If I am honest, I have always felt more comfortable with the thought of a specialist language teacher delivering the modern language curriculum to my class. My justification for this was that these teachers have specialist knowledge and understanding of the language which would allow them to teach the language more effectively than I could. The children would then get an informed and specialist educated professional delivering the lessons and their learning experiences would be greater than what I could offer. I think this train of thought is encouraged by my lack of confidence in modern languages and the fear that I would teach something incorrectly.
After leaving my first Modern Languages tutorial, I was surprised at how much French I could actually remember from school and I was happy that I could follow most of the discussions. This tutorial gave us some brilliant teaching strategies for a beginners language class and the emphasis on ‘why these strategies were effective’ was really valuable. Some of these strategies were: repetition, voice modulation, clear and precise dictation (providing a good speech model), mime, gestures, facial expressions, eye contact and games. It’s all good and well choosing a teaching strategy, but if you don’t know ‘why’ and ‘how’ it is going to help pupils learn and develop, then you will not be able to deliver your lesson effectively.
After some reading and research into the strategies used to develop a modern language (ML), I have been able to identify some criticisms of my initial ‘Isolated-approach’ method delivered by a specialist. As a result of a ML being taught by a language specialist, there is very little room for embedding modern languages into the curriculum as teachers wouldn’t have the knowledge or skills to provide cross-curricular learning experiences. There is also limited opportunity for children to learn the target language in meaningful contexts as all language learning would be restricted to small slot in the timetable.
“Pupils need to encounter, process and use new language in different, meaningful contexts in order for it to be embedded in their minds.” (McLachlan and Jones 2009)
As my understanding in this field has grown, I now consider a whole-school approach as being vital to the success and effective delivery of ML. By this, I mean that class teachers have the support of their management team and other members of staff in promoting Modern Languages around the school and embedding it within daily routines. For example, this could be ML display boards in the school reception promoting welcoming phrases and increasing the status of languages for parents and visitors. Simple classroom routines such as the register, instructions, behaviour management and timetabling could be introduced in the target language. Welcome and introductions in assemblies could be done in the target language which would create a positive whole-school attitude towards ML.
“A clear and shared vision for the whole school’s present and future language provision will considerably enhance the initial classroom teaching.” (Hood and Tobutt, 2009)
This approach could be hindered by teacher’s lack of confidence in Modern Languages. Being able to provide cross-curricular learning experiences in the target language can be challenging and a daunting experience for members of staff and this could work against the integrated approach which schools are aiming for. A way in which schools could tackle this issue would be promoting professional development opportunities in Modern Languages. Schools need to give teachers the opportunity to develop their own knowledge and understanding of the languages being taught which would increase their confidence and would take a step in the right direction for embedding language in the whole curriculum. Another option would be to work with a Language Specialist, or another teacher who is particular competent in languages, to plan cross-curicular learning experiences and work through some lesson plans to ensure the class teacher felt secure in delivering them. Collaborating with other professionals is a valuable experience and one that allows you to share good practice, come up with new ideas and benefit from each other’s strengths.
An important point to consider when teaching a new language is, should my lessons be delivered only in the target language? Or, should I be using the english language to teach the new language? Teachers have differing views on this issue. Some say that the english helps to establish meaning in the target language and will prevent students from getting lost and de-motivated during lessons. Others say it doesn’t make sense to learn a new language by speaking your native tongue language. I fall in-between these two statements with a slight tendency to lean towards the latter. I do believe that children should be immersed in the target language and be able to develop the four language skills through this immersion. However, I agree that in the early stages of learning language, it is appropriate and often necessary to return to english to establish meaning, to cover tricky grammar rules and instructions and to check for your pupils’ understanding.
The video below is an interview with an experienced language teachers and she discusses her views on using the target language when teaching ML.
For my 2CM6 assignment, I am going to do further research into the use of singing, rhymes, games and story-telling to develop the target language. I want to develop my understanding of why and how teachers are slowing moving away from rote learning in ML acquisition to strategies which introduce Knowledge about language, language exploration and language comparisons.
References
Hood,P. and Tobutt, K. (2009) Modern languages in the primary school. London: SAGE Publications
McLachlan, A. and Jones, J. (2009) Primary languages in practice: a guide to teaching and learning. Maidenhead: Open University Press
