Teaching World Languages

Tuesday, July 19 - Friday, July 22, 2011, 9 am - 3 pm

This course is designed for teachers of world languages. There are four days of class, one in English and the remainder in the target language of instruction. Participants attend twenty hours of instruction and are awarded two credits by Seattle Pacific University. The central objective of language instruction is to teach students to use language correctly and appropriately in order to achieve their communication goals.  This objective is also known as communicative competence.  This course focuses on how people learn a second language and how this theory can be applied to various age groups in the classroom; practical applications will be a large part of the course.  The course also focuses on effective language-specific strategies and activities for teaching Spanish and German. Finally, this course will address the topic of assessing student knowledge using authentic strategies that mirror good classroom instruction.

Day One: In English

  • Examine what makes second language teaching effective
  • Learn strategies for teaching language in context
  • Build effective language learning strategies in your students
  • Develop a self-evaluation system to gauge your teaching effectiveness

Day Two through Four: In Language of Instruction as Noted Below

Option A:  Teaching World Languages: Spanish

Option B:  Teaching World Languages: German

  • Using cultural materials to expand teaching resources
  • Using other disciplines such as drama and literature (including poetry) to teach language
  • Using media, realia and international communities to extend language learning opportunities
  • Relating to the larger school environment in teaching language
  • Developing activities to reach communicative competence
  • Utilizing authentic assessment techniques to enhance your existing curriculum and mirror your good classroom instruction

This four-day workshop is available for 2 credits. Tuition is $425.  University credit is an additional $90.

Please click here to register. For more information, please call us at (206) 682-4463.