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

Lessons > Symbolic Play

Examples: metaphor, metonymy, digression, oppositions, juxtapositions

Envie de voyager

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Lesson Title: Envie de voyager [ Wanderlust ]
Lesson Author: Joanna Luks
Instructional Language: English
Level of Activities: College / 1. year
Text Title: The Wanderer (Voyages de rêve)
Text Language: French
FLLITE Form: LLDQ, Symbolic Play

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Text

Text Title: The Wanderer (Voyages de rêve)
Text Language: French
Text Author: Anonymous
Genre: Personal Blogs and Journals
Topic: n/a

Lesson

Lesson Title: Envie de voyager [ Wanderlust ]
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: Comparing American and French students’ word associations for United States and France.
Language Use & Strategies
Reading: Finding metaphorical language in the text related to traveling and savouring.
Writing: Incorporating a metaphorical motif to enrich writing. Linking ideas with coordinating conjunctions; using mixed formatting: paragraph writing and telegraphic style.
Visualization: Including imagery to draw the reader’s attention.
FLLITE Form: LLDQ, Symbolic Play

La Ville et le graffiti

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Lesson Title: La Ville et le graffiti [ The City and Graffiti ]
Lesson Author: Joanna Luks
Instructional Language: English / French
Level of Activities: College / 1. year
Text Title: Graffiti from May ‘68 / Graffiti calligraphié: El Seed
Text Language: French
FLLITE Form: LLDQ, Symbolic Play

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Text

Text Title: Graffiti from May ‘68 / Graffiti calligraphié: El Seed
Text Language: French
Text Author: Anonymous / Melia, Lisa
Genre: Signage and Graffiti / Personal Blogs and Journals
Topic: n/a

Lesson

Lesson Title: La Ville et le graffiti [ The City and Graffiti ]
Instructional Language: English / French
Lesson Author: Joanna Luks
Level of Activities: College / 1. year
Pedagogical Practices: n/a
Grammar Focus: n/a
Main Objectives:
Cultural Knowledge & Mindset
Reading: Background information on May ‘68
Visualization: Creating a graffiti tag to illustrate an aphorism.
Language Use & Strategies
Reading: Contrasting uses of narrative present and passé composé / Introduction to prepositional systems in English and French.
Writing: Creating an aphorism using language structures to express oppositions / Turning an aphorism into a French tweet with texting abbreviations / Writing an explanation of the aphorism in present tense and including a bulleted list of past events with passé composé verbs and adverbial time expressions as illustration of what happened/what someone did.
FLLITE Form: LLDQ, Symbolic Play

Mais je digresse

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Lesson Title: Mais je digresse [ But I digress ]
Lesson Author: Joanna Luks
Instructional Language: English, French
Level of Activities: College / 1. year, 2. year
Text Title: Ambiguïtés
Text Language: French
FLLITE Form: LLDQ, Symbolic Play

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Text

Text Title: Ambiguïtés
Text Language: French
Text Author: Gomarin, Françoise
Genre: Personal Blogs and Journals
Topic: n/a

Lesson

Lesson Title: Mais je digresse [ But I digress ]
Instructional Language: English, French
Lesson Author: Joanna Luks
Level of Activities: College / 1. year, 2. year
Pedagogical Practices: n/a
Grammar Focus: n/a
Main Objectives:
Cultural Knowledge & Mindset
Reading: The concept of “flâner.” / Understanding uses of associative or digressive thinking and the various effects it can have on the reader.
Speaking: Examining syllable structuring in French to improve pronunciation when reading out loud.
Language Use & Strategies
Reading: Finding digressions in a text.
Writing: Prewriting questions to guide content development. /  Incorporating digressions in written musings to reflect how you think and speak. / Using parallelisms as a stylistic technique for enhancing rhythm and flow.
FLLITE Form: LLDQ, Symbolic Play

Cultural Allusion, Humor, and Memes On- and Offline

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Lesson Title: Cultural Allusion, Humor, and Memes On- and Offline
Lesson Author: Chantelle Warner
Instructional Language: German / English
Level of Activities: College / Intermediate, Advanced
Text Title:
Text Language: German
FLLITE Form: Culture Play, Symbolic Play

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Text

Text Title:
Text Language: German
Text Author: n/a
Genre: Narratives / Social Media
Topic: Media and Technology

Lesson

Lesson Title: Cultural Allusion, Humor, and Memes On- and Offline
Instructional Language: German / English
Lesson Author: Chantelle Warner
Level of Activities: College / Intermediate, Advanced
Pedagogical Practices: Reading / Writing / Speaking / Listening
Grammar Focus: n/a
Main Objectives:

Students learn how memes in the form of cultural references, formulaic language, and images can create humorous, ironic, and even critical effects

