Tag Archives: Foreigh Langauge

Speaking Activity with Playing Cards (The Path)

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I am always a fan of repurposing things in my classroom. Why completely reinvent the wheel when you can just spin it in a different way? Playing cards are something that I always seem to have so I got to work trying to figure out how I can use them to get students speaking the target language. I always want to make sure that in addition to practicing vocabulary and language structures (initially) that activities and tasks also provide ample opportunities for authentic communication as well.

Foreign Language Speaking Activity with Playing Cards (French, Spanish) Last year I wrote a blog post about an activity that I crafted using playing cards. You can read the details of that those activities HERE. I was looking though Pinterest and saw that there was a math game that many teachers are doing using playing cards and I started thinking about how I could do this type of activity with my foreign language students. The teachers were having groups lay out the cards in a path of their choice and using them as a sort of playing board. I thought that this be easily modified for use with foreign language vocabulary and language structures and it also lends itself very easily to proficiency levels depending on the task and prompts given to the students.

In my previous playing card activity post I wrote about a reference sheet that I created for students that coincides with each card in the deck.

Foreign Language Speaking Activity with Playing Cards (French, Spanish)

I decided to have students use this same reference sheet to engage in this new activity. Students have a chance to get a little creative with how they lay out the card path. Once laid out they get a copy of the reference sheet. This can be pictures, time, subject/verb pairings, questions…unlimited possibilities. In addition to the deck of playing cards and the reference sheet, each group of 3-4 students also gets one die and a playing piece, such as different coins or any small object that distinguishes the players.

Foreign Language Speaking Activity with Playing Cards (French, Spanish)

Foreign Language Speaking Activity with Playing Cards (French, Spanish) Each player takes a turn by rolling the die and moving the number of spaces (cards) along the path. They find the box on the reference sheet that corresponds with the card they land on (4 of diamonds, king of hearts, 10 of spades, etc.) and speak using what is in the box. If students are novice they may identify with a singe word or phrase, but intermediate students could use the word or picture in a complete, discreet sentence.

The first student to reach the end of the path is the winner. This can sometimes move quickly, so I have students keep points by the number of wins and go back and start again each time there is a winner.

Foreign Language Speaking Activity with Playing Cards (French, Spanish) Be sure to keep this communicative by asking students to do more than say a verb form, time or vocabulary word. Consider what the proficiency levels of the students are and have them speak using the reference prompt in context and with the text type that is at their proficiency level.

You can get these card reference sheets on a number topics by clicking the links below.

Spanish:

French:

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Posted in Activities and Games, Classroom Procedures, Grammar and Structures, Speaking

Tagged ACTFL, Foreigh Langauge, Grammar, language, Speaking, vocabulary

The Role of Short and Long-Term Memory in Language Learning

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We’ve all been there. Students learn a new language structure (i.e. grammar point) or vocabulary words, take a quiz, do well, and then a few days later they are unable to produce the structure or vocabulary. What happened? Where did it it go?

First, let’s look at Interlanguage. This is the language that a learner speaks that is on a continuum between his native language (L1) and the target language (L2). Selinker explains that Interlanguage has these characteristics:

Bill Van Patten takes this a bit further in his work (particularly in Making Communicative Language Teaching Happen) and presents the ideas of intake and uptake along this interlanguage continuum:

Initially, language input becomes intake or part of the short term memory of the learner. This is consciously attended to and learned by the learner. When structures and vocabulary become uptake, part of the long-term memory, it is considered subconscious and acquired. The uptake is the proficiency level of the learner.

When students take a quiz on the new material and do well it is because they are being assessed on their short-term memory (intake). When new material comes along and that older materials has not moved on to long-term memory (uptake) it is replaced by the newer material. That’s why the grammar structure they knew so well for the quiz is not as easily produced a few days later….and the reason we need to spend so much time reviewing for final exams at the end of the school year.

So, this begs the question, “How can we help students acquire language so that it becomes part of their uptake (long-term memory)?” The answer is not complicated and involved, but does take persistence and consistency. It comes down to providing as much comprehensible input as possible to students, both listening and reading. The more exposure students have to input that is comprehensible to them the more likely the language will become uptake and make its way to the long-term memory. Again, this is mostly a subconscious process in which language is acquired so comprehensible inout is the most effective tool. This is yet another reason to use the target language as much as possible (90-100%) in the second language classroom.

