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FOREIGN LANGUAGES
&
THE LITERARY IN THE EVERYDAY
open lessons for
L2 literacy

Lessons > Sound Play

Examples: rhyming, homophones, alliteration

Comment?!

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Lesson Title: Comment?! [ What?! ]
Lesson Author: Joanna Luks
Instructional Language: English
Level of Activities: College / 1. year
Text Title: L’accent grave
Text Language: French
FLLITE Form: LLDQ, Sound Play, Word Play

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Text

Text Title: L’accent grave
Text Language: French
Text Author: Prévert, Jacques
Genre: Narratives
Topic: n/a

Lesson

Lesson Title: Comment?! [ What?! ]
Instructional Language: English
Lesson Author: Joanna Luks
Level of Activities: College / 1. year
Pedagogical Practices: n/a
Grammar Focus: n/a
Main Objectives:
Cultural Knowledge & Mindset
Reading: Recognizing Platonic Forms. / Understanding the French notion of individualisme. / Evaluating worldview based on mental imagery of words.
Language Use & Strategies
Reading: Using decoding strategies for word forms.
Listening: Hesitation techniques.
Writing: Using play script conventions. / Generating a faux pas; clarifying a misunderstanding using negotiating language. / Controlling register.
Speaking: Performing playscripts.
FLLITE Form: LLDQ, Sound Play, Word Play

Alles offen: Öffentliche Verkehrsmittel und Weltoffenheit

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Lesson Title: Alles offen: Öffentliche Verkehrsmittel und Weltoffenheit [ It’s all open: Public Transportation and Cosmopolitanism ]
Lesson Author: John Benjamin / Devon Donohue-Bergeler / Katrin Fuchs / Alexander Lorenz (all authors contributed equally)
Instructional Language: German / English
Level of Activities: High school, College / 1. year / Novice
Text Title: “Is mir egal” (Dez. 2015)
Text Language: German
FLLITE Form: Culture Play, Genre Play, Pragmatic Play, Sound Play

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Text

Text Title: “Is mir egal” (Dez. 2015)
Text Language: German
Text Author: BVG / Kazim Akbogu
Genre: Advertisements and Personal ads / Music and Music Videos
Topic: Travel and Vacation / Literature, Music, Art

Lesson

Lesson Title: Alles offen: Öffentliche Verkehrsmittel und Weltoffenheit [ It’s all open: Public Transportation and Cosmopolitanism ]
Instructional Language: German / English
Lesson Author: John Benjamin / Devon Donohue-Bergeler / Katrin Fuchs / Alexander Lorenz (all authors contributed equally)
Level of Activities: High school, College / 1. year / Novice
Pedagogical Practices: Reading / Writing / Speaking / Listening
Grammar Focus: n/a
Main Objectives:

Students watch, decode, and transform a music video/advertisement for the Berlin public transportation system in which the protagonist, a rhythmic BVG employee, promotes tolerance and multiculturalism by not caring about anything. In doing so, students analyze and transform humorous content; use the describe, analyze, and relate framework to ground interpretations in observations and textual evidence; and question genre conventions. Students will consider Berlin’s liberal reputation through social and individual reflection.

Texts, Genres & Practices
  • Analyzing the genre and content of a viral music video/ advertisement
  • Using the describe, analyze, and relate framework to ground interpretations in observations and textual evidence
  • Transforming the text into students’ own context
Cultural Knowledge & Mindset
  • Public transportation and who uses it
  • Multiculturalism
  • Liberalism: live and let live
  • Transculturalism and translingualism
Language Use & Strategies
  • Choice of informal “du” with unknown customers in Berlin
  • Minimal catchy beat, rhythm, rhymes
  • Visual and verbal depictions of unusual situations
FLLITE Form: Culture Play, Genre Play, Pragmatic Play, Sound Play

How does a caterpillar become a butterfly?

