tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48886325763409577662024-03-27T12:52:13.852-07:00The Nice Man Who Teaches Languages"The Nice Man" is how my pupils referred to me in the videos I made for remote learning in the 2020-2021 pandemic. It is also a reminder to me to use the blog to celebrate other people, and to not treat everything like an intellectual argument.The Nice Man Who Teaches Languageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17343658160135320978noreply@blogger.comBlogger180125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4888632576340957766.post-19197693836972229852023-12-02T05:00:00.000-08:002023-12-03T01:13:29.468-08:00Evolution or Intelligent Design?<p> Evolution and "Intelligent Design" are two opposing arguments about life on Earth. "Intelligent Design" argues that such complexity could not have arisen spontaneously without a Creator. While Evolution suggests that a process of constant mutation and adaptation is what makes life survive. Within the theory of Evolution there have been various competing ideas around whether change is by gradual adaptation or by sudden mutating jumps.</p><p><b>So our new GCSE. Is it an example of "Intelligent Design"? Or is it a natural Evolution of what we have now?</b> </p><p>This post is based on a talk I gave to the HMC Modern Languages Conference in the East of England at Langley School. Thank you very much for inviting me! Many of the more practical (and positive) ideas are already on this blog in other posts, so please do click on the links that follow to see further detail for balance and hopefully useful ideas for planning and teaching.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg5vALD_WJRgDLHsXPryBmXN_yHa1t3WfBx0RMdcnsDaWkeH3TWKJOMeZA7bWEBMAhWplyDCgs-tePqaPZ8WMxSk1Xa9h2hDhU8y6ao3E5l2G5LzBlqtV0bSwSwuPT0Kg0AAyfAvm5QsO91nh3sYtMebc10slPyjWpAJX1cgJfqUQwzvgiKrDET9B-pGQXH" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="953" data-original-width="1799" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg5vALD_WJRgDLHsXPryBmXN_yHa1t3WfBx0RMdcnsDaWkeH3TWKJOMeZA7bWEBMAhWplyDCgs-tePqaPZ8WMxSk1Xa9h2hDhU8y6ao3E5l2G5LzBlqtV0bSwSwuPT0Kg0AAyfAvm5QsO91nh3sYtMebc10slPyjWpAJX1cgJfqUQwzvgiKrDET9B-pGQXH" width="320" /></a></div><br />I do like the fact that committees have been around long enough to have a proverb about them. <i>A camel is a horse designed by a committee</i>. In particular, as the result of a design process which was "conflicted or overly idealistic". And where too many "conflicting and inexperienced opinions were incorporated into a single project".<p></p><p>We can see this in the creation of this new GCSE. A politically selected panel putting forward reforming ideas to fit an agenda, flying in the face of established values and practices. Followed by a consultation which deformed some of the principal features. Followed by the creation of the exam by the Boards, with a totally different perspective from the original intention. <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2023/11/will-i-need-new-textbooks-for-new-gcse.html" target="_blank">This post</a> details how a GCSE initially constructed around a limited high frequency vocabulary list has been sold as a syllabus built around diversity, individuality and culture. And whether that hybrid beast can survive in the wild.</p><p>Of course, while camels may look ugly and ungainly, they are in fact robust and resilient. So we need to look carefully at the new GCSE and see if it turns out to have surprising strengths and versatility.</p><p>What sort of creature have we got? </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEint2Qxqx5VpeRUDA11j3UTitipRUXXnTbBfw5qAZn8qLmjGHnI0FVagoiqK1b8q9hQnmzALY86cZRRGR3EMo_WA2A6KGOOLZ-8skdpj11nFeMbt_5-3rP-4iiiS7lGEJCyoz0SIjeQjRz6HdA4PsMkH0ApiOs1_bffDzEXsDuyJevshNMPo8nchTvm2Mr1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1071" data-original-width="1080" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEint2Qxqx5VpeRUDA11j3UTitipRUXXnTbBfw5qAZn8qLmjGHnI0FVagoiqK1b8q9hQnmzALY86cZRRGR3EMo_WA2A6KGOOLZ-8skdpj11nFeMbt_5-3rP-4iiiS7lGEJCyoz0SIjeQjRz6HdA4PsMkH0ApiOs1_bffDzEXsDuyJevshNMPo8nchTvm2Mr1=w200-h198" width="200" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>I am going to look at four headline features of this new beast.</p><p>Firstly dictation.</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi2CiBCSOa6Tsd7eA0zjGr8fhJWuAvxve4ZXjtlzJKAara2_6cCu_o2R9aHx_OdSFXB6-nuJNKfl_Sf59Ud7whCSCe2q2tDA6inqlOtan7-3hrKVzIKc2qt-JQvQMjMS9xHz2kKdcsZPZuMGfFeLv0VNSFDi-oH2ZJY1F8GEdCWn_ic7Lfym3knB80_gjnX" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1055" data-original-width="1080" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi2CiBCSOa6Tsd7eA0zjGr8fhJWuAvxve4ZXjtlzJKAara2_6cCu_o2R9aHx_OdSFXB6-nuJNKfl_Sf59Ud7whCSCe2q2tDA6inqlOtan7-3hrKVzIKc2qt-JQvQMjMS9xHz2kKdcsZPZuMGfFeLv0VNSFDi-oH2ZJY1F8GEdCWn_ic7Lfym3knB80_gjnX=w200-h195" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dictation. Not what it says it is.