Learning World Languages

Learning World Languages

Through Discovery and Exploration

Chris Livaccari

Associate Director, Education and Chinese Language Initiatives

clivaccari@asiasociety.org

All learning is language learning

Let’s Tell Our Language Stories

Wittgenstein’s Lion

“The limits of my language are the limits of my

world.”

“If a lion could speak, we could not

understand what he/she was saying.”

National Standards, ACTFL Standards,

State Standards, Local Standards,

Global Competence, 21st Century Skills…

Where Do We Begin?????

Perhaps not here!

Noble Ancestors:

Montessori and RassiasMaria Montessori:

“The secret of good

teaching is to regard

the child’s

intelligence as a

fertile field in which

seeds may be sown,

to grow under the

heat of flaming

imagination.”

John Rassias:

“Language is a living,

kicking, growing, flitting,

evolving reality, and the

teacher should

spontaneously reflect

its vibrant and protean

qualities.”

Rassias on languages

This is what happens if your

language program is not situated

in the proper context

The Daily Show

Schools with Global Visions

CSI High School for International Studies

Herricks Middle School

Medgar Evers College Preparatory School

So how do we begin linking our

world language programs with a

larger vision for developing

globally competent students?

First Day of Chinese Class:

Top Ten Images of China

THIS IS CHINA

THIS IS CHINA

THIS IS CHINA

THIS IS CHINA

THIS IS CHINA

THIS IS CHINESE

I am your teaching robot.

I only respond to the following commands

in Chinese:

UP – DOWN

RIGHT – LEFT

FORWARD – BACK

Achieve every student’s dream: Get me out

of the room using these commands!

Daniel Pink’s “A Whole New Mind”

Design Symphony

StoryPlay

Empathy Meaning

THE SIX SENSES In and Beyond the Classroom

Using IMPROVISATION, INQUIRY , and INSIGHT

IMPROVISATION Using the target language with minimal English

Creating authentic environments for language learning Deemphasizing straight memorization and recall

INQUIRY “Student as Linguist” Project Based Learning

INSIGHT Culture, Society, and Perspectives Reflection and Making Comparisons

THE SIX SENSES In and Beyond the Classroom

1: DESIGN

Do Your Homework Design a Product

THE SIX SENSES In and Beyond the Classroom

2: SYMPHONY

FOCUS! Put it all together

THE SIX SENSES In and Beyond the Classroom

3: PLAY

Be Serious! Let Your Imagination Run Wild

THE SIX SENSES In and Beyond the Classroom

4: STORY

Memorize the Grammar Student as Linguist

THE SIX SENSES In and Beyond the Classroom

5: EMPATHY

Language Lessons

THE SIX SENSES In and Beyond the Classroom

6: MEANING

Qipao The Gilliam Project

THE SIX SENSES In and Beyond the Classroom

Disputers of the DAO

Wittgenstein’s Lion:Domesticated!

Wittgenstein’s Lion:Domesticated!

And, finally, a bit of fun…

•Use target language and native language

strategically

•Help students develop cognitive, academic, and

professional skills necessary for success

•Motivate and challenge students to make

meaning for themselves and with their classmates

•Make language class about much more than

linguistic proficiency

•Think about culture beyond the minutiae of food

and festivals

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