USING ART TO TEACH LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND LITERATURE
Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
NYC, April 12-14, 2007
Presenters:
Dr. Louissa Abdelghany, Simmons College (louissa.abdelghany@simmons.edu)
Dr. Elizabeth Blood, Salem State College (eblood@salemstate.edu)
I. Introduction: They say a picture is worth 1,000 words. If so, it is the perfect way to get foreign language students
speaking, reading, writing and listening! This handout offers suggestions of the many ways language instructors at all levels
can use art to teach language, culture, and literature. Works of art can serve as springboards to engage students in attentive
reading and writing, oral communication, or can help them to make interdisciplinary connections and cultural comparisons.
You can also use the observation, critique, or creation of art to engage students of different learning styles in building
vocabulary and in practicing specific language functions (such as description, narration, comparing, hypothesizing).
Though our examples are in French, this methodology can be easily transferred to other languages through the selection of
works of art from your target culture.
II. Online Art Resources
General Art Resources (all periods/cultures):
Artchive http://www.artchive.com (click on the Mona Lisa)
Artcyclopedia http://www.artcyclopedia.com
University of Michigan Art page http://art-design.umich.edu/mother/images.html
Christopher Witcombe's Art page http://witcombe.sbc.edu/ARTHLinks.html
Digital Archive: European Architecture http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/arch/contents_europe.html
Architecture http://pro.wanadoo.fr/quatuor/Architecture.htm
Wikipedia (look up artists/movements): http://www.wikipedia.org (choose your language, for the French Wikipedia:
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accueil)
French Art Resources:
Joconde (Catalogue des collections des musées de France)
http://www.culture.gouv.fr/documentation/joconde/fr/pres.htm
Musées de Paris http://www.museums-of-paris.com/french.phtml (infos pratiques et liens à tous les musées de Paris!)
Le Musée du Louvre http://www.louvre.fr
Le Musée Rodin http://www.musee-rodin.fr
Le Musée Carnavalet http://www.paris.fr/musees/musee_carnavalet
Le Musée de Cluny http://www.musee-moyenage.fr
Le Musée de l'Orangerie http://www.mbam.qc.ca/orangerie/index.html
Panorama de l'art (French) http://www.loeilneuf.org/pano.htm
Centre Pompidou (20th c. French) http://www.centrepompidou.fr (cliquez sur "Musée")
Musée d'Orsay (19th c.French) http://www.musee-orsay.fr
Agora: L'art contemporain (20th c. French) http://agora.qc.ca/mot.nsf/Dossiers/Art_contemporain
Francophone Art Resources:
Musées d'art et d'histoire de Genève(Switzerland) http://mah.ville-ge.ch
Musée Suisse (Switzerland) http://www.musee-suisse.com
Musée de la Civilisation (Québec) http://www.mcq.org
Virtual Museum of Canada (Canada) http://www.virtualmuseum.ca
L'Institut du monde arabe (France/North Africa) http://www.imarabe.org
Visite virtuelle de l'IMA (France/North Africa) http://www.parisvr.com/pages/musee/inst-monde-ara.html
Arts d'Afrique (Africa) http://arts.africains.free.fr
Arts Caraïbes (Caribbean) http://www.artcaraibes.com ou http://perso.wanadoo.fr/pierre.garnier/Gindex.htm
Galerie Macondo (Haiti) http://www.artshaitian.com
Copyright Information: Read the copyright information on each web page you use.
Public Domain in the US http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm
III. Suggested Activities
A. Language-Related Activities
1. Vocabulary Review & Expansion: Select several paintings related to a particular vocabulary pool (family
members, food, clothing/colors, describing people, weather, furniture/house vocabulary, nature vocabulary,
sports/leisure activities, emotions). Divide students into pairs or small groups and ask them to list vocabulary
words they know to describe the paintings. Ask students to choose their favorite painting and say what they
like most about it. Follow-up activity: Ask groups of students to imagine a painting with the same theme as
those you've viewed in class and invent a title. Each group writes a
description of their imaginary painting (ex., for clothing, titre: "La
folie": Il y a une femme qui porte une jupe orange et une chemise
rose. Elle porte un chapeau vert et un foulard bleu et rouge.). Have
groups exchange their descriptions with other groups. Now, each
group must try to create a picture from the written description they
have received (use watercolors or crayons on paper, wet-erase
markers on overheads, or colored chalk on the blackboard).
Students view the art created by all the groups, each group reading
their description as they display their work, and vote for their
favorite.