<br />Image created by Bing AI</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Dictation. Not what it says it is.</h4><p>The reason the panel tell us Dictation is in the new GCSE, is in order to test knowledge of the Sound-Spelling link, or Phonics. This is NOT what dictation does. When French school kids do dictation, it is NOT to see if they can write down how it sounds. They can do that:</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNWaFlbHmmovRMh-GbqfjkjwggbMwbP-EP11WzcnzEW3gvG28cbvWw_1kWtalD1UAHRvV4wXEaqVFklidjF5gINYdgi3vTq21qB6VZnTc36biKDo87k1Qw5mO0P9P3XEUXmSOOFVyAhF3zpb4srz5JNR4FOW9rHOk3X9mHb5Cpo27p0jzZa9PLJP2csvih" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="879" data-original-width="2009" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNWaFlbHmmovRMh-GbqfjkjwggbMwbP-EP11WzcnzEW3gvG28cbvWw_1kWtalD1UAHRvV4wXEaqVFklidjF5gINYdgi3vTq21qB6VZnTc36biKDo87k1Qw5mO0P9P3XEUXmSOOFVyAhF3zpb4srz5JNR4FOW9rHOk3X9mHb5Cpo27p0jzZa9PLJP2csvih" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Je c'est pas se qui t'arrive</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj7TKApRYYMnJ4pncwBWNYWqNeChdBlARkM3fji_RLdSrIGifE4s3M65fgUZf9Yc0VjYenonCT8bwAiSCtlhDXHAx9E7t2dBXBWSNvdLm_7zKvluEBWtzZ-y2GSbgrD6LOVif2mbKVlqGhfKY7fPE4mgZFMGqPXLC236MsI_QcWigQjJ03Rr8heoJDA35oR" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="1826" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj7TKApRYYMnJ4pncwBWNYWqNeChdBlARkM3fji_RLdSrIGifE4s3M65fgUZf9Yc0VjYenonCT8bwAiSCtlhDXHAx9E7t2dBXBWSNvdLm_7zKvluEBWtzZ-y2GSbgrD6LOVif2mbKVlqGhfKY7fPE4mgZFMGqPXLC236MsI_QcWigQjJ03Rr8heoJDA35oR" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tu es la meilleure maitresse</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The point of Dictation is to STOP them writing it down as it sounds. Dictation is a test of knowledge of correct spellings and correct grammar. Not a test of phonics. <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2023/06/thoughts-on-dictation.html" target="_blank">This post on dictation</a> shows how understanding this can lead to the development of effective ideas for using dictation in class. I would encourage you to read it and see if there are useful ideas you can try. One of the main ideas is not to start doing dictation and realise it's all about grammar. Instead, build in dictation to your grammar teaching. For example from the very start, alerting pupils to the change in a sentence that a key sound can make:<p></p><p>__ petit_ chien_ noir_ cour_</p><p>This sentence will look totally different depending on whether the first word is <i>le</i> or <i>les</i>. Dictation means we have to highlight this kind of grammatical awareness in our teaching from early on. Don't wait until you decide to do some dictation (imagining it is just a phonics test) and discover you have opened a can of worms! Please do look at the post on dictation mentioned above to see more ideas on how to make this work.</p><p>Next. Role Play.</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjJuxk6M7YeZCnRz70VV0k_tAfwBrTLlDYT8YL7oxjBgjArl6fOs6sDTMB6rehp6-FCuwvf9hUoJhkq9o_e2ebsJ2XAZw1GI-Pd6UUOv0dbaY_Ugetdy5GlISMipmolJQ1zfk_L3DWWhUMwnGiGYnYax8kaSIE9JQY4J7p0TTXerELwwdOTba28_in_AhEm" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1144" data-original-width="1080" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjJuxk6M7YeZCnRz70VV0k_tAfwBrTLlDYT8YL7oxjBgjArl6fOs6sDTMB6rehp6-FCuwvf9hUoJhkq9o_e2ebsJ2XAZw1GI-Pd6UUOv0dbaY_Ugetdy5GlISMipmolJQ1zfk_L3DWWhUMwnGiGYnYax8kaSIE9JQY4J7p0TTXerELwwdOTba28_in_AhEm=w189-h200" width="189" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Role Play. <br />What Role is it Playing?</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Role Play. What Role is it Playing?</h4><p>Again, I have <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2023/10/what-role-will-role-plays-play-in.html" target="_blank">a post on Role Play</a> in the AQA and Edexcel specifications which looks in detail at how they work. To summarise here how I see the AQA Role Play, I would say that it has questions very similar to the ones you would expect to ask in the Conversation. But they are marked for short correct answers, in the same way the current Role Play is in the current GCSE. So no reward for extended answers, and the word "ambiguity" used to introduce marks for accuracy into something intended to be marked for communication.</p><p>Please do click on the link above for detail on Edexcel Role Play as well. But I will spell out the main ideas here. Edexcel have gone down the road of Role Plays in transactional situations. It doesn't seem a good fit for what the GCSE was intended to be about. It smacks of phrasebook learning in a GCSE that was all about building sentences from knowledge of the grammar, not whole phrases. Even worse, it could run into the buffers of the lack of transactional vocabulary.</p><p>Already in the sample assessment material, we can see that the transactional nature of the Role Play is starting to break down.