7/27/2019 Language Teaching Techniques in the Classroom

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Embrace new technology.Interactive whiteboards: Aninteractive whiteboard is muchlike a standard whiteboard butit connects to a computer and

a projector in the classroom tomake it a very powerful tool forlanguage teachers. The interactivewhiteboard is simply a large,touch-sensitive version of thecomputer screen. It is controlledby touching it with a special pen(or, on some types of boards, withyour nger). Anything that canbe accessed from your computercan be accessed and displayedon the interactive whiteboard,for example Word documents,PowerPoint presentations,

photographs, websites or onlinematerials allowing the teacherto add variety to the lesson fora variety of exercises: reading,writing, pronunciation, listeningand speaking.

IPad apps and other web tools:Teachers have a range of webtools and new technologiesavailable to them to encouragepupils to improve theirpronunciation of the targetlanguage. Podcasting allows

you to record audio materialyourself to listen back to timeafter time. One teacher hasused podcasts to enable herstudents make recordings ofreading out loud in French

so that they can hear wherethey are pronouncing wordsincorrectly. After studying thecorrect ways to pronouncewords, they then re-record

the same piece of text andthis time they pronounce thewords correctly. Podcasts alsoallow students to practice thelanguage in their own time,making them responsible fortheir own learning. Vocaroo isone web tool that pupils can useto make recordings to send totheir teacher for feedback.

Similarly, Vodcasts allow pupilsto make video recordings in thetarget language as part of theirspeaking homework. One teacherfound that the pupils enjoyed thisso much, they even asked to domore speaking work! Apps suchas Ipadio and Audioboo couldwell represent the future forspeaking homework.

Without a doubt by seeing theirown work published onlinegives pupils a huge sense ofachievement which encouragesthem to continue improving theirforeign language skills. Sincemost students nd it easy to

use computers they are in theircomfort zone so can easily focuson learning the language this way.

St. Bedes Catholic Schooland Sixth Form College,

County Durham have set upa shared MFL blog page onthe schools website wherethey publish pupils work in

the target language. As partof their language strategythey regularly invite foreignspeakers to visit the schooland they have developed closelinks with schools abroad viavideoconferencing whichallows them to see the realneed to communicate in aforeign language and ultimatelybroadens their minds. The schoolactively encourages these linksthrough regular exchange visitsto schools abroad.

Authentic and up-to-dateresources. Using real liferesources in the target languagestimulates pupils motivationand creativity when theycan see the language in arealistic context. For example,subscribing to a foreignmagazine or using newspaperarticles allows pupils to connectnot only with the target

language but also the culture.One of the recommendationsmade by Ofsted in its report

Achievement andChallenge was that

schools must use more

authentic materials to help

develop pupils language

skills and understanding of

a countrys culture.

Foreign exchange trips wherebypupils stay with a host familyare an excellent opportunityfor cultural immersion whichbrings the language to life. Allan

Hemsworth a retired teacher whohas been arranging exchangetrips for over 40 years says,

Theres nothing that isnt positiveabout exchange trips. Weve had afew problems with homesickness,but no disasters. Its a rite ofpassage, and the motivation tolearn the language increases in thekids exponentially.

Language teaching techniques in the classroom

keys to learning languages successfully!

William Hague recently

told academics there

was an urgent need for

Britain to improve its

language capacity andthat Britains global

standing in business was

at grave risk from a lack

of men and women with

language skills. This is

particularly worrying

given the steady decline in the popularity of language

learning in schools over recent decades. It is essential

therefore, that teachers nd new ways to promote the

relevance of languages and make language classes more

enjoyable. With todays rapidly evolving technology there

are many ways for language teachers to make language

lessons interactive, engaging and enjoyable through a

variety of resources. After consulting with a number

of language teachers on this subject here are some of

the successful language teaching techniques in todays

language classrooms.

Fiona Dunmore

Viva Language Services

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Young people without

good GCSEs in

English and maths

must continue to

study the subjects.Thousands more young people will have thechance to leave school, college or trainingwith a good grasp of English and mathsafter the introduction today of a majorgovernment reform.

From this term, all pupils who fail to achieve

a good pass C or better in Englishor maths GCSE by the time they nishsecondary school must continue to studythe subjects in post-16 education until theyget these qualications.

The reform was proposed in 2011 byProfessor Alison Wolf in her ground-breakingreview of vocational education, and backedby Education Secretary Michael Gove.

Professor Wolf highlighted the thousandsof young people who leave school orcollege without good English and maths.

She said it was shocking that the systemof funding schools and colleges post-16

actively discouraged 16- to 19-year-oldsfrom catching up with their English andmaths.

