Ohio State Rolls Out Badge in World Language Teaching

Students who complete The Ohio State University’s open course in world language teaching are eligible for a new badge.

Purposeful, Interactive Foreign Language Teaching is taught by Janice Aski, professor of Italian and Romance linguistics and director of the Italian language program, and covers the basics of immersion teaching – teaching a world language in the target language.

“(It covers) how not to use English, how to use your space in the classroom, how to approach grammar and how to develop speaking skills,” Aski said.

More than 1,200 students have enrolled since she created the self-paced, free course in 2017.

“When I became a full professor, I wanted to give something back to the profession,” said Aski. “I thought I’d put something together for the world language teaching community. … The course was a labor of love.”

The course is aimed at instructors who teach high school and higher education, and has been used around the world, Aski said. A school in Asia that was having trouble accessing course materials due to a slow internet connection wrote Aski to request her help. She was happy to be able to send them the videos she had prepared.

With the introduction of badges, Aski is hopeful more students will be motivated to complete the modules and learn the benefits of teaching world languages in the target language.

Ohio State also recently added a badge to its open course Introduction to the Science of Cancer. Find all of Ohio State’s open courses at go.osu.edu/opencourses.