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiNt3BwpkDtKT73QOvRVkxQBu8zm6S9CJPbQoVBZA5IYpkDkIicJarPwIQbYthMj8OUN2ZopO0g92_g8AjvMkRFc5an4eOWzNvIF__nOf5M6IIjrta8yCD1KA4yyt-g3jafTIwPTqHnGRrws_bGOeAx2YmCymxVVwTW6d7xgjIrPA3QRhlW5_kq44LRUJww" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="977" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiNt3BwpkDtKT73QOvRVkxQBu8zm6S9CJPbQoVBZA5IYpkDkIicJarPwIQbYthMj8OUN2ZopO0g92_g8AjvMkRFc5an4eOWzNvIF__nOf5M6IIjrta8yCD1KA4yyt-g3jafTIwPTqHnGRrws_bGOeAx2YmCymxVVwTW6d7xgjIrPA3QRhlW5_kq44LRUJww" width="320" /></a></div><br />You arrive alone in the café in a foreign town. You ask for your drink. You ask the price of something on the imaginary menu (from a very narrow choice - chocolate, cheese, French stick, ice cream, pasta, rice, fish, fruit, egg, cake, sugar or rabbit). At this point the waiter engages you in conversation about your favourite food. Things escalate quickly as he asks you if you are doing anything tomorrow. And you reciprocate by asking him what time his work finishes! We have come a long way from transactional Role Plays in a very short time.<div><br /></div><div>I would also add that the Edexcel Role Play, while purporting to be about real world communication, is marked for full grammatically complete sentences. They give this example in a tourist office:</div><div><i>Je peux vous aider ? </i></div><div><i><span> </span>Un plan de la ville ?</i></div><div>This is deemed to be "only partially communicated".</div><div><br /></div><div>Please do follow the link to the post on Role Play. It's one of the major differences between the boards.</div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">A Conversation Killer?</h4><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7bKJ5OICqzZgNcPVxd6Vkq-SJciG5oPR8qAGSBacUJ_pICeN2TPmDSNyuec8Nt3WZ6tY44_sdlHI7O3jpAlYooaIGnua_7HFvDh4iv7EWVoIogH3S7_DN3ED0RB4OyGMt3cylEbspSgzT7tZ1pLsAdnAQhrEhdaCsr8PW51VZ14EoPzWeAOPMrWqXTb3L" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1080" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7bKJ5OICqzZgNcPVxd6Vkq-SJciG5oPR8qAGSBacUJ_pICeN2TPmDSNyuec8Nt3WZ6tY44_sdlHI7O3jpAlYooaIGnua_7HFvDh4iv7EWVoIogH3S7_DN3ED0RB4OyGMt3cylEbspSgzT7tZ1pLsAdnAQhrEhdaCsr8PW51VZ14EoPzWeAOPMrWqXTb3L=w200-h198" width="200" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The next area I spoke about was the Conversation in the Speaking Exam. The GCSE panel were keen to stamp out rote-learned answers. Have they also managed to stamp out interaction and spontaneous extended answers?<br /><p></p><p>In <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2023/10/is-new-gcse-conversation-killer.html" target="_blank">this post on the Conversation</a>, I tried to answer exactly that question. There is still scope for conversation style questions. And there are some marks for developing answers in some sections of the exam. (Although no marks for interaction.) But in the explanation of the markscheme, AQA specify that an "extended" answer means 3 clauses. And <i>I don't like social media because it is boring</i> would be an example of "good development".</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjk8o_6h10uWZ9Bp-25B6mK-qt4tzVH4GAZiSU1DsR4ABG6H2Q1XGjh8tT5PpHXxElS3lF1q8VdtAnupu5CIiLCjAY3jdJXc4T68-JYI_rl_CW57_cTwKMzu3E-08fSx_WsBVkhmbh4zTKbdl4T1fzNOdUJ0w9EqPPJ8L2z8nGFpKXAytpDvs2yQCGGWy0S" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="1802" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjk8o_6h10uWZ9Bp-25B6mK-qt4tzVH4GAZiSU1DsR4ABG6H2Q1XGjh8tT5PpHXxElS3lF1q8VdtAnupu5CIiLCjAY3jdJXc4T68-JYI_rl_CW57_cTwKMzu3E-08fSx_WsBVkhmbh4zTKbdl4T1fzNOdUJ0w9EqPPJ8L2z8nGFpKXAytpDvs2yQCGGWy0S=w400-h155" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>Nevertheless, I gave examples of how I teach extended spontaneous speaking, using a core repertoire that can be deployed across topics. <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2022/11/how-current-gcse-works-across-topics-my.html" target="_blank">This post</a> explains in detail how my Year 10s learn to tell stories on any topic spontaneously. I will keep on teaching this way for three main reasons: pupils will still have to give extended answers in the writing; they will still have to be able to give some (short) improvised answers in the speaking; and it works as a way of teaching core language round which other language can coalesce. Please do look at the post, because the talk was designed to have many positive useful ideas rather than be dominated by a sense of impending extinction and judgement day.</p><p>The final creature from this new bestiary I looked at was the Vocabulary List.