American Classical League Centennial Institute

The "human mind is a story processor, not a logic processor" (Haidt, 2013) and studying stories necessitates the consideration of "language, narrative, identity, interaction, society and culture" (Schiffrin, D and De Fina, A., 2010). Yet in Latin teaching they are still often viewed as a vehicle for grammar-translation. This session will ‘set the scene’ by opening with a discussion of how the ancients imagined their identities and communities through story, even in genres like science and medicine where storytelling as a mode of explanation might seem less central or intuitive to a modern audience. The presentation will then move on to discuss the benefits of reading, hearing, writing and telling stories in developing not only language proficiency - articulated with particular reference to the three modes of communication identified by ACTFL - but also student creativity, confidence, engagement and sense of belonging in the language classroom.