Communicative Approaches for Ancient Languages - by Mair E Lloyd & Steven Hunt (Hardcover)

About the Book

"This book is the first in its field. It showcases current and emerging communicative practices in the teaching and learning of ancient languages (Latin and Greek) across contemporary education in the US, the UK, South America and continental Europe. In all these parts of the globe, communicative approaches are increasingly being accepted as showing benefits for learners in school, university and college classrooms, as well as at specialist conferences which allow for total immersion in an ancient language. These approaches are characterised by interaction with others using the ancient language. They may include various means and modalities such as face-to-face conversations and written communication. The ultimate aim is to optimise the facility to read such languages with comprehension and engagement. The examples showcased in this volume provide readers with a vital survey of the most current issues in communicative language teaching, helping them to explore and consider adoption of a wider range of pedagogical practices, and encouraging them to develop tools to promote engagement and retention of a wider variety of students than currently find ancient languages accessible. Both new and experienced teachers and learners can build on the experiences and ideas in this volume to explore the value of these approaches in their own classrooms"--

Book Synopsis

This book is the first in its field. It showcases current and emerging communicative practices in the teaching and learning of ancient languages (Latin and Greek) across contemporary education in the US, the UK, South America and continental Europe. In all these parts of the globe, communicative approaches are increasingly being accepted as showing benefits for learners in school, university and college classrooms, as well as at specialist conferences which allow for total immersion in an ancient language. These approaches are characterised by interaction with others using the ancient language. They may include various means and modalities such as face-to-face conversations and written communication. The ultimate aim is to optimise the facility to read such languages with comprehension and engagement.

The examples showcased in this volume provide readers with a vital survey of the most current issues in communicative language teaching, helping them to explore and consider adoption of a wider range of pedagogical practices, and encouraging them to develop tools to promote engagement and retention of a wider variety of students than currently find ancient languages accessible. Both new and experienced teachers and learners can build on the experiences and ideas in this volume to explore the value of these approaches in their own classrooms.

Review Quotes

This book provides a welcome (and indeed overdue) contribution to the discussion of language pedagogy in Classics. The diversity of approaches and settings in this volume will appeal equally to the communicative convert, the novice and to anyone interested in advancing their understanding of Latin and Greek pedagogy.

About the Author

Mair E. Lloyd is a Research Associate in Latin pedagogy at the Open University, UK, and creates Latin teaching resources at the Cambridge School Classics Project. Publications include her doctoral thesis Living Latin: Exploring Communicative Approaches to Latin Teaching (2017), and A Survey of Beginner's Language Teaching in UK Classics Departments: Latin (2018).

Steven Hunt is the Subject Lecturer of the PGCE in Classics at the University of Cambridge, UK. He taught Classics for over twenty years in state comprehensive schools and is author of Starting to Teach Latin (Bloomsbury, 2016). He is the co-editor of Forward with Classics (Bloomsbury, 2017) and Teaching Classics with Technology (Bloomsbury, 2019).