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">The Vocabulary List 50 -50</h4><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgQb-McizJPcFCdw_wHPe5ft3upw_e4hNs7UrGSrtZ_8o0MvmIDN4_rYNhu4Whdeqgx-Lb_QUXFNZf_zLJaehNGiXvfntUH2_GDxdynkc0-rluSZHtW3zDMTX7jqu9pJ4yGxuudgP85iR5E-AMG-36Qc7DL0WYxWYRcj_I2NKFaKBuzjORCRfut91nnLCTk" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1080" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgQb-McizJPcFCdw_wHPe5ft3upw_e4hNs7UrGSrtZ_8o0MvmIDN4_rYNhu4Whdeqgx-Lb_QUXFNZf_zLJaehNGiXvfntUH2_GDxdynkc0-rluSZHtW3zDMTX7jqu9pJ4yGxuudgP85iR5E-AMG-36Qc7DL0WYxWYRcj_I2NKFaKBuzjORCRfut91nnLCTk=w200-h198" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Vocabulary List: 50 -50</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>50% of the words we currently teach will not be in the new exam. 50% of the words in the new GCSE are words we have not taught before.</p><p>The new exam was originally designed to be built around<a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-case-against-topics.html" target="_blank"> the vocabulary list, not topics</a>. Topics were seen as being responsible for introducing a plethora of words (often nouns) that were needed for different pupils to give an individual answer, but that were not central to the body of language being learned. In fact many words would be abandoned at the end of the topic. So in fact 50% of the words we currently teach, are not needed for the new GCSE. Will we be cutting them?</p><p>How will we teach pets in KS3 if only horse, dog and fish are on the list? I see one of the exam boards has added rabbit. How will we teach transactional role plays without chicken and with only chocolate, cheese, French stick, ice cream, pasta, rice, fish, fruit, egg, cake, sugar and the aforementioned rabbit available? Especially if we teach in a way dependent on substitution tables or functional phrases with elements to be substituted.</p><p>How do we write resources and texts if we don't have the words we need?</p><p><i>Marie Curie was a chemist. </i>Can't say chemist. <i>OK. Marie Curie was a cook. From Poland.</i> Can't say Poland. <i>Right. Marie Curie was a famous French cook.</i></p><p><i></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFtj9leKRWxhf4A98fbVJ_C8q38L95eU7v4FvPBM3jNxa-G0V9mZDo66rnxpzSSbM4I0Z1b0ninqqWo6EYpZGFpshiyxQJRFSnatqLwGjSpEeZylYIv8QhBx1DXW9CaGAg-5tyFOE_u9MwqOE1DkeNFtBTgbXhGC6-MNVU8lMl186ShqHQdiJlMCmt8KP2" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="721" data-original-width="546" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFtj9leKRWxhf4A98fbVJ_C8q38L95eU7v4FvPBM3jNxa-G0V9mZDo66rnxpzSSbM4I0Z1b0ninqqWo6EYpZGFpshiyxQJRFSnatqLwGjSpEeZylYIv8QhBx1DXW9CaGAg-5tyFOE_u9MwqOE1DkeNFtBTgbXhGC6-MNVU8lMl186ShqHQdiJlMCmt8KP2=w152-h200" width="152" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marie Curie in her kitchen</td></tr></tbody></table><i><br /><br /></i><p></p><p>Of course, we can gloss words that aren't going to be in the exam. But that's not the point. Our texts and resources should be introducing and revisiting the words that we are teaching. Otherwise what is the point of a new GCSE with a defined vocabulary list. Especially published resources. They will need to be designed meticulously so that the pupils meet all the words regularly in different contexts.</p><p>Which is where a topic based approach could break down. For the exam boards and for teachers.</p><p>Rachel Hawkes speaking at the <a href="https://www.all-languages.org.uk/secondary/" target="_blank">ALL in the East meeting </a>pointed out that in their sample assessment materials, Edexcel used all the shops and a large chunk of the clothes words available in just one listening question. They won't be able to continue like that. They will have to rotate the vocabulary used in the exams so that all items are examined over the years. This is already a problem for the exam setters, who in the sample materials were perhaps over-reliant on the 15% extra vocabulary they were allowed to choose in order to make their topics viable.</p><p>This is one reason textbook publishers need to be wary of a topic based approach. If those topic words get used up early on in the first years of the specification, we are going to find ourselves with exams increasingly based on words that weren't prominent in our teaching. I have written about the way this specification could start to resemble a boa constrictor, starving us of the oxygen of vocabulary, in <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2023/11/will-i-need-new-textbooks-for-new-gcse.html" target="_blank">this post</a>.</p><p>Of course, for the Speaking and Writing exam, the whole restricted vocabulary list has gone out of the window. Given the personal nature of the questions, "What do you like to do with your friends?", pupils are going to want to have a range of words in order to give a personal answer. Not be able to recall one of the limited number of items on the list which could give a theoretical answer to the question.</p><p>This is where my talk came to an end with the question: What are we going to do?