Spring 2006 BLC Fellows
Instructional Development Research Projects
A Supplementary Reading Course in Japanese
Wakae Kambara, East Asian Languages and Cultures
When students read foreign texts, they frequently reconstruct the meaning of sentences based solely on their lexical knowledge and tend to fail to understand the text accurately. This project attempts to develop methods for teaching grammar essential for reading texts.
Unveiling the Magic of Fairy Tales
Eugenia Teytelman, Slavic
Why are fairy tales so important for learning and understanding Russian culture? What sets them apart from and what unites them with other literary genres? How does one write a fairy tale? In this project a syllabus was developed for a Reading and Composition course to be taught in the Slavic Department.
Toward a Practice of Reflexivity: Accounting for the Self in Foreign Language Learning
David Davita, French
The reflexivity that permeates foreign language learning generally focuses on form and pragmatics. This project seeks to define antoehr kind of reflexivity that takes the self, constructed and performed in the foreign language, as its object. Through a practice of reflexivity students can engage with their multiple and dynamic contructions of self, thereby developing a personal means of assessment and an awareness of the possibilities of self-invention that are enabled by the foreign language.
History, Perspective, and Focus on Form: Strengthening Learner Literacy in Berkeley’s German 3 Program
Katra Anne Byram, German
Making the leap to a second-year content- and text-based language course presents difficulties for students and instructors alike. Lesson plans and activities that exploit and highlight the connections between historical and linguistic perspective while providing students with structured formal practice aim to ease this transition and to support course objectives.
Un Dia en la Vida: A Documentary Production Activity as a Form of Language and Culture Acquisition
Pablo Baler, Spanish and Portuguese
This activity, especially designed for “heritage speakers” of Spanish, offered students the opportunity to be involved in all stages of the production of a short documentary featuring a Spanish-speaking professional. The rationale for this project was to create a context in which students were forced to acquire and practice a more public, mid-professional register of Spanish as opposed to the private, colloquial Spanish to which they are accustomed. And indeed, the process of writing, interviewing, scripting, editing, and negotiating ideas to produce this film proved challenging for both their written and verbal skills.
Friday, May 12, 2006
3:00 – 5:00pm, 370 Dwinelle Hall