Writing / Speaking Activities

How to motivate my students to learn a foreign language?
How to teach level one students in the target language (TL)?
How can I get my students to speak more in class?
How do I use authentic materials in my classroom?
How to ensure that the students have the interaction and conversation that is so important in language learning
How to use magazine pictures and art prints in my classroom?
Useful techniques for vocabulary retention
How to make literature interesting to upper level students?
How to teach grammar and vocabulary through songs?
How best to do error correction in speaking?
Encouraging students to speak in class
Managing role plays
Language Lessons for Pre-Teens (7th graders)
Beginning Teacher of Spanish: What to Teach?
Should I use only French in class?
E-Mail writing exchanges
Finding classroom materials on the web
What is a MOO?
Setting up a collaborative Internet project

How to motivate my students to learn a foreign language?

Dear YANA
I am teaching levels 3 and 5AP this year and find that my students aren’t as enthusiastic as they have been in the past about learning a foreign language. I would love for them to be more excited about learning culture through such things as music or television programs. When I ask them to watch a TV program at home, they don’t want to do it. What can I do to change their approach to learning the language? I thank you for your suggestions.
Frustrated in Texas

Dear Frustrated,
There are cycles when it comes to students. Some years they are very interested in anything that has to do with their language of choice; other years they could care less. It is possible that you are at a low point in this cycle. I find that each cycle can last for as long as 6 to 8 years. Remember that what interests students can change as quickly as the weather. Keep up with what they are doing by talking with them. Ask them what they would like to do, letting them know that "nothing" is not an option. Solicit their suggestions for how to check on comprehension, or other activities related to the viewing. If they are involved in the design of their follow-up activities, they will be more eager to participate in them.

When designing activities, be sure that you move away from fill in the blank, answering content questions, and other "boring" comprehension checks. Instead, consider one of the following:

• Have them draw a series of cartoon panels that recaps the TV show you asked them to watch.
• Design an ad promo announcing the next in the series of programs.
• Have them prepare a skit that points out the cultural differences between the US and the country of the language as seen in the program they watched.

These are just some suggestions. Some will work; some won’t. Tailoring them to the students is the secret to success.

One year, I could tell that my formerly highly motivated students were suffering from a severe case of ‘senioritis’ so we talked about what they wanted to do. They were totally unmotivated by "book work" and projects that would find their way into the trash at the end of they year. They wanted to do something worthwhile with their language. The next day I had a chance conversation with someone in the education department at the local hospital. They needed some simple things, including the food service menu, translated and my students were eager to do this. One of them visited a patient in the hospital a few months later and saw "their" menu in use! Perhaps the businesses in your community have similar needs. This doesn’t necessarily address the culture of the language, but it does spark interest so that the cultural things can be inserted among the useful things.

Some other suggestions that may spark some interest are below. Always, always, always pre-view before assigning!

• Look through YouTube for songs that are popular in the countries that speak your language. YouTube is easy to navigate and you will find thousands of music videos there. Just put in the name of an artist, or a type of music and you will find tons of choices. Once you’ve located a song you wish to use, it can be the spring board for a discussion about the lyrics, about the style of music and the instrumentation, or used as a listening activity. Sometimes it may be a good illustration of a grammatical point as well.
• Most TV and radio stations have websites with snippets of their programming, or the entire program available.
• Google video has many possibilities as well.
• Movie trailers are an excellent way to pique student interest while introducing them to some cultural phenomena. They love movies, and trailers don’t fill up exorbitant amounts of instructional time. In a search engine, type in your language and the words "movie trailer" and something should come up. If not, type in the name of a movie, followed by "trailer" and that will yield a clip that may be useful in your class. If your students have high-speed internet access, they could watch the trailer at home as many times as they need to in order to understand what is being said.

Especially at the end of the year when everybody’s motivation and interest are flagging, exciting and different approaches are important. Using video, music, and real life activities are just some of the ways to turn a class around and get them enthusiastic about language and culture again.

Good luck!
YANA

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How to teach level one students in the target language (TL)?

Hi YANA,
I want to teach in the target language (TL) as much as possible, but with level one students it is difficult. I will start doing it and we’ll see how it goes. Do you have any ideas for me?

Dear Reader,
Obvious things from day one for the teacher:

1. Greet in TL – as they come into the classroom and when you see them in the hall
2. Act out what you are saying
3. Repeat things several times, trying at first to use the same words, later using a variety of words to get the idea across.
4. Make use of cognates! They’re a give for everybody.
5. Use a lot of pictures – start with magazine ads or clip art. (I had a huge box of pictures that I put on construction paper and used for all kinds of stimuli at all levels. Enlist the help of your students and you’ll cover a lot more ground more quickly. Some pictures need to be simple if they are going to be used for vocabulary cues; others need to be complex so they can be used for story telling.)
6. Don’t give in!