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Lesson Title: How does a caterpillar become a butterfly? [ How does a caterpillar become a butterfly? ]
Lesson Author: Hsiaomei, Tsai
Instructional Language: Chinese
Level of Activities: Elementary / Novice
Text Title: The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Text Language: Chinese
FLLITE Form: Genre Play, Sound Play, Visual Play

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Text

Text Title: The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Text Language: Chinese
Text Author: Written by Eric Carle, Translated by Zheng MingJin
Genre: Narratives
Topic: Weather, Seasons, and Time

Lesson

Lesson Title: How does a caterpillar become a butterfly? [ How does a caterpillar become a butterfly? ]
Instructional Language: Chinese
Lesson Author: Hsiaomei, Tsai
Level of Activities: Elementary / Novice
Pedagogical Practices: Reading / Writing / Speaking / Listening
Grammar Focus: n/a
Main Objectives:

This lesson was created for a Chinese immersion class as part of a unit on the four stages of a butterfly’s life. The unit introduces relevant vocabulary in Chinese, such as caterpillar, butterfly, metamorphosis, cocoon, (callus), and egg. This lesson connects science and math with Chinese literacy development. This lesson in the unit focuses on the popular children’s picture book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. The book was originally written in English but has been translated into many different languages, including Chinese. The Very Hungry Caterpillar is fictional rather than scientifically accurate, but plays off of the butterfly life stages and thus provides a literary glimpse at everyday scientific concepts with which the students are becoming familiar. At the same time, many of the linguistic resources in the text – e.g. the numbers, days of the week, food items, etc. – offer an opportunity for comparing and contrasting Chinese and English expressions.

Texts, Genres & Practices
  • “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” picture book
Cultural Knowledge & Mindset
  • The scientific focus of the lesson, means that the focus is largely on processes that seem to transcend culture, but some of the everyday expressions bring in opportunities for cultural comparison.
  • In addition the continued expression of the caterpillar’s feelings can enable younger learners to express their feelings in their daily lives.
Language Use & Language Play
  • The story plays with the life cycle of the butterfly, a story that will be familiar to many young children. In this way, the primary type of play if genre play, in the blending of scientific text and children’s story.
  • There is also a frequent use of repetition, which creates a sound play when the story is read aloud, as story books are meant to be. This includes:
    • Repetition about past tense 了 (sound play)
    • The repetition of describing caterpillar’s physical appearance ( 又___又___) and experience (肚子好饿,肚子好痛) (narrative play)
  • Finally, there is visual play in the use of images to express the caterpillar’s transformation process and his feelings.
FLLITE Form: Genre Play, Sound Play, Visual Play

Anxiety after the Revolution

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Lesson Title: Anxiety after the Revolution
Lesson Author: Kelly Houck
Instructional Language: Persian
Level of Activities: College / 2. year, 3. year, 4. year / Intermediate
Text Title: در این بن بست [In This Blind Alley]
Text Language: Persian
FLLITE Form: Culture Play, Sound Play, Symbolic Play, Visual Play

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Text

Text Title: در این بن بست [In This Blind Alley]
Text Language: Persian
Text Author: Ahmad Shamlu
Genre: Poetry
Topic: Historical and Cultural Events / Beliefs and Politics

Lesson

Lesson Title: Anxiety after the Revolution
Instructional Language: Persian
Lesson Author: Kelly Houck
Level of Activities: College / 2. year, 3. year, 4. year / Intermediate
Pedagogical Practices: Reading / Writing / Speaking / Listening
Grammar Focus: n/a
Main Objectives:

Analyzing a piece of modern poetry, understanding the tense political atmosphere after the revolution, considering poetic devices of modern Persian poetry, practicing new vocabulary, constructing a poem using a modern structure to communicate a particular mood and perspective.

