Associate Professor of Spanish Abby Dings published “Pedagogical Approaches to VE” with co-author Tammy Jandrey Hertel of the University of Lynchburg. The chapter, which appears in The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Computer-Assisted Language Learning, edited by Lee McCallum and Dara Tafazoli, explores the use of virtual exchanges in second language teaching as a means to enhance the learning experience by providing opportunities to interact and communicate with speakers of the target language. More information on the volume can be found here.

—April 2025

Associate Professor of Spanish Abby Dings and co-author Tammy Jandrey Hertel of the University of Lynchburg presented a talk, titled “Study Abroad as a Safe Place for Heritage Speakers to Practice Speaking,” at the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Annual Convention and World Languages Expo held November 22–24 in Philadelphia, PA.

—December 2024

Associate Professor of Spanish Abby Dings and coauthor Tammy Jandrey Hertel of the University of Lynchburg presented a talk titled “The study abroad experiences of heritage Spanish speakers” at the Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics (GURT) in Washington, D.C., March 1-3, 2024. This year’s theme was “Education Abroad: Language, Learners, and Communities.”

—March 2024

Associate Professor of Spanish Abby Dings and coauthor Tammy Jandrey Hertel of the University of Lynchburg presented a talk titled “Language Variation and Standard Language Ideologies in Spanish Classrooms” at the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Annual Convention and World Languages Expo held November 17–19 in Chicago, Illinois.

—December 2023

Associate Professor of Spanish Abby Dings and coauthor Tammy Jandrey Hertel of the University of Lynchburg presented at the Heritage Languages Special Interest Group panel of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Annual Convention and World Languages Expo held November 18-20 in Boston, Massachusetts. Their talk, titled “Heritage Spanish Speakers’ Reflections on Their Study Abroad Experiences,” was based on a thematic analysis of follow-up interviews with a subset of participants who had completed their original survey. It explored how the participants’ heritage speaker status impacted their study abroad experiences.

—November 2022