Maybe not so obvious things for the teacher:

1. Answer all questions in TL, gradually reducing your understanding of English
2. Give out all assignments in TL (be sure they’re posted where students can see them so there is no confusion)
3. Keep the book closed so their memory has to work and whatever they are saying/hearing is more like real language than sounds from a page.
4. Teach vocabulary in context – not just English-TL equivalents. Use words in sentences almost right away.
5. Warm-ups should be interactive rather than filling in the blank or writing a list. (Use 5 of the following words in a conversation with another student.)
6. Be sure they leave your classroom everyday with new conversational skills (new and relevant vocabulary, ways to ask questions, ways to circumlocute, etc.)
7. Part of their homework is to practice the skills out loud, either with another student, or by self-recording and listening to themselves.
8. Don’t give in!

Obvious things from day one for the student:

1. Repetition of whatever the teacher asks
2. Greet in TL
3. Ask questions in TL (I put up a bulletin board with all of the TL interrogatives so the word bank is available to them. One year my theme was "What on earth is she asking?" and all of the interrogatives were written on cloud shapes.)
4. Listen carefully to songs, tv programs, the radio, etc. There’s so much out there on YouTube, podcasts, etc that they really don’t have much of an excuse these days.
5. Keep the book closed in class unless the teacher asks you to open it.
6. Review every day
7. Learn vocabulary in context – not just a list of words and meanings. Conversation is not a list of words, rather vocabulary has meaning and context to be conversation.
8. Don’t give up!

With your colleagues

1. Try to get your colleagues to talk to you in TL, especially if they stop by your room for something during class, or when you are standing in the hall between classes. Anywhere where students will hear you and become aware that it really is a language of communication.
2. Don’t give in!

"Games" to play

1. On select days, do not use the words Sí and No
2. On select days, let the students ask you questions about yourself
3. Towards the end of a lesson, call for ¡Fiesta time! Get them out of their seats and paired off. The topic of the conversation is whatever the vocabulary of the lesson is. As if at a party, where conversations never last very long and everybody changes conversational partners quickly, the partners talk using the vocabulary for a specified length of time (start with 30 seconds, and gradually increase to 3 minutes). Call out ¡Cambien! They change partners and have the same conversation again. Do this at least 3 times, maybe 4. They are surprised that each conversation is unique.
4. Let them talk about whatever they wish with a friend in the class. Tell them they must do this for 1 minute. If they’re still going strong, let them keep going for another 30 seconds or more. They will be astounded that they went beyond what you asked.
5. Don’t give in!

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How can I get my students to speak more in class?

Dear YANA:
I know that I need to remove myself from the center of instruction and let my students participate more in the class. My supervisor has told me that I must create a more learner-centered environment. How do I go about doing that? My students always do well on their vocabulary and grammar tests, but don’t like to speak. How can I get them to speak more in class?
(Former) Teacher-Centered Instructor

Dear Teacher-Centered:
Students come into a foreign language (FL) class for a variety of reasons, one of them being the desire to be able to communicate with speakers of the language they are studying. Teachers need to keep their students’ enthusiasm and sense of achievement at a high level and can do so by stepping away from the podium and encouraging the students to take over the talking in the class. From the first day of the first year, students can speak their new language, and we must provide them with infinite opportunities to do so.

Not everything has to be graded, but students seem to attach more importance to graded activities than to ungraded ones. Provide time for ungraded practice and preparation before using a rubric to assess the final product. Always provide participation credit for the ungraded practice.

Break the lesson into small, manageable parts. Present the material and then let the students practice with a partner while you walk around the room listening and correcting where it is needed. Do a quick follow-up with the whole class so everyone knows they are accountable for the practice time. If the students are required to speak in front of the class from the first day, they will more willingly continue to participate as the course continues.

Provide regular opportunities for the students to ask questions of each other, with reporting back to the class as a follow-up. Sharing of information is useful to you and of interest to the other students in the class. In addition, ask to students to interview you about the topic at hand.

Students should use the foreign language for all of their conversational needs. Require that all requests and responses be in the FL. This includes borrowing a pencil, sharing a book, finding out about homework, asking how to say a word, and all other classroom conversation. Always, the students should be using the FL when talking with you and with other students in the class.

When giving students time to plan a presentation, part of their preparation grade is the use of the FL. All of the planning should take place in the FL. If you prepare the students well, so they know what the purpose of the presentation is, and what is expected of them, they can plan in the language. If they pare preparing a skit, suggest they start by defining the situation and location. Once they have that clear, they make a list of words they wish to use. Creating sentences using those words in their situation will help them start a conversation. From that point on, they can role-play without writing specific lines. Even beginning students can do this!

