Language Pedagogy Courses
Pedagogies of Liberation: Race, Gender, and Class(rooms)
Course Heads: Adriana Gutierrez, Doris Sommer
Description
This course is meant as preparation and accompaniment for new teachers of language and literature. It is designed for anyone dedicated to developing a pedagogical praxis that alternates between theory and implementation. The objective is to achieve a rigorous theoretical framework for the formative work of language instruction that supports literary analysis. The exemplary teachers featured in this course display a remarkable coherence of good practices that remain "alternative" to normalized approaches that are less effective intellectually and less supportive socially. For the final project, students will present a potential series of lessons inspired by one or more of the featured theorists.
For graduate students of literature in RLL, language arts are the featured vehicle for language instruction. Learning and teaching Romance languages combines technical mastery with creative and critical skills. To develop this interlocking range of skills we count on foundational pedagogies from Romance Language territories and beyond. Our pedagogical pioneers share a mission to democratize societies marked by legacies of slavery, extractionism, and patriarchy.
Class Notes
There will be an additional 1-hour clinic with Dr. Gutierrez, time to be arranged.
Language Pedagogy: Theories, Approaches, and Practices
Description
This course is designed for TFs and TAs in the department of Romance Languages and Literatures who are teaching a Romance language at Harvard for the first time, or those who are interested in foreign language learning and teaching. It introduces TAs and TFs to theories of second language acquisition (SLA) and explores their implications for the teaching of foreign language, culture, and literature. The course provides opportunities for students to learn to enact the specific pedagogical practices deemed essential to foreign language teaching. The intensive week before the start of classes includes reports on and discussion of general SLA theories and demonstrations and analysis of varied instructional approaches.
Course Notes
ROM-LANG 210 is the required course for graduate students who will be teaching a language course in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures for the first time. Students are required to attend the pre-service seminar before classes begin. Students who do not attend the pre-service seminar will not be permitted to enroll in the course. For details and further information, please contact the Course Heads. May be taken SAT/UNS. Permission of Course Head required.
Teaching Languages, Cultures and Literatures
Description
This course is addressed to experienced TFs and TAs who are currently teaching foreign languages, literatures and cultures at Harvard. It will present and use theories coming from the disciplines of language pedagogy, relevant applied linguistic research, socio-linguistics, anthropology, and literary criticism, applied to classroom experience whether online or in situ.
The course is conceived as a space of open and structured discussion among humanists and social scientists specializing in different fields, teachers at different stages of their careers, and individuals coming from diverse linguistic, cultural and social backgrounds. We will learn from each other through comparing theories, practices, and stories.