Lecturers Dr. Elsa Duval and Dr. Cara Tovey received a $5,000 Course Development Grant from the Center for Community Engagement for the 2024-2025 academic year. Dr. Elsa Duval, additionally, received a matching French in Higher Education grant from the Villa Abertine (French consulate) that will help cover French language students’ transportation and administrative costs. Over the course of this year they participated in course development workshops with representatives from the Center of Community Engagement and other faculty across UCLA developing their own community engagement courses. The resulting course “Teaching European Languages and Cultures in Los Angeles: Connecting with Diverse Communities” is scheduled to be taught for the first time in Spring of 2026.
Building on a previous course developed by Dr. Elsa Duval, which connected advanced French UCLA students with local French classrooms, this new course expands its partners to include German and Italian programs near UCLA. Throughout this course, students will collaborate with local language educators to address the needs of their language schools, build long-term partnerships, and enhance community well-being. At the same time, this course will give students practical experience in language and cultural education within the above-mentioned thriving language communities of LA. UCLA students will use the cultural and linguistic knowledge they have acquired in their classes in real-world settings and explore how their own pedagogical experience not only enhances their education but also contributes to the community.
This course is designed to address a need in the community, namely that local, mostly public, language institutions struggle to find teaching aides or volunteers. The partnerships established through this course will increase individual attention to mostly young students in local classrooms and show them the advantages of studying the language with UCLA students. Because at the core of language education is also fostering curiosity for and understanding of different cultures, bringing the diversity of UCLA’s students into local language classrooms will provide local students with a diverse set of role models, as well as a diverse set of perspectives, skills, and experiences. At the same time, UCLA’s students will gain a connection to the local community.