Unlock with PatreonThe Problem with CI
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Yearly Plan
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10 thoughts on “Yearly Plan”
Dr Beniko Mason was just on the We Teach Languages Podcast
https://weteachlang.com/2018/05/11/ep-52-with-beniko-mason/
Good stuff.
That’s very interesting Greg. I have used special chair interviews throughout the year but starting the second month. Also with SL, I have done that as part of my block schedule from time to time. One per week at most (though not consistent, so hence out of line with Dr. Mason’s system). It is kinda prep heavy for me (which means more than 30 minutes). This year I teach Spanish 2, as well as my French classes and I find it difficult to translate on the spot with Spanish–because there is impatient heritage speakers and my vocab is slightly limited.
Also, I have been using No prep MT and write and discuss together since the end of April.
One way to add to this list is right on the bottom write “Choose any of these to do year round”
Examples include: Write and Discuss, Special Chair interview, Small Talk etc..
Thanks for this EASY list.
We see how Greg lessens the amount of circling he does as the year goes on. I personally don’t use circling (see the “Hit List” category for more). It is because I don’t see any research on circling in Krashen or anywhere else. Does this mean Greg is wrong? Of course not. We each do what we feel is right and what works best for us. My “Hit List” post is my opinion only. It’s my truth, not necessarily THE truth. (But it sure works for me!)
There is a video on Youtube where Krashen talks about N.T. he said circling is a tool in the tool box. I think it’s when we take the tool in the toolbox and make it the be all and end all that we run into problems, hence the resistance of some TPRS people to even talking about storylistening.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzwXP6E1LE4
Oh yeah and…..get that circling out of your mind so you can get to “working on Archie” ?
Oops…it put a question mark at the end of “working on Arhcie”…I meant a laughing smiley face 🙂
Well we can’t know if anything Krashen said about any aspect of TPRS was actually based in research or something else.
What we need is communication as awareness. In my experience, NT brings that and T doesn’t.
Krashen has said:
“After reviewing research on how caretakers talk to children, [Roger] Brown offered this advice in answer to the question, “How can a concerned mother facilitate her child’s learning of language?” “Believe that your child can understand more than he or she can say, and seek, above all, to communicate. To understand and be understood.” (Brown, 1977 quoted in The Case for Non-Targeted, Comprehensible Input, Stephen Krashen. Journal of Bilingual Education Research & Instruction 2013 15(1): 102-110.)
“The same, I am hypothesizing, holds for second language acquisition.”
Me again:
Brown’s term of “seek, above all, to communicate” I don’t believe has been heard very deeply by the CI community. There seems to be some interest in the phrase, in authentically communicating, but it has not been discussed, to my knowledge, in a truly substantive way. Most people are still trying to figure out how to use circling to teach the grammar curriculum so they can get the boxes checked, Greg certainly excepted. So real communication is still not at the top of the list of goals in most CI classes today, a full 25 years since the TPRS train pulled out of the station in the early to mid 1990s.
More important to many current CI teachers is to find a way to teach the subjunctive using a snappy technique. Or to find a game to help teach object pronouns. This is to CI as a needle to a balloon. The students in such a classroom don’t need to be aware – in the Brown concept of language instruction – of each other at all to do those things. They can still fake it.
So we need to look at what communication is and find the best ways to make that happen in our classrooms.
I was at church and heard an interesting expression defining the role of a Prophet. I think it applies to how we should see ourselves in relationship to our students and the language we teach and the world. The quote said something to the effect: A prophet ‘s role is not to stand between the people and God, but to stand next to the people and point them to God.
We stand next to our students and using the language we point them towards and understanding of the world.
What do you use for your student projects in May-June?
I will send you a private email Maya. It’s way too complicated for this rectangular space.