Course Description
Summary
Early exploration of foreign languages and cultures is a powerful tool towards antiracism, social justice, and intercultural understanding. In this course, students will gain a basic understanding of language and culture teaching to young children. Discussions with local teachers and language acquisition experts will provide a professional perspective on the course content. Students will be required to teach or co-teach a language (Chinese, English as a New Language, French, Japanese, Spanish, Swahili, Vietnamese, etc.) and promote cultural understanding in their lessons. Students will either teach at a local elementary school or to local community members.
Students will explore theories and pedagogical techniques, develop lesson plans and curricular units, and implement them in class. Students will create, share, and assess their peers’ learning units. This course, taught in English, is applicable to the teaching of all languages and cultures. As part of the course, students will teach in an elementary school or to local community members.