johnson, Ed.) Special Issue on “Language Gap” International Multilingual Research Journal. 11:1, 5-22. [INVITED PAPER]

Durrani, M., Avineri, N., Riley, K., Dick, H. & Blum, S.D. #LSJ2016 at the American Anthropological Association, https://storify.com.

 Avineri, N., Blum, Susan D., Johnson, Eric J., Riley, K., and Zentella, A.C. (August 2016). “The Gap That Won’t Be Filled: An Anthropolitical Critique of the ‘Language Gap’”. Anthropology News. http://linguisticanthropology.org/blog/2016/08/29/an-news-the-gap-that-wont-be-filled-an-anthropolitical-critique-of-the-language-gap-by-avineri-et-al/

 Avineri, N. Blum, Susan D., Garcia-Mateus, S. and Zentella, A.C. (August 2016). Save CA Residents from a Language Drought: Vote ‘Yes’ This Fall. Huffington Post Blog. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/american-anthropological-association/save-ca-residents-from-a_b_11387726.html

 Avineri, N. and Rosa, J.D. (July 2016). “Interdisciplinary Collaborations around Language and Social Justice”. http://linguisticanthropology.org/blog/2016/07/27/an-news-interdisciplinary-collaborations-around-language-and-social-justice-by-jonathan-rosa-stanford-university-and-netta-avineri-middlebury-institute-of-international-studies-at-monterey/

 Avineri, N., Johnson, E.J., Brice-Heath, S., McCarty, T., Ochs, E., Kremer-Sadlik, Blum, S., Zentella, A.C., Rosa, J.D., Flores, N., Alim, H.S., & Paris, D. (2015). Invited Forum: Bridging the “Language Gap”. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 25(1), 66-86. Video Abstract: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj3c1WXZ9fI

Conley, R. and Avineri, N. (August 2015). “The Confederate Flag and the Lives of Symbols”. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/american-anthropological-association/the-confederate-flag-and_b_7925092.html

Blum, Susan D., Avineri, N., and Johnson, Eric J. (June 2015). “White+Word Gap=Wrong”. http://blog.aaanet.org/2015/06/22/white-word-gap-wrong/

Avineri, N. and Black, S. (March 2015). “Professional Precarity, Ethics, and Social Justice”. http://ethics.americananthro.org/professional-precarity-ethics-and-social-justice/

Avineri, N., Barchas-Lichtenstein, J. Conley, R., Durrani, M., and Riley, K. (February 2015). “Silent Meditation: Speech, Power, and Social Justice”.  http://linguisticanthropology.org/blog/2015/04/14/an-news-silent-meditation-speech-power-and-social-justice-by-the-committee-on-language-social-justice/

Avineri, N. & Perley, B.C. (December 2014). ‘Tis the Season to Replace Disparaging Slurs’. Huffington Post Blog. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/american-anthropological-association/in-this-holiday-season-le_b_6262672.html

Avineri, N. (January 2014). Engaging the “Other” in Expanded Communities of Practice: Identity, Indexicality, and Epistemics in Academic-Public Interactions. Anthropology News Series “Future Publics, Current Engagements”.

Anya, O., Avineri, N., Mason Carris, L., & Valencia, V. (2011). Language, Identities, and Accents:

Perspectives from the 2010 Linguistic Diversity Conference. Introduction to O. Anya, N. Avineri, L. Mason Carris, & V. Valencia (Eds.), Social Issues in Applied Linguistics: Linguistic Diversity in Classrooms and Beyond. [Special Issue]. Issues in Applied Linguistics 18(2), 157-169.

Avineri, N., Hardacre, B., Londe, Z., Majidpour, M., Mason Carris, L., & So, Y., (2011). Language Assessment as a System: Best Practices, Stakeholders, Models, and Testimonials. Issues in Applied Linguistics, 18(2).

 Heritage & Endangered Languages

 Avineri, N. (2018, forthcoming). The ‘Heritage Narratives’ of Yiddish Metalinguistic Community Members. In E. Falconi & K. Graber (Eds.). The Tales We Tell: Storytelling and Narrative Practice. Brill Publishers.

Benor, S.B. & N. Avineri (2018, forthcoming). Beyond Language Proficiency: Fostering Metalinguistic Communities in Jewish Educational Settings. In J. Levisohn and A. Kelman (Eds.), Beyond Jewish Identity: Rethinking Concepts and Imagining Alternatives. Academic Studies Press. [INVITED CHAPTER]

Lynch, A. & N. Avineri (under preparation). Sociolinguistic Approaches to Heritage Languages.

