Term
Fall 2018
Capstone
Capstone Project
Degree Name
MAT
Facilitator(s)
Julianne Scullen
Content Expert
Jen Killam
Abstract
Language and culture are dynamically connected. The culture of a place refers to its people, traditions, beliefs and products such as music or food. Despite the body of evidence to support the importance of teaching about these cultural aspects, many world language teachers struggle to include cultural study alongside their language instruction. One engaging way to improve students’ linguistic and cultural competence is through read-alouds. Read-alouds are the foundation of early literacy and provide a number of benefits for young learners: they support a solid linguistic foundation for further study of the target language’s grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation; they engage students with vibrant pictures and storytelling; they encourage students to make connections to their own lives and languages; they allow students to travel to places and meet people they never dreamed possible. This capstone seeks to answer the question How can second language (L2) teachers help students use their own cultural background knowledge in order to connect language and culture through reading? This comprehensive curriculum, including a list of storybook lessons and a variety of activities and assessment strategies, provides teachers with a clear structure for teaching culture and language through read-alouds.
Project Type
Curriculum
Keywords
Curriculum, Foreign Language, Reading, Teachers/ Teaching
Recommended Citation
Whelan, Jennifer, "Adult Education, Community Building, Environmental Studies, Special Education, Staff Development, Teachers/ Teaching" (2018). School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects. 244.
https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/hse_cp/244
dc_type
text
dc_publisher
DigitalCommons@Hamline
dc_format
application/pdf
dc_source
School of Education Student Capstone Projects