</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjH6gNydN9yq2peq3Em1gpxCYU2LUfpYCYEG38iquyws7Ej9VMJPzbDmUGFAxyoNTx2CPJrhvpYMKK-eq40o2ztRyXaaxElmIdPqZNY0Ofjal0WjgfvEYDq3r9EzgASuR9xEgD-OmthnxiPqShTmvQuqCQvUkFuXc1VLpGXvi_DPqVQitk95tjpsFoS0jdm" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1073" data-original-width="1080" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjH6gNydN9yq2peq3Em1gpxCYU2LUfpYCYEG38iquyws7Ej9VMJPzbDmUGFAxyoNTx2CPJrhvpYMKK-eq40o2ztRyXaaxElmIdPqZNY0Ofjal0WjgfvEYDq3r9EzgASuR9xEgD-OmthnxiPqShTmvQuqCQvUkFuXc1VLpGXvi_DPqVQitk95tjpsFoS0jdm=w200-h198" width="200" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I know from <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/04/dealing-with-issues-of-old-gcse.html" target="_blank">the old Controlled Assessment GCSE</a>, that you can get wiped out if you fail to adapt. Continuing to teach spontaneous speaking was a mistake in the climate of retakes, targets, rote learning, academisation.</p><p>Can I spontaneously evolve and steal a march on the dying dinosaurs?</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgRwZvbI_m6ndWuG7Td3-oBHrnF7hjtSHekbebopJIYCWi_-bogweJ6ZTDkQ3oqfCNUeHi5h7v3CXUrrc4_V7SFde1GEuMRyfu6FZEt7l2ZZ3n3vjMZDrJbzWekmmAjW3Fab-iEEYS59KTjgEGk7kx4tJqKCbrCdJVOXkRadpxlJAY-u7PEcN2KwBVeW0JY" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1079" data-original-width="1080" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgRwZvbI_m6ndWuG7Td3-oBHrnF7hjtSHekbebopJIYCWi_-bogweJ6ZTDkQ3oqfCNUeHi5h7v3CXUrrc4_V7SFde1GEuMRyfu6FZEt7l2ZZ3n3vjMZDrJbzWekmmAjW3Fab-iEEYS59KTjgEGk7kx4tJqKCbrCdJVOXkRadpxlJAY-u7PEcN2KwBVeW0JY=w200-h200" width="200" /></a></div><br />Because the premise of my talk was mistaken. I was thinking of looking at the new GCSE as a hybrid chimera. But that's the wrong way round. We are the creatures in this scenario. Faced with a change of epoch. Can we evolve and thrive?<p></p><p>What I said to the conference was, stick together! Work in your departments with a plan and as a team. Use your social media networks. <a href="https://www.all-languages.org.uk/" target="_blank">Join a subject association</a>. This is a time to all support each other. I don't have the answers, but I'll keep looking. Meanwhile, if this is all a bit too apocalyptic, go back and click on the links which will take you to practical things to start trying as we get to grips with the beast.</p><p>If I had to say what animal it is, I would say it's a Schrödinger's cat of a GCSE. Simultaneously dead and alive. And it's us, by opening the box, who will determine its fate.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjESXJRnoYws2GPhynaIPtrxAfqhu3LHpGLsjxR4Mg0uU4hN_pEhkPwfCJEtMxf6fsv3F5FXoOHZeO22sC9qeXxkgEtnuK-uYoEREqfncavJPcbrXVIrW3hp80x5LtDrJTX2kXfyy3pNy0tJgLlpH5B58zlm_HJiYX-PfuRobtUpgYxgVSgqym1LTLyDH1O/s1128/Screenshot_2023-12-03-06-37-55-832_com.microsoft.bing-edit.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1128" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjESXJRnoYws2GPhynaIPtrxAfqhu3LHpGLsjxR4Mg0uU4hN_pEhkPwfCJEtMxf6fsv3F5FXoOHZeO22sC9qeXxkgEtnuK-uYoEREqfncavJPcbrXVIrW3hp80x5LtDrJTX2kXfyy3pNy0tJgLlpH5B58zlm_HJiYX-PfuRobtUpgYxgVSgqym1LTLyDH1O/s320/Screenshot_2023-12-03-06-37-55-832_com.microsoft.bing-edit.jpg" width="306" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bing AI's idea of a half dead, half alive hypothetical cat.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><p></p></div>The Nice Man Who Teaches Languageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17343658160135320978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4888632576340957766.post-84501289175052174762023-11-18T10:41:00.000-08:002023-11-19T22:34:02.611-08:00Will I need new textbooks for the new GCSE?<p> Yesterday I gave a talk to the HMC MFL in the East conference, asking whether the new GCSE is an example of Evolution or of Intelligent Design. I might turn this into a blog post, once I've decided what the answer is. Meanwhile, on the theme of how we are going to adapt to the new environment, here's a quick post on what I am currently thinking, about creating new schemes of work and buying new textbooks.</p><p>Please take these as thinkings, not decisions. I do not know what to do. That's the problem.</p><p>The key aspect of the new GCSE is the defined vocabulary list. This vocabulary list is derived not from the topics and tasks pupils will be required to cover. It is derived from the 2000 most frequently used words in the language. The idea was that the <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2022/11/corpus-dead-body-zombie-language.html" target="_blank">vocabulary list</a> should be central, and that these are the words that equip you to understand and communicate regardless of topic. It goes hand in hand with the idea that learning happens by meeting words over and over (in a deliberate and rigorously programmed way) in a range of different contexts. So starting from the Vocabulary list, not from <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-case-against-topics.html" target="_blank">Topics</a>.