[Pgla] request

[William W Donner]

Dear ListServe Members:

 

I thought I would get out listserve started by making a request. As editor of Der Reggeboge (Journal of the Pennsylvania German Society), I want to use the journal as a way to start a dialogue about various issues. One of those issues is teaching about the Pennsylvania German language. I envision a series of statements by people who are teaching the language on two issues that to me are somewhat separate-although they may not always be. Please feel free to critique my plan or make suggestions.

 

First, I would like autobiographical statements about how teachers came to teach the language. I am interested in personal experiences, background in the language, how people came to teach specific class, and I am also interested in statements about how teaching reflects or is related to Pennsylvania German identity and commitment to the culture. My own view is that the language classes are not only ways to teach a language but also ways for individuals to express and preserve one's own commitment to a language and culture, and have become way in which the Pennsylvania German culture continues to be maintained and expressed (I might be wrong). For the purposes of Der Reggeboge, these statements would have to be relatively brief (500-1500 words), 2-5 pages.

 

Second, I would like to have teachers describe their pedagogical experiences. What has "worked" and what has not in terms of teaching the language? This could include whatever the teacher has found most important: drills, books, cultural activities, location, recruitment, retention, etc. I am not sure if this project is appropriate for publications in Der Reggeboge, although the results would be appropriate for some kind of reproduction, if no where else, then for this group.

 

Does any of this make sense? Are any language teachers interested in this?

 

Replies can be posted to the listserve or if you prefer sent directly to me, donner at kutztown.edu

 

Thanks,

 

Bill
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