How to be Sure Your Students Never Use Spanish Again
3 Practices that discourage language proficiency… and how to avoid them
My high-school age daughter had several friends over for pizza. I eavesdropped as they began talking about their classes and teachers - especially when the conversation turned to Spanish class. One student at the table loved Spanish and planned to continue studying. A 3rd year student, he was already able to carry on a (halting, imperfect… but real) Spanish conversation. The other students couldn’t speak much at all, and they all agreed they would quit as soon as they completed the 2 years of study recommended for college prep.
I couldn’t help interrupting the kids to ask, what’s so bad? Why are you giving up after just 2 classes? And for the friend who liked Spanish and continued, what was the difference?
The kids had a lot of opinions! (Don’t they always?) Of course, some factors are beyond a teacher’s control, not the least of which is students’ varied interests. Still, these teens had insight into several classroom practices that discouraged them from continuing in language learning, which prompted me to begin this list:
How to make sure your students never take Spanish again
Discouraging Practice 1: Prioritize memorizing vocabulary lists
Give students a huge vocabulary list every week - at least 30 words. Require students to memorize it, and give frequent written tests (take off points for every spelling and accent error). The next week, add another 30 (or 300!) words.
Solution: Well-designed vocabulary instruction
“I hate how the vocabulary quizzes are basically random, because she gives us like, 40 words, but there are only 10 on the quiz. So if I study a word and it’s not on the quiz, I pretty much wasted my time”
There’s a place for vocabulary lists, but they should be used thoughtfully.
The number of words a learner can absorb in one lesson or unit is limited. There’s no clear consensus on the “right” number, as this will vary based on factors such as the learners’ ages and level of motivation and the nature of the words. However, the practice of memorizing long lists of isolated vocabulary is not well-supported by research.
Learners have a larger receptive vocabulary (words they can recognize and understand) than productive vocabulary (words they can speak or write from memory). Consider what you want students to do with the words, and whether it may be appropriate to have different levels of mastery for different words.
Memorizing lists of words is only one aspect of vocabulary instruction. Students need tools to build their vocabulary through context. One effective technique is to share an authentic, target-language source with learners, then ask them to use the source to complete a task. For example, students might use a clothing website to create a packing list for a vacation. This approach introduces vocabulary in its cultural and linguistic context, helps students become comfortable with ambiguity, and develops critical language-learning aptitude. The resulting learning is much deeper than the traditional, memorize-a-list approach!
Read more about implementing an authentic vocabulary approach in my blog post on Authentic Vocabulary, and visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store for my entire line of Authentic Vocabulary lessons in French, Spanish, Portuguese, and ELL including some great free products!
Discouraging Practice 2: Measure multiple skills unrelated to language
“I got a question wrong on the test because I didn’t know how many feet are in a mile. I’m still annoyed about it.”
Assume kids are proficient in skills you haven’t taught. On assessments, ask them to read cursive, record times on an analogue clock, follow directions using a paper map, or use background knowledge about pop culture or sports.
Solution: Aligning Assessments with Desired Learning Outcomes
Requiring skills you haven’t taught in class is not only frustrating, it also sends the message that language learning is divorced from students’ real-world experience. A wide body of research supports the importance of aligning assessments with the skills we want to measure. This requires thoughtful planning and critical selection of instructional resources. I’ve found that when I’m rushed in my planning, I sometimes grab a resource that requires skills I’m not really interested in measuring. This problem is exacerbated when a teacher is stuck using an outdated textbook.
A backwards planning approach helps avoid this problem; begin by identifying the skills you want students to demonstrate, then write your assessment, and then develop your lessons to prepare students for that assessment. Careful instructional alignment and thoughtful selection of instructional resources helps us accurately assess student mastery.
Be sure that every activity students complete moves them a bit closer to functional language proficiency. Choose tasks that are engaging, realistic, and provide a manageable challenge.
Practice 3: Listen to carefully crafted audio texts that only include vocabulary kids have studied.
Play these audio clips once or twice per unit, an be sure to include them on the test. Don’t play anything that can’t be understood 100% by your students.
Solution: Use Real Target-Language Examples
Instead of giving students made-up resources, expose them frequently to real target language texts. When properly scaffolded, this approach has many benefits:
“ I couldn’t understand anything in Germany. People talked really fast, and nobody asked me how old I was or for my birthday.”
Real audio texts are more engaging than made-up texts. Use the types of texts kids encounter in their real lives (such as music and YouTube videos) to spark student interest and encourage them to pursue language exposure outside of class. For ideas on using pop music in your instruction, read my posts Music to my Ears Part 1 and Part 2.
When kids are used to made-up texts, they do not have coping skills to deal with actual target-language speech which will surely include new vocabulary and moments of confusion.
Using authentic texts teaches important language-learning skills, such as coping with ambiguity and figuring out vocabulary from context. Kids will not understand every word of the authentic text, and they learn that this is OK.
Instead of focusing on 100% comprehension, assign an achievable task to accomplish with the authentic text. Tasks such as matching, sequencing, and identifying key details help students build comprehension and allow the teacher to accurately assess mastery.
“It’s crazy! Adam can actually speak Spanish!”
As I review these discouraging practices, I notice a common thread: they each emphasize discreet language components over holistic communication. A classroom oriented toward language production (and especially interpersonal speaking) is a classroom where students can see possibilities - and this is motivating!
Remember my daughter’s friend, the one who is continuing with Spanish? He told me, “I just practice what I know, and when I hear things I think I can say I try them… I used Spanish the other day on a video game server.” This student has discovered the secret to gaining proficiency: he is focused on communication and is unafraid in his pursuit. He uses his language skills in real situations. My daughter told me, in awe, “It’s crazy! Adam can actually speak Spanish!”
Click to read “Four Activities for Teaching Circumlocution
Read my blog posts on Teaching Interpersonal Speaking and Four Activities for Teaching Circumlocution for more ideas on maintaining a communicative classroom.
And check out my other blog posts in this series: How to Make Sure Your World Language Students Hate Speaking and (coming soon) How to Make Sure Your Students Hate Writing.
What practices have you seen discourage world language students, and how can we resolve them? Share in the comments!