I want to end with a quick word about learning grammar and vocabulary, as opposed to acquiring. Steven Krashen, who is best known for his input hypothesis (i+1), does speak to the usefulness of studying and learning grammar and vocabulary. He describes this learned language as a monitor that assess output that originates in the long-term memory for accuracy. This learned, often intake/short-term memory, language is useful in writing as well because the writer has the time to reflect and monitor the output. When communicating interpersonally in real time the output is often less accurate with novice and intermediate students because the more accurate and native-like language has not yet made its way to the long-term memory.

VanPatten, B. (1996). Input processing and grammar instruction: Theory and research. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

VanPatten, B., & Cadierno, T. (1993). Explicit instruction and input processing. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 15, 225–243.

VanPatten, B., & Oikkenon, S. (1996). Explanation versus structured input in processing instruction. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 18 (4), 495–510.

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Posted in Classroom Procedures, Speaking, Teaching Methodology and Research

Tagged Foreigh Langauge, language learning, Speaking, Writing

Staying Up-To-Date in the Changing-World of Foreign Language Teaching

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Take a look at your foreign language textbook. How long has it been used in your department? Look at the publication date (the original one, not the new edition with new photos). Does foreign language education look the same today as it did when that book was published?

The reality is that when many of these books were first published they were based on current foreign language teaching trends at the time. But, times change. As much as we try to keep up with new research and do our best to modify our teaching to keep current many times we are restrained by textbooks that were published before the dawn of the age of communicative and proficiency-based foreign language teaching. If we continue to use (sometimes because we are mandated..I get it) these textbooks and accompanying materials we are unable to fully embrace proficiency.

It takes years to write and publish a textbook and the cost of buying new textbooks needs to justify the investment, which means that the book will be used for many years. The issue here is that teaching changes quite a bit on a regular basis. So what is a teacher to do?

Several years ago I completed a graduate program in applied linguistics with a research focus on psycholinguistics and second language acquisition. I had already been teaching for ten years, but my understanding of technique and methodology changed so much throughout my research and studies. I was devoted to embracing communicative and proficiency-based language teaching, but, of course, the textbooks in my classroom were not going to be helpful. Don’t get me totally wrong here. There is surely a place to focus on the accuracy of language typically presented in traditional textbooks, but there was clearly a void when it came to proficiency. Back in 2009 I started googling around and found Teachers Pay Teachers. There I found materials from teachers who had also embraced proficiency-based language teaching and were making their materials available. For me the true genius and worth of Teachers Pay Teachers is that it allows educators to quickly and efficiently adapt to the changing climate of education and provides materials that respond to this change in a fraction of the the time and cost that it would take to write, publish and purchase a textbook. Teachers are dedicated to keeping up with teaching trends and methodology and now there is a way to share well-vetted resources with the larger teaching community.

If you have spent any time here on my blog, you know that I am dedicated to foreign language proficiency and bringing tips, tools and resources to teachers so that their students can rise in proficiency and communicate with confidence. I often present these ideas at conferences and throughout social media. The immediacy of sharing out in the constantly-changing world of education has been invaluable. Teachers are held accountable for emerging standards, curriculum, evaluations and expectations, but traditional resources, such as textbooks, can’t keep up. This is the beauty of Teachers Pay Teachers. The resources on the site are from teachers in our situation who are providing what we need to succeed. The fact that it is an open marketplace means that you can see the reviews of other teacher and determine very quickly the quality and usefulness of a product. Does this happen when it comes to textbooks?

I’m assuming if the title of this post piqued your interest that you are in fact interested in staying up-to-date in the changing world of foreign language teaching. I’m sure that you create great materials for your students in your classroom. Keep it up. Take a look around by blog by clicking on the categories to the right. You will see some interesting topics and new ways of approaching foreign language teaching. You’ll also see posts describing proficiency-based speaking and writing activities available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Read the comments and decide if these products will help you foster language proficiency in your classroom.

Here are some posts to get started:

French Tab Books to Learn, Practice and Apply Grammar and Vocabulary

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I wrote a post recently on foreign language class lesson planning that follows the “Learn, Practice, Apply” sequence that I learned about from the teachers that I work with in Nicaragua. I have found this simple framework very useful when planning lessons and activities in my foreign language classroom. I created these French Tab Books that follow this sequence.

The first pages provide scaffolded notes so that students get familiar with the new material, then they practice the material on the next pages, and finally students apply the material on the last page. The “apply” stage is often left out when teaching new material. These tab books assure that students get to this stage in the learning process.

French Tab Books

Setting Up the Tab Book:
-Cut the pages in half on the dotted line.
-Cut out the box on the bottom of each page along the dotted lines.

