Discuss the role of emotional language in your L1 and L2. Which language is emotionally richer. As your learners acquire (participate?) in their new speech communities do you see a change in their emotional language behavior.
I believe that there are certain things (not only emotional) that are better expressed in a language rather than in another, but based on my own limited, personal experience, I don’t think that any given language is emotionally richer than another. A language may have more “colorful” expressions than other, or may “sound” softer, but I believe that all languages can be emotionally rich. They may express emotions differently, but humans are emotional creatures and language(s) is the vehicle we use to express ourselves, including our emotions.
However, I’ve noticed that some people express their emotions better in a certain language sometimes because they feel less inhibited in that language. For example, I’ve met Japanese women that would speak more freely in English, but it was because when speaking Japanese, they would feel the “restrictions” their culture would impose upon them. Also, they were speaking to non-Japanese people, and that added to their feeling less inhibited than when they spoke to other Japanese people.
Another factor that may determine favoring one language instead of another would be the level of fluency of that language, the level to which that language has been “internalized”. When a language is still in a “mediated” stage (we have to think about what we are saying, translate, etc), it’s very hard to access it fluently when we are in an “emotional” state. I heard long time ago that one can be considered really fluent in a language when one can get very angry in that language. Also, the extent to which a person can access words and expressions and use them properly determines whether they’ll feel they are being effective in expressing their emotions. For example, it’s not easy to master the use of the “F” word as a noun, adjective and adverb, so that it can be manipulated to express one’s emotions.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Reflection # 8 Form-focused Vs. Communicative
What is it going to be form-focused or communicative or a combination of both. Back up your thoughts with some of the studies in LS Ch. 6.
I firmly believe in combining form-focused and communicative. In the test conducted by Sauvignon, not surprisingly, the group that had an extra hour a week of “communication” performed better on the four communicative tests. However, this study didn’t prove the inefficacy of form-focused; it just proved the efficacy of meaning-based instruction and the importance of practicing in real life the skills acquired. So, in conclusion, it proved the validity of the combination of the two approaches. In the studies conducted in the Canadian ESL classrooms by Spada, Lightbown and White, where there was an absence of form instruction, the students continued to have problems with linguistic accuracy even though they had good communicative competence, while in other of their studies, students that received explicit instruction on the differences in possessive determiners in English and French displayed better use of these features than the group that didn’t receive this kind of instruction.
I think most the studies in LS Ch. 6 show that the combination of form and communicative approaches leads to both communicative competence and accuracy, but my impression is that most (if not all) these studies involved motivated students. A different case (as the authors point out on page 140) is the case of public schools with students with all levels of motivation (or lack thereof) and where most students only take a foreign language for two years and don’t further the language study or use. Considering that after studying a language in high school for two years, students are going to forget it and will be unable to use it to communicate, may be (just maybe) the old form-focused translation-and-memorization-based approach at least permitted students to get to know how a certain foreign language “works”, for example, the Latin declensions, the nominative, the genitive, etc, and they could use that knowledge to speak their own language better. The way FL (I’m NOT speaking of ESL) is taught today in our high schools leave most students without communicative competence and without any (or very little) knowledge of the FL form. However, I don’t advocate going back to teaching foreign languages in an all form-focused way; I personally would die of boredom teaching it, or I’d be killed by some of my bored students!
I firmly believe in combining form-focused and communicative. In the test conducted by Sauvignon, not surprisingly, the group that had an extra hour a week of “communication” performed better on the four communicative tests. However, this study didn’t prove the inefficacy of form-focused; it just proved the efficacy of meaning-based instruction and the importance of practicing in real life the skills acquired. So, in conclusion, it proved the validity of the combination of the two approaches. In the studies conducted in the Canadian ESL classrooms by Spada, Lightbown and White, where there was an absence of form instruction, the students continued to have problems with linguistic accuracy even though they had good communicative competence, while in other of their studies, students that received explicit instruction on the differences in possessive determiners in English and French displayed better use of these features than the group that didn’t receive this kind of instruction.
