Celebrating Black History Month in World Language Classrooms: A Proficiency-Based Approach

As we enter Black History Month this February, world language educators have a unique opportunity to center Black voices, stories, and contributions from the cultures we teach—and to do so in ways that build genuine proficiency. Rather than treating this as a vocabulary list or a one-off cultural presentation, we can design authentic, comprehensible, and communicative learning experiences that honor these voices while advancing our students' language skills.

Why This Matters in Proficiency-Based Teaching

Language and culture are inseparable. When we teach Spanish, French, Arabic, Portuguese, or any world language, we're not just teaching vocabulary and grammar—we're opening windows into diverse communities. Black figures have shaped every target language culture we teach, yet their contributions are often marginalized or overlooked entirely. The beauty of proficiency-based instruction is that it allows us to engage with authentic cultural content while simultaneously developing interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational skills. We don't have to choose between cultural relevance and language development—they work together.

Designing Proficiency-Based Experiences: Key Principles

Before diving into specific examples, let's establish some core principles:

• Start with Comprehensible Input: Choose authentic or adapted texts, videos, and audio that are slightly above students' current level (i+1). This might mean using excerpts rather than full novels, poetry rather than dense prose, or interviews with subtitles.
• Focus on the Three Modes: Plan activities that incorporate interpretive (reading, listening, viewing), interpersonal (conversation, discussion), and presentational (speaking, writing) communication.
• Make It Meaningful: Choose content that connects to students' lives and interests. A song lyric that resonates emotionally will stick better than a biography read for facts alone.
• Spiral Vocabulary and Structures: Return to the same themes and figures throughout the month (and year), deepening understanding and recycling language naturally.

Novice Level: Building Foundational Skills

At the novice level, students can handle high-frequency words, simple phrases, and memorized chunks. The key is making content accessible through visuals, cognates, repetition, and scaffolding.

Example 1: Music as Gateway (Spanish - All Levels, adapted for Novice)

Figure: Celia Cruz, Afro-Cuban salsa legend

Interpretive Activity: Play "La Vida Es Un Carnaval" and provide a lyrics sheet with key vocabulary highlighted (vida, carnaval, llorar, cantar, vivir). Include images that illustrate the lyrics. Students listen multiple times, circling words they hear and matching phrases to images.

Interpersonal Activity: In pairs, students ask and answer simple questions: "¿Te gusta la música de Celia Cruz?" (Do you like Celia Cruz's music?) "¿Qué palabras entiendes en la canción?" (What words do you hear in the song?) "¿La vida es triste o feliz en esta canción?" (Is life happy or sad in this song?)

Presentational Activity: Students create a simple poster with: Celia Cruz's name, her country (Cuba), one fact they learned (using a sentence frame: "Celia Cruz es de ___. Ella canta ___. Su música es ___."), and an image. They present to a partner.

Proficiency Target: Students can identify key information, exchange basic opinions, and present memorized/formulaic information about a cultural figure.

Example 2: Photo Stories (French - Novice)

Figure: Josephine Baker, entertainer and French Resistance member

Interpretive Activity: Provide 6-8 captioned photos from Baker's life (performing, with her children, receiving medals). Captions use simple present and past tense: "Elle danse à Paris." (She dances in Paris.) "Elle adopte douze enfants." (She adopts twelve children.) "Elle aide la Résistance." (She helps the resistance.) Students sequence the photos and match them to time periods on a timeline.

Interpersonal Activity: Students circulate with their timelines, comparing answers: "D'abord, elle..." "Ensuite..." "Finalement..." (First, she... Then... Finally...)

Presentational Activity: Students write 4-5 sentences describing Baker's life using the photos as prompts.

Proficiency Target: Students can understand simple biographical information, discuss sequences of events, and create simple descriptions using high-frequency structures.

Intermediate Level: Expanding Communication

Intermediate students can create with the language, handle some paragraph-length text, and discuss topics beyond immediate needs.

Example 3: Literature Circles (Portuguese - Intermediate Mid)

Figure: Carolina Maria de Jesus, Brazilian author of Quarto de Despejo

Interpretive Activity: Students read adapted diary excerpts (simplified from the original) describing daily life in the favela—going to collect paper, feeding her children, dealing with hunger. Pre-teach key vocabulary (fome, catadora de papel, barraco, lixo) with images and comprehension checks.

