Linguistics in middle school: Incorporating linguistics into project-based learning

This article argues that linguistics can be effectively incorporated into project-based learning (PBL) as an innovative approach to introducing young students to linguistics. It draws from eighteen months of a collaboration between a linguist and a middle-school humanities teacher, and builds on prior efforts by linguists to incorporate linguistics into the K–12 curriculum. The article reviews relevant literature, introduces PBL and linguistics in PBL as a model, and presents detailed descriptions of how the study of language and the linguist’s ways of knowing were incorporated into two student projects. Evidence of student learning and the impact of linguistics is also presented. The article concludes by suggesting that this approach to incorporating linguistics into K–12 education can address the goals both of linguists—changing attitudes toward and understanding of language—and of educators—improving academic performance and addressing content standards.