An Israeli University-Level Approach to Judezmo (Ladino), Traditional Language of the Sephardic Jews

Judezmo, or Ladino or Judeo-Spanish, is the traditional language of the Sephardic or Iberian Jews who after 1492 resettled in the Ottoman Empire, many of them remaining in the region into the 21st century. Structurally, Modern Judezmo is composed mostly of elements of popular medieval Ibero-Romance, Ibero-Arabic, Hebrew and Aramaic, Turkish and Balkan languages, and Italian and French. Into the first half of the 20th century, the language was written primarily in the Hebrew alphabet; from the second half of the 19th century, Romanization was also used, leading to the unique Romanization which predominates today. The language was not taught formally in the speech community until the 19th century; instead language study focused on Hebrew. In the late 1970s, popular social pressure led the Israeli government to acknowledge the important role played by Judezmo in the Sephardic Diaspora by introducing Judezmo courses in Israeli universities. The chapter focuses on the challenges of teaching Judezmo at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

An Approach to the Use of Literature in the Korean Language Class

During the last years, the Korean language has been gaining popularity worldwide as a second language. This is partly due to the international success of the so-called Korean wave or hallyu-related cultural products. This increase of interest in learning the language has produced a new market for Korean language books, and the past years have seen a lot of specific-purpose materials for Korean learners being published. However, it is possible to argue that literature has been underrepresented in this new wave of publications. In the following chapter, the author examines a series of the most relevant materials oriented or dealing with Korean literature in their curriculum trying to offer an approximation on the state of question and reflecting on the reasons behind proposing ideas on how to improve literature teaching in the Korean language classroom.

Per Litteras ad Linguam

Even though Latin lost its role as a mother tongue due to the development of Romance languages, it has been used in some fields as a code for knowledge transmission or as a universal communication instrument. Literary texts are an essential resource to help students get used to the basic aspects of Latin because they will be allowed to learn it in a progressive and active way. In this chapter, the authors present some tools used to learn Latin through its own literature, and they provide new methods and ideas for its application in the teaching field as well.

Frisian Literature in Education

Frisian is a minority language taught at least one hour a week in primary schools. As a result, Frisian literature occupies a smaller position in the educational system than Dutch literature, since Dutch is the national language. This chapter discusses systematically the position of fiction and literature in the various types of education in primary schools, secondary schools, universities, and courses for adults. Special attention is given to the way in which officially established attainment goals affect the end term requirements set for the final examinations.

The Project and the Action-Oriented Approach to Submerge Literature in Reality in Foreign Languages Teaching

The role of literature in foreign languages teaching is not a matter of debate today. If we observe the number of publications and conferences organized on the theme of teaching literature in foreign languages in recent years, we quickly realize that this is a dynamic field and constantly evolving. However, this vitality is not found in textbooks where literature still does not have the presence that teaching discourses which justify it grant it. In addition to providing some reasons for this disaffection, this chapter intends to use the latest teaching developments attempting especially to advance on the theoretical reflection about the articulation of the action-oriented approach and literature teaching through project-based teaching method. First, the authors try to justify the use of the project, and then they notify the theoretical mutation that this practice requires, before dealing with the types of project that may integrate FL classes. Finally, they look at how it should be structured to ensure that teaching take into account all dimensions of literature.

Culture Through Poetry

Culture is an essential and challenging part of teaching a second language. For the basic language classroom, instructors play a fundamental role in presenting and creating a space for learning about language forms themselves and learning about how that language is used in context. Poetry is a unique way to analyze both language and cultural artifact. There are a plethora of forms that are represented within poetry, and there are many ways to connect language learning to culture itself. Instructors must take initiative and be intentional with each activity that is incorporated into learning a new language. Poetry is but one of the many ways that culture and language can be analyzed thoroughly, and in this chapter, poetry forms are analyzed as both language structure examples and as a cultural and contextual resource that enriches the classroom environment.

Bringing Native American Literature to Spanish Students

The goal of this chapter is to explain an experience developed with the students of the College of Humanities of Albacete. The experience tried to bring contemporary Native American literature to humanities majors. During two sessions, those students were given general notions about the panorama of current Native American literature and about Leslie Marmon Silko's production in particular. In the first session, a historical and literary explanation was offered in relation the Native nations. On the other hand, during the session, the authors developed a comprehensive and intensive reading of “Storyteller,” for this tale was specially adequate to the authors' purposes both due to its literary value and to its difficulty. Through it, the students could get acquainted with Native American literature, enhancing their conceptions about the American literary canon and offering them a new perspective for addressing contemporary literatures produced in English.

The Teaching of Corpus Languages in Higher Education

Late Eastern Aramaic (Syriac) is one of the main languages of the Aramaic linguistic group. During the Middle Ages, it became the liturgical language of the Christian communities that arose in the Near and Middle East. Its scholars wrote a large amount of literature and implemented a movement for the translation of Greek theological and scientific works. The extent of Arabic after the Muslim conquest led to the gradual disuse of Late Eastern Aramaic. However, today it still remains a communication and liturgical language in several churches. The aim of this chapter is to offer an overview of Late Eastern Aramaic (Syriac) language teaching at the University of Salamanca, including a summary of the learning goals and a description of the approach and method followed. It is preceded by a brief introduction to the tradition of the studies about this language.

Teaching Russian as a Foreign Language Through Literature

In this work, the author analyses theoretical and practical issues regarding the use of literature in teaching Russian as a foreign language (RKI), and more specifically for students whose first language is Spanish. In the first section, they address issues of general didactic theory, such as the method and general didactic approach. Next, they present the characteristics and advantages of using literary texts in RKI, such as encouraging reading and learning, teaching the culture of the studied language, and for entertainment. In the following section, they analyse the factors that influence the selection of a literary text to be used in the RKI class. In the next theoretical section, they detail a working methodology with literary texts (introduction to the exercise and prior explanations, pretextual exercises, comments during reading, post-textual exercises, etc.). The work concludes with a compilation of textbooks, authors, and literary works recommended for use in the RKI class, with a description of their main didactic characteristics.

Integrating Authentic Resources in Teaching Language in Literary Texts

Authentic resources act as a platform for engaging learners' interest and making teaching processes more relevant and realistic. This action research aims to determine the impact of teaching language in literary texts by integrating the classroom-based learning environment with authentic resources. Two activities, “meet-the-author” and “pseudo-cinematic” events, were designed for this batch of undergraduates. Both activities were delineated by non-canon and canon works respectively. For both, assessments aligned with the “meet-the-author” and “pseudo-cinematic” events were conducted. Results and responses from learners were harvested to account for their experiences. Although there is no drastic positive spike in the overall results, findings answered the principal goal of the research where it is discovered that the activities have helped the learners. Through the possibilities of incorporating authentic resources, it is a means for Instructors to address limitations within classroom teaching and learning as well as pique learners' motivation and positive interaction.