Plan the practice so it is incremental. By the time the lesson is covered, students should be communicating in complete sentences and at relative length about a given topic, using the structural and vocabulary limits of the lesson. As long as you have made the connection between the vocabulary and structure and their lives, they will be able to talk about what is important to them.

Let students know what they will be able to do at the end of the lesson, and help them to understand how each incremental step brings them closer to the final goal. When students know where they are headed, they have a focus point that will help them get through the mini-steps along the way. At first they will be over-whelmed, so start with small goals. If it is early in a beginning level class, perhaps the goal is to introduce friends to parents and provide some information about each of the friends. The first step is to introduce friends to parents, and parents to friends. The next step is to be able to say one sentence about that friend. The third step is to combine the first two steps. The final step is to put it into a conversational situation with greetings, and some sort of logical closing.

Asking a student to sit quietly and listen for more than 10 minutes is pushing their powers of concentration. Make the explanations quick and clear and immediately require the students to use the concept, in the FL of course. I often do something that requires students to be out of their seats, talking in groups of two about the topic of the day. At the end of 30-60 seconds, they switch conversational partners and do the same thing again. After doing this 3 or 4 times, the students are comfortable with the content. I call it "Party Time" because it is sort of like the quick snatches of conversation one has at a party.

When doing the summative evaluation for the lesson, appropriate emphasis must be placed on the communicative skills. If the test is matching, multiple choice, and fill in the blank, it is testing discrete items that contribute to communication, but it does not test communication. The evaluation must include proficiency activities that focus on the communicative skills – skits, conversations, presentations, essays, stories, etc. Both the receptive and productive skills need to be included. If the final test includes these skills, students will place more importance on the oral practice in class.

I hope that your supervisor is working with you on techniques to relax the traditional teacher-in-front-of-the-class type of control and to increase your control of simultaneous learning activities. When somebody walks by your classroom and hears everybody speaking in the FL at once, the class is on its way to being a learner-centered environment.

Yours,
YANA

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How do I use authentic materials in my classroom?

Dear YANA:
How do I use authentic materials in my classroom? Where can I find them? What constitutes "authentic"?
Bona Fide

Dear Bona Fide:
Authentic materials pique the interest of students in one way or another. The student’s curiosity is stimulated; connections are made between the foreign culture and their own; materials are read eagerly for understanding. An authentic piece is anything that is from, and exemplifies, the culture of the language you are teaching. It might be a newspaper or a magazine, or it could be a box of cereal, a candy bar wrapper, or a CD cover. Things of daily use, such as a bracelet, hair gel, or a carry bag also are authentic materials.

Where does one find authentic materials? In addition to filling a suitcase with these items when I travel, I put the word out to my friends that I would like them to bring things back for me. The families of your students are another excellent source. If travelers do not make up a portion of your acquaintances, there are many catalogs available from which to order items. Some of these catalogs are designed specifically for teachers; others are designed specifically to market items from home to the population living in the US.

There are as many ways to use these materials as your imagination can conjure. If a student brings in a bag full of "stuff" from his grandparent’s trip, I often suggest that he put together a bulletin board and then give the class a tour of his display. These items make excellent props for skits, vocabulary cues, sentence building, and story telling. Organize and store items according to when they appear in your textbook, bring them out to illustrate what a "real life" maraca looks and sounds like. Create a scavenger hunt based on these items that are strewn around your classroom (on the bulletin board, sitting on bookshelves, leaning against the board, hanging on the wall). Not only do the students need to locate the items, but also they need to answer a question or two about each one.

On my most recent trip, we collected cereal boxes, candy wrappers, packages of salt and sugar, empty soda cans, labels from bottles, flyers and leaflets from various places, menus, napkins, potato chip bags, as well as newspapers and magazines. Of special interest in the newspapers and magazines were articles and ads about pop culture: fashion, music, movies, video games, and the like. The students were thrilled to look through the pile of things I had placed on the table. Each student was asked to select one item, look at it carefully, and then describe it for the class. Once the description was over, many students asked to see the things more closely. When they can’t travel, bring the culture to them!

Yours,
YANA

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How to ensure that the students have the interaction and conversation that is so important in language learning

Dear YANA:
We are starting to have some televised courses in our school and I am wondering what will be the best way to ensure that the students have the interaction and conversation that is so important in language learning today.
Distance Learner

Dear Distance Learner,
Distance learning courses delivered over satellite and other TV media are an excellent way to offer a subject to a small number of students without a huge outlay of money. Several schools in my area have participated in a variety of foreign language distance learning TV courses through the years, so my comments are based on those experiences.