Texts, Genres & Practices
  • Reading a poem and examining its content and form
  • Speaking with and listening to classmates regarding poetic devices, grammar, and vocabulary
Cultural Knowledge & Mindset
  • Understanding the impact of the Islamic Revolution on day-to-day life
  • Interpreting the fears and anxieties of someone unsupportive of the new government
  • Considering the depth of the speaker’s emotional state
  • Discussing the impact of the imagery on the reader
Language Use & Language Play
  • Identifying the perspective and mood of the speaker
  • Identifying the structure of the poem
  • Analyzing metaphors and imagery to understand the feelings the speaker is communicating
  • Recognizing the impersonal verb conjugation
Design Elements
  • Examining the modern elements of the poem, such as stanza length and rhyme scheme
  • Communicating one’s interpretation of the poem to others
  • Practicing sustaining a conversation about a challenging literary topic
FLLITE Form: Culture Play, Sound Play, Symbolic Play, Visual Play

Märchenhafter Poetry Slam

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Lesson Title: Märchenhafter Poetry Slam
Lesson Author: Sina Colditz
Instructional Language: German
Level of Activities: College / 2. year, 3. year / Intermediate, Advanced
Text Title: “Der Froschkönig oder auch: Lügen haben dicke Schenkel“
Text Language: German
FLLITE Form: Culture Play, Genre Play, Sound Play, Word Play

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Text

Text Title: “Der Froschkönig oder auch: Lügen haben dicke Schenkel“
Text Language: German
Text Author: Max Gebhard
Genre: Poetry
Topic: Literature, Music, Art

Lesson

Lesson Title: Märchenhafter Poetry Slam
Instructional Language: German
Lesson Author: Sina Colditz
Level of Activities: College / 2. year, 3. year / Intermediate, Advanced
Pedagogical Practices: Reading / Writing / Speaking / Listening / Viewing / Cultural Understanding
Grammar Focus: “Wo …” sentences
Main Objectives:

Students learn about the genre of Poetry Slam and its specific way of discussing cultural aspects while playing with language (slang words, word play, cultural references etc.).

Texts, Genres & Practices
  • Reading / Listing to a Poetry Slam
  • Comparing the content of the Poetry Slam to (the) traditional fairytale(s) and characterizing similarities and differences
  • Potentially: Writing your own Poetry Slam
Cultural Knowledge & Perspectives
  • Understanding and interpreting socio-cultural references
  • Brainstorming and collecting aspects and characteristics about fairytales
  • Applying creatively new knowledge by writing a Poetry Slam (optional: including socio-cultural references)
Language Use & Language Play
  • Raising awareness of and making sense out of the word play (puns, slang words, etc.), the use of language (rhythm, rhyming, etc.), insider references and how these shape the genre of poetry slam
  • In this particular poem, play with the genre of fairy tale is also central
FLLITE Form: Culture Play, Genre Play, Sound Play, Word Play

Rat de ville ou rat des champs ?

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Lesson Title: Rat de ville ou rat des champs ? [ Town Mouse or Country Mouse? ]
Lesson Author: David Barny
Instructional Language: French / English
Level of Activities: College / 2. year / Intermediate
Text Title: Nouillorc
Text Language: French
FLLITE Form: Culture Play, Genre Play, Perspective Play, Sound Play, Visual Play, Word Play

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Text

Text Title: Nouillorc
Text Language: French
Text Author: Olivier Amsellem, Sébastien Pierre, Sylvain Thirache, Alexander Kalchev
Genre: Advertisements and Personal ads / Image
Topic: Travel and Vacation

Lesson

Lesson Title: Rat de ville ou rat des champs ? [ Town Mouse or Country Mouse? ]
Instructional Language: French / English
Lesson Author: David Barny
Level of Activities: College / 2. year / Intermediate
Pedagogical Practices: Reading / Writing / Speaking / Listening
Grammar Focus: Negation
Main Objectives:

This lesson is designed around one of the posters for an ad campaign by the French National Railway Company SNCF (Société nationale des chemins de fer français). This ad plays on the sounds of the French language and the imagery of the French countryside by comparing it humorously to the sounds of English and the expected imagery of global metropolises. Through humor, this artifact leads the learners to wonder about the relationship between urban and rural cultures/perspectives in France? Does this type of power relationship exist between their native urban and rural cultures? Does it surface in specific cultural practices?

Additionally, students will reflect on advertising strategies in the target culture, while considering the different types of negation in French and their uses.

