Comprehensible Input and Communicative Methods with Bethany Case (Part 2 of Biblical Language Pedagogy)

April 12, 2021 // The Biblical Languages Podcast

In this episode of the Biblical Languages Podcast, Kevin Grasso interviews Bethany Case about comprehensible input and communicative methods, why they matter for language acquisition, and how she's incorporating them into her project called Aleph with Beth.

Bethany was always fascinated with languages since she was a child. Her interests led her to get a masters of Linguistics from the University of North Dakota, and now she is working on a PhD in biblical Hebrew through the University of the Free State in South Africa. She served for five years in Colombia teaching future missionaries things like Second Language Acquisition and Phonetics. After that she went to study Hebrew at the Jerusalem Center for Bible Translators.

Here's a snapshot of what you can expect in this conversation:

• The importance of comprehensible input and communicative methods for language acquisition
• The difference between acquiring a language and learning about a language
• The benefits and drawbacks of different language learning methods
• The role of explicit grammar teaching when learning the biblical languages
• The lack of resources for biblical Hebrew (and Greek) and how we can create them
• And much more!

Show notes

Bethany's project for learning biblical Hebrew can be found here: Aleph with Beth YouTube channel

This is Part 2 of our series on Biblical Language Pedagogy. Check out the other episodes in this series:

• Part 1: The Four Strands of Language Learning with Paul Nation
• Part 3: Speaking the Biblical Languages with Christophe Rico
• Part 4: Biblical Language Pedagogy in Crisis with David Miller
• Part 5: Current Trends in Biblical Language Pedagogy with Rob Plummer
• Part 6: The Future of Biblical Language Pedagogy

Where to listen

The Biblical Languages Podcast hosts discussions and interviews related to learning the biblical languages and issues relevant to biblical exegesis. Episodes cover topics in 4 major categories: language acquisition, linguistics, cultural backgrounds, and exegesis.

Listen & subscribe here: https://biblingo.org/podcast/