</p><p>Whether topics can be made out of these words was in doubt. So the exam boards have been allowed "free choice" for 15% of the words on their lists. These precious few words have been carefully chosen and rationed, shared out between the topics that have been proposed. Even so, it is important to note that in the initial wording of the specifications, the topic areas are indicative of the sorts of contexts in which the words may be used in the exam. Rather than topics being central to the way the course is designed.</p><p>I do not have the capacity to create this kind of course. To meticulously plan when words are met and re-met. To imagine what texts and contexts I could construct from them in a well selected and cumulative syllabus built from words rather than from developing pupils' growing ability to communicate. And neither do I have the capacity to write texts when I am starved of the words I need. You can't write a text on Marie Curie if you haven't got the words chemist or Polish. You could gloss them. But then our texts aren't doing their job of constantly focusing on decoding sentences of known words that are actually going to be in the exam.</p><p>So I have been waiting to see what the publishers come up with. Would they produce something spectacular, building on NCELP's work on logical step-by-step sequencing where learning happens not by enthusing the learners about the topic content and self expression, but by having secure <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/07/neural-networks-pseudo-science-and.html" target="_blank">building blocks</a> and intellectual self efficacy?</p><p>Well. A strange thing has happened. Faced with a vocabulary list of very selective high frequency vocabulary, Edexcel from the start have gone with the promise of diversity, culture and self expression. The very opposite of the tools at their disposal. The problem of a restricted vocabulary list was always going to be a <a href="https://www.meits.org/opinion-articles/article/the-proposed-changes-to-gcse-in-modern-languages-a-teachers-view" target="_blank">narrowing of possible expression</a>, not a diversification and opening up to people with low-frequency lifestyles. And now I've seen advance materials from a publisher for the AQA specification, there seems to be a similar emphasis there too. And topics. Topics, topics, topics.</p><p>And we need to look very closely at the advance materials. Just as we had to look at the sample exams. If the books are written based on topics, are they over-reliant on the 15% of "free choice" words the exam boards were given? Because those words can only come up a couple of times in the lifetime of the exam before they have to give way like Man City players in your Fantasy Football team. They might be great players, but if they get rested and rotated then they aren't scoring you any points.</p><p>At the <a href="https://www.all-languages.org.uk/secondary/" target="_blank">ALL in the East meeting </a>in October, Rachel Hawkes pointed out that this risks happening with the exam board's sample assessment materials. In just one listening question, Edexcel used up all the shops and a third of the clothes words. Once we're into actual exam setting, they can't repeat those words year on year. So what may look like a familiar topic-based exam may be unsustainable. Will the same thing happen with textbooks if they are built from topics, not from the vocabulary list? </p><p>A topic based approach to exams and to resource creation may end up creating a Death Star trash compactor curriculum. If the books and then also the exams are over-reliant on topic words in the initial years of the specification, we will be increasingly left with the dregs. Exams concocted more and more from words with no obvious topic and that don't feature prominently in our teaching or resources. The walls could start to close in.</p><p>I don't know how Darth Vador's strangulation works. But I know about boa constrictors. They don't exactly crush. They just tighten every time you breathe out. So after a couple of years of exams, we could see the oxygen of topic vocabulary getting shorter and shorter in supply. If we go with resources that stick to a topic based approach.</p><p>Another thing that has happened is that the idea of the restricted vocabulary list has actually gone out of the window. Because we will still teach pupils the words they need in order to express the things they want to say. In the speaking and writing exams, pupils will need to be able to say Portuguese, chicken, trombone, snake, canoeing, jam, trainers... All the things they want to say in order to express themselves and complete the tasks. The exam boards will have to construct tasks such that they <i>could</i> be answered just with words from the list. But pupils won't be doing it that way. Imagine having to know and think of one of the handful of random items that are on the list, when you could have a range of words to deploy. And words you actually want to say and which fit the tasks.</p><p>What this means is that the published vocabulary list will apply for the receptive skills of Listening and Reading. And for Speaking and Writing, pupils will have a wider and greater knowledge of vocabulary. Which is the wrong way round from a language-learning perspective, where you normally have a greater receptive vocabulary than active.