{"title":"Vocabulary acquisition in the language classroom: what it is, how it works, which strategies and approaches are suitable for Latin instruction","authors":"María Luisa Aguilar García","doi":"10.1017/s2058631024000059","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s2058631024000059","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This paper aims to guide the training of all Latin instructors and learners who want to optimise the process of acquiring the language by applying the results of research carried out in the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA), specifically here those related to the acquisition of vocabulary. Consequently, some theoretical considerations on the psycholinguistic operations that govern vocabulary learning are first offered, in order to build a better understanding of language acquisition and to make instructors and learners more knowledgeable about the vocabulary learning process, from the noticing of an unknown word and its integration into the subject's competence to the expansion and development of knowledge about the acquired words. The theoretical aspects of vocabulary learning will be illustrated at all times with practical examples taken from methods and books for learning Latin, as well as, in the fourth section, with a wide catalogue of practical advice – <span>must-do</span> items for the class – that can be easily implemented by Latin instructors.</p>","PeriodicalId":53809,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Classics Teaching","volume":"115 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-03-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140035087","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Spelling Problem","authors":"Anthony F. Bainbridge","doi":"10.1017/s2058631024000072","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s2058631024000072","url":null,"abstract":"It is generally accepted by scholars that the songs of Homer were first written in ~ 700 BCE; the text seems to spring fully formed into a still illiterate world, demonstrating in a sophisticated vocabulary the first example of the use of a new alphabet. The language used is a never-spoken construct; its construction represents the first use of an alphabet enabling words to be written. This paper aims to open a discussion on the means by which spelling emerged, either democratically or as the work of one man.","PeriodicalId":53809,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Classics Teaching","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140019056","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"I think learning ancient Greek via video game is…’: An online survey to understand perceptions of Digital Game-Based Learning for ancient Greek","authors":"Irene Di Gioia","doi":"10.1017/s205863102400014x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s205863102400014x","url":null,"abstract":"Playing is connected at a deep level to how we learn, participate in and create culture, as it is dynamic, complex and even unpredictable just as learning is (Reinhardt, 2019). Even Plato in his <jats:italic>Theaetetus</jats:italic> recognises the importance of such a component in experiencing culture and knowledge. Could playing (or gaming) therefore be a useful didactical approach in promoting the study of ancient Greek around the world? From 10th May 2023 at 1 pm. until 1st June 2023 at 1 pm., an internet survey was conducted online by the researcher Irene Di Gioia through the use of Google Forms questionnaires. This questionnaire was distributed via different social networks and communication tools. The survey aimed to understand if people around the world are interested in the idea of learning ancient Greek via a video game and if so, which video gaming activities learners prefer. The goal of the survey was therefore to understand if a ludic pedagogical approach using Digital Game-Based Learning could theoretically represent an interest experience for learners or potential learners, and furthermore to investigate their feelings, prejudices, and motivations regarding the study of ancient Greek. From the analysed data the researcher will therefore develop a video game to teach ancient Greek language and culture, which comprises the focus of her ongoing PhD dissertation at Georg-August University of Göttingen (Germany) and Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna (Italy).","PeriodicalId":53809,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Classics Teaching","volume":"46 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140020159","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Teaching Greek: from school to university via fifteenth century Florence","authors":"Clive Letchford","doi":"10.1017/s2058631024000217","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s2058631024000217","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The scene is Florence, Italy in 1493. The scholar and teacher Guarino of Favera is holding a series of classes for beginners in the Greek language. Few people know Greek since materials for learning it are few. We have an account of his method by Girolamo Amaseo, one of his pupils. Amaseo is one of 16 students whose ages range from youths to a 50-year old poet, and Guarino is teaching them some Iliad, Odyssey and Aristophanes each day.</p><p><span>Primo sententiam lectionis paucis et dilucide eleganterque colligit; post interpretationem primam, verborum et nominum inflexionem, si duriuscula est, reperit; etimologiam non tacet et figuras reliquas. Secundo eam ipsam lectionem percurrit et, ne quae prius dixerat obliviscamur confirmat, examinatque nos omnes et, post ipsam statim lectionem, aliquis e numero nostro eam exponit. Cogimur declinare, nec displicet: omnia enim studia suam habet infanciam.</span></p><p>First, he elegantly and lucidly expresses the meaning of the text in a few words. After the first translation, if the case of the verbs and nouns is a little difficult, he clarifies it. He does not neglect etymology or the other figures of speech. Second, he goes on through the same text and, so that we do not forget what he has just said, he reinforces it, examines us all and immediately after the reading of the text, one of us expounds it. We are required to decline the nouns, and this is not a chore: every study has its infancy. (Botley, 2010)</p><p></p>","PeriodicalId":53809,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Classics Teaching","volume":"3 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139979911","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A survey involving secondary students with dyslexia studying Latin or a modern foreign language","authors":"Dora Burbank","doi":"10.1017/s2058631024000138","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s2058631024000138","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Research in the academic field of Latin and dyslexia is sparse, often outdated, and largely consists of teachers' informal observations, thus lacking empirical evidence. This mixed-methods study aims to address a gap in the literature, exploring the experiences of secondary students with dyslexia learning Latin, French, or Spanish while examining the relationships between dyslexia and examination results in those languages. After purposive sampling, semi-structured interviews with seven dyslexic students, aged 16 to 29, were conducted and 349 GCSE and IB grades, of which 51 were of dyslexic students, were collected from two secondary schools. Reflexive thematic analysis of the interviews revealed seven themes: accessibility, benefits, challenges and barriers, class size, methods and strategies, motivation, and strengths. The results of three chi-square tests showed no significant association for Latin or Spanish, but a significant association between dyslexia and examination results in French. Whereas positive learning experiences for students with dyslexia hinged on the appropriate teaching method and the perceived support rather than the language <span>per se</span>, higher exam achievements were also dependent on the level of orthographic transparency but not on the degree of orality of the language learnt. Future research in the field should explore the experiences and achievements of students at different educational stages and with different learning difficulties doing Latin.