Rethinking Diversity
Using the Task-oriented Community-Centered Acquisition Method in Foreign Language Classrooms View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Sarah Tahtinen Pacheco, Rebecca Skogen
The TOCCA method was created with the intention of increasing second (foreign) language acquisition and retention through relevant practice and experiences honoring the rich cultural perspectives of native speakers in our communities. This method combines current research and benefits of comprehensible input practices with the sociocultural aspects of learning language through interaction and immersion. TOCCA is a learner-focused approach. Students’ background experiences and interests provide impetus for the course and shifts the focus from pre-created, text-centered curriculum toward co-created, student-centered learning experiences within the community. In TOCCA, students are encouraged to take ownership of their learning; to reflect upon their needs and interests, spending time to reach their goals. This engages motivation which is known as the one of the most powerful tools in L2 acquisition (Zoltan Dörnyei, 2020). Ultimately, the TOCCA method provides a conceptual framework for teaching language with the understanding that language is best learned in the context of real tasks with real people for the purpose of communication and understanding. It is through these relationships and cultural experiences that motivation is cultivated, immediate relevant feedback provided, and purposeful, timely information learned based on the learner’s needs and interests, and experiences.
Quilombo, Quilombola, Quilombismo: An Enduring Legacy of Land, Agriculture, Sustainability, and Cultural Resistance in Brazil View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Dawn Duke
This paper argues that modern urban manifestations of Afro-Brazilian struggles for justice and equality are rooted in the Zumbi-Palmares legacy, in the ongoing struggle for judicial recognition of their ancestral land rights, and in the calls for indemnity (reparations) for all surviving black rural communities known as quilombolas across Brazil. The philosophy of Quilombismo created by Brazil’s primary black activist-philosopher-scholar Abdias do Nascimento (1914-2011) serves to explain this experience. A contemporary philosophy of identity and nationhood, Quilombismo mirrors Negritude in the way it embraced transformations that erode injustice and inequality. It emerged in the post-World War II era, product of Abdias do Nascimento’s commitment to politics, power sharing, and political reform, the Black Movement, and black theater. His writings and speeches are enshrined as part of the global processes of anti-racism, justice, inclusion, and equality. The elevation of “quilombo” from its association with the original forms of maroonage to the level of philosophical thought that drives a contemporary state of being has provided impetus to date, as activism strives to maintain momentum in the face of tremendous diversity, adversity, and challenges to legitimate, rightful causes and demands. Moving beyond the historical vision of fleeing black bodies, in search of the Palmares Quilombo, an image frozen in time, this thinker has provoked dynamic perceptions of Afro-Brazilian cultural affirmations, while ensuring the survival of certain African-originated values associated with the dynamic nation of Palmares that flourished under its warrior king, the iconic Zumbi dos Palmares.
University Theater for Immigration: A Pedagogical Tool for a Diverse and Inclusive Learning Environment
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Melissa Osorio, Bibiana Díaz
Recognizing the importance of the stories of immigrant and refugee experiences from Latin America to the United States; we have created a testimonial based theatre, Acto Latino, a student led organization in Los Angeles, California, to showcase emerging discourses that challenge anti-immigrant paradigms. This group is composed primarily of first generation college students that collaboratively write and perform productions based on their own immigration experiences and those of their relatives. We use drama based pedagogy to create a space where theater is used as a therapeutic tool and as a platform to promote the history of immigrants and refugees. Our plays denounce the struggle and discrimination of these communities in crisis, and motivate the audience to “know the other’’ and perhaps more importantly “know about the other.”, due to these problems extending beyond geographical borders that impact identity as well. Thus, the immigrant is left to remap both physical and mental spaces to establish themselves in a new territory, new language, and new culture.
