Tutor HuntResources Latin Resources
Latin Tuition With Or Despite! The Cambridge Latin Course
Date : 22/09/2018
Author Information
Uploaded by : Gemma
Uploaded on : 22/09/2018
Subject : Latin
The
Cambridge Latin Course (CLC) has an
awful lot to answer for, not least the line Caeciius est in horto ( Caecilius
is in the garden ), the dimly-remembered phrase often quoted by now grown-up
ex-students of the course as their chief memory of beginning to learn Latin at
school[1]. The CLC was first published in 1970 and over
90% of secondary schools which offer Latin (including the one at which I teach)
use it, which explains why Caecilius and co. have gained such a place in the
consciousness of the past few generations of Latin learners. As a teacher I
have seen what an inspiring introduction to the Latin language and the Roman
world it can provide, but also that often students will reach a point in their
learning where additional, tailored support beyond the coursebook is needed in
order for them to make the best possible progress.When
it was first published, the CLC marked a real departure in the approach to
teaching Latin. Before Caecilius made his entrance, the piece of Latin most
likely to be recollected from schooldays was amo, amas, amat ( I love, you
love, he loves ), indicating the importance placed by previous textbooks on rote-learning
grammar and on mental rigour as an end in itself. In contrast, the chief aim of
the CLC is to teach comprehension of the Latin language for reading purposes ,
presenting the language not as an end in itself, but as a means of gaining
access to a literature and the culture from which it springs . To this end, the
book introduces us to Caecilius and his family in the town of Pompeii. Their
story develops over the course of the book, each Latin passage fitting into a continuous
narrative. Students become fond of the characters and, through following their
adventures, they learn about Roman civilisation at the same time as they learn
the Latin language. With energetic and responsive teaching, this approach works
brilliantly well for getting students interested in Latin and the Roman world:
what 11 year old wouldn t be excited to learn about a world of gladiators,
slaves, gods and myths? And at the start the language basics come easily!However,
I find that sometimes even the most enthusiastic and talented students can, at
a certain point in their Latin studies, reach a bit of a sticking point , and
it is here that intervention and extra support can make all the difference. In
my experience, Latin is often one of the first subjects to challenge young
students study skills. Over time, students need to have more and more
vocabulary and grammar committed to their long-term memory and to apply these
logically in translation. Students can reach a personal threshold (whether in
Year 7 or in Year 12) where the study techniques which have been working
successfully for them in Latin until that point and are still working for
them in other subjects - simply aren t sufficient to do the job anymore. This
can be quite a shock! It is very easy for students in this scenario to become
discouraged and begin to think that they aren t good at Latin . This is very
rarely the case. Instead, it normally means that it is time for the student to
make some changes to the way they are approaching their studies. To come to
this realisation and act upon it requires significant academic maturity and
self-awareness, and often Latin is the first subject to challenge young people
to reflect on their study skills like this. It is a difficult ask and, I think,
one of the biggest potential stumbling-blocks in studying Latin.As
a teacher, one of the things I enjoy most is helping students to grapple with
this. I can support students in identifying areas for development, I can help
students to revise shaky vocabulary and grammar, I can enable them to reflect
on what is and isn t working in their current study habits and I can provide
resources, tips and encouragement for how to make progress. Providing additional
support for students at this stage makes a huge difference. In the classroom I help
students on an individual basis as much as I can and I pride myself on doing a
good job, but inevitably within the constraints of a lesson I do not manage to
spot every moment of uncertainty, nor can I catch and maximise every moment of
dawning understanding or speak in depth with each student about how well their
study skills are working for them. However,
when working with a student individually, I can give this level of attention
for an extended amount of time, enabling them to reflect more deeply and make more
progress. Although getting stuck with Latin might seem an insurmountable
hurdle, with the right support it need not be. Moreover, the positive
experience for a student of addressing the challenge and seeing their efforts
rewarded by improved accuracy, confidence and enjoyment can, in turn, begin to
encourage them to develop more proactive and mature study habits in general,
benefitting their other subjects too. The
CLC, for all its merits, does not by itself offer very much help for students who
are beginning to feel insecure in their Latin studies. It is structured to
promote inductive learning : rather than having new grammar points clearly
headed-up and their principles explained (as was the traditional approach), the
new grammar is instead embedded immediately in stories without attention being
drawn to it. The idea is that reading experience precedes discussion and
analysis and students discover and understand the new language feature for
themselves it is not explicitly highlighted until an About the Language
section in the middle of the chapter, and even then it is explained with as
light a touch as possible in order to maintain momentum. The aim is to carry the
reader along with the gist of what is going on and avoid them becoming bogged
down in grammar theory. While there are
a lot of positives to this approach, sometimes it doesn t entirely work and often
students do not absorb the grammar point in full from the CLC s coverage alone.
They are carried along with the speed of the course but gradually the areas where
their understanding is shaky begin to compromise their levels of success, and
so their confidence and enjoyment of the course drops. This is where some
additional help can be really powerful. An
important part of teaching is to pay close attention to each student s personal
learning style and needs and work out what will be the best way to help that
person progress. For some students, the CLC s piece by piece approach is
confusing because they can t see the bigger patterns at play, and, in fact,
giving them more information and a wider perspective can be the best way to
help them make sense of the language. For others, it might be a question of
looking at individual points of grammar and helping them to develop the skills
to apply these accurately and consistently. For all students, this work tends
to involve a heavier emphasis on grammar than is found in the CLC, and yet I
believe the CLC provides a great jumping-off point for this approach. Having
encountered a topic for the first time through the CLC, the student is now in a
position to expand their knowledge or improve their skill level when revisiting
it from a different perspective. Far from the initial rote-learning approach of
old, students are consolidating grammar and vocabulary which they have already
met in context. Doing this work in tandem with studying the CLC means that
students can appreciate immediately how this greater familiarity with the
grammar improves the accuracy of their translations. They approach the CLC with
greater confidence, alert to absorb the new language features that are
introduced in each chapter and with a greater awareness of the study skills needed
to reinforce and consolidate this knowledge for themselves. Knowing
the perfect tense from the imperfect tense is far from the be-all-and-end-all,
and it is certainly possible to lead a full and happy life without having
persevered with Latin. However, it is a brilliant subject and at the outset most
beginners are really enthused by it. It is such a shame to see that enthusiasm
dampened when a learner begins to find it tricky, and such a privilege to help
students to develop the study skills which see them make more progress than
they previously thought possible. With or despite! the CLC I aim to provide
the right support at the right time both as a teacher and a tutor. BibliographyCambridge
School Classics Project (1998). Cambridge Latin Course Book I, Fourth
Edition (CUP).Cambridge
School Classics Project Website: www.cambridgescp.co.uk
[Accessed 19 October 2014].Gay,
B. (2003) The theoretical underpinning of the main Latin courses in J. Morwood
(ed.) The Teaching of Classics (CUP)
pp. 73-84.Story,
P. (2003). The Development of the Cambridge Latin Course in J. Morwood (ed.) The Teaching of Classics. Cambridge
University Press) pp. 85-91.[1]
Interestingly (depending on what you find interesting!) this seems to be an
example of what has become known as the Mandela Effect: a mass mis-remembering
of the past which has somehow gained ground. Rather than being in the garden
when we first meet him, Caecilius was in fact in tablino ( in the study ).
This resource was uploaded by: Gemma