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Language educators to share recipe for communication success during annual conference at MC

Foreign language educators from middle school to college will gather at ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏ on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 7 and 8, to connect, share and imagine what’s possible when they commit to making ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏ a multilingual state during the ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏ Foreign Language Association’s annual conference.

Beth Stapleton, MC professor of modern languages, said the Christian University will be hosting the MFLA’s annual conference for the first time.

“This event raises awareness of the necessity of languages,” Stapleton said. “It’s wonderful for MC, as we celebrate our bicentennial, to host events like this that highlight the greatness of ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏ.”

A member of MC’s faculty for more than two decades, Stapleton teaches Advanced Spanish and Linguistics courses. The 2012 Humanities Professor of the Year at MC said the conference is in keeping with the University’s vision.

“From a language-educator perspective, by speaking a second language, you’re opening yourself up to being able to communicate with millions of people around the world,” she said. “Part of our mission as Christians is to meet people and get them to know us and our hearts. You’re able to do that with a heart language.

“I can communicate with someone better in their native tongue than by trying to use a translator. We can connect with people and tell the Good News about how our lives have been changed.”

Stapleton was named “Educator of Excellence” at the conference two years ago. Her presentation at last year’s MFLA meeting received the “Best of ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏ” award; as a result, she will represent ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏ at the Southern Conference on Language Teaching in Raleigh, North Carolina, next March.

The MFLA Conference’s keynote speaker, Katie Dixon, is a spokesperson for UProot ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏ, a statewide collection of partners working together to build a culture of health from the ground up.

Dixon opened the Birdhouse Café in 2017 to create an environment where patrons feel loved, nourished and inspired. In 2021, she opened Nourished Kitchen in Slidell, Louisiana. Awarded “Best Chef of the Pine Belt” in 2017 and “Best Personality and Best New Restaurant in the Pine Belt” in 2018, she was a finalist on Season 7 of MasterChef and Season 14 of Food Network Star.

When not in the kitchen, Dixon loves to travel and draws influence from culinary traditions throughout the world.

Stapleton said food, like language, has the power to bridge the understanding gap between differing cultures.

“Just like a recipe has different components that blend together to make a dish, there are small components of language we can combine to produce discourse,” she said. “Both disciplines are steeped in creativity.”

The MFLA encourages active interest and research in languages other than English, as well as the advancement of the study and teaching of Language Other Than English in schools, colleges and universities in ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏ.

Sponsored by MFLA members, the conference will take place on the third floor of Anderson Hall. For more information or to register for the event, .