Incorporating Language Leaming Into the Academic Setting: A Practical Example at Harvard University

Abstract

There has been a growing interest in the learning of African languages in US institutions in recent years. Students learn these languages for various reasons: to fulfill academic requirements, to connect with their heritage, to undertake academic research and learn to help them understand materials in an academic course they are taking. To make this process meaningful to learners, there is a need to integrate language learning into academic disciplines. However, this is one area which has received little attention in an African language syllabus at the university level. There abound areas in African language learning which can be made meaningful to its students within the university academic arena. This paper describes how the African Languages Program at Harvard University collaborated with a professor of Anthropology to teach the course Delimiting health disparities in the African Diaspora: A Laboratory for social Engagement. This involved twenty-two students in three African languages (Akan -Twi, Dinka, and W olof) as well as Haitian Creole.

Keywords

• Language
• Leaming
• Academic
• Setting
• Harvard University