Texts, Genres & Practices
  • Reading memes on- and offline
  • Redesigning an existing meme
  • Responding to memes
Cultural Knowledge & Mindset
  • interpreting and questioning cultural references and allusions as indexes to socio-ideological perspectives
  • making sense out of the often critical humor that arises in the juxtaposition elements in memes
  • “insiderliness” as a potential effect of memes
  • creating humorous effects through cultural references and allusions in original memes
  • creating juxtapositions of voices and perspectives by remixing or recontextualizing texts in social networks
  • feeling addressed or excluded by memes and cultural allusions
Language Use & Strategies
  • analyzing formulaic language, images, and format in memes as variations of a theme
  • conceptualizing and analyzing heteroglosia as a literary effect in social network discourse and in memes
  • creatively playing with formulaic language, images, and format for ironic and humorous effects
  • using juxtaposition to create a critical or humorous voice
FLLITE Form: Culture Play, Symbolic Play

Social Networks, Intertextuality and Heteroglossia

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Lesson Title: Social Networks, Intertextuality and Heteroglossia
Lesson Author: Chantelle Warner
Instructional Language: German / English
Level of Activities: College / Intermediate, Advanced
Text Title:
Text Language: German
FLLITE Form: Symbolic Play

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Text

Text Title:
Text Language: German
Text Author: Misc.
Genre: Social Media
Topic: Media and Technology

Lesson

Lesson Title: Social Networks, Intertextuality and Heteroglossia
Instructional Language: German / English
Lesson Author: Chantelle Warner
Level of Activities: College / Intermediate, Advanced
Pedagogical Practices: Reading / Writing / Speaking
Grammar Focus: Direct and indirect speech
Main Objectives:

Students learn how to conceptualize and analyze the kinds of ironic, humorous, and affiliative effects that arise through various kinds of direct and indirect quoting practices.

Texts, Genres & Practices
  • Reading and participating in social network-mediated conversations, as found on Facebook
  • Designing a Facebook post around a meme or quote
  • Transforming a Facebook discussion into a reader’s theater performance
Cultural Knowledge & Mindset
  • Conceptualizing and analyzing Facebook conversations as a particular kind of literacy practice
  • Conceptualizing and analyzing heteroglossia and related effects (irony, humor, distancing) in relation to citational practices
  • Expressing affiliation and experiencing feelings of inclusion/exclusion through allusions and references
  • Expressing feelings / opinions through citation and sharing/reposting
  • Creating effects of irony, humor, distancing, etc. through citational practices
  • Experiencing and analyzing differences between online and offline discourse through the estrangement of genre transformation (from a FB post to a theater performance)
Language Use & Strategies
  • Direct and indirect quoting in social networks
  • Technological affordances of sharing and re-posting
  • Verbal and non-verbal cues (especially in relation to effect of irony, humor, distancing, etc.)
FLLITE Form: Symbolic Play

La globalización de comida

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Lesson Title: La globalización de comida
Lesson Author: Carol Ready
Instructional Language: Spanish
Level of Activities: College / 1. year, 2. year / Intermediate
Text Title: La United Fruit Co.
Text Language: Spanish
FLLITE Form: Culture Play, Grammar Play, Symbolic Play

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Text

Text Title: La United Fruit Co.
Text Language: Spanish
Text Author: Pablo Neruda
Genre: Poetry
Topic: Food and Drink

Lesson

Lesson Title: La globalización de comida
Instructional Language: Spanish
Lesson Author: Carol Ready
Level of Activities: College / 1. year, 2. year / Intermediate
Pedagogical Practices: Reading
Writing
Grammar Focus: Past participles / metaphor
Main Objectives:
Cultural Knowledge & Mindset
  • Students will interpret and question cultural references and ideological perspectives of the global food industry.
Reading
  • Students will recognize layers of meaning in an authentic literary text.
  • Students will identify descriptive language (e.g. metaphorical and past participles as adjectives).
Writing
  • Students will incorporate descriptive language in their writing.
Texts, Genres & Practices
  • reading poetry
  • writing poetry
Cultural Knowledge & Perspectives
  • interpreting and questioning ideological perspectives of the exportation of fruit
  • creating poetry as a social critique
Language Use & Language Play
  • analyzing metaphor to convey a particular emotion or opinion regarding the subject
  • examining the use of past participles as adjectives as a unique descriptive tool
  • incorporating metaphor into writing
  • using past participles as adjectives
FLLITE Form: Culture Play, Grammar Play, Symbolic Play

Cuando yo sea mayor…

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Lesson Title: Cuando yo sea mayor…
Lesson Author: Natasha César Suárez
Instructional Language: Spanish
Level of Activities: College / 1. year, 2. year / Intermediate, Advanced
Text Title: Desafío a la vejez
Text Language: Spanish
FLLITE Form: Culture Play, Symbolic Play