</p>","PeriodicalId":53809,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Classics Teaching","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139979930","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Now you saw it, now you didn't: the perception and reception of word order in ancient Greek and Latin texts","authors":"Jerome Moran","doi":"10.1017/s2058631024000254","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s2058631024000254","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Not many of us ever get to see an actual papyrus roll, codex, or manuscript of a Greek or Latin literary text, though increasingly we are able to see digital copies of them online. The differences of format between any of the above and the texts we are accustomed to seeing are striking. This article is concerned with the effect that the format of a text had on the reception, written or aural, of word order as a literary device in the ancient world. We pay great attention to word order, but our reception of it is based on the format of the modern text, not on the format of the text as it was experienced in the ancient world.</p>","PeriodicalId":53809,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Classics Teaching","volume":"30 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139968711","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Classical Studies Trends: teaching Classics in secondary schools in the UK","authors":"Steven Hunt","doi":"10.1017/s2058631024000151","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s2058631024000151","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The Classical Association, working with the charity Classics for All, is conscious of the vulnerability of Classics in the secondary education system and wants to understand the reasons behind this. Concern about the decline of classical subjects at GCSE and A Level has been mounting, indicated largely by exam entry data suggesting that entries for classical subjects are low and in the case of the ancient languages in decline.<span>1</span> The Council of University Classics Departments Bulletin annually publishes statistics for student entries for national examinations at GCSE and A level in classical subjects. But this does not capture the full picture, nor does it represent the other constituent parts of the UK, which have their own examination systems. Therefore, in late 2021 the Classical Association and Classics for All designed a new Classical Studies Survey (the ‘Survey’), to fill in more detailed information about what is going on in schools' classics departments more widely through the UK, across Key Stages 3–5, and to provide practising teachers with an opportunity to make recommendations for future developments in courses for classical subjects. The Survey asked teachers to comment on the current situation for Latin, Ancient Greek, Classical Civilisation and Ancient History, the factors affecting these trends, and what support they considered they would need for Classics to survive in their institutions. This Survey collated data rigorously and enables the Classical Association on behalf of the classics teaching community to make compelling arguments in relation to education policies and examination reform.</p>","PeriodicalId":53809,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Classics Teaching","volume":"47 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139917435","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Rewriting the Textbook: an investigation into students’ practices with creative composition in a Year 7 Latin class","authors":"Adam Trusted","doi":"10.1017/s205863102400031x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s205863102400031x","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This project investigated the effectiveness of a creative Latin composition exercise. Within this exercise, students built upon existing Latin textbook material, inserting their own character into an existing <span>Cambridge Latin Course</span> (CLC) story (CSCP, 1998). This form of exercise has links to more conventional prose composition exercises, but it also takes inspiration from exercises which use fanfiction to improve language skills (Bahoric and Swaggerty, 2015).</p>","PeriodicalId":53809,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Classics Teaching","volume":"146 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139917439","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Steps towards inclusivity: modifying challenging content, navigating pedagogical materials and initiating student reflection within the Classics classroom","authors":"David Peddar","doi":"10.1017/s2058631023000879","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s2058631023000879","url":null,"abstract":"Although there is plenty of scholarship regarding the concerns of addressing controversial and sensitive subject manner in the Classics classroom, and I have considered these to quite an extent, my own interest in these practices emerged where they matter the most: my own experiences within the classroom. For me, it came to a head with one pupil who demonstrated an active enthusiasm for Latin study and the classical world at large, but was slowly becoming disheartened after several classes, despite not displaying any overt academic challenges to any of the presented material. When I brought this issue up privately with her, she said: ‘Sir, it sucks that this culture and language which I adore, wouldn't value me as much I value it.’ She also expressed regret at choosing Latin, as she felt ‘it seems to be a subject where only boys can succeed.’ It also became apparent that this consensus was common, and shared with several of her friends and peers. This paper describes some of the actions I undertook to address their sensitivities in the Classics classroom.","PeriodicalId":53809,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Classics Teaching","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138534171","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"What the Greeks Did for Us (T.) Spawforth. Pp. x + 335, b/w & colour pls. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2023. Cased, £20. ISBN: 978-0-300-25802-8","authors":"Alan Clague","doi":"10.1017/s2058631023000818","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s2058631023000818","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":53809,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Classics Teaching","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139221729","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}