MA Students Present Projects on Teaching Literature in the L2 Classroom

This Tuesday, December 6, from 2:30-3:45pm in our Kirmser Language lab and hyflex classroom (EH 001 & 001A) students in Dr. Chronister’s “MLANG 779: Teaching Literature in the L2” presented their final research and pedagogy projects on how to creatively incorporate literature and media into the L2 classroom, even at the most basic levels.

This course — which will be offered online for both MA students and High School teachers in Fall 2023 — centers on practical and theoretical overview of approaches to teaching literature – broadly defined – in the second-language (L2) classroom at beginner and intermediate levels. The driving philosophy of the course is that the implementation of literature, or texts — including prose literature, poetry, film, TV, comics, song lyrics, etc. — can make the L2 classroom more inclusive by representing diverse viewpoints. It also makes it more accessible by offering multiple entry points for language learning and assessment possibilities for teachers.

Matthew showed how “Exercises in Style”, a French text that tells the same story in 99 different ways, can serve as a model for students to develop their own story-telling strategies at even the most basic levels of language production.

Huan used a popular Chinese sitcom as the basis for students to describe “Education” in Chinese and US contexts.

MA students and graduate assistants presented the inspiration and pedagogical theories behind their projects, discussed the creation or modification of literary or media-based texts for the L2, and shared their biggest takeaways from the course. Students projects were completed in English with “splashes” of the L2: Spanish, French, Chinese, German, and even some Turkish. Theoretical readings and critical academic articles were largely read in English, so this is one of Modern Languages’ most diverse and multilingual graduate seminars.

Maria discussed implementing multi-modal texts in the classroom to expand the ways in which information is presented to students. These types of text allow for the presentation of different viewpoints, for reflection on neurodiversity and disability, and for taking the focus of the class beyond grammar acquisition.

Jamey discussed ways in which using music videos can increase student engagement through their repetitive structure and visuals that showcase cultural content in context. For example, students can follow a music video through Berlin, learning to recognize the city’s sites and neighborhood while refining communication skills in the L2.

If you’re interested in this course in Fall 2023, contact Dr. Necia Chronister, professor of German. The objectives of the course appear below, and we are hoping to enroll a diverse group of teacher-students from both our own K-State campus and from high schools across the US.

think critically about what constitutes a text, its role in the Second Language (L2) curriculum, and multimodal ways of employing it for the purposes of language acquisition.
develop strategies for employing literature to increase inclusiveness and accessibility (through UDL principles) in the L2 classroom.
think creatively about the implementation of text-based projects and assessments.
read, analyze, and evaluate current scholarship on the pedagogy of texts (defined broadly) in the L2.
create effective and meaningful lessons, materials, and assessments for use in the L2 classroom, informed by theoretical readings and best practices.