The newly created Hindi Audio-Visual Module Project (http://hindistartalk.lrc.columbia.edu/) and Urdu Audio-Visual Module Project (http://urduaiis.lrc.columbia.edu/) serve as innovative resources for teachers and learners of Hindi and Urdu. Each module incorporates video clips based on real life situations with varied linguistic, social and cultural contents. They are short, unscripted, unrehearsed and offer samples of spontaneous and authentic speech of Hindi and Urdu. Based on ACTFL guidelines and National Standards (5Cs), the modules can be used to engage students in the two modes of communication (interpretive and presentation) in a classroom to improve students communicative skills.
All the Hindi and Urdu modules include video clips, vocabulary and transcripts. Most of the Hindi modules have lessons plans and learning scenarios which help teachers to engage students in different kinds of activities. The non-sequential modules allow teachers to choose and select modules based on their specific curricular needs and students’ interests and goals. The modules provide examples or models of interaction in meaningful contexts and allow students to learn by negotiating meaning from context. Thus, it enables learners to understand and acquire the vocabulary, phrases and language structures in context and to improve their understanding of the socio-cultural contexts in which Hindi and Urdu are used.
Grants from STARTALK and the U.S. Department of Education allowed the South Asia Institute to fund the project, which was organized and authored by Senior Language Instructor Rakesh Ranjan (Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies). The videos were filmed and produced in India by filmmaker Himanshu Joshi. The Language Resource Center at Columbia provided important resources for completion of the project. The American Institute of Indian Studies was another partner for the project, as was the Hindi-Urdu program at New York University, under the direction of Clinical Professor Gabriela Nik. Ilieva.
The STARTALK Hindi Audio-Visual project introduces 42 thematic modules, which are based on real life situations with varied linguistic, social and cultural contents. The clips are short and offer samples of Hindi speech in the presentational and interpersonal modes of communication. They are unscripted, unrehearsed and non-sequential.
The AIIS-Columbia Urdu Modules Project introduces 28 thematic modules of the Urdu language and culture. These colorful video clips are based on real life situations with varied linguistic, social and cultural contents. They are short, unscripted, unrehearsed and offer samples of spontaneous and authentic Urdu speech. Filmed in New and Old Delhi, these modules record the lively traditions of Urdu Zabaan and exhibit the rich literary, cultural and culinary traditions, as well as the traditional medicines and sports of the Urdu speech communities in Delhi.