A repost from 2009:
I suggest that we endeavor to respect the continuum of hearing and seeing in L2 – the auditory part in stories, and the visual part in readings. When I say continuum, I mean flow of L2, as in din of L2, in stories. Readers unfamiliar with Krashen’s term Din are invited to google it bc it has everything to do with our work.
Flow compares to an orchestral rehearsal. When the conductor stops the flow of music to make some point, and the musicians grab their pencils, bring their instruments down, lean forward, make a note in the music in response to the conductor’s comment, and then begin again.
It is an interesting image. Imagine how parents and young musicians in a youth orchestra would feel if they were asked to sit in their orchestra but not play. That is what we do when we keep interrupting our instruction in stories and reading. We’re just showing off. Some of us don’t really even want to connect with our students bc it’s too hard.
Uninterrupted flow. Zen of CI. I think that there is something to this. I DO think that we need to dump our erudition in a language class. There is only room for CI.