Help – I speak too much English in my levels 3, 4 and 5 classes! So how to begin teaching in the target language? Read on, my colleague, or check out my YouTube channel to watch the video version.. This blog post will focus on increasing the teacher’s use of the target language in upper level French, Spanish, and World Language classes even in classes with more reading, writing, and grammar in the curriculum. Part 2 in this series will focus on teaching 90% in the target language in levels 1 and 2 in World Languages.
ACTFL recommends that teachers use 90% or more when teaching in the target language (except for in an immersion setting where 100% target language is best practice). Take the teaching suggestions that work for your personality and also consider stepping out of your comfort zone a bit. Find one or more ideas that to keep you teaching in the target language and implement them with fidelity the next time you step foot in your classroom. You don’t have to wait for the beginning of a school year to begin teaching in the target language.
How to begin teaching in the target language?
Do I get my students speaking more French or Spanish so that I can speak more French or Spanish or vice versa? The answer is yes. Both need to happen at the same time. When my students give up using the target language, then I also give teaching in the target language so I set my students up for success at their level. Therefore, I am heavy on speaking activities for students aimed at their proficiency level.
This doesn’t mean I spoon-feed my upper level kids but rather I find their success moments all day, every day, week after week, month after month in each of the four skill areas: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. I adjust expectations for the daily or weekly lessons to just beyond their capability and work to level up their language learning with:
- Scaffolded comprehension checks as I speak in French (yes/no, either/or, open-ended questions)
- An understanding of their current proficiency level(s) and work to level up their language
- Words to phrases to simple sentences to strings of simple sentences to complex sentences to paragraph-length discourse
- Realistic expectations of them as they get used to you speaking 90% in French or Spanish – just because you can speak in complete sentences doesn’t mean they all of a sudden can speak in complete sentences
- Provide supports to take them to the next level
- Sentence starters, prompts, task cards, partner activities
- Scaffolded language input by me (using pictures, gestures, videos with the sound turned off, start with the big picture idea then move to the little detailed vocabulary)
- Scaffolded language output by them (give students multiple opportunities to say and write their new knowledge about the topic)
- Start with yes/no questions then either/or then open-ended questions
- First they understand the concept / idea in the target language then they move to talking about it.
- Asking them to understand the new concept or idea and expecting language production at the same time is stressful for many students.
- Total Physical Response (TPR) – yes, even at the upper levels of literature, grammar, and heavy thematic units, students still need to connect movement with new language and structures
- Clearly stated expectations (can-do statements / target outcomes / learning objectives) – students should be able to articulate what they are learning and why each day to someone who asks
- Routines – having routines will ease their stress when you are speaking 90% in the target language
- How do you start class?
- How do you end class?
- How do you set up speaking activities?
- How do you model what you expect them to do and say during the activity?
- If you are expecting them to speak French or Spanish yet you are explaining the activity in English, then they are not seeing the need for speaking more French or Spanish themselves.
How to teach grammar in the target language?
You’re in the right place for this question. I dedicated an entire blog post to How to teach grammar in French or Spanish. In a nutshell, my philosophy is meaning before form. This goes back to making sure they understand the concept of when and how to use the grammar before you teach them how to write it.
Listening precedes speaking. Speaking precedes reading and writing. So then why do World Language teachers start with verb conjugations? Because it’s concrete and visual. We think that this helps the students feel better about the grammar so we start with writing then try to work our way back to speaking. The brain doesn’t always work that way. Stay teaching in the target language by highlighting the meaning (listening and speaking activities) before switching to form (reading and writing activities).
To better transition from meaning to form over the first few days, are students able to identify parts of a sentence (subject, verb, conjugated verb, infinitive, and ending)? If students do not understand these words, consider separate and distinct lessons to teach the grammar vocabulary with a concept they already understand.
Teaching the grammatical parts of a sentence to upper level students is a great activity as a review of present tense, for example. Reinforce these words throughout all units and when you arrive at a new French grammar point, teaching in the target language becomes easier to do.
Teaching l’imparfait in French or el imperfecto in Spanish
Teaching the imperfect tense in the target language is very realistic. The grammar concept should be part of a larger thematic unit that provides context for why the grammar structure is being taught. When introducing the grammar concept, start with their listening skills and visual skills. Can they hear and see the difference between the le passé composé/l’imparfait or the preterite/imperfect? Use yes/no and either/or questions to gauge their French or Spanish grammar comprehension.
I sometimes work an entire 30 minutes with different listening and viewing activities and videos to have them hear and see the difference before we start working on when to use it. Once I know they can hear the difference, then I move to “When to use l’imparfait vs le passé composé?”. Again, as I give examples of the two in French, I am only asking yes/no and either/or questions.
Grammar in French or Spanish in the upper levels can be stressful for students. I lower their affective filters by asking only yes/no and either/or questions during the first 2-3 days of the passé composé/imparfait unit so that they show me:
- Can they hear the difference?
- Can they identify if the sentence is the present tense, past tense, or the imperfect tense?
- Can they identify when to use one or the other?
- Can they see the difference in sentences to tell me how frequently that event happened in the past?
While I only expect yes/no and either/or answers, there are times when I expect my French students to give me complete sentences: “C’est l’imparfait. C’est le passé composé. On utilise l’imparfait. On utilise le passé composé.”.
By using many examples in French, by asking yes/no and either/or questions, and by focusing my objectives on the meaning of l’imparfait vs le passé composé, I am able to teach the imperfect grammar tense in French from the start of the unit and continue through to the end.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers think that “the waiting is the hardest part” but it’s actually your consistency that is the hardest part. Follow-through. Regularity. Perseverance. Persistence. All of those traits in your classroom as you shift to 90% or more target language. Continue on in this series of posts for more ideas on teaching in the target language at any level.
My name is Lisa and I love being your new French colleague. How can I help you tomorrow?
Continue to Part 2 in this series on how to teach more in the target language.
