General Introduction

The National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL) and the Language Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are pleased to present three new online courses on teaching less commonly taught languages (LCTLs) at the postsecondary level. These courses were developed through a grant from the International Research and Studies Program of the U.S. Department of Education (co-PIs, Sally Magnan and Antonia Schleicher).

The three courses are designed primarily for new instructors of LCTLs at the postsecondary level. They are also useful for experienced instructors. Based on the National Standards for Foreign Language Learning, these courses can also be profitably used by college-level instructors of commonly taught languages.

Courses

Fundamentals of Language Teaching Methods

Introduction to the U.S. Educational System for Language Instructors

Teaching African Languages {readmore}

Fundamentals of Language Teaching Methods
Authors: Dianna Murphy, Sally Magnan, Erlin Barnard, Robin Worth
This course offers an overview of major issues in language teaching, with suggestions of how to teach according to the goals of the National Standards and principles of communicative language teaching. The course contains over 60 video clips of LCTL classrooms and interviews with LCTL instructors and students, with 40 additional video clips of interviews in a Supplement. 12 lessons.Learn More

Introduction to the U.S. Educational System for Language Instructors
Authors: Sally Magnan, Dianna Murphy, Erlin Barnard, Margaret Merrill
This course offers an introduction to teaching foreign languages and student perspectives in the United States. Based on the principle that student expectations for their instruction influence how they respond in language classes, this course focuses on student beliefs and expectations for language learning in college. It also reviews typical duties of language instructors, such as designing syllabuses, grading, holding office hours, advising, advocacy, and handling difficult situations. The course contains over over 50 video clips of interviews with LCTL instructors and students, with 40 additional video clips of interviews in a Supplement. 6 lessons.Learn More

Teaching African Languages
Author: Antonia Schleicher
This course offers an introduction to teaching African languages at the postsecondary level in the United States. Based on principles of communicative language teaching, it explains how to teach basic skills. It also presents resources for teaching African languages that are available to instructors. The course contains close to 30 video clips of language classrooms and interviews with African instructors and students. 6 lessons. Learn More

Many diverse languages are represented in the courses through videotaped interviews, videotaped classroom exemplars or other examples include Arabic, Chinese, Filipino, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kazakh, Korean, Lao, Norwegian Polish, Russian, Serbian, Swahili, Swedish, Telugu, Thai, Tibetan, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese and Yoruba.

The courses are offered through the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages as non-credit professional development. The first course in the series, Fundamentals of Language Teaching Methods, is offered through the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Contact Antonia Schleicher regarding the non-credit offering of the course through NCOLCTL; contact Dianna Murphy for information on the for-credit offering through the UW-Madison.