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Pamela M. Wesely

Associate Dean and Professor

Introduction

Dr. Pamela M. (Pam) Wesely’s scholarship and teaching examines K-12 foreign/world language education in the United States. Building on eight years of work as a middle school French teacher and eleven years working in the experiential learning environment of Concordia Language Villages in Minnesota, she studies the attitudes, motivations, perceptions, and beliefs of stakeholders in K-12 foreign/world language education. Innovation is a key area of interest in her work, particularly pedagogical innovation that departs from the grammar-based curriculum, like content-based instruction, instruction focused on comprehensible input, social justice education, and technology integration in the language classroom. She is a co-author of Words and Actions: Teaching Language Through the Lens of Social Justice (ACTFL, 2018). Dr. Wesely is a past member of the ACTFL Board of Directors and is a Past President of the Iowa World Language Association (IWLA).

Current Positions

  • Professor of Multilingual Education
  • Associate Dean for Faculty and Graduate Education, Office of the Dean (Administration)

College of Education Affiliations

Education

  • PhD in Second Languages and Cultures, Curriculum and Instruction, University of Minnesota
  • MA in French Studies, New York University
  • BA in French and Anthropology, Yale University

Selected Awards & Honors

  • Citizen Diplomat Award, CIVIC - Council for International Visitors to Iowa City, 2020
  • Educator of the Year Award (Post-Secondary), Iowa World Language Association, 2019
  • Obermann Fellow-in-Residence, Obermann Center, 2018 - 2018
  • Outstanding Dissertation Award, Mixed Methods Special Interest Group, American Educational Research Association, 2011
  • Outstanding Research Paper Award, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Minnesota, 2009
  • Doctoral Dissertation Fellow, Graduate School, University of Minnesota, Graduate School, University of Minnesota, 2009
  • Graduate Fellow, Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA), University of Minnesota, Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA), University of Minnesota, 2008

Professional Memberships

  • American Educational Research Association (AERA)
  • American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)
  • Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics (CAAL)
  • American Association of Teachers of French (AATF)
  • American Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAL)
  • Iowa World Language Association

Selected Publications

Selected Presentations

Selected Grants & Contracts

  • Plakans, Lia Margaret (Co-Investigator), Schrier, Leslie Lisbeth (Principal Investigator), Wesely, Pamela Mary (Senior Personnel) Grant Training. Bridging academic content and English language learning to prepare Iowa teachers of English Learners (EL Bridge Project). US Department of Education, Office of English Language Acquisition. Funded. April 1, 2012.
  • Wesely, Pamela Mary (Senior Personnel), Plakans, Lia Margaret (Principal Investigator), Johnson, David Cassels (Principal Investigator), Colvin, Carolyn (Senior Personnel), Schrier, Leslie Lisbeth (Senior Personnel) Grant Research/Creative Work (Applied or Basic). Advocacy, Capacity, and Collaboration for English Learners in Iowa (ACCEL-Iowa). United States Department of Education. Funded. August 1, 2016 - August 1, 2021.
  • Vyn, Reuben (Co-Principal), Wesely, Pamela M (Co-Principal) Grant Research, Applied. Exploring the Effects of Foreign Language Instructional Approaches on Student Proficiency Development. ACTFL and NFMLTA/MLJ. Funded. July 1, 2015 - December 1, 2016.
  • Wesely, Pamela Mary Grant Research/Creative Work (Applied or Basic). Collaborative Web Technologies in the Second Language Classroom: A Multiple Case Study. Social Sciences Funding Program, Office of the Vice President for Research. Funded. January 1, 2013 - June 1, 2014.