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Text

Text Title: Desafío a la vejez
Text Language: Spanish
Text Author: Gioconda Belli
Genre: Poetry
Topic: Family, Friendships, and Relationships

Lesson

Lesson Title: Cuando yo sea mayor…
Instructional Language: Spanish
Lesson Author: Natasha César Suárez
Level of Activities: College / 1. year, 2. year / Intermediate, Advanced
Pedagogical Practices: Reading / Writing / Speaking / Listening
Grammar Focus: n/a
Main Objectives:
  • Writing about elderly
  • Activating the metaphorical competence
  • Adopting an empathetic attitude towards the elderly
Texts, Genres & Practices
  • Reading a poem in the target language
  • Understanding a poem
  • Deconstructing metaphors, and creating metaphors
Cultural Knowledge & Mindset
  • Accessing a cultural product in Spanish language
  • Reflecting on intergenerational relations
  • Activating the metaphoric competence.
Language Use & Strategies
  • Language skills: reading, writing, speaking
  • Language competences: subjunctive mode
Design Elements
  • The activity could be supported by some visual materials, in order to cause reflections related to the main theme of the poem. Consequently, these images will stimulate the students to write about their own ideas in this respect
FLLITE Form: Culture Play, Symbolic Play

Cosas de ciudad

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Lesson Title: Cosas de ciudad
Lesson Author: Natasha César Suárez
Instructional Language: Spanish
Level of Activities: College / 2. year / Intermediate, Advanced
Text Title: Puerta del Sol 2011
Text Language: Spanish
FLLITE Form: Culture Play, Pragmatic Play, Symbolic Play, Visual Play, Word Play

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Text

Text Title: Puerta del Sol 2011
Text Language: Spanish
Text Author: Natasha César Suárez
Genre: Image
Topic: Media and Technology / Historical and Cultural Events

Lesson

Lesson Title: Cosas de ciudad
Instructional Language: Spanish
Lesson Author: Natasha César Suárez
Level of Activities: College / 2. year / Intermediate, Advanced
Pedagogical Practices: Reading / Writing / Speaking / Listening
Grammar Focus: n/a
Main Objectives:
  • Researching about contemporary social movements
  • Activating social / civil commitments
  • Reviewing grammar content (Imperative mode)
Texts, Genres & Practices
  • Analyzing an image with phrases on the target language
  • Understanding the meaning of summarized expressions related to the topic of the activity.
  • Imagining hypothetical social movement in Spanish language.
Cultural Knowledge & Mindset
  • Accessing a socio-historical content in Spanish language
  • Reflecting on the relevance of contemporary social movements
Language Use & Strategies
  • Language skills: reading, writing, speaking
  • Language competences: imperative mode
Design Elements
  • This activity is designed for activating the knowledge of social movements, and stimulating the commitment of the students. It could be complemented with images and / or music related to the most recent world social movements.
FLLITE Form: Culture Play, Pragmatic Play, Symbolic Play, Visual Play, Word Play

Las narrativas transmedia a partir de un cuento de hadas

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Lesson Title: Las narrativas transmedia a partir de un cuento de hadas [ Transmedia Storytelling with a Fairytale ]
Lesson Author: Maybel Mesa Morales
Instructional Language: Spanish
Level of Activities: College / 1. year, 2. year / Intermediate, Advanced
Text Title: Transmedia Storytelling
Text Language: Spanish
FLLITE Form: Culture Play, Genre Play, Narrative Play, Pragmatic Play, Symbolic Play, Visual Play

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Text

Text Title: Transmedia Storytelling
Text Language: Spanish
Text Author: Elpublicista Revista
Genre: Social Media
Topic: Media and Technology

Lesson

Lesson Title: Las narrativas transmedia a partir de un cuento de hadas [ Transmedia Storytelling with a Fairytale ]
Instructional Language: Spanish
Lesson Author: Maybel Mesa Morales
Level of Activities: College / 1. year, 2. year / Intermediate, Advanced
Pedagogical Practices: Writing / Speaking / Listening / Viewing
Grammar Focus: Pretérito/Imperfecto
Main Objectives:

Learners will be able to recount and expand a story or story experience across multiple platforms through transmedia practices using current digital technologies.

Texts, Genres & Practices
  • Analyzing and interpreting an infographic to elaborate a definition of transmedia storytelling.
  • Analyzing, understanding, and explaining a video about transmedia storytelling.
  • Expanding and writing a new end for the (comic) through personal creative intervention
Cultural Knowledge & Perspectives
  • Telling stories across multiple media allows content to form a larger, cohesive, and rewarding experience.
  • Telling stories across multiple media increases the author’s and reader’s awareness of the characteristics of each medium and genre, promoting digital literacy.
  • Transmedia practices may expand the potential reach of storytelling by creating different adaptations for different audience segments.
Language Use & Language Play
  • Preterite and Imperfect
  • Vocabulary about technology and social media
FLLITE Form: Culture Play, Genre Play, Narrative Play, Pragmatic Play, Symbolic 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

O que cabe no poema?

