Teaching World Languages in Arkansas
Foreign language classes and social studies classes are natural partners, but I don’t know that we have always viewed them that way. They are both the study of people and places, the attempt to build connections and learn from one another. It is my belief that we can build on these strengths and similarities, and build programs that strongly support social studies objectives and foreign language objectives. Strong foreign language programs can support the goals of social studies teachers, but right now, our foreign language programs need the support of social studies teachers.
Incorporating World Languages in the Social Studies Classroom
Over the last several years, foreign language teachers around the state have been working to modernize and expand their offerings, in an attempt to make foreign language classes more relevant and to reverse a downward trend in enrollment. The Arkansas World Languages Standards now allow a great degree of flexibility in the types of classes that can be offered, and we are starting to see creative course offerings that go well beyond what we have historically seen with foreign language classes. Many of these new course options tie well into social studies, as will be shown in the following examples:
A Spanish teacher in Siloam Springs created an in-depth unit about microcredit, which culminated in her students doing a school-wide fundraiser to be able to extend microloans through an online lender to recipients that the students selected in Latin America.
Teachers in Van Buren are exploring the possibility of several innovative courses, such as the following:
A course titled “Global Challenges of the Francophone World.” France itself has many issues to deal with, including how to maintain French culture while welcoming immigrants, how to deal with economic challenges, etc. However, French is spoken in countries around the world, and many of those countries face even greater challenges. This course would broaden students’ views of the world and of challenges that are faced in different parts of the world.
“Cultural Storytelling in Van Buren,” in which students would collect the life stories of members of their communities, and find ways to archive and share those stories.
“German Fairy Tales,” in which students would explore the history, impact, and evolution of fairy tales within and beyond German culture.
“Pre-Colombian Civilization,” a course that focuses on the ways current Central and South American societies are influenced by their cultural and historical roots.
Many schools are beginning to offer profession-focused language classes (Spanish classes in particular, although sometimes other options, as well), based on the needs of their local communities. So far, we have seen examples of Spanish for Health Care and Spanish for Business, but there are many other options, such as courses based around agriculture, tourism, trade, etc.
These are changes that foreign language teachers are making, but we need help; help from elementary and middle level teachers, from social studies teachers, art teachers, journalism teachers, and everyone else.
Incorporating world languages may sound challenging, but it can actually be quite fun for teachers and students, and can make for a more well-rounded and enriching student experience.
Photo by Max Fischer from Pexels
Suggestions for Elementary and Secondary Learners
In what ways can you begin to incorporate foreign language experiences into your classes? You don’t need to be an expert in foreign languages. While it might sound intimidating, incorporating language can actually be quite fun for the teacher and the students, and it can make your classes more well-rounded and enriching. Where possible, this would be a great opportunity for you to team teach with a language teacher, or to involve older students in teaching and mentoring younger students. Here are a few examples:
In an elementary setting:
In a unit about maps, the lesson can be reinforced and expanded by showing a short video about maps in a different language, such as the following: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsIzEeS9Q3Q
In a middle school or high school setting:
In a civics class, you might be discussing the electoral system in the United States. The electoral college is unique, and people from other countries often do not understand it. The following example is a video from Argentina that discusses the electoral college and factors that could impact the 2020 election: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JeW9slLbpY
The purpose of these types of short activities is simply to expose students to another language, but in meaningful ways that will keep them open-minded about language courses in the future. These videos, and other similar resources, can show students that real communication about meaningful topics takes place in the real world. They will also begin to see that they can follow a message in another language, with the help of the context, which is a critical step toward learning another language.
If you only speak English, it might seem intimidating to try to find resources for your class in another language. Here are a few things you can try:
Think of a search term, and then go to Google Translate to translate that term into the target language. Then copy and paste that search term into your search engine.
Ask for help from the language teachers in your school or district. They would probably be more than willing to help, and might even get their students involved.
Use websites for international organizations, and then check the top or bottom of the screen for an option to switch languages. The websites for the United Nations and the World Health Organization, for instance, can easily be switched to several other languages.
As you look for foreign language resources to incorporate into your classes, remember to keep it simple: stick to resources that are highly visual, such as maps, infographics, and explainer videos. From a language pedagogy standpoint, this has the advantage of keeping the input compelling and comprehensible. From a broader pedagogical standpoint, it allows you to differentiate your instruction and increase accessibility to the new content you’ll be incorporating. An excellent place to start is the Sustainable Development Goals, because they have many great (and highly visual) resources about issues that are interesting and relevant to today’s world.
Wrapping Up
Ideally, we would have programs in Arkansas that immersed students in a second language from the time they start school. Several states have very successful immersion programs, but that is not a realistic possibility for us at this time. In the absence of those programs, we need to find new ways to give young students positive experiences with languages. This, in turn, will increase the chance that they study languages as they reach middle or high school. And as stated at the beginning of this post, language study helps broaden students’ worldviews and build connections, which are goals we can all support.
