Teaching Curriculum
Over the 10-plus year history of SKILLS, we have found that participants in the program developed a greater appreciation of linguistic diversity as well as their own and others’ linguistic heritage; experienced enhanced academic and personal growth; and realized multiple opportunities for college-readiness.
Curriculum Structure
- Language in the peer group, which covers the basic tools of linguistic analysis and invites students to explore their own and their peers’ multi-dimensional language use;
- Language in the family, which enables students to consider linguistic practices, oral histories, and experiences across generations;
- Language in the community, which guides students to investigate linguistic diversity and language politics both locally and more broadly; and
- Language in the world, which gives students a wider perspective on how their own language use as well as that of their peers, families, and communities fit into the global context of both face-to-face and mediated uses of languages around the world.
Conceptual Frameworks
- Funds of Knowledge (Gonzalez, Moll, & Amanti, 2005)
- Language and Identity ((Brickhouse & Potter 2001; Bucholtz & Hall, 2004)
- Sociolinguistic Justice (Bucholtz, Lopez, Mojarro, Skapoulli, Vanderstouwe, & Warner-Garcia 2014)
Designed to Help Students
- Learn to conduct original research on language use in their peer groups, families, and communities in ways that bridge their home and school cultures
- Investigate language from social-scientific and humanistic perspectives
- Gain appreciation of their own and others’ linguistic heritage and expertise
- Acquire content knowledge in the discipline of linguistics and research methods
- Develop clear oral and written communication skills in academic settings
- Engage in mentoring relationships with undergraduate and graduate students
