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Reading Is Our Friend
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14 thoughts on “Reading Is Our Friend”
“In FS [Focal Skills], students save time by not wasting it. They do not waste time trying to learn to write before they can read, or trying to learn to read before they can understand a discussion of what they are reading. They do not waste time studying artificial materials that present a cramped, impoverished picture of the language, or learning grammar rules of doubtful utility and questionable accuracy. Nor do they waste time worrying about daily quizzes and weekly tests.”
This is what Ashley Hastings (inventor of MovieTalk) wrote about why his Focal Skills program was better. Sounds like you could say that about any TPRS/TCI class as compared to their traditional teaching colleagues!
In the Focal Skills pre-University Intensive English program, students take 4 week modules, 4 hours per day, 5 days per week. Every 4 weeks they retest and can place out. The order of the modules is: Listening -> Reading -> Writing -> Advanced/Immersion. The first modules, listening, spends 3 of the 4 daily hours on MovieTalk as it was originally conceived by Hastings. Now, that’s innovative! And it’s used in many Universities and has been since 1988!
And there was this from Hastings (bullet points his):
• All skills must be taught at all levels.
• Grammar, vocabulary, and speaking must be taught explicitly.
• Elaborate syllabi and textbooks are essential.
• Students need to do exercises and drills.
Those who embrace these precepts might expect trouble to follow if any one of them was violated. Abandoning all of them simultaneously would presumably be considered an invitation to certain disaster. Yet the FS approach has done just that.
So, reading comes only after they are intermediate listeners. Then, they’re set up for success!
Eric, I’m confused about this from your post about Ashley Hastings:
• All skills must be taught at all levels.
• Grammar, vocabulary, and speaking must be taught explicitly.
• Elaborate syllabi and textbooks are essential.
• Students need to do exercises and drills.
Are you saying that Ashley Hastings supports this curriculum? Sounds like the opposite of : The order of the modules is: Listening -> Reading -> Writing -> Advanced/Immersion.
Are you saying that these 2 go together somehow?
“Those who embrace these precepts might expect trouble to follow if any one of them was violated. Abandoning all of them simultaneously would presumably be considered an invitation to certain disaster. Yet the FS approach has done just that.”
Hastings said that, not me. The bullet points plus what I quoted were all part of the original quote from Hastings.
For me, the importance of and emphasis on reading was a big takeaway from IFLT, and it has helped me survive my traditionally-trained classes this year. I just give them tons of reading, and support them with vocab and embedded versions. That’s all I can do for these kids, since they won’t take anything communicative seriously. But we have to help them make progress–or at least perceive that they’re making progress in a “serious” way while delivering as much CI as possible. Job security comes first, then make baby steps toward more and more CI.
I LOVE letting my students have FVR or SSR (whatever you prefer to call it) when they are ready to tackle some of the books. I have four levels–super easy all the way to authentic texts like Borges and Allende and Neruda. They can always find ‘something’ to read. This is especially wonderful for my Heritage Spanish class, most of them head for the super-easy books immediately because that’s where they feel they fit as far as being able to read, only to find out, they are wrong. By end of week 2 or 3, the majority of the class is in the upper=mid level books. By the end of the semester, many will make it to the top level. We read five days a week for approximately 10 minutes per day. They only ‘homework’ associated with their FVR/SSR is to do at least one ‘commercial’ for one of their books at some point in time to perhaps entice another student to read the book. They love it. I know the ESL teachers I work with, in regards to these students, have all said their reading confidence has improved in the ESL classroom (IF they are still being serviced, most are not). I’m not saying that has anything to do with OUR reading, but I suspect maybe it does.
For my non-Heritage classes, it’s always fun to watch them stretch into a new level (especially if I take away the super-easy level) because they suddenly realize they CAN read a little bit more difficult books than they had thought. I don’t know why it ‘surprises’ them, but it does. We read A LOT in class…FVR(SSR), class novels for actual course work, daily stories etc…My favorite part is when a student uses a vocab word during one of our class stories, and the other students want to know where s/he learned it from and s/he answers back with the book title pointing at our bookshelf. As a teacher, I live for those moments.
Pat R
Minnesota
And Ben remember how all the characters in Muzzy have distorted voices. Not only do the beginner young kids have to try to make sense of the meaning, but also struggle with robotic, deep, high, low pitched voices. And fast talking characters.Why not confuse the kids a little more? “Lets keep it -authentic-“. Comprehensible: nah.
Many elementary schools claim to teaching “successfully” with Muzzy, Rosetta Stones, Alex et Zoë, SymTalk, and Tatou le Matou, to name a few more. Show me the results!
I actually like Muzzy quite a bit as supplement. I do not use it near as early as some might. Usually I have already hit many, but not all, of the most essential words and phrases for comprehension of Muzzy. It is a nice once a week change of pace for them as I finish up this first semester with Muzzy I(We are block 4). I am not familiar with the others, but I don’t find the voices too badly distorted in the German version, and I use a version with subtitles. I do not think the Muzzy Vocabulary videos are of any use however. The main storylines have a comprehensible and engaging plot if they have enough language to access it. Are there some things I would change? Sure, (not least of which is Ich habe Hunger) but I find Muzzy to be more in the line of comprehensible input if it is not used too early.
Yes Eric. “If it’s not used too early.” I have heritage speakers who watch Muzzy at home.
For my beginner early elementary students – for whom these videos are meant- it’s too fast.There is a mixed bagage of high frequency/low frequency/fast speech/list of vocab/too many words + the distorted voices add an element of confusion. I’ve used Muzzy towards May when the kids cannot sit still any longer.I turned the video on and spaced out. They got what they got. If I were to use Muzzy I would have to backwards plan and target those exact words. Not worth it. Also I teach preliterate kids. With the subtitles added it may very well be a good supplement to TCI. I will try it again, Eric. Maybe I was too critical.
I also find some of the words insensitive like calling the Queen “fat”. It is a useful word to know, but in a different context. My kids pick up on those kind of “jokes” and apply them on the spot. No need for too many reps when they can tease each other.
When they call the queen fat in Muzzy, they blow it right there. That is one thing we haven’t talked much about here, but yes I will stop a class on a dime if I hear one thing that in any way puts down another child of God. My kids knew it. I get an attitude just thinking about it. We are not just language teachers and yes we want to stay in the language but there are limits.
I would add that your statement here, Catharina, is perfect and I am sure that Eric does it, because he’s got this stuff down and knows the necessity of establishing meaning, the cornerstone of all our work with CI. Here you say it all:
… If I were to use Muzzy I would have to backwards plan and target those exact words…..
I happened upon Season 2, episode 3 (called “Ensigns of Command”) from Star Trek: The Next Generation this week. It demonstrates with an example why we use a bit of English to clarify meaning, and why it’s much harder to do if there’s zero mutually understood language.
Here’s the exact clip someone put on YouTube: http://youtu.be/S0Q1toKnR_c
The discussion about Muzzy reminded me of it. I have watched some Muzzy in Spanish when I covered for a coworker once a couple years ago, and I was quite lost. I still am not sure if “listo” means smart, evil, or what. The obvious bad guy character was called that. The word stuck with me though.
Pat just described reading in her class. Did something get deleted? Not following at all, Ben.
Thanks Tim you are right. It was under the wrong comment by Pat. There it’s fixed, but hard to find now bc there are 71 comments in this thread.
I see 8 comments with this one. Are the others somewhere else? I am trying to catch up on my reading.
Eric
Eric you and Tim got confused because it was in the “Need to Refocus” thread. It’s over there in those comments. Sorry about the confusion.