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The Deep Approach:
Second Languages for Community Building
edited by François Tochon and Denise M. Hanson
Bilingualism is not merely a
"nice" addition to curriculum, but community enhancement the
authors and contributors to this volume insist. Tochon is a native of
Switzerland, which has three official languages, and has taught
extensively in Canada, which has two official languages. In these and
other settings, Tochon has experienced and researched the impact of
bilingualism on schools and communities. Hanson, who is the TEACH
Wisconsin Project Coordinator for Madison Metropolitan School District
has also anecdotally experienced the individual and community benefits
of bilingualism, joins Tochon and others in a research project
designed to study the language phenomenon that they, themselves, have
observed and experienced.
In order to better understand the process
involved, Tochon explains the idea of "deep approach":
Here are the principles underlying
nonintrusive action, which characterize what I call the "deep
approach" to language teaching: Second languages are taught
with the contribution of bilingual communities, typically those
cultures and languages that are represented in the school. Action is
taken with the people involved; these people participate voluntarily
and freely. The approach is thematic and bottom-up. It has an
ecological dimension. It is based upon projects. One does not begin
with the presupposition that any one environment is superior to any
other: What is at issue is the relationship between people concerned
with education. Participants are conducting reflective research on
their own actions.
Explore with the authors the very real
possibilities for developing a language learning program the benefits
the students and the community.
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