World Languages

A WebQuery for 11th Grade

Susana Rodriguez
rodriguezsu@cwu.edu

Introduction

Have you ever wondered how many langauges are spoken around the world, far too many to count on your fingers. It is amazing how within one country there are more than two languages spoken which is why the United States is so unique in that it has a little bit of every langauge such as Spanish, Mandarin, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and the list goes on and on. Even within your community there might be more than two languages spoken.
With this said I would like to take you in a different direction from that of the class usual. So set aside the grammar books and come along with me on a journey around the world.

Task

You will have the opportunity to choose from a variety of languages to research. In putting together your research you will have available to use everything from books, to technology, to magazines and any other resources available.

You will be conducting your research for one of the following languages:

Spanish
Tagalog
Japanese
French
Italian
Russian
Portuguese
Vietnamese
Korean
Catalan

After you have chosen your language let the teacher know so that language can be taken off the list.

While you are working on your research you will be taking notes for your final presentation. At the same time you will find it easy to look for images that represent your language and anything else you think will enhance your final presentation..

The Process

While getting ready to start your research you should use the following questions to help guide you through your research process. You don't have to answer or use all the questions but do allow them to guide you in order for you to fulfill all the requirements for the lesson.

What language do you want to study?
Make a map representation of the country(ies) where your language is spoken.
Where will you find your information?
What branch of the family tree does your language fall under?
In what parts of the world is your language spoken?
What do you want your audience to learn about your language?
How do you say the basics, such as, hello, goodbye, what is your name, where is the restroom, etc.?
What do the letters of your language look like?
Can we listen to pronunciations of your language?
Do you have a list of vocabulary words?
How many people in the world speak that language?
Where in the United States can you hear that language?
Do people even speak the language in the United States?

Resources

Here is a list of a couple of websites that I thought would be beneficial in researching you topic. If you want to look at other websites that you find more beneficial you can run the idea by me and I will approve or disapprove.

http://www.cyberspain.com/passion/lenguajes.htm This link provides students with an overview of what the languages in Spain are, what region they are spoken in, and about how many people speak it.
http://spanish.about.com/library/weekly/aa050701b.htm In this linke a student will find a map of Spain showing the different regions languages are spoken in. It also provides a few examples of vocabulary words in different languages.
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_map.asp?name=MX On this site students can find different views of Mexico, central, southern, eastern and western, showing where the families of different languages are located. It also gives the percentages of the population who speak it and what languages are still alive.
http://www.italianlanguageguide.com/ This link takes students to the italian language site where they can learn simple word translantions, verbs and other sorts of details abou t the language.
http://www.japanese-language.org/ This link will take students on their journey to find the history, grammar, dialect, and other sorts of topics about Japanese langauge.
Students will be able to google under images their language tree so they get a representation for presentation and explain it to the class.

Evaluation

Students will be given a guideline illustrating in detail what they must have on their presentation, such as what topics are needed to be covered and how much those areas are worth.

Next they will be given a rubric for their end of the lesson presentation illustrating organization, content, neatness, grammar, and the overall preparedness.

Finally students will be given a rubric to grade their group participation throughout the lesson.

Conclusion

By the end of this lesson students, all, will have an understanding of how to say words such as, hello, goodbye, and what's your name in other languages. They will also know the name of the language they are listening to or looking at without being told what it is. Lastly, they will be able to read and understand if they were given a quiz with just the vocabulary showing.

Now that you know how to say a couple of words in other languages I encourage you to use them to teach them to your family members.

Resources
World: http://www.april.com.ua/img/planet2.jpg

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