Some teachers on the ACTFL language educators list have started a discussion about which is the best textbook to use in Spanish middle school classes. Nathaniel Hardt offered a very good response, one sprinkled with a light layer of snark, which was unavoidable in this situation. I love that he had the courage to do it, and that he continues to use the force of reason and current research against the seemingly constant reappearance of old thinking in that group. First the question:
Hola amigos,
I am teaching Spanish 6th, 7th and 8th grade. We are using En espanol 1a,1b but I am looking for a new textbook for next year. Please, could you help me to have some ideas or suggestions of textbooks?
And Nathaniel’s response:
No, I do not have experience with any of these textbooks, although I have had considerable experience with textbooks in general. I have found that textbook use goes against the grain of ACTFL’s recommendations for moving toward proficiency. The focus becomes one of premature output, that is, of students being expected to produce language that they have not sufficiently heard in the context of the interpersonal mode. As Berty Segal has said, “Language is acoustical.” Using a textbook puts written language into the hands of the student who has not had to time to develop an adequate sound representation of the target language. One result is a student-invented sound system requires remediation. Another result is that students do not understand the spoke language. Both problems require a teacher who is able to help students move from target-langlish (compare Spanglish) to target language.
The textbook also packages language into grammar packets designed for presentation, practice, and production. After students watch and listen a presentation of the grammatical point of the week, they practice the particular morphemic manipulations (Hablar minus -ar, in the presence “yo” add -o), and then they prove on an assessment that they can match the morpheme -o with the pronoun “yo.” Students might also be asked to do these manipulations in a more real language task like writing and performing a dialogue or writing a letter. Some kids take to these tasks very well and are proud of their newly developed skills. These skills are very useful for passing tests which focus on morphemic manipulations, but do little if anything for language acquisition. A large number of students, however, struggle with these meaningless algebraic processes. The teacher must then choose between leaving the struggling kids behind and abandoning herself to the use of English in order to attain morphemic manipulation mastery. Following the textbook as a curriculum guide requires that this task be completed by a certain deadline, because we must move on to the next chapter lest we not cover everything on the common midterm or final.
The textbook also packages language into lengthy vocabulary lists. Because the words are tied around a topic, they tend to limit the scope of thought. Because mastery of the word list is the goal, the teacher is concerned to thoroughly master all of the vocabulary, even if that means severely limiting any language context for the use of the words. It also limits integration of previous words with current words. There will be fill-in-the-blank exercises which are labeled “Recycle” in which a few words from the past are employed to remind the students that they have indeed forgotten the words and that they cannot learn a language any way-they are not good memorizers after all. Creative teachers will come up with a lot of games to assist students in memorizing for the test. But there is so much to learn in the next chapter, the now assessed chapters must be left behind until the review for the summative assessment.
Like taking students on a culture visit, we must hurry along from one tourist attraction to another, checking off the grammatical monuments and buying the lexical tee-shirts.
On the positive side, without any other support, a textbook can help a beginning teacher (or a burnt-out, over-paper-worked veteran who is hoping to make it to retirement) make through the year without losing all one’s marbles. The students can pull through with varying degrees of bits and pieces of the target language which could become a collection of building blocks for working toward fluency via comprehensible input in the following year.
Knowing many teachers who have followed ACTFL’s recommendation to leave the old path of textbooks and move toward proficiency, I find that there are very few who are like the proverbial dog returning to the regurgitation of memorized words. And the money that you save your district might open up some resources to buy readers for the students or to attend conferences which help us gain and polish the skills needed for delivering personalized, comprehended language to the students. Teaching with personalized, comprehended language is very different from the way many of us were taught. Training, coaching, and mentoring are thus so much more crucial for teaching for comprehension than for textbook mastery.
I understand that this is perhaps not the type of answer you were looking for. But it may end up being part of the solution you truly desire. You may not be in a position to make this decision. And you may not be ready for it. That is understandable. We experiment as we are ready. Please consider reading through some of the other recent ACTFL threads. I have found them to be very thought-provoking and perhaps they may offer some fodder for thought at such a critical decision-making time.
Nathaniel Hardt
nhardt@dcrsd.orgTeacher
Related:
https://benslavic.com/blog/questions-for-textbook-companies-1
https://benslavic.com/blog/questions-for-textbook-companies-2
https://benslavic.com/blog/questions-for-textbook-companies-3
https://benslavic.com/blog/questions-for-textbook-companies-4
https://benslavic.com/blog/questions-for-textbook-companies-5
https://benslavic.com/blog/questions-for-textbook-companies-6
https://benslavic.com/blog/questions-for-textbook-companies-7
https://benslavic.com/blog/questions-for-textbook-companies-8
https://benslavic.com/blog/questions-for-textbook-companies-9