Cultural and Conversational Collaboration with the Peoria Chiefs

Seven members of the Peoria Chiefs visited Dr. Deborah Kessler’s WLS 304 Advanced Spanish Conversation class late in the spring semester.  After learning that Andrea Botero-Moriarty, a former instructor at Bradley, was serving as the Chiefs’ English as a Second Language teacher, Kessler met with her to discuss ways in which their two classes could collaborate.  When a new group of players arrived in Peoria this spring, they decided to stage a mock press conference in English and Spanish.  The players, from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Panama, gave Bradley students the opportunity to hear different dialects of Spanish and to have a cultural exchange with people their same age.

”Collaborations such as these are what make Bradley University a unique resource to the Peoria community.  In this case, learning was extended beyond the classroom for a group of Peoria Chiefs players learning English and Bradley students in a Spanish Conversation course,” said Kessler.

How did the students feel about this partnership?  Abby Monahan said, “It was cool to practice Spanish with people our age and relate to them while they learn English.  It made supporting them at the games even more fun, too.”  According to Josh Reece, “It was really interesting to find out that the players literally live, sleep, and eat thinking about baseball. They are very dedicated to what they do, and that was amazing to see.”

The Bradley students agreed that they found value in interacting with people from different cultures in their same age group and that there were many similarities between them.  Savanna Stear most enjoyed, “going to watch future major league players at their game so we could cheer them on in Spanish.”  Future plans for the groups include pairing up some Bradley Spanish students with the Chiefs players for an end of season video project.