Courses Taught and Developed
My research interests in collaboration and multimodality are directly linked to my approach to teaching and mentoring students at all levels. The multiplicity of communication channels and increasing cultural and linguistic diversity in the world today call for a much broader view of literacy than portrayed by traditional language-based approaches. The Multiliteracies framework (Cope & Kalantzis, 2015; New London Group, 1996) emphasizes interdependence among speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills and focuses students’ attention on the interactions between linguistic form, situational context, and communicative and expressive functions. To this end, I structure lessons through a Pedagogy of Multiliteracies which involve activities of experiencing, conceptualizing, analyzing, and applying.
Here are a few samples from courses, I developed and/or taught at Sam Houston State University, the University of Michigan, Texas A&M University-Commerce and the University of Arizona, as well as courses I'm currently designing. I have attached links to sample syllabi, lesson plans, and student evaluations/comments. You will also find a teaching demo from my first year of teaching at the University of Arizona.
French 101: Elementary French I
This is the first course in the basic language sequence at the University of Arizona. It uses the textbook, Français-Monde: Connectez-vous à la Francophonie, by Robert Ariew and Béatrice Dupuy, along with its companion website, MyFrenchLab via PearsonLabs.
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French 1312: Elementary French II
This course is the second in the 4-course sequence that I designed and taught at Texas A&M University-Commerce. En Avant! Beginning French (Anderson & Dolidon, 2020) is the primary instructional material for this course, along with its companion website, Connect French, which is a database where students have access to the e-book as well as videos, audios, podcast programs, lessons, games, and other valuable materials. Students met three times a week for 50-minute discussion-based classes throughout the semester.
French 231: Intermediate French
French 231 is designed to help students explore French and Francophone culture and history through films. This flipped-classroom course is part of the second year courses traditionally taught at the University of Michigan. The main textbook used is Séquences – Intermediate French Through Film, by Michèle Bissière, Cengage Learning along with its accompanying workbook.
Teaching Demo
This 22-minute video captures a session from the second semester of an elementary French course that I conducted at the University of Arizona in the fall of 2014. The focus of the lesson was centered around food, with a particular emphasis on dessert recipes. Towards the end of the class, students were paired up and tasked with creating their own cake recipe as a practical application of the concepts learned.
Sample Student Evaluations
Below are some extracts of students' comments submitted during end of term evaluations. In response to the question: "Which aspects of this course did you like best?"
FALL 2021
I thought the film aspect of the class was really well done, especially with the second two films. In all honesty the reason that I've had such a great experience with this class has had a lot more to do with the instructor than the content its self. Madam Akoto has created an atmosphere truly unlike any other course. Every single class has been well-planned and it's genuinely exciting to come to class. Madam Akoto is incredibly accessible and does everything she can to ensure that students are comfortable and learning to their best ability. I do not think I would have had even close to as positive of an experience without her as my professor.
FALL 2022
The structure of the class helped me to learn the information more deeply instead of just listening in class. This is the first French class that I have felt adequately prepared for each test, and like I am retaining the taught information. Dr. Akoto has been instrumental in my success in this course.