The nature of instruction in a foreign language high school classroom is very dynamic. On the one hand, a major focus is placed on essential conversational skills in the target language; on the other hand, foreign language instructors commonly use specific academic language to deconstruct abstract linguistic concepts, and each student’s ability to internalize this academic input largely determines their likelihood to succeed. Furthermore, while academic language differs from the every-day language that the students are learning, the academic language is constantly being woven into the instructional language, which the students are expected to use to develop literacy in the target language. Therefore, the students who master the academic language are far more likely to succeed during classroom instruction, group activities, home work assignments, and finally on formative and summative assessments.
In my classroom, as the teacher models both correct and incorrect ways to produce linguistic concepts, the students learn receptively by receiving the information as they listen to the teacher’s oral instruction, by following along a visual representation via PPT, and finally through reading on a print-out. Once the teacher has finished giving instructions, the students are then expected to learn productively by producing what they have just learned both by discussing in groups as well as through a variety of writing assignments and or activities.
I often rove around the classroom during activities to take note of the varying levels of output quality among my students. Yesterday, as the teacher was going over the answers to a work sheet with the class, I noticed that one student in particular had not even begun to work on the assignment. She sat quietly, unsuspectingly. Had I not taken the time to take a closer look at her paper, she would have easily fallen through the cracks that day as the class moved forward. In order to gauge how much the student understood, I asked her a few questions regarding the new concepts, to which she could not provide the answers. The objective of the lesson was to learn correct usage of indirect object pronouns (IOPs) and direct object pronouns (DOPs). I figured the root of this student’s problem lied in the obscurity of the academic language. So I tried to explain the instructions in terms that she could understand. “All we are really doing here is two things: First, we need choose among ‘le’ and ‘les’—one is singular, and the other is plural. And the main object in each sentence tells us which one to choose. If the main object is singular, we choose ‘le’, or if it plural, we choose ‘les’.” The student was following this explanation, so I proceeded: “Second, we need to put the ‘le’ or ‘les’ into the sentence. And we can either put it before the first verb in the sentence or attach it to the end of the second verb in the sentence.” Then I paused to check whether the student was still with me—she looked confused, and after a brief moment of thought, she asked, “what’s a verb?” Clearly, the level of academic language used in class was not aligned with this student’s level of comprehensible input. I then took time to break down the meaning of a verb as well as a noun, after which we proceeded with the worksheet assignment. To my satisfaction, the student had grasped the concept! And when the teacher called on volunteers to provide answers, she raised her hand with confidence.
As I observed the other foreign language teachers last week, I took note of the different ways they introduced academic language to their students. One teacher would call on at least two students to explain to the class in their own words their understanding of the academic language being taught. And the teacher would only move forward after at least two students had successfully paraphrased the new concepts to the class. I found this strategy to be very helpful as the students would use language that was in line with their peers’ zone of proximal development. Another teacher I observed used a physical object to help her students understand the new concepts—in this case, she used a tennis ball to show the meaning of IOPs and DOPs. The teacher had written the word “Direct Object” on the tennis ball, and she would toss it to a student and say, “I throw the ball”. When the student caught the ball, s(he) would raise it up for the class to read the words, “Direct Object”. Then teacher would say, “Throw the ball to John”, after which she would explain that the direct object—the ball—had been thrown to the indirect object—John. This tangible aid packed the academic language with meaning as well as engaged the students in the activity. Yet another teacher put academic language to music so that it would stick in students’ minds through a catchy jingle.
Academic language clearly poses a formidable challenge to each student’s academic success. And I feel fortunate to have teachers who are modeling for me a variety of ways to help students develop essential conversational skills as well as conceptualize and learn the academic language that they will need to succeed as they upstream through higher levels of foreign language acquisition. As I continue to observe and teach, I feel motivated to explore new ways in which I can help my students develop essential language skills as well as acquire the academic language that will refine their understanding.
In my classroom, as the teacher models both correct and incorrect ways to produce linguistic concepts, the students learn receptively by receiving the information as they listen to the teacher’s oral instruction, by following along a visual representation via PPT, and finally through reading on a print-out. Once the teacher has finished giving instructions, the students are then expected to learn productively by producing what they have just learned both by discussing in groups as well as through a variety of writing assignments and or activities.
I often rove around the classroom during activities to take note of the varying levels of output quality among my students. Yesterday, as the teacher was going over the answers to a work sheet with the class, I noticed that one student in particular had not even begun to work on the assignment. She sat quietly, unsuspectingly. Had I not taken the time to take a closer look at her paper, she would have easily fallen through the cracks that day as the class moved forward. In order to gauge how much the student understood, I asked her a few questions regarding the new concepts, to which she could not provide the answers. The objective of the lesson was to learn correct usage of indirect object pronouns (IOPs) and direct object pronouns (DOPs). I figured the root of this student’s problem lied in the obscurity of the academic language. So I tried to explain the instructions in terms that she could understand. “All we are really doing here is two things: First, we need choose among ‘le’ and ‘les’—one is singular, and the other is plural. And the main object in each sentence tells us which one to choose. If the main object is singular, we choose ‘le’, or if it plural, we choose ‘les’.” The student was following this explanation, so I proceeded: “Second, we need to put the ‘le’ or ‘les’ into the sentence. And we can either put it before the first verb in the sentence or attach it to the end of the second verb in the sentence.” Then I paused to check whether the student was still with me—she looked confused, and after a brief moment of thought, she asked, “what’s a verb?” Clearly, the level of academic language used in class was not aligned with this student’s level of comprehensible input. I then took time to break down the meaning of a verb as well as a noun, after which we proceeded with the worksheet assignment. To my satisfaction, the student had grasped the concept! And when the teacher called on volunteers to provide answers, she raised her hand with confidence.
As I observed the other foreign language teachers last week, I took note of the different ways they introduced academic language to their students. One teacher would call on at least two students to explain to the class in their own words their understanding of the academic language being taught. And the teacher would only move forward after at least two students had successfully paraphrased the new concepts to the class. I found this strategy to be very helpful as the students would use language that was in line with their peers’ zone of proximal development. Another teacher I observed used a physical object to help her students understand the new concepts—in this case, she used a tennis ball to show the meaning of IOPs and DOPs. The teacher had written the word “Direct Object” on the tennis ball, and she would toss it to a student and say, “I throw the ball”. When the student caught the ball, s(he) would raise it up for the class to read the words, “Direct Object”. Then teacher would say, “Throw the ball to John”, after which she would explain that the direct object—the ball—had been thrown to the indirect object—John. This tangible aid packed the academic language with meaning as well as engaged the students in the activity. Yet another teacher put academic language to music so that it would stick in students’ minds through a catchy jingle.
Academic language clearly poses a formidable challenge to each student’s academic success. And I feel fortunate to have teachers who are modeling for me a variety of ways to help students develop essential conversational skills as well as conceptualize and learn the academic language that they will need to succeed as they upstream through higher levels of foreign language acquisition. As I continue to observe and teach, I feel motivated to explore new ways in which I can help my students develop essential language skills as well as acquire the academic language that will refine their understanding.