Professor; Program Chair, TESOL/TFL
A native of southeastern Massachusetts, Jason Martel began his career as a secondary school French teacher. He has extensive experience in the Middlebury ecology, having worked for the Middlebury School of French, the Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy, and the Middlebury Institute. At the Institute, he teaches courses in language pedagogy, language assessment, language curriculum design, second language acquisition, French language, and English language, and maintains an active research agenda in these domains.
From 2014 to 2019, Jason served as associate director of the Institute’s Summer Intensive Language Program (SILP). His principal duties included providing professional development for faculty members and setting a pedagogical vision for the program. His teaching has been enriched very much by this experience, notably in that the program served as a laboratory setting for his thinking about language pedagogy.
Jason also participates in a variety of professional activities related to language education. He is an active member of the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) and the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). He recently served as Chair of ACTFL’s Teacher Development Special Interest Group and won the organization’s Excellence in Teacher Development Award. In addition, he consults around the country in the areas of foreign language curriculum design, pedagogy, and assessment.
EAPP 8475
ProfessionalPresentationSkillsCourse Description
Professional Presentation Skills
This course is designed to equip you with the skills and confidence to deliver professional and articulate speeches in English. You will deliver informative, persuasive, panel, training, and commemorative presentations to prepare you for the wide range of speech styles you may encounter in your professions. Consistent practice, analysis of award-winning speeches, and detailed feedback on your performance will provide you with ample opportunity to improve your public speaking skills.
Terms Taught
EDUC 8502 Current
Principls/Practcs Lang Tchng ICourse Description
Principles & Practices in Language Teaching 1
Along with Principles and Practices 2, this course provides students with a foundational pedagogical training in preparation for careers in foreign/second language teaching. Topics covered include an introduction to the field and its expectations, course/syllabus design, needs assessment, and unit design. Students will engage in a variety of real-world performance tasks, such as creating needs assessment instruments, summative language assessments, and unit plans. Students will also deepen their understanding of course concepts by conducting classroom observations.
Terms Taught
EDUC 8503
Principls/Practcs LangTchng IICourse Description
Principles & Practices in Language Teaching 2
Along with Principles and Practices 1, this course provides students with a foundational pedagogical training in preparation for careers in foreign/second language teaching. Topics covered include (but are not limited to) skills-based lesson planning, authentic texts use, summative and formative assessment, differentiation, classroom discussion strategies, and oral corrective feedback. Students will engage in a variety of real-world performance tasks, such as creating curricular documents (e.g., unit plans, lesson plans, assessments) and performing teaching events.
Terms Taught
EDUC 8598
Directed StudyCourse Description
Terms Taught
EDUC 8660
Intro to Language Prog AdminCourse 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
EDUC 8661
Language Teacher SupervisionCourse Description
This seminar provides language teachers with the skills and knowledge necessary to meet the challenges of becoming language teacher supervisors. It examines current models of, and research on, language teacher supervision. Students practice observing teachers and conducting post-observation conferences, developing their ability to provide professional feedback, differentiate between evaluative and developmental supervision, and examine the variables related to working with teachers in a variety of specific contexts.
Terms Taught
MIIS 8509 Current
Principls/Practcs Lang Tchng ICourse Description
Principles & Practices of Language Teaching I
Along with Principles and Practices 2, this course provides students with a foundational pedagogical training in preparation for careers in foreign/second language teaching. Topics covered include an introduction to the field and its expectations, course/syllabus design, needs assessment, and unit design. Students will engage in a variety of real-world performance tasks, such as creating needs assessment instruments, summative language assessments, and unit plans. Students will also deepen their understanding of course concepts by conducting classroom observations. The dates of this course are SEPTEMBER 6 through DECEMBER 16. 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
MIIS 8510
Educational Research MethodsCourse Description
Educational Research Methods
Introduces social science research design, descriptive and analytic procedures, basic statistics, and their application to research on language learning and teaching. The dates of this course are SEPTEMBER 6 through DECEMBER 16. 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
MIIS 8518
Principls/Practcs LangTchng IICourse Description
Principles & Practices of Language Teaching II
Along with Principles and Practices 1, this course provides students with a foundational pedagogical training in preparation for careers in foreign/second language teaching. Topics covered include essentials of lesson planning, authentic texts use, formative assessment, differentiation, and high leverage teaching practices. Students will engage in a variety of real-world performance tasks, such as creating lesson plans and performing microteaching. Students will also deepen their understanding of course concepts by conducting classroom observations. The dates of this course are JANUARY 25 through MAY 14. Registering for this course signals your interest in taking the course. (MIIS 8509)
Terms Taught
In his teaching, Jason draws heavily on content-based instruction (CBI), an approach to language teaching that involves the simultaneous learning of language and stimulating non-linguistic content such as culture, geography, history, etc. His research focuses on foreign language teachers’ experiences with innovative practices, primarily through an identity lens. Recent articles can be found in Foreign Language Annals, the French Review, and Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching. View his Google Scholar profile.
Professor Martel has been teaching at the Institute since 2013.
| by Sierra Abukins
As the Middlebury Institute expands its online programs, several faculty have been leading the way in adapting our interactive, rigorous, and hands-on courses to innovative new formats.
| by Jessie Raymond
Representing the Institute’s teacher training consulting arm, Martel traveled to the Oklahoma tribal college this summer to support its Muscogee language curriculum.
| by Emily Cipriani
From surrealist poetry translations to curriculum strategies for language teachers, see what members of the Institute community have recently published.