The final task is designed as a team effort. Student will script and design their own parody of a commercial promoting their college town by reinvesting the semiotic codes they noticed in the various documents under study.

This lesson can easily be implemented in most textbook-based curricula, as these typically include a thematic unit of tourism and traveling, although they rarely, if ever, discuss the issue of centralization and rural desertification.

Texts, Genres & Practices
  • Reading, watching, listening and interpreting the languaculture behind satirical texts (billboards, commercials, comedy sketches)
  • Reading and analyzing a short touristic text on Auvergne (blog)
  • Writing/Designing a script for a satirical commercial promoting a college town
  • Presenting (through promoting) a tourist destination
Cultural Knowledge & Perspectives
  • Analyze French examples of satirical discourse.
  • Conceive advertising as a satirical tool
  • Reflect on the on the part of humor that is culture specific.
  • Compare French advertising with equivalents in the learners’ native culture
  • Discover historical and cultural aspects of French demographics and geography
Language Use & Language Play
  • Word play / Sound play: Subversion of the French phonetic inventory to create rural metropolises.
  • Visual play: subversion of rural semiotics (reinterpreting the visual identity of the French countryside).
  • Culture play: subversion of the theme of rural exodus.
  • Genre play / Perspective play: subversion of the advertising genre by adopting a negative perspective.
  • Language Skills: viewing, reading, listening, writing, speaking, cultural understanding
FLLITE Form: Culture Play, Genre Play, Perspective Play, Sound Play, Visual Play, Word Play

Chante l’amour, chante !

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Lesson Title: Chante l’amour, chante ! [ Sing love, sing! ]
Lesson Author: Marylise Rilliard
Instructional Language: French / English
Level of Activities: High school, College / 1. year / Novice
Text Title: Carmen
Text Language: French
FLLITE Form: Culture Play, Genre Play, Grammar Play, Perspective Play, Sound Play

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Text

Text Title: Carmen
Text Language: French
Text Author: Stromae
Genre: Music and Music Videos
Topic: Family, Friendships, and Relationships / Media and Technology

Lesson

Lesson Title: Chante l’amour, chante ! [ Sing love, sing! ]
Instructional Language: French / English
Lesson Author: Marylise Rilliard
Level of Activities: High school, College / 1. year / Novice
Pedagogical Practices: Reading / Writing / Listening / Viewing / Cultural Understanding
Grammar Focus: Imperative
Main Objectives:

Students will listen to, and read the lyrics of, the song L’amour est un oiseau rebelle by Georges Bizet as an introduction to the theme “love/relationships”. Then, they will watch the video clip and analyze the lyrics of the song Carmen by Stromae, which is directly inspired by the previous song. Students will be able to analyze the effects of the use of lexical fields, borrowings, poetic devices, grammatical tools, music and visuals on a written text. They will make inferences about the intertextuality between the two texts. Students will be able to apply what they learned in their own tweets in the target language to defend a cause or denounce an issue they care about.

Texts, Genres & Practices
  • Reading songs as poetry and recognizing stylistic devices typical of the genre.
  • Analyzing how different elements of a song (sounds, visual, etc.) add meaning to/reinforce the meaning of the written text.
  • Reflecting on intertextuality and what it brings to a text.
  • Writing tweets to support a cause/denounce an issue. Being impactful in few words.
Cultural Knowledge & Perspectives
  • Connecting texts to social practices and question one’s own social (media) practices.
  • Reflecting on the cultural and social values behind the use of foreign words.
  • Reflecting on appropriate and relevant usage of borrowings.
  • Capitalizing on the affordances of social media practices.
Language Use & Language Play
  • Identifying lexical fields and poetic devices and reflecting on their effect.
  • Analyzing the use of tense and pronouns in a warning message.
  • Examining and reflecting on the use of borrowings in a text.
  • Exploring how grammar, lexicon, and sound can be combined to convey meaning effectively.
FLLITE Form: Culture Play, Genre Play, Grammar Play, Perspective Play, Sound Play

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