There are a lot of readers here who are just getting started with CI. That’s great.
But there are also many of us with strong CI experience to whom I would like to direct a comment:
We work with kids. Our “oath” to them, if you will, should be to honor their developing lives in such a way that, via language study, they are able to gain a greater and more positive self image, and some degree of belief in life at a time when it is hard to believe in anything.
We all know that, especially today, no trips to Quebec and all its wonders, to France and all its wonders, to Dakar and all its wonders, etc. are in the offing. Ain’t gonna happen….
So can we all agree that the immediate goal in our profession is not so much to teach them the language as it is to use CI in a way that guides them along in their lives in a way that enables them to feel some hope in life, because they are good at something?
Is there a way that, through our use of CI (impossible with the textbook) we can make them aware that they are a legitimate part of a web of connectedness that may not gain them another unearned grade of “A” or a sticker on a suitcase showing what countries they have visited, but rather enables them to stay alive in terms of their hope and belief in life when there is no big apparent reason to do so for many of them right now?
Right now is it perhaps less important to teach them our languages than to use comprehensible input – which is how people learn languages – to give them hope in life? With Covid now grades don’t “inform” us about our students’ progress as much as they are used to control our students during our online instruction?
Do grades mean anything now? No, and they never did, because everyone – all people – are perfectly wired to master a language. All it takes is time. Is anybody going anywhere? Does travel money for most teens in America even exist? Isn’t it true that many of our students don’t even own suitcases? Isn’t it true that many of our students have never made an A in their lives, and yet they possess inside of themselves everything they need to one day become fluent in a language, in spite of all the negative messaging about that that many of us have (unintentionally) sent to them with our rust-stained, hideous worksheets?
Are we not essential workers, not so much to help their bodies stay alive but to help their self-esteem stay alive?
Teaching languages using CI, if it is to work, must bring love into the equation. We can do that with CI, but not with worksheets. So why don’t we put the pedal down on learning CI when many of our children’s hopes in life can be honored if we just do so?
I humbly request you, on bended knee, to reflect on why you are a teacher. It’s time for that. Let’s all stride up to the plate and hit one out of the park. We can’t keep boring these kids forever and yes, CI is the bat that will launch a thousand home runs, and already has.
And stop focusing on the students who come from homes of privilege. Their parents will make sure they “succeed”. Focus on the ones who most need help. Focus on those who need help.
Give.
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