Fernando Rubio Receives Award from the Modern Language Association for his Book “Creating Effective Blended Language Learning Courses”
Dec. 8, 2021 – The Modern Language Association of America announced it is awarding its thirty-sixth Kenneth W. Mildenberger Prize to Fernando Rubio, professor of Spanish linguistics at the University of Utah, and Daria Mizza, assistant professor of educational studies at the American University in Cairo and head of language instructional technology at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, for their book “Creating Effective Blended Language Learning Courses: A Research-Based Guide from Planning to Evaluation,” published by Cambridge University Press. The prize is awarded for an outstanding work in the fields of language, culture, literacy and literature with strong application to the teaching of languages other than English.
The Kenneth W. Mildenberger Prize is one of eighteen awards that will be presented on Jan. 8, 2022, during the association’s annual convention, to be held in Washington, DC. The members of this year’s Mildenberger Prize Selection Committee were Katharina Gerstenberger (Univ. of Utah), chair; Gillian Lord (Univ. of Florida); and Heather Willis Allen (Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison). The selection committee’s citation for the winning book reads:
In “Creating Effective Blended Language Learning Courses,” Daria Mizza and Fernando Rubio present a well-organized and methodical guide for designing blended language learning courses – and a clear rationale for creating them – that takes into account the state of language education in higher education today in the United States. The volume is widely applicable across languages and uses accessible language that does not assume prior knowledge and is thus suitable for a broad audience. Offering a combination of second language acquisition theory and teaching practice, it is a great resource to teachers and contains practical advice in the creation, implementation and assessment of blended language learning courses.
The Modern Language Association of America and its over 23,000 members in 100 countries work to strengthen the study and teaching of languages and literature. Founded in 1883, the MLA provides opportunities for its members to share their scholarly findings and teaching experiences with colleagues and to discuss trends in the academy. The MLA sustains one of the finest publication programs in the humanities, producing a variety of publications for language and literature professionals and for the general public. The association publishes the MLA International Bibliography, the only comprehensive bibliography in language and literature, available online. More information on MLA programs is available at www.mla.org.
The Kenneth W. Mildenberger Prize was established by the MLA Executive Council in 1979. First presented in 1980, the prize is awarded under the auspices of the MLA’s Committee on Honors and Awards. From 1998 to 2002, the prize was awarded in alternate years to an outstanding book and an outstanding article in the field. From 2004 to 2007, the Kenneth W. Mildenberger Prize was selected by a committee that also reviewed work for the Mina P. Shaughnessy Prize, which is awarded for an outstanding work in the fields of language, culture, literacy, and literature and that has a strong application to the teaching of English.