Decolonizing Language Teaching: Linguistic Variants in the World Language Classroom

Learn about practiced strategies to teach language diversity through linguistic variants. From decolonizing curriculum to actively including heritage students, leaning into the diversity within the language you teach makes your class a more inclusive place for all students and helps prepare students to navigate the real world of a language.

Hear from a French teacher and a Spanish teacher who show how to intentionally integrate different accents and dialects into the curriculum using authentic resources and experiences.

Elaine Bernardino teaches Middle School Spanish and High School French in East Greenwich, RI. Elaine is from Brazil, where she taught French and Portuguese as first and second languages. Having a background in International Relations, she is passionate about plurilingualism and multilingualism, as well as interdisciplinarity in language teaching and the social impact of language policies.

Alex Nunnelly teaches high school Spanish at Moses Brown School in Providence, RI. Originally from MA, Alex first taught French before moving to Chile where he learned Spanish. Alex strives to teach culture, history, and politics as much as language in his classroom, helping students to learn about the Spanish-speaking world in the target language.