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Lesson Title: O que cabe no poema? [ What fits in a poem? ]
Lesson Author: Steven Alcorn
Instructional Language: Portuguese
Level of Activities: College / 2. year, 3. year / Intermediate
Text Title: Não Há Vagas
Text Language: Portuguese
FLLITE Form: Culture Play, Symbolic Play

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Text

Text Title: Não Há Vagas
Text Language: Portuguese
Text Author: Ferreira Gullar
Genre: Poetry
Topic: Literature, Music, Art

Lesson

Lesson Title: O que cabe no poema? [ What fits in a poem? ]
Instructional Language: Portuguese
Lesson Author: Steven Alcorn
Level of Activities: College / 2. year, 3. year / Intermediate
Pedagogical Practices: Reading / Writing / Cultural Understanding
Grammar Focus: n/a
Main Objectives:

Students will first be asked to reflect on the subject matter traditionally associated with poetry (love and romance, emotion, struggle, discovery, etc.). They will also prepare a list of things that they could not live without and see/use/experience in their everyday life. They will then read the poem and answer some discussion questions about the author’s intended message in groups. The concept of metaphor will also be introduced with examples from the text. Finally, students will choose one item/person/profession/etc. from everyday life and write a poem about it, incorporating the metaphors discussed earlier in the lesson.

Texts, Genres & Practices
  • A short poem, “Não há vagas”, is included. Students practice reading comprehension, as well as critical thinking by relating the objects mentioned in the poem to the economic and cultural reality of Brazil. Finally, they will engage in creative writing by producing their own poem in response to the one they read.
Cultural Knowledge & Mindset
  • The poem is a critique of the objects and ideas traditionally associated with and portrayed in poetry. It forces the reader to consider why the items and people present in everyday life are not deemed worthy of appearing in poetic texts.
Language Use & Strategies
  • The poem relies heavily on metaphors to describe both the art of poetry and its traditional objects of reverence. Students will be asked to study these comparisons in the reading portion of the activity and include them in poems that they produce in the writing portion.
FLLITE Form: Culture Play, Symbolic Play

Se mettre en colère

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Lesson Title: Se mettre en colère [ Getting Angry ]
Lesson Author: Tracey Adams (The University of Texas at Austin)
Instructional Language: English / French
Level of Activities: College / 2. year / Intermediate
Text Title: La langue française
Text Language: French
FLLITE Form: Culture Play, Narrative Play, Pragmatic Play, Symbolic Play

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Text

Text Title: La langue française
Text Language: French
Text Author: Sebastian Marx
Genre: Narratives / TV and Film
Topic: Personalities and Physical Attributes / Family, Friendships, and Relationships

Lesson

Lesson Title: Se mettre en colère [ Getting Angry ]
Instructional Language: English / French
Lesson Author: Tracey Adams (The University of Texas at Austin)
Level of Activities: College / 2. year / Intermediate
Pedagogical Practices: Speaking / Listening / Viewing / Cultural Understanding
Grammar Focus: Argumentation, Vocabulary, Cultural Competence, Grammatical Gender
Main Objectives:

Students watch a stand-up routine given by second-language user of French on learning French insults.  They will be able to analyze the (in)appropriateness of these terms in various contexts.  They will also discuss the cultural relevance of these terms in comparison with similar terms in their native language (English).  Students will then be able to construct narratives expressing anger in ways that are less formal and allow for an expanding of their L2 identity and multilingual self.

Texts, Genres & Practices
  • Viewing personal narrative of an L2 French user
  • Reflecting on how personal narratives are constructed and how other characters factor into our stories
  • Developing a narrative and how to respond to a frustrating person in this narrative
Cultural Knowledge & Perspectives
  • Comparing layers of meaning between insults in French and English
  • Assessing the appropriateness of insults in various contexts
  • Reflecting on usage of insults in students’ L1 vs. L2
Language Use & Language Play
  • Identifying insults used by the author
  • Analyze why the topic and insults used are funny to the audience
  • Explore uses of insults in different contexts
FLLITE Form: Culture Play, Narrative Play, Pragmatic Play, Symbolic Play

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  • Project
    ▼
    • Team
    • Editorial Board
    • Collaborators program
    • About the FLLITE Approach
    • Further Reading
  • Lessons
    ▼
    • Lessons by Language
    • Lessons by Language Play
  • Example Texts
  • How to Participate
  • Connect
  • Provide feedback

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