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MICHEL DEGRAFF: So one of
the major goals of the course

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is for-- because we all speak
a language, or sometimes

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many languages.

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And what the students
get to understand

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at the end of the courses
is that we all hold dear

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to an attitude about language.

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And some of the
attitudes are positive,

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for us and for others.

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But oftentimes-- and this
is actually one of the major

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issues that we discuss
throughout the course,

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is that--

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sometimes we have
attitudes that have

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a negative impact, severe
negative impact, on the lives

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of other people, the life of
sometimes entire communities

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and nations.

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So I hope throughout that,
students can actually

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take this theory that
is in the course,

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and see ways in which
they can apply it

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to themselves, to
their communities,

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to their countries.

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So clearly, the case that
I have in mind the most

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is my own Haiti, where
attitudes about language

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have been one of the
engines that have really

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gone against the interests
of most Haitians,

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that have allowed a few
to keep the majority,

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and the oppression.

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But then-- this is true
also for the communities.

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So I was very pleased to
see that the students took

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that objective very
dearly, and including

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some who, in the
course of this class,

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have applied what
they've learned,

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and taking it outside,
including volunteering in, say,

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the dual language program
that just started in Boston.

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It's a dual language
program promoting

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the use of books in
Creole and English,

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and where students are
immersed from kindergarten

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in both Creole and English.

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And now there's a student who
took that class, my class,

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and was volunteering in that
classroom-- for Kindergarteners

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who were learning in
Creole and in English.

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And to me, that's a
dream because it's

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one case where what
you learn in the course

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can be directly applied in
the real world context, which

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can make actual positive change
in the lives of these children.