The Elementary Hindi Blended Course was first introduced during the South Asia Summer Language Institute (SASLI) 2019 program. The primary aim of implementing a blended design in the development of course materials is to increase student proficiency outcomes in the target language by significantly increasing the possible number of classroom contact hours students are exposed to and speaking in the target language. In collaboration with the Blend@UW initiative, this course will be implemented using the “backward design” approach, creating a flipped classroom experience in which learners acquire and apply foundational knowledge in a distributed learning environment so that face-to-face (F2F) interactions with instructors can be maximized to produce integrated learning outcomes. The learning objectives created in each theme-based unit support the UW-Madison Essential Learning Outcomes (ELO) by (1) developing learners’ knowledge of human cultures & the physical world through the process of deep language learning, (2) developing intellectual and practical skills through task-based learning, (3) instilling in learners a sense of personal and social responsibility by supporting meaningful engagement with the target language culture, and (4) creating an integrative learning experience which situates proficiency gains in the target language within the wider context of general and specialized topic study through project-based learning.
The Elementary Hindi Blended Course is being developed under the direction of Dr. Sarah Beckham, the Associate Director of the Center for South Asia at UW-Madison, and the former Hindi-Urdu Language Coordinator for SASLI, SAFLI, and Project GO, UW-Madison.
For more information on this project, please contact Sarah Beckham: sbeckham@wisc.edu.