Using Mini-Lessons in a Less Common Language as a Pedagogical Tool in a Second Language Acquisition University Course

The purpose of the study was to examine the use of mini lessons in a less common language as a pedagogical tool in a Second Language Acquisition University course.The lessons were used to demonstrate and facilitate the learning of different language learning theories, concepts and methods and thus increase the students' knowledge base and possibly improve their future work with ESL students. The participants were graduate students in the College of Education at a State University. Most of the students were monolingual speakers of English who had no experience or very minimal experience in studying a foreign/second language. The objective was to sensitize the students to the process of language acquisition and help them understand the new theories and concepts presented in the course through experiential learning. Class discussions and focus group discussions were recorded and analyzed. The results from the experiment show that the mini-lessons in a language that students did not know played an important role in the learning process and facilitated the acquisition of the new material.