I think most the studies in LS Ch. 6 show that the combination of form and communicative approaches leads to both communicative competence and accuracy, but my impression is that most (if not all) these studies involved motivated students. A different case (as the authors point out on page 140) is the case of public schools with students with all levels of motivation (or lack thereof) and where most students only take a foreign language for two years and don’t further the language study or use. Considering that after studying a language in high school for two years, students are going to forget it and will be unable to use it to communicate, may be (just maybe) the old form-focused translation-and-memorization-based approach at least permitted students to get to know how a certain foreign language “works”, for example, the Latin declensions, the nominative, the genitive, etc, and they could use that knowledge to speak their own language better. The way FL (I’m NOT speaking of ESL) is taught today in our high schools leave most students without communicative competence and without any (or very little) knowledge of the FL form. However, I don’t advocate going back to teaching foreign languages in an all form-focused way; I personally would die of boredom teaching it, or I’d be killed by some of my bored students!
Friday, June 15, 2007
Reflection # 7. Affective filters
From your experience, what are some of the affective factors that you encounter in your classrooms? How do they interfere in learning?How do lower the affective filter?
Teaching high school I found that maybe the most common affective factor that interfered with students’ learning was inhibition; teenagers have very high wall of protection around their developing –many times wounded- egos. Those inhibitions come out in different ways, sometimes even in the form of extreme extroversion or I’m-in-total-control-in-here attitude, borderline aggression, etc. What do I do in general to create an environment where students feel at ease? The main thing I do is to lead by example, the second is to really, genuinely, care for them and see them as people, trying to see beyond their outer faces and masks. Besides being my students in my classroom (perhaps giving me a very hard time), they are people with who knows what problems in their lives. Do I get ALL my students ‘hooked’ this way? No! And that’s where the ones that don’t pass are. But at least, I think that in some way I’ve been a positive presence in their lives and perhaps as a result, they will someday complete their education and do well in life. Just few days ago, I met a former student at a Target store. The kind of nightmare student no one wants to have, I’ve had her for only one semester (thank goodness), she had come from another district where her Spanish teacher was a friend of mine who told me about the student background (lived all her life in foster homes, had had a baby that was in foster home too, etc, etc, etc), she was 17 and didn’t know what Prom was…Well, anyway, I saw her at Target and hugged her, said hello and stuff and I said, well, good to see you Laporacha. She was almost in tears; she said: “Oh my God, you remember my name!, what was your name?- ‘Ms. Arzoumanian, honey, it’s really hard to remember’- I said”. I think (or hope) that the fact that I treated her with warmth and respect meant something for her. Anyway, that brings me to the modeling I did for my HS students. From the first day, I started learning their names (keep in mind that a HS teacher has an average of 140 students) and for the first few days or weeks I wouldn’t let them tell me their names, but I would ask for the first letter, for example, or do “wait, that’s Matthew, that’s Kate…you are…Stephanie?, no, no that’s Stephanie over there, right?...wait! don’t tell me yet! First letter? J? Jennifer!... And I’d tell them that when you are learning something (anything) you usually don’t learn it at the first try, but that it’s a process, sometimes long. Also, in the process, you are going to forget and make mistakes and that’s totally fine and can even be FUN. I also would allow and even promote making fun of some things about me (in a respectful way), like me saying “somefing” or “atteshon”. There was always humor and laughter in my class (but when I got mad at them, they would respond immediately).
I also would take any opportunity I had to put myself in the position of the learner and my students in the position of the teacher. I would for example ask about the right pronunciation of an English word, or ask them about something regarding computers, I once asked a male student once about what gel he used for his hair (for my husband) and that’s the gel my husband uses until now, I’d ask girls about good stores to shop, or make up tricks, etc. And believe me; I learned a lot from my students! One student I loved (but he was “bad” in other classes) made me a graffiti sign with my name for my classroom and at the end of the year he made me one with my son’s name for his room! Ok, people, I better stop here; I really get carried away when I start talking about my students J Sorry, but I really like to talk about my students. But the point here is what I did to help lower their effective filter.
Many of you work with children. What are some of the issues concerning motivation with children? How do address motivation in the classroom? Can you motivate them or does motivation come from within?
I think that what I said above helps also with students’ motivation. When there is a good relationship between students and teachers, the kids feel good about themselves and want to keep on ‘performing’ well (intrinsic). They also want to ‘please’ the teacher. Also, when a class is ‘fun’ and they feel at ease, they are motivated to be there and try their best.