Interpersonal Activity: Literature circle roles adapted for language learners:

• Summarizer: Retells the main events in their own words
• Connector: Links the reading to their own life or current events
• Questioner: Prepares 3-4 discussion questions
• Word Finder: Identifies interesting or important phrases to discuss

Students meet in circles and discuss in the target language, with sentence frames as needed: "Carolina enfrentou..." (Carolina faced...) "Isso me hace pensar em..." (This makes me think of...) "Uma pregunta que tenho é..." (One question I have is...)

Presentational Activity: Students write a diary entry from their own perspective about a challenge they face, modeling Carolina's direct, honest style. Or they record a video comparing Carolina's Brazil of the 1950s to modern-day Brazil.

Proficiency Target: Students can understand main ideas and some details in authentic/adapted texts, participate in discussions with some elaboration, and create paragraph-level writing with some cohesion.

Example 4: Film Analysis & Debate (Spanish - Intermediate High)

Figure: Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, Afro-Puerto Rican historian and activist

Interpretive Activity: Watch clips from documentaries or presentations about Schomburg (available on YouTube in Spanish). Students complete a viewing guide with comprehension questions moving from factual to inferential: "¿De dónde es Schomburg?" → "¿Por qué es importante su trabajo?" → "¿Qué impacto tuvo en la comunidad afrolatina?" (Where is Schomburg from? Why is his work important? What impact did he have on the afro-lantino community?)

Interpersonal Activity: Structured debate: "¿Es más importante preservar la historia o crear el futuro?" (Is it more important to preserve history or to create the future?) Students must reference Schomburg's work in their arguments. Provide debate frames: "Desde mi punto de vista..." "Estoy de acuerdo porque..." "Sin embargo, también hay que considerar..." (From my point of view... I agree because... However, it's important to consider...)

Presentational Activity: Students create a podcast episode (2-3 minutes) profiling Schomburg and explaining why his work matters today. They must include: biographical information, his major contributions, and personal reflection.

Proficiency Target: Students can understand main ideas and supporting details in authentic materials, participate in discussions and debates with organization and detail, and create organized presentations that narrate and explain.

Advanced Level: Refined Communication

Advanced students can discuss topics concretely and abstractly, handle extended discourse, and express nuanced viewpoints.

Example 5: Literary Analysis (French - Advanced Low/Mid)

Figure: Aimé Césaire, Martinican poet and politician

Interpretive Activity: Read excerpts from "Cahier d'un retour au pays natal" or selected poems from the Négritude movement. Provide pre-reading context about colonialism, assimilation, and resistance. Students annotate the text, identifying literary devices, themes, and powerful imagery.

Interpersonal Activity: Socratic seminar on questions like: "Comment Césaire utilise-t-il la langue française pour résister à la colonisation française?" (How does Césaire use the French language to resist French colonisation?) "Qu'est-ce que la Négritude signifie aujourd'hui?" (What does negritude mean today?) Students must cite textual evidence, respond to peers, and build on others' ideas—all in French.

Presentational Activity: Students write a literary analysis essay examining how Césaire's poetry serves as political resistance, or they create their own poem in French inspired by the Négritude movement, followed by an artist's statement explaining their choices.

Proficiency Target: Students can understand complex literary texts with support, engage in extended discussion with nuance and abstraction, and create well-organized analytical writing.

Example 6: Contemporary Issues Project (Spanish - Advanced)

Figure: Francia Márquez, Afro-Colombian environmental activist and vice president

Interpretive Activity: Students read authentic news articles, watch interview clips, and listen to speeches by Márquez about environmental racism, Afro-Colombian rights, and social justice. They synthesize information from multiple sources.

Interpersonal Activity: Panel discussion where students take on roles (environmental activists, government officials, business leaders, community members) and debate: "¿Cómo podemos equilibrar el desarrollo económico y la justicia ambiental en comunidades afrocolombianas?" (How can we balance economic development and environmental justice in Afro-Colombian communities?) This requires students to research, represent different perspectives, and respond spontaneously.

Presentational Activity: Students create a multimedia presentation examining environmental racism in a Spanish-speaking country, comparing it to issues in their own community. They must present a nuanced argument supported by evidence.

Proficiency Target: Students can understand complex authentic materials on abstract topics, participate in extended discussions representing various viewpoints, and create sophisticated presentations with well-supported arguments.

