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Components of teaching World Languages

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Title: Components of teaching World Languages


1
Components of teaching World Languages
  • Thorsten Huth
  • 1-26-2009

2
Foreign Languages World Languages
  • The Euro-American bias in teaching Foreign
    languages The big 3
  • Administrative and curricular consequences on all
    levels Departments, faculty, curricula, degree
    options
  • Goals Humanistic inquiry in the classic sense
  • Language
  • Literature
  • (Linguistics)

3
Foreign Languages World Languages
  • Consequences in approaching the teaching of
    foreign languages
  • language skills (means) vs.
  • literary analysis (end)
  • Bipartite structure reflected in UG curriculum
  • Mechanical language skills (years 1, 2)
  • Literary analysis (years 3, 4)

4
Foreign Languages World Languages
  • A disjointed curriculum
  • Focus on language skills
  • Focus on lit. analysis
  • The problem of bridge courses
  • The past 10 years
  • Dwindling enrollments
  • Relevance of languages in an
  • Increasingly training oriented academic
    landscape
  • Increasingly globalized world

5
Searching for relevance
  • Political climate during the Bush years
  • The problem of maintaining the relevance of
    languages for the humanities in the humanities
  • Unpopularity of literary analysis among students

6
Format C?
  • Recent reports on the situation of languages in
    the academic landscape of the US
  • Frank Graziano (2008) The Spanish curriculum
  • MLA Ad Hoc Committee (2007) Foreign Languages
    and Higher Education New Structures for a
    changing world
  • Claire Kramsch (2005) Foreign Languages post
    9/11
  • Bernhard Berman (1999) Curricular reforms in
    German
  • (French?!)

7
Towards
  • a global orientation
  • an integrated curriculum
  • multiple angles on world languages and their
    respective language communities

8
MLA ad hoc committee recommendations
  • Transforming academic programs
  • Goals Translingual and transcultural competence
  • An integrative approach with multiple paths to
    the major
  • Transforming the two-tiered system
  • Strengthening the demand for language competence
    within the university

9
Towards an integrated curriculum
  • Produce competent communicators in the target
    language (4 skills)
  • But how?
  • Provide knowledge about the historical and
    current context in which the TL occurs
  • Culture/Civilization
  • Literature, Linguistics
  • Mass Media
  • But how?
  • Integrate both throughout the curriculum (i.e.
    starting in 101 and finishing in 493).
  • But how?

10
What affects our language programs?
  • Knowledge about how languages are learned (SLA
    research)
  • Current trends in the language teaching
    profession (MLA, ACTFL, NCATE)
  • The specific institutional context in which a
    program and its curriculum is situated
  • ?individual language programs must weigh these
    and integrate them in a way that suits the
    programs specific curricular and administrative
    needs

11
The German major at SIUC
  • Integrated approach to the major
  • Language instruction (4 skills)
  • Literature
  • Culture
  • ?German studies

12
Language instruction Producing communicators
  • Larger principles
  • Contextualized instruction
  • Interactive, communicative instruction
  • Task-based instruction
  • Largely monolingual instruction in TL
  • Emphasis on speaking in the classroom
  • Emphasis on writing in homework
  • Grading/testing all 4 skills
  • Oral exams from the beginning
  • Test listening comprehension regularly
  • Test reading comprehension regularly
  • Test writing both in a) free and b) controlled
    environments
  • Having a clear vision for the program
  • Foster all 4 skills systematically in year 1,2,3
    and 4

13
Literature
  • Canonical texts from different periods integrated
    into the basic language class sequence (101a/b,
    201a/b, 320 a/b)
  • Year 1 Literature in translation
  • Year 2 Moving towards original texts (poems,
    fairy tales, short fiction)
  • Year 3 Longer pieces

14
Culture
  • Online module on blackboard
  • German History
  • German Geography
  • The nation state Germany
  • High culture
  • The fine arts
  • Architecture

15
German history
  • General overview Landmarks from Charlemagne to
    Hitler
  • Special emphasis
  • 20th century (National socialism / WW I II)
  • Post 1990 (German reunification)
  • Post 9/11 (Terrorism/Globalization etc.)
  • Testing basic identification of concepts

16
Geography
  • Basic orientation
  • The European context (neighboring countries)
  • Specific orientation
  • The national context
  • States, capitals
  • Major rivers and mountain ranges
  • Testing Identification of names and place

17
The nation state Germany
  • Constitution/political system
  • Major political parties their programs
  • Economy
  • Social Welfare/Retirement
  • Health Care System
  • Education System
  • Testing
  • Identification of concepts
  • Cross-cultural differences

18
High culture The fine arts
  • Composers / Periods
  • Painters / Periods
  • Architecture / Periods
  • Testing Connect names, works, periods

19
Example German 101B
  • Language instruction
  • Chapters 5-10 of the current textbook
  • History
  • WWII, National Socialism
  • Literature
  • Schlink The Reader (in translation)
  • Kafka Metamorphosis (in translation)
  • Fine Arts
  • Painters (names, works, periods)

20
  • (Das wars, danke!)
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