Teaching high school I found that maybe the most common affective factor that interfered with students’ learning was inhibition; teenagers have very high wall of protection around their developing –many times wounded- egos. Those inhibitions come out in different ways, sometimes even in the form of extreme extroversion or I’m-in-total-control-in-here attitude, borderline aggression, etc. What do I do in general to create an environment where students feel at ease? The main thing I do is to lead by example, the second is to really, genuinely, care for them and see them as people, trying to see beyond their outer faces and masks. Besides being my students in my classroom (perhaps giving me a very hard time), they are people with who knows what problems in their lives. Do I get ALL my students ‘hooked’ this way? No! And that’s where the ones that don’t pass are. But at least, I think that in some way I’ve been a positive presence in their lives and perhaps as a result, they will someday complete their education and do well in life. Just few days ago, I met a former student at a Target store. The kind of nightmare student no one wants to have, I’ve had her for only one semester (thank goodness), she had come from another district where her Spanish teacher was a friend of mine who told me about the student background (lived all her life in foster homes, had had a baby that was in foster home too, etc, etc, etc), she was 17 and didn’t know what Prom was…Well, anyway, I saw her at Target and hugged her, said hello and stuff and I said, well, good to see you Laporacha. She was almost in tears; she said: “Oh my God, you remember my name!, what was your name?- ‘Ms. Arzoumanian, honey, it’s really hard to remember’- I said”. I think (or hope) that the fact that I treated her with warmth and respect meant something for her. Anyway, that brings me to the modeling I did for my HS students. From the first day, I started learning their names (keep in mind that a HS teacher has an average of 140 students) and for the first few days or weeks I wouldn’t let them tell me their names, but I would ask for the first letter, for example, or do “wait, that’s Matthew, that’s Kate…you are…Stephanie?, no, no that’s Stephanie over there, right?...wait! don’t tell me yet! First letter? J? Jennifer!... And I’d tell them that when you are learning something (anything) you usually don’t learn it at the first try, but that it’s a process, sometimes long. Also, in the process, you are going to forget and make mistakes and that’s totally fine and can even be FUN. I also would allow and even promote making fun of some things about me (in a respectful way), like me saying “somefing” or “atteshon”. There was always humor and laughter in my class (but when I got mad at them, they would respond immediately).
I also would take any opportunity I had to put myself in the position of the learner and my students in the position of the teacher. I would for example ask about the right pronunciation of an English word, or ask them about something regarding computers, I once asked a male student once about what gel he used for his hair (for my husband) and that’s the gel my husband uses until now, I’d ask girls about good stores to shop, or make up tricks, etc. And believe me; I learned a lot from my students! One student I loved (but he was “bad” in other classes) made me a graffiti sign with my name for my classroom and at the end of the year he made me one with my son’s name for his room! Ok, people, I better stop here; I really get carried away when I start talking about my students J Sorry, but I really like to talk about my students. But the point here is what I did to help lower their effective filter.
Many of you work with children. What are some of the issues concerning motivation with children? How do address motivation in the classroom? Can you motivate them or does motivation come from within?
I think that what I said above helps also with students’ motivation. When there is a good relationship between students and teachers, the kids feel good about themselves and want to keep on ‘performing’ well (intrinsic). They also want to ‘please’ the teacher. Also, when a class is ‘fun’ and they feel at ease, they are motivated to be there and try their best.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Reflection # 6
Re the Whorfian hypothesis: Are there concepts or ways of saying things in one of the languages that you speak that can not be said or expressed or the meaning changes in another of your languages?
Yes, there are many things that exist in one (or some) languages but not in others because they express customs, values or beliefs that those languages/cultures don’t share. For example, in Japan when a member of the family goes out, they say 1-)“itte kimasu” ; the people staying at the house respond 2-) “itte irasshai”; then when the people return they say 3- “tadaima” and the response to that is 4-) “okaerinasai”. 1 means ‘I’m leaving and coming back’ and 2 is ‘go and come back’; 3 is ‘just now’ (like ‘I’m back now’) and 4 is ‘welcome back’. Although these patterns are not used in western culture, we can understand these concepts and usages, but it’s harder to explain the expression used when a non family member enters someone’s house and says “ojama shimasu”, meaning “I’m going to bother you” or the famous “itadakimasu” one says at the table when starting to eat, meaning literally “I’m going to partake”, and that can be equated with the French “bon appetite” or the Spanish “buen provecho” (although the meaning is different, the use is similar). Even stranger is when cashiers say the same “itadakimasu” when taking a payment from a customer. How do you say THAT? Well, we just DON’T say it. A westerner learning Japanese will have to really get to thinking like the Japanese people in order to use formalities (essential formalities) like these ones comfortably and properly, not just ‘saying it’.
