"An Approach To Teaching Twi As A Second Language Using Progressive Learning"
Francis Akutey-Baffoe
African Language Program Preceptor, Harvard University

People are becoming increasingly dependent on languages other than their native tongues because of globalization. Because of this, the need for learning second languages has significantly increased over the past few decades as research has established that it broadens the mind (Archibald, 2004). In recent times, the teaching of African languages as second language in tertiary institutions in the United States has taken a significant boost, and one of such languages is Twi, a richly cultural Akan dialect. In this talk, a progressive learning approach will be explored for teaching Twi as a second language. However, teaching Twi as a second language, when learners come from different backgrounds and cultures, pedagogy becomes more challenging. A major focus of this talk will be progressive learning, which encompasses several key strategies, such as understanding learners' needs, establishing a solid foundation, encouraging communication, and the integration of technology. With the strategies outlined, it is more important to determine how they can be implemented practically and effectively. This talk examines a typical syllabus as an example for teaching Twi as a second language through a progressive learning approach.

Bio: Francis Akutey-Baffoe is from Kumasi in Ghana. He is a Preceptor of African Languages in the Department of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Twi and Sociology and a master’s degree in Ghanaian Languages (Twi) from the University of Cape Coast. He was a Teaching Assistant and later a Demonstrator in the Department of Ghanaian Languages and Linguistics at the University of Cape Coast between 2012 and 2018. He has also been a language instructor for non-Twi-speaking foreigners at the University of Cape Coast-Ghana. During the 2017/2018 academic year, Francis taught as a part-time lecturer for the University of Cape Coast’s Institute of Education Sandwich program. He was also an assistant examiner for the Institute of Education, University of Cape Coast, between 2016 and 2018. Mr. Akutey-Baffoe has an interest in Akan literature, Akan cultural studies, Akan language and linguistics, and translations from English to Twi and Twi to English. He has worked with the Bible Society of Ghana as a reviewer and a translator. He has also transcribed and translated many research data from Twi to English.

This event will be held in person in G25 Stimson Hall.

The event is free and open to the public. Campus visitors and members of the public must adhere to Cornell's public health requirements for events.

Co-sponsored by the Language Resource Center.

Nicola Di Cosmo, East Asian Studies, Institute for Advanced Study

Among the many facets of the Manchu conquest of China, a relatively unexplored one is that of Manchu ideology and propaganda. This talk examines the early justification of the anti-Ming war articulated by the Manchu ruler Nurhaci (Qing Taizu, 1559-1626) and its reception in Europe, in particular in the work of Martino Martini, De Bello Tartarico. While there have been a few studies on Nurhaci's manifesto, known as the “Seven Great Grievances,” this talk draws special attention to his reasons to justify the war against the Ming, and to explicitly stake his claim to rule All Under Heaven in light of the “just war theory”. Nurhaci's unprecedented pronouncement, moreover, not only underpinned the Manchu war effort for the following decades but also influenced the reception of the Qing conquest in Europe and the arguments made by Jesuits in favor of transferring their loyalty to the new dynasty.

Join us for a presentation by the co-director of the 2023 World Development Report, Çağlar Özden. The focus of the report this year is migration, refugees, and societies. Dr. Özden’s presentation will be followed by remarks from a panel of Cornell experts who work in different areas of migration studies and policy.

Can't make it in person? Register to attend over Zoom.

Speaker:

Çağlar Özden, Lead Economist, Development Research Group of the World Bank

Moderator:

Chuan Liao, Assistant Professor of Global Development, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Panel of Cornell faculty:

Stephen Yale-Loehr, Professor of Immigration Law PracticeShannon Gleeson, Edmund Ezra Day Professor and Chair, Department of Labor Relations, Law, & HistoryNancy Chau, Professor of EconomicsAbout the Speaker

Çağlar Özden is a Lead Economist in the Development Research Group of the World Bank and co-director of the 2023 World Development Report on International Migration. A Turkish national and a professional migrant, Çağlar received his undergraduate degrees in economics and industrial engineering from Cornell University and Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University. He is a fellow of IZA, CreAM and ERF. His research explores the nexus of globalization of product and labor markets, government policies and economic development. He has edited three books and published numerous papers in leading academic journals such as the American Economic Review and the Economic Journal. He is the lead author of the flagship report Moving for Prosperity: Global Migration and Labor Markets. His current research projects explore the determinants and patterns of global labor mobility, impacts of migrants on the destination labor market outcomes, medical brain drain, linkages between migration, trade, and foreign direct investment flows.

