Author: Sasha Kuchuk
CERCLL’s project “Bringing Global Cultures and World Languages into K-8 Classrooms“, directed by Dr. Kathy Short and developed in collaboration with Worlds of Words – the International Collection of Children’s and Adolescent Literature at the University of Arizona, keeps growing and welcomes its newest addition – a Language and Culture Kit for the Russian language and culture.
This project was originally designed to introduce K-8 students to less commonly taught languages (LCTLs) and cultures to create an interest in foreign language study and to make students more comfortable with exploring a range of world languages and global cultures.
Because children’s and adolescents’ literature is a resource that is particularly effective in engaging students in exploring diverse global perspectives and languages, this project develops book kits which include fiction and nonfiction literature about a particular country or region written in English and in the relevant LCTL along with tape recordings and some other language and cultural resources. These book kits are more commonly known as “Language and Culture Kits”. Each Kit comes with a manual along with lists of language resources and literature. An example of such manual, which includes the resources for Korean/South Korea and Arabic/Middle East, can be found on the project’s website, and some sections of the manual are also available for download on WoW website.
Currently, the list of Kits includes:
Arabic-Speaking Countries and Cultures Kit
Chinese Language and Culture Kit
Japanese Language and Culture Kit
Korean Language and Culture Kit
Portuguese/Brazil Language and Culture Kit
Spanish/Mexico Language and Culture Kit
American Indians of the Southwest Language and Culture Kit
Russian Language and Culture Kit
All Language and Culture Kits are stored and can be checked out at the World of Words:
World of Words
University of Arizona College of Education
Language, Reading and Culture
1430 East Second Street
Tucson, AZ 85721
Phone/Fax – 520.621.9340
wow@email.arizona.edu