For young people aged 19 in 2012:

285,000 had left secondary school age16 without a C or better in both GCSEEnglish and maths

by the age of 19, 255,000 still did nothave a C or better in both GCSE Englishand maths

The move will help address concerns thatstandards of literacy and numeracy amongmany school and college leavers are notgood enough.

Native-speaking languageassistants. By investing in anative-speaking languageassistant students will gaincondence at using thelanguage. Often, within theclassroom environment thereis not enough time available foreach pupil to practice speakingthe language. Many studentsnd it daunting to speak in aforeign language in front of therest of the class. By spendingjust a few minutes each weekwith a native-speaker eitherindividually or in small groupsthey will have a much betterchance to actually speak thelanguage and furthermorebeing able to communicate with

someone from the country itselfwill increase their enthusiasmand give them greatercondence to use the language.

In-service training courses forteachers. Although languageteachers have studied thelanguage to degree level with acompulsory year spent living inthe country where the languageis spoken, taking part in an in-service training course duringtheir career as a teacher canhave a huge impact on theirprofessional development. Thisinvolves the teacher spendinga week or two in the exchangecountry whereby they canjob-shadow in a school. Thisrefreshes their knowledge ofthe language and renews theirenthusiasm for the languageand culture which they willbring back to the classroom andtherefore their revitalised energywill be passed on to pupils. Ifthe teacher looks as if they are

enjoying teaching the language,it is much more likely that pupils

will enjoy learning it. Thesevisits also give teachers theopportunity to bring back useful,authentic resources for lessons.

What is particularly good aboutthese courses is that there is

European funding availabletherefore the school budget isnot aected.

A varied approach. It is apparentthat the key to successfulteaching is variety. There needsto be lots of speaking throughpair and group work backedup by the other three skills;listening, reading and writing.

Task-based learning throughcommunication and practicaluses of the language is now a

common approach in Britishschools. Bringing languagesto life by getting children outof their seats and activelyinvolved in the language andculture is vital. For instance,Brighton Hill Community College,Basingstoke strongly believeslanguages are an asset to allstudents regardless of theirability and to highlight to pupilsthe importance of languagesand cultural understanding itorganises a series of events such

as an International cooking andDance event to celebrate theEuropean Day of Languagescelebrated every September.It has organised a GermanFootball League to reach out toboys who would normally rejectlanguage learning and it has alsorun several study visits abroad.Similarly, Bournemouth School inDorset runs several LanguageDays one of which involvedYear 10 pupils developing anew product to be marketed toforeign visitors.

Stimulating visual aids. Goodteaching displays on theclassroom walls with keyvocabulary or verb patternsas well as lively, interestingposters are vital to engagepupils and to inspire them tolearn more about the languageand culture.

Making pupils responsiblefor their own learning. Pupilsshould be encouraged todiscover the method of learningthat works best for them, sincethere are so many ways to learna language. Luca Lampariello,a hyperpolyglot and languageconsultant who speaks twelvelanguages, says:

Languages cannot betaught, they can only be

learnt. The best way is to

tell students right away

that they are responsible

for their own learning

process, and the teacher

is just a guide who has to

motivate them.

Keeping up with new technology

The problem with embracing

new technology and teachingideas is that it is extremely time-consuming to research the mostsuitable apps for each specic agegroup and it is an ongoing taskkeeping up to date with them.

Often there is just not enoughtime available for teachers toresearch them fully beforeputting them into practice.There is also the concernthat the pupils may be moretech-savvy than the teachers!However, there are ways thatteachers can keep abreast with

the ever-changing educationalenvironment by joining onlinefora such as TES, Linguanetand M resources as wellas subscribing to the MFLTwitterati. This is an excellentplatform for teachers to shareideas and oer feedbackregarding innovative classroomteaching practices. There arecurrently 956 subscriberswith language teacherscommunicating with each otherfrom all over the world. Teacherscan also join the Associationfor Language Learning to shareteaching ideas.

In the Modern Languagesreport, Achievement andChallenge by Ofsted, it is clear

that it would like schools touse more new technology inlanguage classes. However, itmust be acknowledged thatto enable teachers to embracetechnology and developinnovative ways of teachinglanguages to enhance pupilsexperiences, adequate levels ofinvestment need to be made interms of both funding and time.This can only be achieved ifthose in higher positions shareand support teachers aimsto provide excellent languagelessons and are willing toprovide the necessary level ofsupport. Technology is here tostay therefore we need to learnhow to embrace it to inspiretodays students when it comesto learning languages.

An opinion piece byFiona Dunmore of VivaLanguage Services.

For more informationvisit www.

vivalanguageservices.co.uk

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