A topic that is very interesting to
me about teaching to the target language is solely using the target language in
the classroom. I think that this
is a huge aspect of teaching a foreign language that teachers often overlook.
Most of the time, teachers assume that before they can really teach their
students in the target language, they need to teach them that language, but in
reality it is the other way around.
After doing a few observations in
foreign language classrooms, I have had the opportunity to see many different
teaching styles. In addition to
this, I, as most prospective foreign language teachers, have attended many of
foreign language classrooms where I have been the student. This is important to remember because
often times, we based our preferred method of teaching not only on our own
personal preferred learning style, but also on the impact that certain methods
have had on us that previous teachers have used.
I can see that for both the teacher
and the students, using solely the target language can be overwhelming in the
beginning. As a teacher, I would
have concerns that students did not really understand my language or the
material at all, but feel that they cannot communicate this because they cannot
use the target language proficiently.
I think that in my future classroom, I will try to make sure that
students have a few minutes in each class period or once a week (depending on
the level) to ask questions in English to better understand ideas that they may
be unsure about. I think that
asking and answering questions for up to 5 minutes in a class period allows
students to feel secure about their understanding of different concepts that
are taught. Other than these few
minutes, it is highly important that students heard and become used to the
target language as much as possible.
An important thought is that the
Direct Method is the way that we are taught our first language. Learning vocabulary and grammar
through practice is the way that our parents helped us acquire our first language. We did not sit for 45 minutes a day
memorizing random vocabulary words.
It is important to note that we used words that we actually needed to
say so we learned these words to participate in conversations, in which we
gained the understanding of the vocabulary through practice. In a foreign language classroom, it is
impossible to completely use the Direct Method, but teachers need to try to
teach students as if they are learning their first language as much as
possible. Clearly we all became
proficient at using our first language because we were exposed to the language
directly.
I like the idea you brought up of perhaps having a clarifying part of class in English so students have the opportunity to ask questions about things they are confused about. It's kind of like a class "timeout" in the way that learning stops so everyone can regroup and clarify concepts before moving on to make sure everyone is on the same page. I guess that's a way that teachers can still speak in the target language and at the same time they can keep students engaged by making sure they understand what's going on and allowing them to take a break if things get too complicated.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that you brought up allowing students to have time to ask questions in English each day or week. I think that it is a great idea, but I also wonder how comfortable a student would actually be if they were to ask a question that they don't understand in front of the class not in the target language. I also question at what time during the lesson could the five minutes be given. At the end? The beginning? During the activities? It could be hard for students to remember what their questions were or miss out on a whole lesson if they did not understand one aspect and were not able to ask for clarification.
ReplyDeleteI really like what you said about having a few minutes where students can ask questions in English. I have SO wanted that in many of my Spanish classes! I can see these few minutes being at the end of class so that students can ask any questions they may have on that night's homework assignment. For example, if the teacher assigns pages 155 through 162 to read and wants the students to do only the odd numbered problems, some students may have had difficulty understanding that. I think these few minutes (maybe 3 or 4 minutes at most) of English at the end of class would be a very good idea.
ReplyDeleteOne of my Spanish teachers in high school actually did allow students to ask questions in English at the end of class or whenever instructions for an important assignment were given and it was SO helpful, especially when we were only in Spanish III. As we moved on to Spanish IV and AP Spanish, he slowly cut down the amount of English instruction/questions in the classroom because he knew we were capable of understanding it in Spanish at that point. I think in lower levels it's a really great tool to do this - of course speaking in the target language for as much of the class as possible is important, but as instructors we also need to make sure that our students are clear on what we are asking them to do.
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