Category Archives: Building Literacy Skills in the Target Language

Reading and more in French class

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Ever wondered what we do in language class besides, well, learning the mechanics of a language? If the answer is yes, please read on!

My French 3 classes are wrapping up their reading and study of a leveled novel titled “La France en Danger et Les Secrets de Picasso”. This fictional intrigue written in simple French packs an impressive cross-section of historical and cultural events that takes the reader on a wild goose chase across France. Through this reading, we learned about Guernica, the place in the Basque country and its namesake painting by Pablo Picasso that depicts the horrors of war, the Spanish civil war, the World Fair of 1937 at the eve of WWII, Charles de Gaulle and his nemesis Maréchal Pétain, the cruel practices of the corridas in France and Spain, and the towns of Antibes and Arles in southern France.

We started out by brainstorming what we collectively knew about Pablo Picasso and his work. We then took a first look at his masterpiece “Guernica” and generated some reactions, before being introduced to the subject of the painting which led to a discussion about WWII. All of this in French with visual and linguistic support. From that point on, students were hooked and ready to dive into the story.

As the story unfolded, we followed two intrepid pairs of young French people in search of the Spear of Destiny that will give them the power to save France or doom it. Along the way, we paused to explore the historical and cultural content through slide shows, documentaries, and visuals.
We used Edpuzzle for building interest and knowledge and check for comprehension, class discussions for oral proficiency practice, writing summaries to practice language mechanics and synthesizing skills, and responses to open-ended questions to work our critical thinking muscles.

Oh, and did I mention the use of readers’ theater sessions for fun and a little torture; that’s French class after all:(

#sacrebleu

Building Literacy Skills in the Target Language

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Building Literacy Skills in the
Target Language
              This past winter I attended two language conferences in San Jose
that inspired me to modify my pedagogy in my language courses. The first
conference that I attended, the teacher did not use desks, computers, give
exams or even assign homework! What she did use with her French class was a lot
of comprehensible input and she required the students to read and write every
day. While this may not sound revolutionary for English teachers, it is
somewhat for language classes where traditionally the focus was on explicit
language instruction (manipulating syntactical structures and acquiring
vocabulary).   
 I have always used a communicative approach
and have focused on using language in all four domains (speaking, reading,
writing, and listening) in a meaningful context but I still focused on form and
function.  In the second conference
presented by Bill Van Patten I was reminded that languages are not learned
through explicit teaching and learning. Language acquisition is slow and piece meal.
Teenagers and adults already possess semantic concepts in their head.      
 These two conference really made me reflect
on my teaching practices and on how students learn language.  I am still teaching grammatical concepts with
a communicative approach but I am trying to incorporate more comprehensible
input as well as more reading and writing in my language classes at all levels.
 My focus is more on building literacy
skills in the target language.  What has
been interesting is that the students are performing better on their written
assessments. I don’t know if it is a direct correlation to the increase in
reading and writing, because I have not conducted a valid study. However, we do know that children who
are read to every night and are exposed to a print rich environment tend to
acquire language and literacy at higher rates. There is also strong evidence to
support the relationship between literacy level and academic achievement
(Cloud, 2010). This relationship becomes stronger as a student progresses
through the grades because students are forced to read and engage in increasingly
complex texts. Meanwhile, I will continue to incorporate more reading and
writing in my language courses to build literacy skills in the target language
and enhance language acquisition.