Gustave Caillebotte, Fruit on a stand
2. Comparative/Superlative: Select two or more paintings of a similar subject by different painters (from
different periods or different cultures). Provide students with a list of adjectives / adverbs / nouns with which
to compare the paintings (ex. "joli", "intéressant", "émouvant", "bon", "bien peint", "utilise beaucoup de
couleurs", etc.). In pairs or small groups, students discuss and write down their comparisons. Finally, they
select their favorite and write three sentences explaining why it is the best. Groups share their comparisons
and reasons for selecting their favorite. Follow-up activity: Ask students to choose the painter s/he likes the
best and research that artist online. Students then report back (orally or in writing) with biographical
information about the artist and information on the artist's style of painting, making connections to the
culture and to the time period.
3. Interrogative: Show students a painting and ask them to
brainstorm questions about the painting (ex. Qui est cette
femme? Qu'est-ce qu'elle fait? Pourquoi est-ce qu'elle est
triste? etc.). Have students guess the answers to the
questions. Expand this into a cultural lesson by
providing the real answers about the painting based on
your own research. Alternate activity: Show students a
series of paintings by one artist. Have them brainstorm
questions they would want to ask the painter in an
interview. Try to provide answers based on your own
knowledge of the painter or ask students to research the
artist online to find the answers to the questions.
Henri Matisse, Woman before an aquarium
4. Prepositions: Select four or five works of art that are similar in subject (ex., choose four or five family
portraits, or use still-life paintings). Divide the class into four or five teams. Each team chooses one person
who is good at speaking and describing. That person is given a copy of one of the works of art (each group
gets a different painting). The speaker is given five minutes to describe the painting in detail to his or her
team members, using prepositions of location to describe where things are in the picture. Finally, the
instructor shows all four or five works of art to the entire class. Teams must select the painting that was
described to them by their teammate. Alternate activity: In small groups, students write a description of one
of a number of similar paintings. Groups exchange descriptions. Now groups must identify the painting in the
description they have received.
5. Dialogue: Select a painting of two or more people interacting. Ask
students to imagine what the people are talking about and write out a
dialogue. Students then act out the dialogue for the class. The class
chooses the most interesting/most original/most likely dialogue.
6. Subjunctive: Select paintings that evoke strong emotions. Ask
students to create sentences using expressions of emotion and the
subjunctive, if needed. (ex., Cette femme est triste que son mari soit
parti.) Alternate activity: Ask students to give reactions to paintings,
using expressions of emotion or opinion and the subjunctive, if
needed (ex., Je ne pense pas que cette peinture soit intéressante. Il est
important d'apprécier les couleurs.)
7. Relative Pronouns: Select paintings with many objects visible (ex. a
still-life or realist painting). In pairs or small groups, students choose
an object and describe it, using relative pronouns (ex. C'est une
chose avec laquelle on mange de la salade. C'est une chose qui se
trouve à côté de l'assiette). Other students guess the object (ex. C'est
la fourchette!).
François Boucher, Le café du matin
8. Composition/Description/Narration: Choose an interesting painting. Ask students to describe the painting
and write a story about the people in the painting (using present, past, and/or future tenses). Offer questions
to help them brainstorm ideas (ex. Who is this woman? Why does she look sad? What happened to her? Is
she married? Where is her family? What will she do next?). Have students turn in compositions for grades, or
have students swap stories and comment on their peers' work. Follow-up activity: Post all the stories online
and have students read them and vote, anonymously, for the best one. (Give a prize! The winning story wins
a framed copy of the painting.) Alternate activity: Ask students to write a story for children and to illustrate
the story with their own artwork (drawings, collage, etc.). Students present their stories in class by reading
and showing their illustrations.
9. Telling Time/Counting/Days & Months: Ask students to find information from various museum websites
concerning what days/times the museum is open, how much a ticket costs for students, what exhibit is
currently showing, what are the dates of the exhibit. Follow-up activity: Ask students which museum they
could go to "today" if they were in the city being studied; if several are open, ask them which one they would
prefer and why.
B. Literature/Culture Activities
1. Historical Paintings: Show students a painting of an important historical event
(ex., Marat's "Mort de David"). Ask students to brainstorm, to guess what they
think the painting is about and to discuss their ideas. Finally, the instructor
reveals the real story behind the painting. Alternate activity: Have students
research the painting on their own and return to class with the real story.
