Like many of you, I teach a world language (in my case French) using the methodology called CI or comprehensible input. This is basically ‘mommy talk’ – speaking French, making each word/phrase comprehensible through translation on the board, facial expressions, gestures, and pictures. Brain research shows that we need to hear a chunk of language and… Read More Music to the ears of a CI teacher
A student’s explanation of how she knew what to say in French encouraged me and provided more tangible proof that Comprehensible Input (CI) works! The students had recorded orally 2 minutes of a story each had invented. They did this by dialing my Google voice phone number. When my message invited them to speak after the… Read More Evidence of comprehensible input working
Listening to Professor Bill Van Patten’s weekly podcast on L2 (2nd language acquisition) really helps me think correctly about how I plan and conduct my middle school French classes. Van Patten explains that through comprehensible input a mental representation of the target language begins to form in the mind. What qualifies as ‘comprehensible input’? It is language (in my… Read More Kids’ L2 speaking and how it emerges
One of the benefits of acquiring a language naturally, that is by constant repetition of comprehensible language, is that phrasing and language chunks start to FEEL right. TPRS (teaching proficiency through reading and storytelling) is the best methodology I have found for teaching a foreign language. I don’t teach much explicit grammar. Instead we use… Read More Teachers as learners
Since the methodology I employ is about creating stories with student input, each story is completely personal to the class. As a result, interest remains high because of their ownership. I’m in a project-based school, so anytime I can add a hands-on, crafty classroom activity to the story mix, the students like it. Last week I… Read More Projects combine well with language use
