UCLA professor Olga Kagan, director of the National Heritage Language Resource Center, will receive a lifetime achievement award at the 130th annual Modern Language Association convention on Jan.10, 2015, in Vancouver.
Kagan is professor, undergraduate advisor and director of language programs in the UCLA Department of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Languages and Cultures. She also directs the Center for World Languages and is in charge of UCLA’s Russian Flagship Program.
The 2014 Award for Distinguished Service to the Profession of the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages recognizes eminent scholar-teachers in the field of language and literature teaching. A special session of the MLA conference will be held in Kagan’s honor on the day of the award ceremony. Kagan previously received several awards from the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages: Best Contribution to Pedagogy (2001), Excellence in Teaching at the Post-Secondary Level (2003) and Best Contribution to Pedagogy (2004).
Over the years, the UCLA professor has become an expert in the pedagogy of teaching both Russian as a second language (six textbooks) and as a heritage language (four textbooks). She is widely recognized by her peers as a leader in the pedagogy of heritage languages — languages that children of immigrant families grow up speaking at home, but in which they cannot read and write.
You can read the complete story about Kagan’s career and achievements on the International Institute website.
