Teaching about how language works to diverse populations

Type of content
Journal Article
Thesis discipline
Degree name
Publisher
University of Canterbury. School of Social and Political Sciences
University of Canterbury. Linguistics
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
Date
2013
Authors
Culicover, P.
Hume, E.
Abstract

In this article, we describe a program that we developed at The Ohio State University's Department of Linguistics that is geared towards foreign language learners. The goal is to teach students about language rather than about linguistics. The program has been implemented as a freshman university course (Basics of Language for Language Learners), a summer institute for high school students interested in language (Summer Linguistics Institute for Youth Scholars), and an institute for high school teachers of foreign languages (Linguistics Institute for Language Teachers). The fundamental philosophy of the program is that we focus on describing how language works, not on linguistic theory, even though our theoretical perspectives guide the materials we use, how we talk about them, and what we think students should know. In this article, we outline the reasons for developing the program, its general content, details about the course and institutes, as well as some of the challenges associated with offering them.

Description
Citation
Culicover, P., Hume, E. (2013) Teaching about how language works to diverse populations. Language and Linguistics Compass, 7(10), pp. 523-533.
Keywords
linguistics, language teaching, outreach
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Fields of Research::47 - Language, communication and culture::4703 - Language studies::470306 - English as a second language
Fields of Research::39 - Education::3901 - Curriculum and pedagogy::390108 - LOTE, ESL and TESOL curriculum and pedagogy
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