Twenty-first International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

Language studies regarding best practices for teaching heritage learners of foreign languages compel the professors of these courses to use the top-down approach, incorporating much reading and writing into the course plan. One of our challenges is that our current student population prefers courses that are not strictly based on the traditional literary canon. In this paper I provide a brief overview of the top-down approach and why it is a beneficial framework for heritage learners. I then share several ideas to provide students with opportunities to engage in meaningful ways with traditional literature as well as non-traditional forms of text.