Ella Madsen

The UW-Platteville World Languages program hosted its first annual World Languages Day on April 17 in Velzy Commons. Around 200 high school students from southwestern Wisconsin were in attendance. A majority of them are studying Spanish in their coursework.
Teachers from around the area requested an event where their students could be introduced to more languages and cultures from around the world beyond the Spanish in the classroom. Present at the event were representatives for the Spanish, German, French, Mandarin Chinese and Portuguese languages.
Following departmental opening remarks and welcomes, Associate Professor of German Studies at UW-Platteville Madelon Köhler-Busch introduced world languages. She spoke about why learning another language benefits students both in and out of the classroom, noting that overall sensitivity to and perception of languages rises.
“Native language perceptual sensitivity is positively associated with and predicts nonnative speech perception in younger and older adulthood,” researchers at the Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research found.
Köhler-Busch further elaborated that learning another language helps to increase attention span, improve overall memory and support a more confident cultural awareness. Students were given a bit more introductory information before the educational performances began.
The Humanities department and student volunteers from various programs helped to coordinate the event and establish the day’s schedule. The performances included poetry and storytelling in different languages alongside other visual displays of cooking, fencing, dance and skits.
Set up near the entrance was a collection of physical art, clothing and other items from various locations across the globe. The attendees were given activities throughout to help enrich their understanding and education of the performances and material.
Feedback was collected from the attending students and teachers upon the closing remarks and will be used for the future planning, layout and scheduling of the event in the coming years.