It is established that the pedagogy of heritage language teaching should be rooted in community building and appreciation for cultural and linguistic variety. Shared experiences and community building are known to increase student engagement and give opportunity for active learning. In Project-Based Language Learning (PBLL), students explore an issue for an extended period and create a product which is connected to their own concerns, interests, and identity.

Using real-world texts in the language classroom is not new. We find authentic texts in language textbooks most frequently in the form of advertisements, business cards, screenshots of websites, segments of newspaper articles, or literature. Yet, these real-world texts do not end up under the spotlight they deserve! To illustrate the practical application of utilizing real-world texts in language instruction, let's delve into a specific set of activities from the online platform Italian in Wonderland, a collaborative effort between Letizia Maria Bellocchio, Beppe Cavatorta, and myself.

Wikipedia Expands the Small LCTL Classroom Guest Author: Lisa Gulesserian, PhD, Preceptor in Armenian at Harvard University and winner of the 2024 MAFLT LCTL Innovation Awards In my daily life…

Announcing the 2024 MAFLT LCTL Innovation Award Winners! The NLRC is excited to announce the 2024 MAFLT LCTL Innovation Award winners!   The NLRC gives these awards to recognize outstanding innovations…

Mandarin Chinese is not easy, but I think that most people will agree with me that the most difficult part of learning Mandarin is learning Chinese characters. To a second language learner, learning characters is laborious work. However, Chinese characters are not just a form of communication but a form of art.

The NLRC gives these awards to recognize outstanding innovations in LCTL instruction. These innovations use technology to creatively and effectively address a real, context-based problem in LCTL education. Award winners use technology to transform traditional teaching practices, prompting learners to explore, create, and develop proficiency with language through accessible technology.