How do you address culture in your classrooms? Do you go beyond the "holiday" model of culture?
When I was teaching adults in Japan, I had numerous opportunities to address culture in and out of the classroom, like going to the opera (students paid for themselves), bringing cheese and wine (yes, wine) and other “italianities’ to the classroom (the school paid), going to or showing movies, and just talking about the different customs in Italy, like family, work, time off, etc. Here at the high school level, I didn’t do much of the very common Hispanic holiday thing because most of the holidays celebrated here are Mexican and I know nothing (or maybe now I now a little bit more) about 5 de mayo, 16 de septiembre, or dia de los muertos. I did share other cultural elements, some that may be more interesting for teenagers, like the common custom of going out to “walk”, meet at “la esquina”, “la plaza”, “la calle”, “las ramblas” or other public places. How young people have fun and what they do when they meet: dancing (no parties without music and dancing), going to the beach, actually the custom known as “veranear” (to spend the summer somewhere, usually by the sea or “en el campo”). Kids usually find these things more interesting than knowing the flags of the Spanish speaking countries, for example. In HS, I would bring music, magazines, videos and some (appropriate) movies. I would show them how to dance salsa and merengue and they would try to teach me the “bunny dance” (or whatever it was called). A couple of times, the teacher across my room and I had our (good) classes “compete” to see which class would dance better. I also wanted my students to know how in other countries education and health care were free, and why many people didn’t have cars and cars were so small (lay out of towns, everything being walk distance, public transportation being efficient and not just for the “disadvantaged”), and many other things that can be easily misinterpreted (“they are poor, their cars are small”) and that cause misconceptions or that feed on stereotypes. The purpose of my bringing culture into the classroom was mainly to broaden my students’ minds and help them see that there is a whole huge, wonderful world beyond their little noses, hoping to incite them to know more about other cultures, languages, and realities.
Yes, there are many things that exist in one (or some) languages but not in others because they express customs, values or beliefs that those languages/cultures don’t share. For example, in Japan when a member of the family goes out, they say 1-)“itte kimasu” ; the people staying at the house respond 2-) “itte irasshai”; then when the people return they say 3- “tadaima” and the response to that is 4-) “okaerinasai”. 1 means ‘I’m leaving and coming back’ and 2 is ‘go and come back’; 3 is ‘just now’ (like ‘I’m back now’) and 4 is ‘welcome back’. Although these patterns are not used in western culture, we can understand these concepts and usages, but it’s harder to explain the expression used when a non family member enters someone’s house and says “ojama shimasu”, meaning “I’m going to bother you” or the famous “itadakimasu” one says at the table when starting to eat, meaning literally “I’m going to partake”, and that can be equated with the French “bon appetite” or the Spanish “buen provecho” (although the meaning is different, the use is similar). Even stranger is when cashiers say the same “itadakimasu” when taking a payment from a customer. How do you say THAT? Well, we just DON’T say it. A westerner learning Japanese will have to really get to thinking like the Japanese people in order to use formalities (essential formalities) like these ones comfortably and properly, not just ‘saying it’.
How do you address culture in your classrooms? Do you go beyond the "holiday" model of culture?
