John
P. Piazza, M.A.
Can and should Latin be
taught like a modern language?
As
long as the study of Latin is perceived as an elective for the academically
gifted and as long as the methodology in the Latin classroom addresses the
needs of these students exclusively, the profession is doomed to struggle for
general acceptance in the curriculum. (Martha Gordon Abbott)
Today’s
minority students are entering school with signinficantly different social and
economic backgrounds from those of previous student populations, and thus
require educators to modify their teaching approaches to ensure that these
studeints have access to the American dream. (Lynne Diaz-Rico and Kathryn Weed)
This
is the big question among many Latin teachers who are frustrated with the
seeming inability of students to reach any level of Latin reading fluency (even
after years of study) especially when compared to the progress that students
make in modern languages.
Obviously, teachers of Latin face certain obstacles which make this goal
more difficult, not least of which is the simple fact that Latin is extremely
difficult. In addition, there are few opportunities to speak or listen to
Latin. The increasing cultural and linguistic diversity of American classrooms
demands that all teachers (even Latin teachers) adopt methods which are more
inclusive. Academic research on Latin education is still very much in its
infancy when it comes to modern theories of foreign language acquisition, and
teaching Latin in the multicultural classroom. However, significant research
has been done.
The
purpose of this page is to gather such resources (both theoretical and
practical), and hopefully initiate and/or expand the dialogue among teachers
regarding how Latin may best be taught.
In my
credential work, I am currently researching the application of modern theories
of second (and third) language acquisition to the teaching of Latin, as well as
the issues surrounding teaching Latin in the ESL and multicultural classroom. I
hope to include my work and detailed bibliographies below.
If
you have any information, statistics, personal experiences, etc., that you
would like to share, please send me an e-mail.
Online articles and resources:
(coming
soon) Teaching Latin: Contemporary Problems and Potential Solutions.
In
this paper, I examine the question of teaching Latin to non-traditional students
(multicultural, English language learners, learning disabled, etc.), and how
Latin might be made more accessible to those students. Paper also draws upon
previous alternative Latin projects.
Bibliography of sources for teaching Latin to a diverse student
population (goes with above paper).
A
recent Cambridge brain study suggests that too much
conscious processing can actually hinder the learning process when it comes to
things which we learn more automatically or unconsciously (e.g.
language!).
John Piazza’s writeup of the Ørberg panel at CAAS 2004
in Philadelphia
Why Speak Latin? A defense by Nancy
Llewellyn.
Ms. Lewellyn, president of SALVI, responds to the claim that
teaching spoken Latin is a waste of time. This was originally posted to
LatinTeach.
“
‘Standards for Success’ out of Touch with Language Acquisition Research.”
Krashen addresses the grammar-translation approach, which is still
common in many foreign language classrooms, Latin in particular.
Chapter One of Latin on the Direct Method, by
Rouse and Appleton (1925)
Ahead of its time.
Other
Resources, mostly available in print.
Tunberg, Terence and Milena Minkova. Readings and Exercises in
Latin Prose Composition. Focus Publishing, 2004.
This is the only college level Latin composition guide that does
notlimit its definition of “composition” to translation of sentences from
English to Latin. As a result, the exercises in this book encourage students to
work with Latin as Latin, not as a puzzle to figure out. Each chapter is based
on an extensive and interesting passage from authors representing all periods
of Latin literature. Read the Bryn Mawr
Classical Review article here.
For teachers who are interested in introducing composition at the
beginning levels, I have posted a description and materials from my ACL
workshop: “Latin Prose
Composition as a Fun, Creative and Differentiated Activity.”
Miraglia,
Luigi. “Latino e Greco alla Prova: La verifica delle competenze nella didattica
delle lingue classiche” Docere 1, 1 (2002) 23-33.
_______.
“Latino e Greco alla Prova: La verifica delle competenze nella didattica delle
lingue classiche (Seconda parte) Docere 1, 2 (2002). 13-29.
In these two articles, Miraglia shows his method of teaching Latin
composition through the description of pictures and texts. Contains many
stuents examples. If you can read Italian, and are interested, I can mail you
xeroxes, or email you scans. For subscription info regarding Docere, follow this link.
The CPL Forum
Online is an online journal published by the Committee on the Promotion of
Latin. Read about various teaching strategies at all levels of Latin education.
Piper Salve, a book of Latin
dialogues by Robert Maier et al. for use in his European Latin Weeks (Septimanae
Latinae Europaeae). Helpful for any teacher who wants to bring spoken Latin into
the classroom. Unfortunately it is only available through Amazon Germany for a
hefty shipping fee, but worth it. Hopefully we will have a US distributor soon.
View sample pages and ordering info
here.
Latine Doceo, a Companion for Instructors. by Luigi
Miraglia and C.G. Brown.
Available from Focus Publishers, www.pullins.com.
Although advertised as a manual of sorts for Hans Ørberg’s
textbook series, Lingua Latina, this booklet contains chapters and articles
pertaining to Latin instruction in general, especially the methodology which
underlies Ørberg’s approach. Whatever your teaching method, this booklet
addresses fundamental questions of Language pedagogy, and will be of interest
to any Latinist.
Latin: How to Read it Fluently by B.D. Hoyos.
Available from the Classical
Association of New England.
Hoyos addresses the common obstacles to fluent reading on the part
of Latin students, especially the fact that what is called “reading” is often
translation.
The Living Word: W.H.D. Rouse and the Crisis
of Classics in Edwardian England by Christopher Stray. Bristol Classical Press, 1992
Provides
some historical background and context for perennial issues in the teaching of
ancient languages.