Speakers: Maya Honda & Cora Lesure (MIT)
Title: Take the LEAP! Linguistics Education and Pedagogy for All
Time: Thursday, October 29, 12:30-2pm
Location: 32-D461
Abstract:
Language is essential to being human and to understanding ourselves. Yet Linguistics, the scientific study of human language, remains largely unknown as a field and inaccessible to the general public in the US. LEAP—Linguistics, Education, and Pedagogy—is a departmental outreach initiative working to address this problem in two key ways: by creating and implementing teaching materials for middle school and high school students, and by creating resources to promote the accessible communication of linguistics research.
In this presentation, we will discuss our belief that studying Linguistics offers middle school and high school students the opportunity to develop scientific thinking skills and an understanding of the rule-governed nature of language, while cultivating metalinguistic awareness. We will also discuss the key challenges of making big questions in the field (and possible answers) conceptually accessible to students and also to non-linguists beyond the classroom. We will discuss the ways LEAP projects attempt to address these challenges, as well as ways for you to get involved in this important work.
Ultimately, we must all work together as a community to create access and promote awareness about Linguistics. These goals transcend the work of a single person or the LEAP initiative. We need your insight, your expertise, and your collaboration. We hope you will join us in this evolving conversation. To that end, we invite you to reflect on the following discussion questions in anticipation of our presentation:
- What do you think is vital for middle school and high school students to know about your research area?
- What do you find is most challenging about making your work accessible to a general audience?