Developing Classroom Materials for Less Commonly Taught Languages

by Bill Johnston, Louis Janus (With)

This book provides both principles and practical guidelines for Less Commonly Taught Language (LCTL) teachers of all levels and languages to transform raw materials into activities for the language classroom. Grounded in research, the author lays out a series of principles that serve to remind teachers of the possibilities that exist when they consider using authentic materials in the classroom. Each principle in the book is accompanied by numerous practical examples in a wide variety of languages created by the author and by teachers who have participated in a summer institute led by Bill Johnston and Louis Janus at CARLA since 1999.

140 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2007

About the author

Bill Johnston (born 1960) is a prolific Polish language literary translator and associate professor of comparative literature at Indiana University. His work has helped to expose English-speaking readers to classic and contemporary Polish poetry and fiction. In 2008 he received the Found in Translation Award for his translation of new poems by Tadeusz Różewicz this book was also a finalist for the National Books Critics Circle Poetry Award.

In 1999, he was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship for Poetry (Translation) for Balladina by Juliusz Słowacki, and in 2005 he received a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for a translation of The Coming Spring by Stefan Żeromski. He is also a recipient of the Amicus Poloniae award, presented by the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland (2003), the Diploma of the Polish Foreign Ministry (2004), and the Officer's Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (2012) for outstanding contribution to the promotion of the Polish culture and language in the U.S., as well as the development of Polish-American cultural cooperation. In 2005, his translation of Magdalena Tulli’s Dreams and Stones won the Translation Award of AATSEEL (American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages). His translation of Stone Upon Stone by Wiesław Myśliwski won the 2012 PEN Translation Prize and the 2012 Best Translated Book Award.

Source: wikipedia.com