When looking for distance courses for foreign languages, look for ones that offer an interactive environment. This may be as simple as a telephone line directly to the teacher, or it may be more complex, involving two-way video. The interactivity is most effective when the class is viewing the transmission live, rather than on taped delay. So do your best to select a course offering that is broadcast live during a time when your students can watch and participate.

Check to find out how many students/schools are participating in this particular course. The danger of many distance-learning programs is that although each participating school may only have 3 or 4 students, so many schools must participate in order to make the production of the course a viable economic venture. As the popularity of a given course grows through the years at these schools, what often happens is that these courses end up being over subscribed and the teacher must deal with well over 200 students. That means grading the papers, holding one-on-one conversation sessions, and any other type of feedback required could very well overwhelm the instructor.

Another item to consider is having a designated, single-purpose site for the classroom.. You do not want the students to be distracted from the broadcast by interruptions from other students or teachers. Setting up the equipment daily takes time that may eat into the class broadcast time. The location does not have to be large, but it must be roomy enough for student seating, a work area, the TV, and phone. A fax machine is also a necessity in a distance-learning course so that tests and other materials can be sent between the teacher and the monitor. The fax does not need to be in the classroom, but there must be one available for the teacher to use.

The monitoring teacher should be an individual assigned to the class who will be in the room supervising the students at all times. This adult must pay attention to what is happening, both on the screen and in the local classroom. This person must understand that this assignment is not another planning period, social hour, or anything else other than a teaching assignment. While it probably is not necessary for the teacher to be a language teacher, it will certainly be better if that is the case. An understanding of how to learn a language will be very helpful to the students. A teacher who is interested in learning the language being taught is a definite plus and will encourage the students to do their best.

There are several resources available to help make a selection appropriate to your particular circumstances. Putting something like “learning foreign languages via satellite” into your search engine will supply some interesting information that may be of help. Also, check with your state department of education. They should be very helpful. From a distance but never out of reach.
YANA

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How to use magazine pictures and art prints in my classroom?

Dear YANA,
I inherited a "magic box" of pictures from a teacher who just retired. There are mostly magazine pictures of one sort or another, but also some art prints. What can I do to use these pictures?

Dear friend,
Lucky you! You have been given a jewel that will enliven your classroom beyond measure. There are infinite ways in which you can use the contents of the box and I will share with you a few that will get your own creative juices going. These pictures will be great for vocabulary, for writing, for conversation, and for grammar.

For vocabulary: The pictures you select to work with vocabulary should be relatively uncluttered with a single obvious item as the focus. To acquaint the students with both the picture and the vocabulary start by using the pictures as flash cards. As they learn the words, then group them and have students create sentences using more than one of the words. Supply a choice of 6 pictures and ask students to create a 5-sentence story using a different one of the words in each sentence.

For writing: Choose a picture with a lot going on in it. Have students write the story of the picture. Or, ask them to imagine what happened before or after the picture. Randomly group 4 pictures together and distribute the sets to students who will either work alone or with a partner. They must use 3 of the 4 pictures to illustrate a coherent story.

For conversation: Chose pictures that have at least two characters. Pair students, give them the picture, and have them create a conversation between the two characters. Present the conversation to the class, with the picture posted on the wall so the class can see it.

For grammar: The most obvious one is to ask students to narrate action in the designated tense.Pictures also provide a good springboard for descriptive passages. Students spend a lot of time learning adjectives, but then forget to use them to enhance their communication. Going beyond that, there may be some that are especially applicable to the various types of object pronouns (direct, indirect, reflexive).

What are some good sources for pictures? I'm sure as you look through your box you will note that many of them are advertisements. Ask friends who subscribe to specialty magazines (cars, gardening, diving, skiing, etc.) to give you their magazines before they throw them out. It will only take you a couple of seconds to leaf through and tear out the pictures that will work well with your particular curriculum. When you are visiting a museum, look in their shop at the prints and post cards. See if you can arrange for a subscription to a magazine in your language and rescue authentic illustrations from that after the students have had an opportunity to read the magazine.

As you add to your collection, it is a good idea to mount each picture on a standard-sized piece of construction paper and then perhaps laminate it. Once laminated, sticky notes are easy to attach and remove.
Enjoy your new collection and remember to continue to add to it. You will find hundreds of uses for it.
YANA

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How to teach grammar and vocabulary through songs?

Dear YANA,
Could you give me some ideas for using Spanish songs to teach grammar and vocabulary?
Gracias.
Ana-Maria

Dear Ana-Maria,
Teaching songs is an extremely useful activity for helping students acquire the target language. Students find it fun and the teacher has to do very little explicit teaching. As students learn the songs, they naturally learn new vocabulary, improve their pronunciation, and master grammar structures. You can give students worksheets with fill-in-the-gap or text-reconstruction exercises. You need to choose the songs carefully, however, keeping in mind what you want to teach. You can choose songs according to language forms or vocabulary terms. For example, to teach vocabulary, you could use "Vamos al Zoológico" ("We're Going to the Zoo") for the names of animals and "Qué Bonitos Colores!" ("What Beautiful Colors!") for colors. Examples of songs specifically designed to teach grammar are "Los Pronombres" ("Pronouns") and "El Verbo" ("The Verb").

