English isn't Enough!

Talk the Talk is an outstanding publication by the British Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences advocating for the importance of learning world languages. It highlights the importance of language study for career advancement and for the joy of it with brief interviews with successful polyglots. I love that the interviews are with a diverse group of men and women, some of whom admit to having difficulty with languages at first. Inspire your students and come back to school with a colorful and relevant answer to the question, "Why do I need to learn another language?"

Active Listening Series, Part 7: Heritage Language and Near Native Speakers

How do you keep your heritage language and near native speakers engaged in your course? This is a major differentiation challenge, especially when there is not a separate course for such students. I had the experience of teaching a few heritage speakers each year in a school where there was only a beginner French course. Such students come in feeling quite confident because they understand everything you say in the target language, and any spoken language or listening activity you give them is a piece of cake for them. Instead of finding the course to be an exciting opportunity to share their cultural heritage with other students and to expand their capacity to utilize the language in both formal and informal communicative settings, heritage speakers will often disconnect from the course out of boredom if we aren't there to keep them challenged and interested. But how do you get them to take their speaking and listening to the next level (I will address heritage speakers' reading and writing skills in an upcoming post)?

1. For goodness sake, make it really fun! Differentiating your course for your heritage speakers shouldn't feel punitive for the teacher or the student. Don't make it feel like more work-make it feel like more play! We world language teachers got into our profession because using language as the key to unlocking another culture excites us. Join your heritage speakers on this journey.

2. Make them feel special, not singled out for extra work. Give them some special treatment in the form of really exciting projects, and they will surely enrich the entire class. Make it feel special. Let them use an iPad, a laptop or desktop, or download the tech resource to their smart phone to use with headphones. Some heritage students will long for the "easy A" they could earn by conjugating "to be."

3. Reinforce their heritage. Any time you can refer back to the student's home culture, add to the student's knowledge or better yet, have the student teach you something new, the better.

4. Use The ABC Approach. In her compelling book, Can We Talk About Race?, as well as in her article entitled "The ABC Approach to Creating Climates of Engagement on Diverse Campuses," Spellman College President Dr. Beverly Tatum expounds on three habits of mind that educators must embody: Affirming Identity, Building Community and Cultivating Leadership. These techniques are just as true in primary and secondary schools as they are in post-secondary education.

5. Use technology. Listening to other native speakers is what is going to expand your heritage speakers' vocabulary and range. Find podcasts on topics that grab a teenager's interest (love, relationships, psychology, sports, etc), videos of news reports that relate to the student's country of origin, episodes of a compelling show, music videos, or any other resource you can think of. Before you even get started researching a course of study for your heritage student(s), ask them what their interests are. You are sure to get deeper engagement, deeper learning and better productivity when your students get a choice.

6. Same Rubric, But Go Beyond. We all know that sometimes creating a separate course of study for a few heritage students in the class doesn't feel sustainable or realistic.  Take the rubric you are currently using for the whole class, and offer modifications. For example, if you are doing a unit on clothing and students are creating projects about their favorite looks, you might engage your heritage language students in sharing clothing worn for traditional celebrations and get them to elaborate on their significance. Challenge them to go beyond  and to share their culture with the class.

What have been your successes, challenges and approaches to teaching heritage language students?

Active Listening Series, Part 6: Partner Listening

Partnerships are the core of my French class. Why? Communication occurs when there is a message that is sent and received. With partnerships, everyone gets more of a chance to actively participate and be held accountable for producing writing or speaking and listening. With a class size of 25-30 students, this is crucial for skill development. The partnerships are typically heterogeneous by skill level, although at times I do pair students at the same level. Friendships and positive peer relationships often form between unlikely pairs in my classes because the challenge of learning a new language exposes the vulnerable side of many students. Finally, the classroom setting is an artificial one; one on one or small group conversations are the norm in real life, so I want students to experience that kind of communication in the target language.

One of my favorite techniques is the information gap activity. I love to create them by using students names when I can, and I can tailor any activity to incorporate the vocabulary or grammatical function we are studying. It is a flexible activity that requires exclusive speaking, listening, and writing in the target language. I circulate with my clipboard to ensure that I don't hear any English, and if I do, students lose points. Most students don't "cheat" in this way, because they are motivated by the challenge of engaging in a French conversation with their partner. 

When creating an info gap, ensure that you have a document just for Partner A and just for Partner B. One has information that the other students needs, and vice versa. For example, imagine that students are having a discussion with their sibling or future college roommate about the division of chores. Each student has a list of possible chores, and based on whether they would be willing to complete each chore, they write "oui" or "non" on the checklist. Students take turns asking each other questions, such as "Est-ce que tu acceptes de passer l'aspirateur chaque week-end?" As Partner A listens to Parter B's answers, she makes a note on her checklist about what her partner said. Partner B does the same. Each student must separately complete a summary paragraph stating who will complete each chore.  

Active Listening Series, Part 5: Self-Reflective Listening

Students are used to listening to their teachers and their peers...but they could also use practice listening to themselves! This is not only a strategy that will lead to improved pronunciation, but it will also enhance mindfulness and auto-correction of errors (especially the most common ones that you are TIRED of addressing!).

One way that I have had success with this practice is through the use of voice recordings. Those headphones serve the students well! By recording projects using a VoiceThread, a movie maker or even a simple application like www.voki.com (fun talking avatar!), students can record a prepared text. In theory, they should be doing their best work as they record, since they are producing a project that is visible on the web and is preferably published on a class blog or wiki. But we know that even our best work almost always contains some errors, and learning to reflect upon our work and identify our own strengths and weaknesses is not only a critical academic skill, but a life skill that will serve our students forever.

You will definitely need to model what it looks like to complete a listening evaluation of oneself. You might record a demo project yourself. Using a projector, project the checklist/rubric of requirements for an excellent recording. Demonstrate what it looks like to listen for each element of the checklist. Think aloud. Call on students to assist. Make it a fully interactive reflection session so that students are aware of what you are asking them to do. Make sure they understand that they DO posess the skills necessary to do this. They may use their notebooks, their text books, online dictionaries that offer pronunciation, Quizlets or podcasts you have made...any resource that supports their learning is great.

Give students an opportunity to find their errors, and also to correct them for an improved score on a project. When growth, improvement and self-reflection become clear classroom goals, your students will feel empowered and motivated to speak the target language more mindfully and accurately.