Cross-Proficiency Strategies: What Works at Every Level

Strategy 1: Authentic Music Throughout the Year

Music is accessible at every level and emotionally resonant. Create playlists featuring Black artists from target cultures:

• Spanish: Celia Cruz, Susana Baca, Bomba Estéreo (Afro-Colombian influence), Juan Luis Guerra
• French: Angélique Kidjo, Youssou N'Dour, MC Solaar, Stromae
• Portuguese: Elza Soares, Seu Jorge, Criolo, Lura (Cape Verdean)

Novice: Focus on cognates, repeated phrases, and overall emotion/theme. Intermediate: Analyze lyrics for meaning, cultural references, and artist's message. Advanced: Examine how music serves as social commentary and cultural preservation.

Strategy 2: Identity & Heritage Projects

Students explore their own identity while learning about Afro-Latino, Afro-Caribbean, or Afro-European identities.

Novice: Create identity charts with simple labels (country, language, family, interests) then view similar charts about Black figures from target cultures.

Intermediate: Conduct interviews (with classmates or native speakers) about cultural identity and heritage, comparing experiences.

Advanced: Research and present on how concepts of race, ethnicity, and identity differ across cultures (e.g., "How does Brazil's concept of racial identity differ from the U.S.?").

Strategy 3: Thematic Units That Center Black Voices

Rather than an isolated "Black History" unit, design thematic units where Black voices are central:

Resistance & Revolution (All Levels)

• Novice: Learn about Haitian Revolution through images and simple timelines
• Intermediate: Read adapted accounts of independence movements, comparing different countries
• Advanced: Analyze revolutionary texts, manifestos, or speeches

Art as Activism (All Levels)

• Novice: Identify themes in protest art and music using visual thinking strategies
• Intermediate: Research an artist-activist and present their work and impact
• Advanced: Create and defend original artwork/writing that addresses social justice themes

Contemporary Voices (All Levels)

• Novice: Follow social media accounts of Black influencers in target language, identifying key topics
• Intermediate: Watch and discuss TED talks or interviews with Black leaders
• Advanced: Analyze op-eds, essays, or political speeches on current events

Assessment That Honors Proficiency and Culture

Move beyond multiple-choice quizzes about facts. Instead:

Interpretive Assessments:

• Can students understand a song, poem, or speech by a Black artist/figure at an appropriate level?
• Can they identify main ideas, supporting details, and infer meaning?

Interpersonal Assessments:

• Can students discuss Black History Month themes in conversation, asking and answering questions?
• Can they compare their own culture's approach to race and history with that of the target culture?

Presentational Assessments:

• Can students create a presentation about a Black figure that's appropriate for their level?
• Can they write a reflection connecting what they learned to their own lives?

Focus on what students can do with the language to engage with these important cultural topics.

Practical Tips for Implementation

Build Slowly: You don't need to overhaul everything at once. Start with one song, one poem, one figure and build from there.

Use Authentic Resources: Seek out actual speeches, music, interviews, and writings by Black figures rather than textbooks about them. This provides genuine cultural and linguistic input.

Provide Scaffolding: Authentic doesn't mean throwing students into the deep end. Use pre-teaching, visual supports, graphic organizers, sentence frames, and strategic questioning to make content comprehensible.

Make It Interactive: Passive reading about historical figures doesn't build proficiency. Students need to discuss, create, compare, and communicate.

Center Student Voice: Allow students to choose which figures they research, which songs they analyze, which topics they explore. Choice increases engagement and honors their interests.

Partner with Colleagues: Collaborate with history, English, and art teachers to create cross-curricular connections that deepen learning.

Beyond February: Making This Year-Round

While Black History Month provides important focus, these voices should be present throughout our curricula:

September: Start the year with identity units that include Afro-Latino/Afro-Caribbean/African perspectives October: Hispanic Heritage Month—ensure Afro-Latino voices are centered, not erased Throughout: Include Black authors in all literature units, Black historical figures in all history-related lessons, Black musicians in all music-based activities

Curriculum Audit: Review your materials. Are Black people visible in your textbook examples, your classroom posters, your choice of music and media? If not, supplement intentionally.

Representation Matters: When students see themselves and others authentically represented, language learning becomes more meaningful and motivating.

Moving Forward

Incorporating these voices isn't about checking a box during Black History Month—it's about accurately representing the full diversity of the cultures we teach while building genuine language proficiency. When we center Black figures, authors, and advocates from target language cultures in proficiency-based ways, we give all our students richer language skills AND a more authentic understanding of the languages they're learning and the people who speak them.

Our classrooms should reflect the beautiful complexity and diversity of the Spanish-speaking world, the Francophone world, Lusophone cultures, and all the languages we teach. This February, and every month, let's ensure Black voices are heard, celebrated, and central to our teaching—in ways that truly develop proficiency.