My English grammar improved when I began to teach French grammar to my students. This is true for me and possibly for many other World Language colleagues. Then why is the “English and French grammar are difficult” perspective projected onto our students. At the unit’s grammar structure or grammar tense, a teacher freezes and proceeds to teach the moment in English so that students can understand.
Hmmm. Our intention is positive – lower the affective filter for our students so that they don’t stress. Show them the comparison between the two languages. We just want them to feel the moment that we felt when we saw how English grammar is connected to French grammar.
Yet in reality, it is possible to lower their affective filter and teach French grammar in French – or teach Spanish grammar in Spanish – or teach German grammar in German. I can do both at the same time because the two moments are not mutually exclusive. How can teaching French grammar in French go hand-in-hand?
Routines and rituals.
Meaning before Form.
In this blog post, I explain the first two of the four tips to teach basic French grammar in French. Next week’s blog post covers tips #3 and #4 followed by future posts about le passé composé and l’imparfait.
French Grammar in French – Tip #1 Routines and Rituals
To lay the groundwork for teaching French grammar in French, I need to mention that I teach 90% or more in French. For Exploratory French or French 1, I am at 80% French with 20% English. Starting at level 2 and above, I am at 90-100% in French at all times with one exception: Social Emotional Learning (SEL).
When I teach in French, I work to use routines to lower the affective filter of my students each time they come to class. The French I speak is:
- planned, intentional, and teacher talk
- blanketed with comprehension questions to ensure they are “with me” as I speak
- accompanied by Total Physical Response (TPR) with mountains of gestures, visuals, partner activities, and tons of modeling and repetition
- scaffolded input with multiple daily opportunities for students to show me their scaffolded output before we move on
- woven into classroom routines and rituals
My students know:
- they actively listen with their ears, eyes, and hands
- they do not need to understand 100% of what they hear
- they show me their understanding of the lesson every day by
- answering yes/no, either/or, & open-ended questions
- participating orally with their partner in all activities
- drawing or acting out an answer, holding up a card, or writing the answer on their whiteboard
- every lesson or activity moves them towards the unit’s final summative and I explicitly show them how each lesson fits together into the big summative idea
- there are never surprises or guessing on tests or with what I’d like them to learn for the day or the week
French Grammar in French – Tip #2 Meaning before Form
Meaning before form is an educational idea that emphasizes the function of the language before the written form of the language. Meaning before form is:
- to understand when to use the French grammar point or structure
- This answers the question “Why are we learning this?”.
- to put a language function and context to the French grammar point or structure
- to create multiple opportunities and situations for students to practice over several contexts
- to connect the grammar point to keywords and gestures and lock in the connection
- to understand when not to use the French grammar point or structure
- This prevents students from over-generalizing a French grammar point or reverting back to a previously learned grammar structure.
French Grammar in French – More Thoughts
The idea of teaching grammar in the target language is not a perfectly planned series of steps. Consider some of the routines, rituals, and ideas surrounding the concept of how to teach grammar in the target language. Teaching grammar in context is not a one-way flight but rather a slow journey of walking across the country while putting your own routines into place.
For a series of blog posts on teaching in the target language, check out: part 1 titled “How to teach 90% or more in the target language” (advanced levels). Part 2 in that series is “How to teach 90% or more in the target language?” (beginning levels).
This series of blog posts continues next week with specific examples for French 1 / Beginning French students and moves all the way to le passé composé (past tense), l’imparfait (imperfect tense), le futur simple (future tense), and le subjonctif (the subjunctive).
Join me on my YouTube channel (L’Essentiel French Resources) to watch my blogs and connect with me on Instagram (L’Essentiel French Resources) as well.
My name is Lisa and I am on this French grammar journey with you. I enjoy being your new French colleague. How can I help you tomorrow?