Hosts and Sponsors

Event hosted by the Migrations initiative, co-sponsored by the Department of Global Development, College of Agriculture and Life Science, and the Cornell Population Center, Brooks School of Public Policy, and the Development Economics Workshop in the Department of Economics at the College of Arts & Sciences and the S.C. Johnson College of Business.

Learn about the prestigious Boren Scholarships that fund study abroad outside Western Europe, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand. Boren Awards focus on developing linguistic and cultural knowledge among aspiring federal government employees. Boren Awards are funded by the federal government and are open to U.S. citizens who are currently matriculated students. Maximum undergraduate awards are determined by duration of study: up to $25,000 for 25-22 weeks and up to $8,000 for 8-11 weeks (STEM majors only).

Unfortunately, this 4C's text reading with Andrew Schonebaum is canceled. For more information, please contact: eap-guwen@cornell.edu.

The Cornell Classical Chinese Colloquium (CCCC) 古文品讀 is a reading group for scholars interested in premodern Sinographic text (古文). The group meets monthly during the semester to explore a variety of classical Chinese texts and styles. Other premodern texts linked to classical Chinese in Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese have been explored. Presentations include works from the earliest times to the 20th century. Workshop sessions are led by local, national, and international scholars.

Participants with any level of classical Chinese experience are welcome to attend.

At each session, a presenter guides the group in a reading of a classical Chinese text. Attendees discuss historical, literary, linguistic, and other aspects of the text, working together to resolve difficulties in comprehension and translation.

No preparation is required; all texts will be distributed at the meeting.Contact eap-guwen@cornell.edu for more information and subscribe to CCCC news for updates about events. Please make sure to send your subscription request from the email address at which you wish to receive CCCC updates.

Cornell faculty hosts are TJ Hinrichs, History, and Suyoung Son, Asian Studies.

Siddharth Kara is a researcher, activist, and author on modern slavery. He is a British Academy Global Professor and a Visiting Lecturer at the Jeb E. Brooks School at Public Policy. Kara has taught courses on modern slavery at the Harvard Kennedy School, UC Berkeley, and Cornell.

Cobalt Red is the searing, first-ever exposéof the immense toll taken on the people and environment of the Democratic Republic of the Congo by cobalt mining, as told through the testimonies of the Congolese people themselves. Kara has traveled deep into cobalt territory to document the testimonies of the people living, working, and dying for cobalt. To uncover the truth about brutal mining practices, Kara investigated militia-controlled mining areas, traced the supply chain of child-mined cobalt from toxic pit to consumer-facing tech giants, and gathered shocking testimonies of people who endure immense suffering and even die mining cobalt.

The resounding victory of the Polish opposition on October 15 bewildered many comparative political scientists. The loose coalition of liberals, leftists, and Christian Democrats defied international trends by out-competing the ruling Law and Justice party (“PiS”) in a barely free and grotesquely unfair ballot held eight years after PiS’s 2015 ascent to power. The speakers – prof. Maciej Kisilowski of Central European University in Vienna and prof. Anna Wojciuk of the University of Warsaw – will discuss the significance of the Polish election while resisting the temptation to declare an(other) democratic “end of history.” Instead, they will focus on what can be done to minimize the risk of a future authoritarian recurrence.

They will start by analyzing the possible causes of that unexpected victory. Contrasting the Polish case with other examples of electoral authoritarianism, they will discuss: the role of the US and the EU in preserving democracy in Poland, COVID-related economic and political crises, freedom and pluralism of the media, civil society, and the strategies adopted by democratic opposition.

The second part of the presentation will cover “Umówmy się na Polskę” [“Let’s Agree on Poland”] – a recently published volume edited by Kisilowski and Wojciuk in which a diverse group of 28 Polish intellectuals, representing views from the left to the conservative right, present a comprehensive proposal for a democratic constitutional reform. Acclaimed as “the most important book about Polish politics since 1989” by Poland’s main “Polityka” opinion weekly and as “a decisive step forward in the reconstruction of Polish democracy” by Prof. Bruce Ackerman of Yale University, the volume advocates for a new social contract – a set of constitutional rules accepted by citizens of both progressive and conservative political leanings. The authors argue that the key to developing such rules, and thus to the emergence of a genuinely consolidated democracy in Poland, is greater involvement of provincial and municipal governments, as well as citizens, in the mechanisms of governing the country.

Poland’s deep, geographically asymmetrical polarization makes the country’s challenges remarkably relevant for the US audience. The discussion of the Kisilowski-Wojciuk constitutional proposal for Poland may therefore elucidate the difficult choices that democrats around the world face when dealing with the modern wave of right-wing authoritarian populism.