All of these songs and more can be found on the Spanish Page of the Website "Songs for Learning New Languages" (http://www.songsforteaching.com/languages.htm). This site also has songs in French, Hebrew, Italian, and Russian. Doing a Web search, you can find many terrific resources for teaching with songs in almost any language imaginable!
Have a wonderful time,
YANA

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How best to do error correction in speaking?

Dear YANA,
My intermediate level French students have begun to speak in class! Although this is a joyous occasion, I am now faced with a new issue: error correction. I have encountered various (sometimes conflicting) theories on error correction techniques. What are your recommendations? Looking forward to hearing your ideas,
A University French Instructor

Cher Professeur,
You have brought up a highly-debated, complex issue, but I would venture to guess that many language educators would agree with the following simple maxim: Do not correct students when the objective is communication, but be sure to correct the structures being practiced when activities have a grammar focus. For example, when a student is making an oral presentation in French to the class, do not interrupt his or her speech with error corrections. When the task objective is to develop students communicative skills, halting their work can negatively affect fluency and confidence. You may, however, jot down any salient errors and tell him later, either orally in a student-teacher conference or in writing, using an evaluation form. For instance, during students' role plays or other speaking activities, I often walk around the room listening for and noting errors. (Try to collect one example from each student). I put them on the board anonymously and have the students correct them as a class. If, however, your students are practicing a specific language structure (orally or in written form), you should always monitor and correct that structure. For example, if students are making predictions using the French future tense, you can ignore other mistakes but you should indicate and have them correct future tense errors. In these circumstances, I find that self and peer-correction are particularly effective.
Bonne Chance,
YANA

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Encouraging students to speak in class

Dear YANA,
Help! Some of the students in my high school Spanish class simply refuse to speak in class - no matter how much I try to bribe or blackmail them. How can I convince them that it's ok to make mistakes and not feel self-conscious?
Sincerely,
Susan

Dear Susan,
This question has plagued language teachers for a long time, and language educators have varying ideas on the best approach. Here is one approach you may find helpful. Try dividing the class into pairs or small groups. Many learners will find it easier to talk to one or a few classmates rather than to the whole class. Students will find it difficult to avoid practicing speaking if they are expected to carry on one side of a conversation.If you believe that students would like to participate, but think speaking in class isn't "cool," enlist the help of the students you consider class leaders. Tell these more confident learners that their participation is a great model for other students. Ask them to try to convince their peers that talking in class is fun and that it doesn't matter if they make mistakes.

If some learners seem extremely shy, consider not compelling them to speak in class. Forcing them to do so can do more harm than good. Instead, have them keep a special notebook where they write down their responses to your questions. (You can collect this notebook every day or once a week and write your feedback in it, almost like a class journal). If possible, meet with the student once a week for about 10-20 minutes. During these one-on-one meetings, you can ask them a few questions conversationally in the target language, to practice the forms and vocabulary you are working on in class. You can also choose to do a few exercises from the book or workbook together. Such measures might build up their confidence and encourage them to speak more in class.
Best of luck!
Sincerely,
YANA

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Managing role plays

Dear YANA,
I teach 6th grade Spanish in Ohio. I know that functional speaking practice is essential in class so I have my students do role-plays at least twice a week. However, with a class as huge as mine, it's a battle to keep all the students on task. Help!
Sincerely,
Ines

Dear Ines,
When you have a big class, it is important to make sure all students have an opportunity to speak. Doing role-plays in pairs is a great idea but you say that your students don't always stay on task. They might be more motivated to stay on task if you require a final product from them. For example, you might have pairs prepare and rehearse their role-play. Then ask the pairs to videotape each other and put the videotapes in the language lab for all to see. Or you might ask each pair to hand in a written script of their role-play at the end of class. Make the role play activity relevant to the students' needs and interests. Too much control might dampen their enthusiasm but they do need to be on task.
Sincerely,
YANA

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Language Lessons for Pre-Teens (7th graders)

Dear YANA,
The school year is almost here, and I am in a panic about teaching French to seventh graders for the first time. I've taught elementary, so I know how to adapt French lessons to young learners, but what about preteens? They are too "old" for children's activities but too "young" for activities for adolescents!
Stuck in the middle

Dear Stuck in the Middle,
Ah, it's that time of the year again: time to prepare the classroom for your new students; fresh, eager faces wondering what language they will learn this year. Middle school students can be challenge because they are still children (but don't want to be treated as such). It's understandable that you feel your material and activities may not seem adaptable, but never fear! Contrary to what they would have you believe, these young teens do enjoy doing "kids' stuff" so long as you avoid singsong activities or Barney characters!

