Language professors Bard and Wolf give presentations

Norval Bard, North Central College professor of French, and Gregory Wolf, professor of German, gave presentations at a conference focusing on pedagogy in the foreign language classroom. The conference was the annual meeting of the Illinois Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ICTFL), which took place in Tinley Park Oct. 17-19.

Bard also is North Central’s chair of modern and classical languages and director of the Roberta I. Myers Language Resource Center. His presentation, titled “Why should we read this? Rethinking Modes of Cultural Relevancy in the L2 Literature Classroom,” demonstrated how the relevance for contemporary culture of readings in a literature survey course can help students assimilate new texts into existing schemas, further develop their cultural competencies, and foster an appreciation for the texts.
 
Wolf, also the Dennis and Jean Bauman Professor in the Humanities, presented “Graphic Novels and Anime in the L2 Classroom.” He explored how L2 (second language) instructors can implement graphic novels and student-generated anime projects into the classroom to differentiate instruction and assessment and improve students’ critical and high order thinking skills.

Bard joined North Central’s faculty in 1997. He earned his B.A. from Wheaton College and his M.A. and Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University.

Wolf has been teaching at North Central since 2005. He earned his B.A. from The University of the South and his M.A. and Ph.D. from The Ohio State University.