2. Artistic/Literary Movements: Show students a series of paintings of a particular
artistic movement (ex., medieval tapestries, classicism, realism, romanticism,
surrealism, etc.). Ask students to identify common themes or characteristics of
the paintings. Follow-up by having them read short literary texts (and/or listen to
music) from the same periods and try to identify commonalities between the
different forms of art from the same movement.
Jacques-Louis David, La mort de Marat
3. Regional Geography/Culture: Show students paintings of particular cities or regions (ex., paintings of
Montmartre by Utrillo, or paintings of Provence by Van Gogh and Cézanne, or paintings of Québec by
Gagnon) to give students a feel for the location and its landmarks. Follow-up by linking to music, literature,
and/or films (ex., for Provence, have students read a short story by Daudet, followed by viewing one of the
films on Provence like La gloire de mon père; for Québec, follow with songs by Félix Leclerc and films or
readings on Québec). Alternate activity: Give students the title of the painting prior to viewing and ask them
to imagine what the painting will be like, or show them the painting and ask them to come up with a title.
4. Colonization/Exotism: Show students paintings of colonies made during the colonial period (ex., Gauguin's
paintings of Tahiti or Delacroix's paintings of Algeria). Ask students to describe the paintings and the people
in them. In particular, focus on how colonial painters created the "other" as exotic and as objects to be
consumed. Follow-up with readings about colonization (ex., for Tahiti, excerpts of Diderot's Supplément au
Voyage de Bougainville or Pierre Loti's Le mariage de Loti; for North Africa, Albert Memmi's Le
colonisateur et le colonisé; for Africa/Caribbean, Franz
Fanon's Peau noire, masques blanches or Aimé Césaire's
Discours sur le colonialisme). Also, follow-up by readings
by contemporary authors (ex., view Delacroix's "Femmes
d'Alger dans leur appartement", Picasso's version also called
'Femmes d'Alger dans leur appartement", and read Assia
Djebar's novel Femmes d'Alger dans leur appartement, in
particular the afterward "Regard interdit, son coupé" where
she says why she chose this painting as the title of her
novel).
Paul Gaugin, Femmes de Tahiti
5. Painting/Poetry: Show students paintings and ask them to describe the subject, mood, story the painting is
telling. Then, read poems that relate to the painting's theme (ex., a Monet painting of Paris in fall with
Verlaine's poem "Chanson d'automne"; Henri Matisse’s “Luxe, calme et volupté” with Baudelaire’s
“Invitation au voyage”). Follow-up by showing students a painting and having them invent their own poems
related to the painting. Alternately, have them read a poem and then create a painting that offers a visual
interpretation of the poem.
6. Art Criticism: Show students paintings of works that have been critiqued (recently or in the past) in the target
language. First ask students to describe the paintings and evaluate them; students write their own critique of
the works. Then, have students read the authentic critique (ex., Diderot's critiques of painters in the Salons or
Lettres à Sophie Volland). Follow-up activity: Every college campus displays artwork. Ask students to
critique the art on campus and to write their own art criticism booklet in the target language.
7. Debates: Ask students to debate the different styles of two artists (Picasso vs. Delacroix) or two artistic
movements (impressionism vs. surrealism) or ideas (ex., Is graffiti art?). Students research the artists,
paintings, or styles and the debate is conducted in class, either formally or informally.
8. Artist Biographies: Show students paintings by prominent artists from the target culture. Ask them to
research the artist and write up a biography of that person. Follow-up with a film (documentary or
fictionalized) on a particular artist (ex., Camille Claudel, about Rodin and Claudel; etc.), or with a virtual
visit to the artist's home (ex., visit Van Gogh's Arles through paintings and photos from the Arles tourism
website).
9. Museum Websites: Direct students to the website of a particular museum. Ask students to "visit" the
museums collections. Each student chooses his or her favorite work to present in class (describe the painting,
explain its significance to the culture, say why they like it). Alternate activity: Many museum websites
(particularly cultural history museums) offer online games to engage children/students in learning about the
museum. Identify a particular online game, ask students to play it and report back on what they have learned.
(ex., “Ciel! Mon bateau!” an online game about French explorers in Québec on the website of the Musée de
la Civilisation du Québec: http://maf.mcq.org/jeux/ciel/)
10. Field Trips: Take a field trip to a nearby museum of art, particularly if a relevant exhibit is showing but also
if there are paintings from your target culture in the permanent collection. Ask for a guided tour in French, or
create your own guided tour. Have students research paintings from the exhibit or collection before the trip.
When viewing their painting, the student-researcher will present the painting to the class in the target
language.
All image credited to Mark Harden <www.artchive.com>