In S. Montrul and M. Polinsky (Eds.) The Cambridge Handbook of Heritage Languages and Linguistics. Cambridge University Press. [INVITED CHAPTER]

Avineri, N. (under preparation). Jewish Language Communities in Los Angeles. In O.E. Kagan, M.M. Carreira, and C.H. Chik (Eds.), Multilingual La La Land. Routledge Publishers. [INVITED CHAPTER]

Avineri, N. (2018). Metalinguistic Communities and Nostalgia Socialization in Historical and Contemporary Yiddish Literature. Connecting across Languages and Cultures: A Heritage Language Festschrift in Honor of Olga Kagan. Slavica Publishers. [INVITED PAPER]

Avineri, N. (2017). Contested Stance Practices in Secular Yiddish Metalinguistic Communities: Negotiating Closeness and Distance. In I. L. Bleaman & B.D Joseph (Eds). Jewish Language Variation and Contact: Fifty Years After Uriel Weinreich (1926-1967). [Special Issue]. Journal of Jewish Languages 5(2), 174-199.

Avineri, N. & Avni, S. (2017). Language Socialization in Jewish Communities. Encyclopedia of Language & Education, Volume 8 “Language Socialization”. Springer Publishing. [INVITED CHAPTER]

Avineri, N. & Verschik, A. (2017). Innovation and Tradition in Yiddish Educational Programs. In O.E. Kagan, M.M. Carreira, and C.H. Chik (Eds.), A Handbook on Heritage Language Education: From Innovation to Program Building. Routledge Publishers. [INVITED CHAPTER]

Avineri, N. (2015). Review Article “Yiddish Language Socialization across Communities: Ideologies, Religion, and Variation”. Religion and Variation [Special Issue]. Language & Communication 42, 135-140.

Avineri, N. & P.V. Kroskrity (2014). On the (Re-)Production and Representation of Endangered Language Communities: Social Boundaries and Temporal Borders. In N. Avineri & P.V. Kroskrity (Eds.) Reconceptualizing Endangered Language Communities: Crossing Borders and Constructing Boundaries. [Special Issue]. Language & Communication 38, 1-7.

Avineri, N. (2014). Yiddish Endangerment as Phenomenological Reality and Discursive Strategy: Crossing into the Past and Crossing Out the Present. In N. Avineri & P. V. Kroskrity (Eds.),

Reconceptualizing Endangered Language Communities: Crossing Borders and Constructing Boundaries. [Special Issue]. Language & Communication 38, 18-32.

Avineri, N. (2014). Yiddish: A Jewish Language in the Diaspora. In T. Wiley, J. Kreeft-Peyton, D. Christian, S.K. Moore, & N. Liu (Eds.), Handbook of Heritage, Community, and Native American Languages in the United States: Research, Educational Practice, and Policy. (pp. 263-271). Routledge Publishers.

Avineri, N. (2014). Book Review of L. Wright Fogle’s Second Language Socialization: Adoptive Family Talk. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 24(1), 98-100.

Critical Service-Learning

Avineri, N. (under preparation). Nested Interculturality in Immersion Experiences: An Exploration of Tensions and Dilemmas. In D. Martin & E. Smolcic (Eds.) Redefining Competence Through Cultural Immersion: Teacher Preparation for Linguistic and Culturally Diverse Classrooms. Palgrave Macmillan. [INVITED CHAPTER]

Avineri, N. & J.M. Perren (under review). Language Testing in Service-Learning: A Critical Approach to Socially-Situated Language-In-Use. In S-A Mirhosseini & P. DeCosta (Eds.) The Sociopolitics of English Language Testing. Bloomsbury Publishing. [INVITED CHAPTER]

Avineri, N. (2015). Nested Interculturality, Multiple Knowledges, and Situated Identities through Service-Learning in Language Education. In J.M. Perren & A.J. Wurr (Eds.) Learning the Language of Global Citizenship: Strengthening Service-Learning in TESOL. Champaign, IL: Common Ground Publishers.  

Language Education

Avineri, N., Forbes, M., Goldstein, L., MacDonald, K., Reppert, K., Rindler, B., & Teague, B. (2016). Language Program Administration Positions in TESOL/TFL Programs: Needs, Interventions, and Possibilities. PAIS Newsletter. http://newsmanager.commpartners.com/tesolpais/issues/2016-10-26/3.html

 Avineri, N. & J. Martel (2015). The Evolution of a Practicum: Movement Toward a Capstone. CATESOL Journal Special Theme Issue “Revisioning the Practicum Experience in TESOL Teacher Education”. http://www.catesoljournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/CJ27.2_avineri.pdf

Language Policy

Avineri, N. & S. Avni (2015). Introduction to N. Avineri & S. Avni (Eds.), Language Policy and the Reconceptualization of Religions as and in Institutions. [Special Issue]. Language Policy.

Institutional Discourse

Avineri, N. (2010). The interactive organization of ‘insight’: Clinical interviews with frontotemporal dementia patients. In A. Mates, L. Mikesell, & M. Smith (Eds.), Language, interaction and frontotemporal dementia: Reverse engineering the social mind (pp. 115-138). London, UK: Equinox.

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