No complex curriculums are needed to learn a language. No word lists are needed. No thematic unit lists are needed. No semantic sets are needed. No high frequency verb lists are needed. No testing is needed. All we have to do is deliver interesting/compelling CI.
The “no testing” comment above may have raised one or even both eyebrows of some teachers, but think about it. All testing does is divide kids among those who are good at taking tests (they are usually kids of privilege) – good memorizers – and those who are not. If you must test, do it in a way that honors ALL your students. It is easily done!
All you have to do is change the way you think about the real purpose of your job a little bit, which in my view is to help kids grow up and learn that they are good at things so that they can believe in themselves. Language proficiency gains are merely secondary in that way of thinking. Our subject matter is merely a means to an end, a humanitarian end that aims ultimately at what is best for a society in free fall.
What is written about testing in the above paragraph represents a serious indictment of testing in terms of the equity/inclusion piece, which should be our main goal in language classrooms. Why? It is because creating a classroom community is the most important thing we can do to teach in a way that honors the research and meets the Communication Standard.
Change – real reform – will come slowly to our field, and there is no way around that. Most language teachers think that it is still about the individual performing up to the teacher’s expectations. Nothing could be further than the truth in our field.
