How to Help When Students Struggle with Comprehension

Help students tolerate ambiguity and embrace the language learning process through intentionally crafted lessons

“I don’t get this!”

JJ was visibly frustrated. “What don’t you get?” I asked.

“This.” JJ gestured vaguely at the French infographic on his computer screen “Why can’t I just Google translate it?”

“Well,” I said, “part of the goal of this assignment is for you to learn how to figure out a document with new vocabulary. Let’s take a look at the infographic. Can you make a guess about any of the words?”

“Ugggh!” JJ moaned. “Can’t you just give me a vocabulary list to memorize?”

I’ve had variations of this conversation more times than I can count, especially since implementing Authentic Vocabulary lessons. This approach is intentionally designed to teach students how to learn vocabulary from authentic context (and you can read more about it in my blog post here). Authentic Vocabulary requires thoughtful scaffolding especially for that subset of students who come to class expecting to be told exactly what they have to learn. These learners are used to being able to Google a question and quickly jot down the ‘right answer’ without really engaging with the content. Being asked to embrace an open-ended process is an unexpected challenge. This is often true for struggling students, but top students can also react with frustration when asked to wrestle with ambiguity.

Students express their struggle with ambiguity and embracing the learning process in many ways, ranging from polite to angry to defeatist. For example:

“The process of investigating authentic sources, constructing meaning, and developing language learning skills, is much more important than getting the ‘right answer’”

• “What does this word mean?”

• “I can’t find the word for ___.”

• This is hard.

• “I don’t get it!”

• I can’t do this.

• I hate reading.

• I’m bad at French.

When students express sentiments like these, a wise teacher does not immediately rush to provide answers or to alleviate their discomfort (a reaction which reinforces the idea that there is one right answer to quickly uncover) Instead, comments like these are an opportunity to encourage students to embrace the learning process and to intentionally teach language learning strategies.

Resarch shows becoming comfortable with ambiguity is an important part of development as a language learner.  According to researcher Severine Hubshcer-Davidson, “Due to its very nature as a cognitive task, translating involves ambiguity and choosing between alternative solutions” (Source document p. 78)  A 2009 study of language learners found a strong correlation between students’ ability to tolerate ambiguity and their perception of their own success as language learners. Furthermore, students with higher language proficiency levels demonstrated higher tolerance for ambiguity  (source document pp. 40-41).

Working with authentic documents is the perfect time to teach the language learning attitudes that will help your students succeed.  So when students ask one of the questions above, my go-to answer is:

“That’s a great question!”

If the student accepts this, that’s all I’ll say!  But sometimes, a student needs a little more direction. 

Comments to support struggling students:

• Remember, the goal here is to become a better learner. Treat this like a puzzle or a mystery… don’t cheat yourself of the fun of figuring it out!

• You don’t have to understand everything. Let’s focus on what you DO know, and not on what you DON’T know.

• What do you think this document / paragraph / phase might be about? How can you tell?

• Are there any words you can figure out?

• Look at this specific word. What do you think it could mean?

• Look at this part of the document, and see if you can figure out an answer there.

• Let’s put a question mark next to that.  Keep working, and hold that question in the back of your mind and see if you figure out an answer as you keep working.

• Have you checked with your partner?  Ask the other people in your group if they were able to figure this out.

• That’s a tough one!  It’s normal to have questions about it.  Make a note, and I promise by the time you leave class you’ll have an answer.

“If a student is really struggling to make any headway in interpreting an authentic source, this signifies they need more structure in the assignment.  ”

This usually satisfies students enough to keep going.  Of course, you need to be true to your word and hold a period of closure before leaving the exercise.  During this closure activity, I invite students to share things they figured out and also to ask questions.  Often, by this point, students have figured out the answers they were looking for, with no help from me!  That’s a good thing!

Once in a while, if the student is very frustrated or if the question is particularly specific, I’ll point students to the answer they are looking for.  But in general, the process - investigating authentic sources, constructing meaning, and developing language learning skills -  is much more important than getting the ‘right answer’.

Providing Extra Scaffolding

If a student is really struggling to make any headway in interpreting an authentic source, this signifies they need more structure in the assignment. 

Often, these students - unbeknownst to their teachers - have self identified as “bad readers” in English. They carry their lack of confidence, lack of perseverance, and lack of reading strategies into World Language class.

Here are some ways to scaffold assignments for struggling readers without ‘giving them the answer’.

• Provide a more limited segment of the source document to study.  For example, instead of looking at an entire website, limit their search to one page.

• Provide a paper copy of the source document, or copy it into a google doc.  Ask the student to highlight words they already know in French in one color, and words that look similar to English words in another color.  Then coach the student to draw some conclusions from the highlighted words.

• Give the student a few specific English words to try to find.

• If all else fails, give the student a list of a few English words and a few target language words, and ask them to try matching them up using only the source document to help.

Alternate Assignments

I’ve also had success in giving struggling or reluctant students an alternate assignment to help them build their reading skills.  

I once had a student who did NOTHING all semester - until I directed him to the website for his favorite video game… in French.  I asked him to just tell me any vocabulary he could figure out.  He started scanning the site, and told me “ ‘Vie’ means ‘life’, and ‘santé’ is health…’niveau’ means ‘level’....”  He continued pointing out vocabulary for a few minutes.

“This is great!” I told him.  “Look how much vocabulary you figured out with just a little bit of exploration.”

“Yeah,” he agreed.  “But I could only do that because I know this game in English.”

Exactly!

Before he ever set foot in my classroom, this student had self-identified as “Not a language learner”.  Most likely, he was a poor reader in English, and he brought his corresponding lack of confidence and lack of learning strategies into my class.  

I gave him a few assignments related to the video game website and, for the first time in his recent academic career, he experienced success.

We then worked together to name the strategies he was using:  using pictures, using cognates, using known French words, making inferences, using text structures, identifying parts of speech…”  

“A 2009 study found a strong correlation between students’ ability to tolerate ambiguity and their perception of their own success as language learners. ”

After applying these strategies to content he knew well, we then began making the leap to other French sources, like shopping sites, infographics, and other course content.

The transformation was not instantaneous; there were some bumps in the road.  The student had a lot of poor study habits and learned helplessness to overcome.  But, little by little, I saw him develop confidence and good techniques that were not there before. He began to learn that reading is a process of constructing meaning.  It doesn’t happen by magic - it happens by applying good strategies.  

Incidentally, the same is true in other content areas.  This is one place where, as language teachers, we can support our colleagues in core subjects.  Students who struggle in English can benefit greatly from taking a world language - if we structure our classes to focus on the learning process, help students learn strategies, and intentionally make connections to core content.

Allowing students to struggle - and then to overcome that struggle - helps them build confidence and skill as a language learner.  Don’t be too quick to intervene in that process!

Click the links to visit my collection of Authentic Vocabulary introductions in French and in Spanish on my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

How do you respond when students struggle in your classes?  Comment below!