mmemoghtader.com

Our national standards for World Language teaching advise us to use authentic resources to teach language and culture. I set out to show other teachers through example what that would look like. Find linked here a list of authentic resources to teach language and culture with suggestions of activities to use them to maximize their benefits. Please note the tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet where you can find more pages.

The examples that I am sharing are very intentionally curated with this criteria:

• These resources are accessible for language students. They use simple language so that students can understand.
• I grouped the resources on particular themes so that there would be repetition of vocabulary and cultural components. If a teacher shows one resource on a topic, the student doesn’t get enough repetition or insight, so I aimed to have multiple resources per topic. 
• You will see that I have diverse resources. I wanted to avoid celebrating France only as the study of the French language incorporates other countries than just France.

All of these resources are chosen carefully to promote language acquisition and cultural competence.

These resources can be used with your style of teaching. You can write your own essential questions, can-do statements and assessments. Whether you have a desk-less classroom, prioritize CI techniques or teach with IPAs, you can incorporate these current, high-interest authentic documents. One method is to start each lesson with one of them in an interpretive activity and then use the rest of class to ask students to speak and write. However you use authentic documents, I hope to convince you that adding more to your instruction will advance your students’ ability to speak the language and to become more culturally competent.