Teaching Strategies
My strategy is to use local history to stimulate students’ interest and engagement with French language learning. I will use French to then get students to have deeper and unique connections to their local history.
I want students to realize that French isn’t a language that is very far away and impractical. Not only is French spoken in many corners of the world, but the French and their language have come to our corner of the world in San Jose, California. I don’t want my students to doubt and say to themselves, “why am I taking French?” They will learn that the French have had a significant impact in the life of the Santa Clara Valley. French is still used and spoken by a number of people in the area. (The French language and culture is promoted by the Alliance Française Silicon Valley – www.afscv.org)
Archives and manuscripts in the French language can be found right in the students’ backyard. They could even use their French skills to translate these old documents, which were written by pioneers of the valley. They could potentially make very interesting and/or important discoveries that could be made available to the public. Through their research, students could learn about the process of establishing some kind of public history display to represent someone or some event in the past. I hope that my students develop a love for history and a life-long love for learning. Through this project, the students will learn that anyone can have an impact in their communities, even if they are new to the area or even new to the country, as were the French pioneers.
In order for students to be focused on which direction to go in their research, or how deep to go, I will be meeting with individuals and/or groups at least once during the project to guide them in their work.
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