-Place the pages on top of each other so that the tabs are visible on the bottom. Students can highlight the tab titles.
-Staple the pages together in the upper right corner. Students can also highlight the tabs on the bottom.

French Tab Books

These Tab Books can be glued into an interactive notebook and/or referenced as needed when reviewing. It has all the information needed to review in one convenient place.

You can get over 30 versions of these French Tab Books by clicking the link below.

French Tab Books

Assessing Proficiency with Student-Friendly Can Do Statements

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The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines are a very helpful tool in the Foreign/World Language Classroom. They provide teachers and students with clear guidelines and descriptions to assess proficiency levels. They are also an effective tool for students and teachers to set achievable and concrete goals.

The ACTFL Can Do Statements provide detailed examples of what students could/should be able to do at each proficiency level. The challenge I have personally had with the Can Do Statements is using them for various age and developmental levels. There are some Can Do statements that address such things as making reservations and asking questions about particular academic subjects. While these are very applicable to older students, they are not developmentally appropriate for younger students. For this reason I have developed, with the help of a few colleagues, Student-Friendly Can Do Statements. These statements honor the text type (individual words and phrases, discrete sentences, connected sentences, paragraphs) of the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines, but are more applicable to elementary, middle school and high school students.

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Posted in Classroom Procedures, Speaking, Teaching Methodology and Research

Tagged ACTFL, Foreigh Langauge, french, language learning, spanish

Target Language Use and Student Accountability

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Language teachers know the importance of target language use in the classroom. Regular exposure and interaction with the language leads to acquisition and a higher proficiency level. In order to promote, expect and respect the use of the target language in the classroom teachers should support students by creating a classroom community that makes students feel safe taking risks with the language and teach the tools needed to communicate. Students should also know their proficiency level and be personally accountable for their commitment to using the target language and striving to raise their proficiency level.

In my classroom I have a 20 point rubric that I use to assess students each week on four focus areas: Community, Commitment, Proficiency, and Preparation.

Each category is based a five point scale. Students are aware of these criteria and they are posted in the classroom so that they can be references regularly. I typically grade each student myself for the first few weeks of the school year and then students self-assess, but I of course reserve the right to modify the self-assessment grade if necessary. The grade is given holistically for the entire week. Here is the breakdown of each category:

Community:

5 Choices and interactions enhance the classroom community.
4 Choices and interactions almost always enhance the classroom community.
3 Choices and interactions sometimes enhance the classroom community.
2 Choices and interactions often hinder the classroom community.
1 Choices and interactions regularly hinder the classroom community.

For recommendations on classroom community building see my post on Building a Community of Confidence.

Commitment:

5 Always speaks target language and circumlocutes.
4 Always speaks target language with some effort to circumlocute.
3 Makes an effort to speak target language, but need to circumlocute more.
2 Resorts to native language; no circumlocution.
1 Little use of target language.

For tools and strategies for students to remain in the target language see my posts on circumlocution, functional chunks and language ladders.

Proficiency:

5 Regularly speaks at expected proficiency level and strives to speak above level.
4 Regularly speaks at expected proficiency level.
3 Usually speaks at expected proficiency level and below level at times.
2 Regularly speaks below proficiency level.
1 Always speaks below proficiency level.

See my post on Foreign Language Goal Setting Using ACTFL Proficiency Levels to learn about assessing students’ proficiency levels.

Preparation:

5 Punctual, has all materials, assignments complete.
4 Punctual, has most materials, assignments complete.
3 Punctual, has all materials, assignments incomplete.
2 Late or missing materials.
1 Late or missing materials, assignments incomplete.

Try out this rubric system and modify to fit the needs and of your individual classroom. I’m sure you will see an increase in student accountability for using the target language and you will feel confident that you are supporting your student in their language proficiency growth.

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Posted in Classroom Procedures, Speaking, Teaching Methodology and Research

Tagged ACTFL, community, Foreigh Langauge, french, language, language learning, spanish

90%+ Target Language Use, Questions and Answers

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How do we get to 90%+ target language use in the foreign language classroom? We need to rethink how we have been teaching over the past few decades and be willing to leave some of it behind. Traditional teaching practices were not designed to promote a high percentage of target language use.

If you want to get to 90%+ target language use in the classroom reflect on your teaching through the lens of these four questions and recommendations. Take some time to contemplate how you can move your teaching in a direction that is more proficiency-based and promotes regular and confident use of the target language in your classroom.