When I was teaching adults in Japan, I had numerous opportunities to address culture in and out of the classroom, like going to the opera (students paid for themselves), bringing cheese and wine (yes, wine) and other “italianities’ to the classroom (the school paid), going to or showing movies, and just talking about the different customs in Italy, like family, work, time off, etc. Here at the high school level, I didn’t do much of the very common Hispanic holiday thing because most of the holidays celebrated here are Mexican and I know nothing (or maybe now I now a little bit more) about 5 de mayo, 16 de septiembre, or dia de los muertos. I did share other cultural elements, some that may be more interesting for teenagers, like the common custom of going out to “walk”, meet at “la esquina”, “la plaza”, “la calle”, “las ramblas” or other public places. How young people have fun and what they do when they meet: dancing (no parties without music and dancing), going to the beach, actually the custom known as “veranear” (to spend the summer somewhere, usually by the sea or “en el campo”). Kids usually find these things more interesting than knowing the flags of the Spanish speaking countries, for example. In HS, I would bring music, magazines, videos and some (appropriate) movies. I would show them how to dance salsa and merengue and they would try to teach me the “bunny dance” (or whatever it was called). A couple of times, the teacher across my room and I had our (good) classes “compete” to see which class would dance better. I also wanted my students to know how in other countries education and health care were free, and why many people didn’t have cars and cars were so small (lay out of towns, everything being walk distance, public transportation being efficient and not just for the “disadvantaged”), and many other things that can be easily misinterpreted (“they are poor, their cars are small”) and that cause misconceptions or that feed on stereotypes. The purpose of my bringing culture into the classroom was mainly to broaden my students’ minds and help them see that there is a whole huge, wonderful world beyond their little noses, hoping to incite them to know more about other cultures, languages, and realities.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Reflection # 4
Why do you think that it is so difficult for researchers to agree on the CPH (Critical Age Hypothesis). Give explicit examples from the readings. Also give examples from your own experience.
I think the reason for which it’s so difficult (or even impossible) for researchers to agree on CPH is that there are too many factors involved in the processes they are studying: language acquisition and aging. Those two processes are very complex even when taken separately; when trying to combine them, the result is a myriad of possibilities that many times contradict each other. In language learning, for example, there is the field of neurobiology which can explain how language acquisition is localized on different parts of the brain or how different neurons are responsible for different language sectors develop at different ages (Diller, Seliger; Kim, Relkin, Kyoung-Min and Hirsch, Perani et al., Abulatepi et al.). Aging alters (or modifies) the learning process (any learning, not only languages) starting with the language acquisition that may start in utero (Singleton and Ryan), and continuing with the difficulty mature learners have with abstract features (Hawkins among others), the tendency of adolescents to “construct theories” that may inhibit “natural” learning (Inhelder and Piaget), the increased reliance on “problem-solving cognitive structures” (Felix), and many other aspects of maturation that influence the way we learn. Affective-motivational factors also play a role in language learning and in CPH, further complicating it.
I think for educators the most important contribution of CPH is the fact that we can adapt our teaching styles and approaches depending on the age (besides many other things) of our students. For example, keeping in mind that young children have access to UG while adults may not, that adults rely more on problem-solving structures and have difficulties with abstract concepts or features (need for grammar and rules), that children can acquire native pronunciations and accents while adults can’t, etc. These factors can make us decide where we are going to focus on our teaching and how we can better tap into students’ resources.
I have seen examples of people learning a language at 12 and having a native accent, while others still have an accent even learning the language at the same age. However, I think I’ve never seen anyone who learned a language as an adult having a native accent, so I believe that there may be a CP for accent acquisition. I agree with the fact that adults rely more on structures and that we have more difficulty grasping abstract knowledge, in fact, I’ve never seen anyone who acquire (well) a language as an adult without some structured learning, while I’ve seen kids just “getting it” naturally.
I think the reason for which it’s so difficult (or even impossible) for researchers to agree on CPH is that there are too many factors involved in the processes they are studying: language acquisition and aging. Those two processes are very complex even when taken separately; when trying to combine them, the result is a myriad of possibilities that many times contradict each other. In language learning, for example, there is the field of neurobiology which can explain how language acquisition is localized on different parts of the brain or how different neurons are responsible for different language sectors develop at different ages (Diller, Seliger; Kim, Relkin, Kyoung-Min and Hirsch, Perani et al., Abulatepi et al.). Aging alters (or modifies) the learning process (any learning, not only languages) starting with the language acquisition that may start in utero (Singleton and Ryan), and continuing with the difficulty mature learners have with abstract features (Hawkins among others), the tendency of adolescents to “construct theories” that may inhibit “natural” learning (Inhelder and Piaget), the increased reliance on “problem-solving cognitive structures” (Felix), and many other aspects of maturation that influence the way we learn. Affective-motivational factors also play a role in language learning and in CPH, further complicating it.
