On Saturday, August 18, the Armenian National Educational
Council (ANEC), a joint venture of the Eastern Prelacy and the Armenian Relief
Society Eastern USA, held a teacher training seminar focused on teaching Armenian
as a second language. Participants from New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia,
Washington DC, Providence, Boston, and Chicago gathered at the Prelacy’s
offices in Manhattan to participate in a workshop titled “Train the Trainer:
Armenian as a Second Language for Newcomers” presented by Scott Cohen of
Community Learning Partners.
In his opening prayers and remarks, Rev. Fr. Mesrob Lakissian thanked
ANEC for organizing the seminar and wished all participants a fruitful and
successful workshop. Following these remarks, ANEC Executive Director Dr.
Vartan Matiossian welcomed attendees and thanked them for coming to New York
for the workshop. He then discussed a few new ANEC projects and resources and
continued to say that they are intended to be used in support of all teachers’
practice. He said that this seminar was another way to do this and was
organized to meet the developing need of changing classroom dynamics,
particularly in teaching Armenian to students with no Armenian language
exposure.
Matiossian then introduced Cohen who would lead the workshop for the
day. He first gave an overview of the workshop and handed out a participant
workbook including activities and information related to the topic. During the
morning session, he discussed ways in which teachers could connect with
students and families while being mindful of group and individual identity
ideas and in some cases stereotypes. Then he transitioned into a discussion of culture
and assumptions that might play a role in how teachers might understand the
students in his/her class. This, he said, guides students’ interest and energy
to participate. 
After this portion, Cohen asked participants to consider what values they
wish to see in their classroom and noted that although lesson and content is
important, these values create a safe environment for learning. Everything that
teachers do, said Cohen, is driven by what teachers want as outcome for their
students. He then went on to lead a group discussion about culture and students
and their families, where participants were encouraged to brainstorm what it
means to be Armenian. After a long discussion, the issue of choice was brought
up as an important dynamic in the classroom today.
At this point, the group broke for lunch during which participants were
able to browse and shop in the Prelacy Bookstore for materials they could use
in their classrooms. After lunch, Cohen asked the group to list reasons why
they might want to teach in Armenian school? Topics of duty, the love of being
Armenian, and propagating the culture were some of the reasons given. Based on
some of these responses, Cohen asked teachers to brainstorm ways they might
open the first day of class and what they might expect from their students.
Different language acquisition theories were then presented to give
participants a context of possible ways in which students might be learning
language. Based on these theories, Cohen discussed the various stages of second
language acquisition and gave teachers examples of possible teacher prompts
that could be used to facilitate learning and practice at the different stages.
Finally Cohen explained that students learn best when material is
presented through various mediums such as linguistically, spatially, musically,
and kinesthetically. At this point he invited the four different groups of
participants to plan and carry out a short lesson on any Armenian topic and for
any age group utilizing these different mediums.
At the workshop’s conclusion, Dr. Matiossian briefed participants about
the next ANEC initiative: to write a Common Core Standards for each grade level
for Armenian Saturday Schools in the Eastern USA. He asked all participants to
review the draft document prepared by the ANEC board and return feedback so the
council could refine their ideas.
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