Q1: Are prompts and tasks at the appropriate proficiency level?
R1: Assess the proficiency level of students to make sure that prompts are not above students’ proficiency level.

Q2. Do students have the language tools they need to communicate?
R2: Teach functional chunks, language ladders, and circumlocution so that students have the language they need and don’t resort to the native language.

Q3. Are students held accountable for using the target language?
R3: Include goal setting, consistency, commitment and proficiency in grade.

Q4. Are all the students actively engaged and interested?
R4: Provide choice and opportunity for personal interest and active engagement.

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Posted in Classroom Procedures, Speaking, Teaching Methodology and Research

Tagged ACTFL, Foreigh Langauge, french, Langauge Learning, spanish

Introducing Writing in the Novice Level Foreign Language Classroom

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I’ve been working on writing with my novice mid class (3rd graders). They are consistently in the novice mid range when speaking.

Introducing Writing in the Novice Level Foreign (World) Language Classroom (French, Spanish) wlteacher.wordpress.com

In this activity I first gave students a sheet with pictures of words that they know well orally and have seen written. They wrote in the words as they remember them (challenging in French because there are lots of unpronounced letters..but their spelling is recognizable to a sympathetic reader). I then gave them picture sentences and they wrote the sentences using their reference sheet. In this video I am going around and asking students to “read” the sentences without looking at what they wrote.

In a follow-up they cut out the sentences that they wrote and the individual pictures. They then reconstructed the picture sentence based on what they wrote. This is helpful to reinforce syntax.

French and Spanish Vocabulary and Grammar Tab Books

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I recently wrote a post on foreign language class lesson planning that follows the “Learn, Practice, Apply” sequence that I learned about from the teachers that I work with in Nicaragua. I have found this simple framework very useful when planning lessons and activities in my foreign language classroom. I created Tab Books on a number of French and Spanish vocabulary and grammar topics that follow this sequence.

Setting Up the Tab Book:
-Cut the pages in half on the dotted line.
-Cut out the box on the bottom of each page along the dotted lines.

-Place the pages on top of each other so that the tabs are visible on the bottom. Students can highlight the tab titles.
-Staple the pages together in the upper right corner.
-These Tab Books can be glued into an interactive notebook and/or referenced as needed when reviewing. It has all the information needed to review in one convenient place.

You can get over 50 versions of these French and Spanish Tab Books by clicking the links below.

3 Comments

Posted in Activities and Games, Classroom Procedures, Writing

Tagged ACTFL, Foreigh Langauge, french, Langauge Learning, spanish, Writing

Foreign Language Lesson Planning

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I learn a lot from the teachers that I work with when volunteering in Nicaragua. These are teachers that have very limited resources and often don’t see their students regularly. For various reasons children are unable to come to school. Many times they must help cart water to their houses from a distance or there is a need to stay with younger siblings our cousins while parents work. The reality is that the Panamá School teachers must take full advantage of the time that they have with their students to make everything that what they teach is directly applicable to the lives of their students. There is a mantra among the teachers, “APA…Aprendo, Practico, Aplico,” which means “Learn, Practice, Apply.”

Foreign (World) Language Lesson Planning (French, Spanish) wlteacher.wordpress.com

They explained to me that is not a good use of the kids’ time to learn and practice anything in school if there is not a clear and obvious application to their lives. It’s a simple, yet profound, way of approaching education that I try to keep in mind as I plan my foreign language class lessons. It’s a small change in approach, but now I first consider how the structure or vocabulary could be applied to accomplish a task (apply) and let that inform how students will learn and then practice it. If I simply consider the learning and practicing and only get to the application if there is time I have not made the best use of my students’ (and my) time. Here is a post that describes activities that I have created using “Learn,Practice, Apply.”

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Posted in Classroom Procedures, Teaching Methodology and Research

Tagged ACTFL, Foreigh Langauge, french, language learning, spanish

Tag Archives: Foreigh Langauge

Speaking Activity with Playing Cards (The Path)

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The Role of Short and Long-Term Memory in Language Learning

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Staying Up-To-Date in the Changing-World of Foreign Language Teaching

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French Tab Books to Learn, Practice and Apply Grammar and Vocabulary

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Assessing Proficiency with Student-Friendly Can Do Statements

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Target Language Use and Student Accountability

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90%+ Target Language Use, Questions and Answers

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Introducing Writing in the Novice Level Foreign Language Classroom

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French and Spanish Vocabulary and Grammar Tab Books

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Foreign Language Lesson Planning

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