Material Development for Teaching the Shona Language at the University of Pennsylvania

Grant Details

Amount: 2500

Project Start Date: 12/31/05

Status: In Progress (under development)

Project Type:
Campus Based

Languages: Shona

Project Level:
Beginner

Project Skills:
Cultural Awareness
Speaking
Listening
Reading
Writing

Institutions Involved:
University of Pennsylvania

Primary Contact:
Esau Mavindidze (ejmavind@sas.upenn.edu)

715-716 Williams Hall, 255 South 36th Street
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia , PA 19104-6305
Phone: 215-898-6039

The purpose of this project is to develop curriculum materials to enhance the teaching of the Shona language at the University of Pennsylvania. I have a 2 tier approach to developing the materials. In the first part of the project, I created exercises intended to give an understanding of the Shona language and culture to elementary level students. The type of exercises assumes the student has little or no knowledge of the language, and focuses on general, but socially useful, conversations that are explored through dialogues. I have also created 15 Shona units for the Online Multimedia Vocabulary and Pronunciation Project, which was carried out under the guidance of Dr. Audrey Mbeje. The project provides Shona vocabulary items that are useful‎ in different situations and is intended to provide students with a vocabulary and pronunciation guide.