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Professor Katharina Barbe recognized by foreign languages council

November 5, 2018

Katharina Barbe

The Illinois Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ICTFL) recently awarded Katharina Barbe, chair of NIU’s Department of World Languages and Cultures, with its Service Award for research, writing and curriculum development.

For the past three decades, Barbe has collaborated on numerous projects for the American Association of Teachers of German. Those efforts provided insight into issues that were central to foreign language learning in Illinois, according to the ICTFL.

Barbe has presented at local, state and national conferences, and has worked to assure that the methods and practices of second-language acquisition are made accessible to second-language educators at all levels. While leading her department at NIU, she also has focused on German pedagogy and materials development.

Barbe has co-authored two textbooks, published a variety of journal articles and has presented more than 60 papers. She also was recognized recently by the Northern Illinois Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of German with the chapter’s Outstanding German Educator Award.

The ICTFL award was presented during the group’s recent fall conference held at NIU-Naperville. Four pre-service world-language teachers from NIU also were recognized as Fund for the Future scholarship recipients: Evelyn Gonzalez, Brooke Thompson, Melissa Aponte and Claudia Zempoalteca. The scholarships provide partial reimbursements for participation in ICTFL-sponsored events.