When your students apply their language skills in a real life setting, learning becomes fun and less intimidating, encouraging class participation, which, as we all know, is key in foreign language classes. Plan imaginative lessons that will keep them active and engaged. Activities such as a skit on grocery shopping (asking for the price and location of produce, money exchange, customer service), learning first aid skills, cooking, songs/dance, and competitive, interactive games such as Jeopardy and Hangman, in the target language, are a great way to capture the imagination of your students while cultivating a lifelong interest in the language. Ensure you are off to a good start by clearly establishing your rules, your objectives and your expectations. Once you've established your foundation you should be set for the year. Have a good year!
YANA

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Beginning teacher of Spanish: what to teach?

Dear YANA,
I am a first year Spanish teacher, and although I am familiar with the language, I have never taught it as a subject before! HELP!
New Teacher

Dear New Teacher,
You are not alone! In my first year as a language teacher, I was enthusiastic, excited, and yet frightened by an enormous responsibility. Although I felt confident about my own language ability, I was terrified that I wouldn't be able to pass it on. My best advice is to identify and use resources to help you. Being a new teacher or teaching a new subject can be overwhelming, but there's help out there. For example, see what successful methods other language teachers in your department have used, perhaps moderating them to fit your class's needs. Senior teachers have infinite ideas, materials and tips to share with you. You may find a teacher mentor which is invaluable. Spanish community organizations are excellent resources for materials and target culture information. Use real materials (silverware, light switches, clothing, etc.) to help students put the new words and language structures in context.
YANA

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Should I use only French in class?

Dear YANA,
I am a high school French teacher in Chicago, and I am from Marseilles. I have been told not to use English too much in my first year class, but everything in French they don't understand. How can I teach in French and be understood by all of my pupils?
Madame le Professeur

Dear Madame,
Thank you for sharing what I have observed is a common problem for native speaker language teachers. Please don't worry! Non-native speaker teachers often use and re-use simple French phrases to conduct class. Due to your mastery of French and the richness of the French language, your commands, instructions and explanations may change a little each time you give them. One way to approach this issue is to analyze your language use by taping a few lessons using a hidden cassette recorder. Look at which points you use English for, such as classroom management or grammar presentations and which parts your students don't understand. Try to identify which parts of the lesson must be conducted in English and which you could use French. Then see if you can simplify your language and use the same phrases in every lesson. Once you've decided on phrases you will use with students (start with phrases you can act out), use these commands or explanations every time so your students will get used to them. I believe you'll discover that fixed routines will make students feel more secure and they will have an easier time understanding you. This concept can help you structure your class as well. Knowing what to expect will make it easier for students to understand and will build their confidence. In addition, you can provide incentives for understanding. For example, if you ask students to turn to page 98, loudly praise a student who has opened to the correct page. Have a "magnifique" stamp ready to reward the first student to complete an instruction. It may seem hard to believe, but learners of ALL ages respond to stamps of approval.
YANA

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E-Mail writing exchanges

Dear YANA,
I would like to set up an e-mail exchange for my high school students with French students in France or another Francophone country. Unfortunately, I don't have any teacher contacts overseas. Do you haveany suggestions?
Marie-Louise Pettit

Dear Marie-Louise,
International e-mail exchanges are a great way for students to develop fluency in the target language. You must first decide what the objective of the exchange would be. For your students, the primary objective would be improving their French. But what's in it for the French students? They obviously don't need to improve their French! They might, however, go for a "tandem" project. Tandems are bilingual e-mail projects in which language learners communicate both in their native language and in the target language. Each participant acts as an expert informant for his or her language while learning the target language from a native speaker partner. Students are generally very enthusiastic about participating in such exchanges as they communicate with peers on subjects of interest to them. When students are motivated, they write more and, as a result, their proficiency in the language improves markedly.

Two tandem formats are available, pairs and listservs. In the pairs format, each student has a partner who is a native speaker of the target language. The two students exchange messages, half written in their native language and half in the target language. The exchange is private but you could require your students to copy you on every message. In this way, you could monitor the content and the language of their messages. In the listserv format, a large number of students participate and carry on a general discussion in the two languages. The forums are open so you could join the one that your students would be participating in if you so desired.