I think for educators the most important contribution of CPH is the fact that we can adapt our teaching styles and approaches depending on the age (besides many other things) of our students. For example, keeping in mind that young children have access to UG while adults may not, that adults rely more on problem-solving structures and have difficulties with abstract concepts or features (need for grammar and rules), that children can acquire native pronunciations and accents while adults can’t, etc. These factors can make us decide where we are going to focus on our teaching and how we can better tap into students’ resources.
I have seen examples of people learning a language at 12 and having a native accent, while others still have an accent even learning the language at the same age. However, I think I’ve never seen anyone who learned a language as an adult having a native accent, so I believe that there may be a CP for accent acquisition. I agree with the fact that adults rely more on structures and that we have more difficulty grasping abstract knowledge, in fact, I’ve never seen anyone who acquire (well) a language as an adult without some structured learning, while I’ve seen kids just “getting it” naturally.
Friday, June 8, 2007
My learning-styles-online results
I took the test online and here are the results.
The highest score was VERBAL with 18 points, and this wasn't a surprise.
At the second place I got a tie between SOLITARY and SOCIAL both with 14 points!!! Does it mean I'm bi-polar or that a have double personality? :-) No, wait, let's be positive. Let's say that I've become a more "balanced" person with the age. I have to tell my father :-)
Third place was taken by AURAL with 11 points followed closely by LOGICAL with 10 points.
PHYSICAL and VISUAL shared the lowest position with 6 points each.
This was fun and pretty accurate.
The highest score was VERBAL with 18 points, and this wasn't a surprise.
At the second place I got a tie between SOLITARY and SOCIAL both with 14 points!!! Does it mean I'm bi-polar or that a have double personality? :-) No, wait, let's be positive. Let's say that I've become a more "balanced" person with the age. I have to tell my father :-)
Third place was taken by AURAL with 11 points followed closely by LOGICAL with 10 points.
PHYSICAL and VISUAL shared the lowest position with 6 points each.
This was fun and pretty accurate.
Reflection # 3
What is my learning style? I think I’m mainly an auditory learner in the sense that I learn by discussing or listening to discussions. I’m also visual because I find that graphic information such as graphs and pictures help me understand and memorize. In terms of multiple intelligences (I took the test several years ago), I’m first of all verbal with logical and musical sharing the second place. When I learn, I like words, patterns, rules and making logical connections. I learn by listening, talking (even if only in my head, because I think in words), classifying and analyzing info and connecting pieces.
My teaching style is eclectic. On one extreme, I like teaching patterns and “rules”, but I like them only to be used as tools that enable us to manipulate info on our own. For example, the way I use and teach grammar (any language grammar) free learners from grammar dependency and rotten memorization by giving “tricks” that can be applied to a wide range of situations. For example, conjugation in romance languages is essential and usually boring, but I like to show the common aspects of conjugation so that learners can decide by themselves how to conjugate any given verb or how to determine to which category a given verb belongs, even when we don’t know a verb. By knowing certain rules (or “tricks”), and depending on the language, a person can determine if a sentence (or paragraph) is referring to the past, the present or the future; if it’s referring to one or more people, if it’s a command or a wish, etc. So, I teach “rules”, but in a very creative way so that they can be used creatively. I also like using a variety of materials and settings: magazines, role-playing, writing, music, TV shows, etc. I like using “listen and repeat” which is traditionally a very boring method, but I use rhythm and music to make it fun and to help with memorization. For example, I like teaching the Spanish vowels a-e-i-o-u using the “clave” beat (this is the base of the Son Cubano music) and having students clap or use pencils or whatever to create the rhythm. In order to reach students with different learning styles and also to present information in more than one way and have them repeat, practice and use the language without making it boring, I like using as many different resources as I can, even drawing (not in my list of talents J) and coloring.
Learners’ believes. When students disrespect languages it’s very difficult to have them learn. However, teachers can help them see the language from a different perspective, so if they think the language is unimportant or even “stupid”, that there’s no point in studying it, etc, the teacher could show that learning it can at least be “kind of fun”. When I was doing my student teaching at a middle school, there was a boy, Daniel, who was taking Spanish because his father forced him to. He reacted to this imposition by NEVER speaking in class, not even to answer to role taking. He had spent the whole first semester sitting in Spanish class silently and expressionless. Then during the second semester, I took over and started doing games, having them move around, taking them outside the classroom for some activities and they were having fun! One day Daniel wanted to take part in one of our games (a kind of Bingo that you fill out with the answers you get from others) but sadly, he didn’t have the background necessary to do the activity. If I had been his teacher from the beginning of the year, I believe that he would have gotten involved with the class and would have forgotten about his “revenge- against-dad strategy”.