</p><p>So where are we at the moment? The textbooks seem to be based round topics. The Speaking and Writing exam will be based round the tasks and pupils' answers to real questions, not words from a vocabulary list. I don't have the capacity to imagine a syllabus or write the materials for a vocabulary weaving approach. So the situation I'm in at the moment is that the textbooks on offer, from what I have seen so far, don't offer a solution to my problem. So I am coming to the conclusion that I might carry on with our current textbooks for French. And our development of a <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/10/my-granny-went-shopping-and-she-touched.html" target="_blank">strong core of reusable language </a>for Speaking and Writing. This will be based around opinions, reasons and tenses as it is now. One thing that will change is the vocabulary learning pupils do at home. We will be able to tell them which words to focus on.</p><p>I think "conclusion" is the wrong word. It's the shape my thoughts are taking at the moment, but I am very much wanting to continue to think and to bounce ideas off people. In my department, on social media, at conferences, and at ALL Meetings. This is key. Listen and talk. And listen most to the people you don't agree with. That's when you learn most.</p><p><br /></p>The Nice Man Who Teaches Languageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17343658160135320978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4888632576340957766.post-16994070779973552362023-10-14T04:45:00.019-07:002023-10-15T22:24:35.319-07:00What Role Will Role Plays Play in deciding between exam boards?<p> Looking at the new GCSE specifications from AQA and Edexcel, it's the Speaking Exam that draws most of my attention. Because I feel this is the one that will have the most impact on what happens in the classroom.</p><p>Perhaps I am wrong here. Dr Rachel Hawkes warns against over-preparing pupils for the speaking exam, resulting in the Listening and the Reading grade boundaries having to work overtime to discriminate between pupils of different grades. But it always seems the case that pupils are either prepared for the speaking exam or not. And looking at the array of tasks they will face - reading aloud, role play, photo description, compulsory questions, conversation - it's going to take quite a lot of preparation just to negotiate the ins and outs of the tasks: </p><p>Keeping track of whether to give a short answer or a long answer; if you are talking about the photo; if you are in character; if you are being yourself; if you are talking about the topic of the photo; if you've moved to a different topic now; if you are reading a text without worrying about meaning; if you are reading your notes; if you are listening and responding; if you are against the clock... I had to use semi-colons in that sentence which is always a sign that something is too long, convoluted and getting out of control.</p><p>In a<a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2023/10/is-new-gcse-conversation-killer.html" target="_blank"> previous post</a>, I already looked at where the new exam gives scope for responding spontaneously to questions. Next, I want to look at the Role Plays and see how they fit in with the obstacle course of demands on pupils.</p><p>Both exam boards have Role Plays which pupils can look at in their preparation time. They can write out their answers and read them out. For both exam boards the Role Play is worth 10 marks. For short full-sentence answers. There are no marks for extending or developing, and no marks for the quality of language used.</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjdHjd4KadRWJN4422weesxuJRaXTROTVmNWQAtoW9E4WThto5uoLDM7eU0dFAx-UR-6LzXojCq1zOZdCcXuUIt242C5y32pxmHYtbRO84eYtO5vFbk8ViSn4NomjA-UFaHiQ01dJNX5v46IJTnbQ0BMw54f99_CQV4Qd-imwXpqA3HFe07qneFiJVMloVI" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="247" data-original-width="946" height="84" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjdHjd4KadRWJN4422weesxuJRaXTROTVmNWQAtoW9E4WThto5uoLDM7eU0dFAx-UR-6LzXojCq1zOZdCcXuUIt242C5y32pxmHYtbRO84eYtO5vFbk8ViSn4NomjA-UFaHiQ01dJNX5v46IJTnbQ0BMw54f99_CQV4Qd-imwXpqA3HFe07qneFiJVMloVI" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AQA Role Play Marks</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgj3NUFtQv69a9Jb1YT2ta8NnPzhw0orHQ_QhX5veX72ghwnWyU9UxIB0-W_4Slsq9nodH0YU1KokdsPBmL7_MJiMOOzkJZYDpG3asFhm-8CzcUiGm0JxWtNW77s47pHkJKR3yU71_ObCqPnOEyS9ueNNuyka6CpvOdEpfv4epTOX_1zHQ2nD4uEK-sa3lR" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="129" data-original-width="629" height="66" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgj3NUFtQv69a9Jb1YT2ta8NnPzhw0orHQ_QhX5veX72ghwnWyU9UxIB0-W_4Slsq9nodH0YU1KokdsPBmL7_MJiMOOzkJZYDpG3asFhm-8CzcUiGm0JxWtNW77s47pHkJKR3yU71_ObCqPnOEyS9ueNNuyka6CpvOdEpfv4epTOX_1zHQ2nD4uEK-sa3lR" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Edexcel