The International E-Mail Tandem Project would be appropriate for your students. This project finds language partners for students in France, Britain, Germany, Spain, Canada, and the USA. It also provides the following bilingual forums: English/French, Spanish/French, and German/French. The URL is http://www.enst.fr/~benenson/lgv
Sincerely,
YANA

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Finding classroom materials on the web

Bonjour YANA,
I am looking for French teaching resources to supplement my current classroom materials. I've been told the web is a good place to start, but how do I begin, and will this prove expensive and time consuming?
-Merci, Jean-Jacques

Dear Jean-Jacques,
The great news is that there are infinite free French and other language resources on the Internet. You will find two major types of web resources you can search through. First, there are language teaching ideas in the form of materials, language games, lesson plans, and downloadable worksheets and assessments. For example, look at the Foreign Language Teaching Forum at http://www.cortland.edu/flteach/ Be sure to visit "A few things to check out," where you can find a number of free online materials and "WWW resources for language teachers," which identifies some of the owner's favorite language education web sites. Second, you can find authentic materials to supplement your classroom texts. You can find target language poems, articles, stories, maps etc. If you like working with authentic materials, you can adapt textbook comprehension or discussion activities to suit French texts. Check out the Foreign Language Web Sites Surf Report at http://www.ecb.org/surf/foreign.htm. This site offers an extensive list of links, reading and listening material in many languages, as well as access to information about the history and culture of other countries. You can access a handful of general FL sites and then there are specific links for French, German and Spanish learners and educators.

I recommend exploring the web using a search engine like Yahoo or Google. Type in the following key words: teaching, learning, language education or instruction, French, teacher resources, K-12, language activities or games, and ESOL (the phenomenal materials designed for teaching and learning English for Speakers of Other Languages can be adapted to suit foreign language try also ESL and EFL).
YANA

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What is a MOO?

Dear YANA,
I am a high school Italian teacher. One of my students has asked me if there are any Italian MOOs. I have absolutely no idea what a MOO is and my student doesn't, either. She says that her friend is always talking about the fun she has in a French MOO. I promised her that I would look into it. Can you help me? I am not very computer savvy although I do send the occasional e-mail message.
Perplexed

Dear Perplexed,
It's very difficult to imagine what a MOO really is. It's similar to a Chat Room. I suggest you go to a MOO and see for yourself. MOOing is not for everyone but some people get addicted very quickly, teachers and students alike.

A MOO is a place in cyberspace, where users/students can move around and "talk" (via the keyboard) to the people they meet. MOOing gives students an opportunity to use the target language outside of class at any time of day or night (24/7) in a non-threatening environment. Some language teachers decide to make MOOing a required assignment for their students while others make it optional for particularly motivated students.

The best-known Italian MOO is called Little Italy. To learn more about it, connect to the Internet and go to the Little Italy Homepage at http://www.tramanti.it/conten/testi/altretrame/uendi/littlei.htm You will find that the Little Italy MOO is divided into various "rooms" including a cathedral, a desert, two space stations, a piece of the planet Mars, and a forest. Choose a room, and you will hopefully encounter other users in this room. These other users could come from anywhere in the world. Approximately 70% of the Little Italy users are native speakers of Italian and 30% are non-native speakers. Of the Italians most are university students in Milan. Just type a greeting (in Italian, of course!) and wait for the other users in your room to reply. Although you will be communicating via text, after a while you will have the illusion that you are carrying on a spoken conversation. It's a strange feeling! And you will not only be "talking" but also interacting with virtual objects in the room.

MOOs are also available in other languages such as English (schMOOze University), French (MOOFrançais) and Spanish (MundoHispano). To find other language MOOs, go to the google search engine (http://www.google.com) and enter the keywords "MOO" and the name of the language you are looking for. (In case you are curious, M stands for Multi-user domain and OO stands for Object-Oriented.) Sincerely,
YANA

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Setting up a collaborative Internet project

Dear YANA,
I teach French at a university in Richmond, Virginia; I have a friend who teaches French in Chicago, Illinois. We would very much like to have our two classes work together on a collaborative Web project where we have our students working together. We have never done this before and we'd appreciate some suggestions. Do you have any ideas?
Very excited

Dear Excited,
Michael Krauss, an ESL instructor in Oregon, developed a marvelous project that you might be interested in. This project is called "Web-Based Culture Capsules." You can read the details of his project at http://www.lclark.edu/~krauss/tesol2001cultcaps/home.html. While Michael's project was originally designed for international students in an ESL class in one location, it can easily be adapted for foreign language students in a variety of contexts. Let me suggest how you and your friend could adapt it to your situation.

