"You Really Expect me to read all that Latin!" - Strategies for Reading Latin Texts
by Caroline Kelly, Covenant Day School, NC
III. Identification of Prior Knowledge Essential for Success in Specific Reading Passages
Workshop participants were given a copy Chapter 15 of Ecce Romani, selected because it seems to be one of the stories in the book where students are confronted with the reality that there is a break-down in the strategy of simply matching Latin vocabulary with English meanings—because it is in this chapter that neuter nouns are introduced and understanding of the significance of case endings becomes paramount. The ending –a no longer simply denotes a nominative singular noun: it can also signify nominative as well as accusative plural. To further complicate matters, –um is now used as a subject, and is also found on the adverb, tantum. Tense markers (imperfect cf. present), though introduced in the previous chapter, are also a factor since students have so far had little time for practice. Faced with such ambiguities, we can see how valuable it is to confirm at the start what is known about morphology, (1st declension, feminine singular, for example,) and then alert students’ attention to the fact that they will find something different in this passage. As the story is read, students can then discuss what other uses the –a could have.
As with the Russian selections, workshop participants noted that there were several areas for this chapter where prior knowledge existed and could make all the difference for comprehension. Merely knowing the context is very helpful, since it enables the reader to develop expectations in the area of content. Textbooks such as Ecce Romani, which employ the ‘Reading Method’ of foreign language instruction deliberately develop a narrative that builds up the reader’s knowledge of one Roman family, so that students know their names and personalities, and are familiar with the contrast between Roman and modern times. Students can therefore predict some content, and comment on cultural items shown in the illustration before tackling the text. Proficiency in areas of vocabulary and syntax are of course essential, as is consolidation of new material—all of which will comprise prior knowledge for the passage in the subsequent chapters.
The discussion was summarized by organizing possible areas of prior knowledge under five headings. These headings are listed below, along with pre-reading goals and activities suggested by participants. This is by no means an exhaustive list. There are, of course, many ways to set the stage for reading new passage—tapping into prior knowledge is only the one of them. The next two presentations in the workshop dealt with other skills designed to promote success with the ‘Reading Method’.
V. Possible areas for fruitful pre-reading exercises
1. CONTENT
Goal: Students will predict the content of the passage based on prior stories in the sequence, the illustration, punctuation (e.g. quotation marks, question marks), new vocabulary.
Activity: List the participants; predict their conversation, based on the picture and on the new vocabulary; or: assign an adjective and a verb to each of the participants, based on the picture and vocabulary.
(An example of an activity designed for Chapter 12 is appended.)
2. CULTURAL/HISTORICAL
Goal: Students will review their knowledge of the ancient world, and compare and contrast items found in the story with similar items in the modern world.
Activity –List similarities or differences in two columns, and/or draw the modern equivalent of the Roman item. It may be appropriate to point out where items do not have an exact modern equivalent, and where it is appropriate to use the Latin term—e.g. toga, raeda, paterfamilias.
3. VOCABULARY
Goal: students will see how their knowledge of English enables them to understand new Latin vocabulary.
Activity: Identify the new vocabulary words in the chapter which are the source of a list of derivatives.
(An example of an activity designed for Chapters 33, 34 is appended.)
4. MORPHOLOGY
Goal: students will consolidate recognition of different tenses or cases in the same story, and get a head-start on the translation of the whole.
Activity: Locate all the verbs, and arrange in columns according to tense. Translate each verb.
(An example of an activity designed for Chapter 14 is appended.)
5. SYNTAX
Goal: Students will be alert to clause and phrase boundaries.
Activity: Underline the kernel items (subject, verb, and complement or direct object where applicable) of all main clauses. Put square brackets around subordinate clauses. Put parentheses around prepositional phrases—use with any chapter.
