Through learning centers, students have the opportunity to demonstrate independence in their language learning in all of the skills areas: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. At each center, students interact with content in a variety of ways through a range of modalities.
Learning centers can also be a venue by which students interact with authentic text. To start the process:
collect authentic text (memes, quotes, infographics, comics, articles, commercials, videos, etc.) on the unit topic.
decide which skill area each authentic resource logically would match (ex. a commercial for the listening station).
design the task students will do at each center with the authentic text.
To vary the challenge level at each center, more than one resource or text may be available to students. Advanced learners and heritage speakers might interact with a more challenging text and struggling learners might have a text that has more visuals or cognates. Those choices are all based on students’ proficiency levels and their level of mastery of the content.
Here’s an example of what learning centers based on authentic text might look like:
In a novice Spanish class, the teacher has developed a set of learning centers for the students at the end of the unit around the Can-Do statement of “I can describe myself and others.”
Speaking center: Students select between two infographics about the characters in the TV show, The Big Bang Theory”, and the movie, “Monsters Inc.” They select one character and give clues to their group members about the person. Group members guess which character their classmate is describing. The teacher provides a useful expressions card at the center which includes suggest sentence frames and vocabulary for students who need the support.
Reading center: Students read the transcript to the commercial, “Sin gol, no hay fútbol.” They list opposites they find in the transcript. At the end, they are to tell what they think the commercial is about using their own words. As an extension, the students watch the video.
(created by Heather Sherrow (hsherrow@hcpss.org)
Listening center: Students watch the music video “Somos Uno” and complete a tiered cloze activity (multiple versions where fewer or more words are missing) for it. The extension activity is for students to create a new verse of the song using the song as a model.
(created by Heather Sherrow (hsherrow@hcpss.org)
Writing center: Students choose to interpret one of two memes called “Soy única” and “Pequeñas Cosas.” They use the meme as a guide to create a similar one about themselves.
If you are interested in learning more about implementing centers into your language classroom, a great site to visit is: http://worldlanguagecenters.weebly.com/
On that site, you will find guidance on how to create, organize, manage, and implement learning centers in your classroom.
Now, let’s turn to using authentic resources to teach grammar in context. ACTFL, in its Core Practices for World Language Learning, practice number 5 states “teach grammar as concept and use in context,” encouraging students to focus first on meaning and later on form.
For teaching grammar as concepts in meaningful contexts, ACTFL recommends that:
*Grammar should be addressed within meaningful communicative contexts as one element of language proficiency.
*Instead of focusing on grammar rules and diagramming sentences, teachers should guide students towards an understanding of how grammar functions.
*Students learn how to use the form rather than memorized conjugations that may not be applicable across contexts.
Why?
*Research shows explicit teaching of grammar has little effect on language acquisition.
*Thinking of grammar in terms of concepts will broaden learners’ understanding and use of the target language
*Grammar should be learned implicitly through target language use and explicitly through the discovery of grammar rules through use of meaningful examples.
This “function over form” approach allows students to analyze language structures, make guesses, and draw conclusions though an inquiry-type process. This new way of approaching the teaching of grammar moves us from the traditional lesson segment, most often taught in English, where students are given paradigms such as verb conjugation charts. Instead, it empowers learners to use the big picture of their experiences with the language they have heard, viewed, and read as a basis for deriving meaning from discourse.
There are several approaches that can be implemented to assist students through the inquiry process:
The teacher of a novice level Italian class, during a unit on family, gives students a handout with a variety of lists generated from two infographics, “Quanti sono” and “Gli Animali da Compagnia.” [PRESENTATION]
In small groups, students make predictions for each set (most popular pet, how pets are acquired, identity of owners, etc.). The teacher shows the infographics and students check their predictions against the data presented. Each small group of students is given two sentence strips. One has “We predicted that _______” and the other “We were surprised that ______” (in the target language). Groups share their sentences with the class.
Next, the teacher asks students to find words in Infographics with which they are unfamiliar but can guess using the visuals or because they are cognates. The teacher uses target language examples, circumlocution, and visuals, etc. to reinforce their meaning:
millioni
spendono
veterinari
accessori
Students are provided a list of question frames about the infographics in Italian. Students work in pairs asking and answering the questions.
How many _____ are there?
Are there are more _____ than _____?
Are there fewer _____ than _____?
Do you have ______ at home?
Who has _______?
If the teacher feels the students are ready, in lieu of providing question frames, students write their own questions that are answered in the visual using the teacher’s questions as models. The students then pair to ask and answer student questions with a partner.
After, the teacher leads the students through a discovery process such as concept attainment, using the resource to draw conclusions about how plurals are formed in Italian which was a concept that students struggled with in the previous class. Students use a T chart to chart out their ideas showing singular forms in one column and plurals in the other. The teacher asks students to extend their thinking to other vocabulary words they know. [ATTENTION, CO-CONSTRUCTION, EXTENSION]
As an extension activity, small groups of students create one question for a combined survey about pets using Google Forms for their classmates:
What pets and how many they have
How they got their pets
Age of their pets
Who in the family takes care of the pet(s)
Once the data is collected, students compare the data with the data from the infographics.
Scenario B
For a novice level Spanish class’s homework assignment from the previous class, the teacher uses the flipped model by asking students to review an infographic and a video about the imperative (El Imperativo) and take notes on an organizer that has columns labeled “You do” and “You don’t do.”
For the following class, the teacher shows the infographic, “Buenos Hábitos al Comer en un Restaurant” (Good habits for eating in a restaurant) as part of a unit of study on the theme of healthy eating habits. The teacher leads the class through interpreting the infographic, using target language examples, circumlocution, and visuals, etc. to reinforce the meaning of unknown words. [PRESENTATION]
Students create a T-chart with the columns “Estoy de acuerdo (I agree)’ and “No estoy de acuerdo (I disagree).” Students organize the tips on the infographic into the two columns. The teacher then asks students to share their opinions with the class, providing sentence stems. The teacher adds to the list in response to student need.
In my opinion…
When I go to the restaurant, I…
I agree/disagree with…
It is difficult to…
I agree because it is ______.
Next, the teacher draws students’ attention to the use of the imperative in the infographic. The teacher and students collaboratively add to the chart from the homework that shows infinitive forms of verbs, “You do,” and “You don’t do” and then come up with a rule about how the imperative is formed. [ATTENTION, CO-CONSTRUCTION, EXTENSION]
As an extension during a subsequent class, the teacher guides students through creating an infographic about advice for eating in the school cafeteria.
Scenario C
For a novice level French class, the teacher shows examples of regular -ir verbs in context using authentic resources (memes, tweets, and other social media posts) in the form of a PowerPoint.
The first time through the Powerpoint, the teacher asks questions about each image in the target language.
What is the guinea pig doing?
According to Ice Heart what happens in winter?
What did Yasmine’s mother tell her about eating salami?
Students are given a table that contains infinitive forms of the -ir verbs given in the context of the authentic resources. The second time through the PowerPoint, students fill in their observations about the -ir verbs based on the visuals.
After, in small groups, students discuss what they think the rules are. They then complete the second table based on their conclusions:
As an extension activity, in small groups, students create a meme using an -ir verb.
For more resources on teaching grammar in context, visit https://www.grahnforlang.com/grammar-in-context.html
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