First, pair up your students so that each pair has a Richmond student and a Chicago student. Ask the students to communicate with their partners via e-mail and to decide on an aspect of French culture they would like to focus on. They might choose, for example, fashion, food, or geography. Then, after each student has done some research, have them collaborate via e-mail on writing an essay, a "culture capsule", on their topic. Finally, create a project Web page and post all of the culture capsules to this page. Photos of the students can be added to the page as well as other relevant graphics. Let the students do as much of the Web creation and design work as they can. Often there is at least one student in a class that is equally or more computer-savvy than the teacher! Writing for a distant audience, whether for another class or for unknown Web users, is highly motivating for students. You will notice that your students take greater pains in writing clear and correct French when involved in a project like this. Depending on your students' proficiency in French, you could have them do the planning work via e-mail in English or French. The culture capsules, of course, would be written in French.
Sincerely,
YANA

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How to make literature interesting to upper level students?

Dear YANA,
What can be done to bring literature alive and become more immediate and of interest to upper level students?

Dear Literature Lover,
There are a variety of ways in which students can become more immediately involved in their reading. In abbreviated form, here are some of the techniques with which I have success. As an introduction, I always find a short example of the author's work, either selected from the work we will read later or from another source. If I have an autographed copy of the book, that is always the one I choose to take in to the class; seeing the signature, realizing that the author actually touched that book, knowing that their teacher had to at least say please and thank you to the author in person, all these conspire to personalize the reading experience for the students. It is extremely important to present the students with something that will snag their attention, has an attainable reading level, and is exemplary of the style and/or subject matter of the author.

1. Watch local newspapers, bookstores, libraries, museums, etc. for announcements about authors appearing for a reading or perhaps a book signing session. Before students attend the event they should be aware of who the author is, what the genre is, what some of the general themes of previous works have been, and perhaps, if it is available, have read a short selection of the work that will be highlighted. After the event, read another selection, or provide a way in which the students can obtain the book (libraries, student discounts at near-by book stores). Give them ample time to read the book, if they are reading it in English, and then have a discussion.
2. A variation on this may be a near-by college or university that opens classes to visitors. Contact the foreign language department or the English department to see if anybody has anything on their syllabus that is within reach of your students. Then contact the instructor directly to make arrangements to sit in on one of the classes.
3. If the piece the students are reading has been made into a short film, alternate reading with watching the film. One time read first, and then watch; another time watch before reading. Follow up with students taking parts and reading out loud. If a film is not available, perhaps a recording is.
4. If there is a museum, art gallery, or neighborhood nearby, arrange to visit and point out things that are relevant to the reading selection.
5. For classes with a more artistic bent, have the students illustrate the selection. Well-designed stick figures can convey the idea as well as fully formed artwork.

Alternate ways of assessing a reading assignment:

1. Design a book jacket.
2. Write a critical review.
3. Act out a segment.
4. Story board a segment (no words allowed).
5. Choose appropriate music and explain why.
6. Choose actors to play the major roles and explain why.

Whatever method you decide upon, it is important that the students understand from the outset what will be expected of them during the reading, in the discussion sessions, and as an assessment. The key is to engage the students from the start, to not drag out the reading over too long a period of time, and to be sure that the language used in the selection is accessible to the students. It is no fun to read if it requires a dictionary for every third word. I also would add that what works with one group of students might not work with another.
YANA

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Useful techniques for vocabulary retention

Dear YANA,
I am doing research about vocabulary retention and would like some suggestions for useful techniques and references to articles about this topic.Thanks!
Hawraa N.

Dear Hawraa,
Each individual learner develops a different set of personalized techniques that will lead to successful vocabulary retention. These are generally arrived at through trial and error with a variety of strategies suggested by a variety of people who have had success. Success comes from long hours of encounters with the vocabulary in a variety of contexts.

The key to leading students to vocabulary retention is to have a wide variety of contextual activities in which the students must process the meaning in order to perform correctly. Everybody successfully memorizes the words to a song, the sequence to a successful football maneuver, or their part in a play in a different manner. Vocabulary retention is the same kind of thing, with one difference. The examples I just listed have a context in which to remember the elusive words, vocabulary lists do not. Whatever the activities are that you devise for your students, they must have a meaningful context in which to work.

A colleague of mine swore by the statement, "If I want my students to learn their vocabulary, I must provide each one of them with at least 30 to 35 individual encounters with each word. " That's a tall order. You can see the section on Vocabulary Activities. I suggest that you draw upon those activities to provide you with a variety of encounters. They will at least be a point of departure for you, and may stimulate your creativity to develop additional activities that you will refine and one day share with others.

FL Annals, published by ACTFL, should have many articles that address vocabulary retention, as well as the various regional entities such as SWCOLT or NECTFL. There is a lot available in the TESOL archives and I have found, also, that conversations with our teachers of the learning disabled students always reap huge benefits. Consulting with your colleagues who are teaching foreign languages will turn up additional techniques and activities. A quick search in Google Scholar brings up many resources, most of which are suggested techniques and scholarly papers.
Good luck in your search for successful vocabulary retention!
YANA

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