Unlock with PatreonThe Problem with CI
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Express Fluency Training
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CI and the Research (cont.)
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Research Question
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We Have the Research
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10 thoughts on “Express Fluency Training”
I directed Elissa to the recent article on this topic:
On Presenting to Departments – A New Plan
https://benslavic.com/blog/on-presenting/
One handout would be Robert’s Primer:
https://benslavic.com/blog/primers/
Ya. I would suggest:
–Do your story in Chinese: awesome.
— Immediately after, do movietalk and picturetalk on the same material/ structure as your story. REINFORCE IT!
–Do your reading– make them embedded– also in Chinese (write them in english letters) right after movietalk and picturetalk. REINFORCE!
— in my experience, the ONLY way you are going to convince people of the ease and power of CI is through teaching them bits of another language. At my workshops teachers are ALWAYS amazed at how quickly – 90 mins – German acquisition goes (at end of demo, they are reading a 300-word story in 3 verb tenses including dialogue).
— Email me if you want my slideshow. Blaine Ray’s is also available free on slideshare
— see this for research summaries (thanks Eric Herman) http://tprsquestionsandanswers.wordpress.com/2014/10/06/the-research-supporting-comprehensible-input/
— when done your demo, once you start explaining the method, and you are doing examples, use the Chinese they have acquired. Go slow.
— if you get them to practice, have a confident person who knows a REALLY foreign language (ie not spanish or french) do circling or whateverbin front of class (get them to teach two sentences– you always want 2 for contrast)
— don’t go overboard or theory/research, most ppl don’t care
— keep going back to your Chinese example
Good luck!
Hi Chris, Thanks! I’d love to see your Powerpoint. (I don’t have your email, but you could email to elissa@expressfluency.com. Thanks!
Elissa
Here is a video made by Elissa that I referenced in an ACTFL post on that ongoing thread yesterday. (I couldn’t help it because we can’t let Robert and Eric hang out there trying to keep that thing alive – and it should be kept alive because when are we going to get another chance to dialogue with them like this?).
Here is Elissa’s video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57mE2XZoDL0
Here is a link to my ACTFL post of yesterday where I mention her video:
http://community.actfl.org/communities/viewdiscussions/viewthread/?GroupId=439&MID=6604#bm94
I even think that in addition to Chris’ excellent suggestions above, which I will make into an article so that we can have it in the Teacher Training Options category, we should even consider showing this video at some point, and we should make the point about the faces vs. the research.
(My newest foundational statement about this work is: “Damn the research. Look at their faces. It will tell you all you need to know about what they are learning. They learn because they want to. It has nothing to do with thinking.”)
Thanks Chris and Ben!
If I spoke more Mandarin that is exactly what I would do… The school wanted Manadarin b/c most of the teachers already speak Spanish/French and we know the benefit of the feeling of acquiring a language we don’t already speak. So I agreed. I know enough to have someone looking at someone’s coffee/chocolate, wanting it, the person giving/not giving to them and the other person smiling/crying. I can do a reading (maybe not much to embed!). Now I’m wondering if maybe I can movie talk with this limited language…Anyone know of a good clip with those structures? Or maybe I’ll stick to my plan of doing movie talk, etc… in Spanish where I am much more comfortable. Will ponder this. Thanks, again!
I say do it in Spanish if you have really limited Mandarin. Too freaky. It also allows you to do a Look and Discuss possibly, and you can set someone up at the beginning of the class who knows Spanish to have your reading ready to go later in the first day or on the second. Look at that new seven point plan for presenting to departments – link below – for more information on how to do that but the reason you need Spanish is because there are so many applications of the story to show off after the story. Just don’t let any Spanish speakers in your field of vision. Before you start tell anyone who knows Spanish to move out to the sides of the story session. Even if you end up with just a few people, it’s better than hanging out with too little language. And can you bring in some teachers or adults or students from somewhere to beef up the size of your mini-class, just for the story?
https://benslavic.com/blog/on-presenting/
I got off the hook- no longer teaching Mandarin. It will be in Spanish. Much better. Turns out that only 2 of the 8 teachers speak Spanish already. Will demo a bunch of different things. I have almost 2 full days with the group. This Weds-Thurs! Working on planning now….
Look for funny furniture ad on youtube
Hi Elissa,
Would it work to have some of the Spanish teachers be seated so that they can see the faces/eyes of the student group?
It was so good to meet you at TCI Maine.
I like that idea. Great to see you, too!