todoELE

The “Latin American Cultures and Languages in the Classroom” project was an initiative funded by the Latin America Centre of Asia-Pacific Excellence, which brought together expertise and knowledge from Te Herenga Waka / Victoria University of Wellington, the University of Auckland /Waipapa Taumata Rau, and schools across Wellington / Te Whanganui-a-Tara and Auckland / Tamaki Makaurau.

The project was funded and supported by the LAtAM CAPE as part of their ongoing work to help build New Zealanders’ language competence and cultural skills in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The project placed advanced languages and cultures students from Victoria University of Wellington and the University of Auckland as Language and Culture Assistants, to support teachers in bringing Spanish language and Latin American cultures into their classrooms.

The resources introduced here were developed collaboratively by the Language and Culture Assistants, classroom teachers and language and education experts from both universities. These resources were designed to be used flexibly by teachers in different situations ranging from those with emerging language teaching programmes and variable levels of knowledge of Spanish language (for example in Primary or Intermediate schools) as well as by teachers of Spanish in Secondary schools working with beginner learners of the language.

Each resource explores an aspect of Latin American culture used in connection with particular language topics. The intent of the resources is to promote intercultural learning by fostering reflection by the learners and establishing pertinent connections with New Zealand and beyond.