When I get students (or parents) with negative believes about languages, I tend not to preach, but to try to “get” them somewhere they may care, either “hooking” them with the fun or somehow validating (accepting) their resistance and letting them know that despite their dislike or their lack of “talent” (“I don’t like Spanish” or “I’m not good at languages”), they can still “pass”, and hey, who doesn’t want to pass? Many times, my approach is “don’t worry about you not liking Spanish or about you not being good at it, just do it one step at a time with my help, and you’ll pass”, “It’s fine, don’t worry, I’m the same way with math and algebra, but I still passed”, “even if you forget everything you learned here, don’t worry, just learn it now, I understand, I forgot all my math too”. By validating their fears, disinterest and/or lack of linguistic talent, and just having them focus on the present, teachers can (many times) get reluctant students engaged. After all, not everybody likes all subjects and not everybody is good at everything, that’s why there are so many theories on learning styles, personalities and intelligences.
My teaching style is eclectic. On one extreme, I like teaching patterns and “rules”, but I like them only to be used as tools that enable us to manipulate info on our own. For example, the way I use and teach grammar (any language grammar) free learners from grammar dependency and rotten memorization by giving “tricks” that can be applied to a wide range of situations. For example, conjugation in romance languages is essential and usually boring, but I like to show the common aspects of conjugation so that learners can decide by themselves how to conjugate any given verb or how to determine to which category a given verb belongs, even when we don’t know a verb. By knowing certain rules (or “tricks”), and depending on the language, a person can determine if a sentence (or paragraph) is referring to the past, the present or the future; if it’s referring to one or more people, if it’s a command or a wish, etc. So, I teach “rules”, but in a very creative way so that they can be used creatively. I also like using a variety of materials and settings: magazines, role-playing, writing, music, TV shows, etc. I like using “listen and repeat” which is traditionally a very boring method, but I use rhythm and music to make it fun and to help with memorization. For example, I like teaching the Spanish vowels a-e-i-o-u using the “clave” beat (this is the base of the Son Cubano music) and having students clap or use pencils or whatever to create the rhythm. In order to reach students with different learning styles and also to present information in more than one way and have them repeat, practice and use the language without making it boring, I like using as many different resources as I can, even drawing (not in my list of talents J) and coloring.
Learners’ believes. When students disrespect languages it’s very difficult to have them learn. However, teachers can help them see the language from a different perspective, so if they think the language is unimportant or even “stupid”, that there’s no point in studying it, etc, the teacher could show that learning it can at least be “kind of fun”. When I was doing my student teaching at a middle school, there was a boy, Daniel, who was taking Spanish because his father forced him to. He reacted to this imposition by NEVER speaking in class, not even to answer to role taking. He had spent the whole first semester sitting in Spanish class silently and expressionless. Then during the second semester, I took over and started doing games, having them move around, taking them outside the classroom for some activities and they were having fun! One day Daniel wanted to take part in one of our games (a kind of Bingo that you fill out with the answers you get from others) but sadly, he didn’t have the background necessary to do the activity. If I had been his teacher from the beginning of the year, I believe that he would have gotten involved with the class and would have forgotten about his “revenge- against-dad strategy”.
When I get students (or parents) with negative believes about languages, I tend not to preach, but to try to “get” them somewhere they may care, either “hooking” them with the fun or somehow validating (accepting) their resistance and letting them know that despite their dislike or their lack of “talent” (“I don’t like Spanish” or “I’m not good at languages”), they can still “pass”, and hey, who doesn’t want to pass? Many times, my approach is “don’t worry about you not liking Spanish or about you not being good at it, just do it one step at a time with my help, and you’ll pass”, “It’s fine, don’t worry, I’m the same way with math and algebra, but I still passed”, “even if you forget everything you learned here, don’t worry, just learn it now, I understand, I forgot all my math too”. By validating their fears, disinterest and/or lack of linguistic talent, and just having them focus on the present, teachers can (many times) get reluctant students engaged. After all, not everybody likes all subjects and not everybody is good at everything, that’s why there are so many theories on learning styles, personalities and intelligences.
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