Role Play Marks</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />Ostensibly these are marked solely for communication of the message. But the word "ambiguity" is a slightly ambiguous way of bringing in accuracy marks. By pretending that the message hasn't been fully understood because of some error or omission. For example Edexcel, which is selling their spec on the grounds of containing "real life communication", has the following guidance for a role play in a tourist information office:<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiw4tUz1XxA8wdXHsJtV50WkY-onWb5F4xKPfzBzFakT6jl7GJwgjGdmiIVGQ1LAmk8C7G9ABanYkm1ng937BQlf-pUvGptMv-LKbl8XDYaBiFKhXTLwTQBMvrIfnMzGF9Vahji-RNVnarVLN3uoTJSZPLIAhshLRtQw0T2oKqWCSCz8c_4DZTy3ZuoupFX" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="283" data-original-width="648" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiw4tUz1XxA8wdXHsJtV50WkY-onWb5F4xKPfzBzFakT6jl7GJwgjGdmiIVGQ1LAmk8C7G9ABanYkm1ng937BQlf-pUvGptMv-LKbl8XDYaBiFKhXTLwTQBMvrIfnMzGF9Vahji-RNVnarVLN3uoTJSZPLIAhshLRtQw0T2oKqWCSCz8c_4DZTy3ZuoupFX=w400-h175" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Edexcel "partially communicated"</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p></p><p>Asking for a plan of the town without a verb, is deemed to be only partial communication. Odd, I know. Especially as <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2022/05/je-voudrais-or-je-ne-voudrais-pas.html" target="_blank">phrasebook learning</a> of things like <i>je voudrais </i>is the opposite of what this exam was meant to be about.</p><p>This is at the heart of the difference between the two exam boards when it comes to Role Plays. Edexcel have ignored the new focus on teaching well sequenced grammar and vocabulary in that they have gone for situational role plays. Which smacks of pre-learned phrases.</p><p>The Edexcel Role Play will always be in one of the following formal transactional situations: </p><p>Café / restaurant, shop / market / shopping centre, hotel, railway station, tourist information office, cinema / theatre / concert hall, campsite, leisure centre, doctor's surgery / hospital, in town.</p><p>Confusingly perhaps, it says the pupils won't have to use the formal register. At Foundation Tier answers are in the present tense or in familiar set phrases (!) such as <i>je voudrais</i>. And the pupil will have to ask the examiner one question. At Higher Tier, one of the bullet points will always be in a future time frame. And the pupil will have to ask the examiner two questions.</p><p>Personally, I am absolutely gobsmacked by the decision to go for transactional Role Plays. It seems almost to be going back to the teaching of <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2022/04/teaching-speaking-in-1990s.html" target="_blank">phrasebook functions for a series of situations that we used to teach in the 1990s</a>. The exact opposite of where the new GCSE was supposed to be taking us.</p><p>And it also seems potentially incompatible with the defined vocabulary list. The Sample Assessment Materials seem to draw very heavily on the 15% of words the exam boards were allowed from beyond the 2000 highest frequency words. They have to design tasks that can be carried out only using words on the list. The transactional words are very restricted - they have had to include a few items of food or clothing to work with. But this could quickly become unsustainable, as the exam must not repeat the same items year after year. Which means that the "transactional" role plays may not be as transactional as you are expecting. And Edexcel have form on this. In the current GCSE, the Edexcel "in a restaurant" Role Plays can take a sudden and disturbing turn, where you ask for the menu, and the waiter asks if you are alone and new in town and if you have any plans for later.</p><p>Sure enough, here is an example Role Play from the new Edexcel GCSE Sample Assessment Materials.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0KSMGwlJdgeXgVdm4-XrD38356ZaTwaxt4RGB21FU4dZA_0gd0F1PtaAz9JvhufMmR7BoxsyqisJXmt9M2Zc0RuPR1UZITbuaQN-gLWQAzPYv-DXaQ8_fsWz8FF4HgYw6unzsiOlUjnn6L79j4JAVia_GAEJkHVSAo676YtR1lwdPVfu5FSEK2litNaXz" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="451" data-original-width="976" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0KSMGwlJdgeXgVdm4-XrD38356ZaTwaxt4RGB21FU4dZA_0gd0F1PtaAz9JvhufMmR7BoxsyqisJXmt9M2Zc0RuPR1UZITbuaQN-gLWQAzPYv-DXaQ8_fsWz8FF4HgYw6unzsiOlUjnn6L79j4JAVia_GAEJkHVSAo676YtR1lwdPVfu5FSEK2litNaXz" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Edexcel sample role play</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p></p><p>It's in a transactional situation. The first bullet is a <i>je voudrais</i> set phrase with one of the drink items from the vocab list. At a quick glance I have spotted coffee, tea, milk and water as the options. The second is a set phrase for asking how much something costs. With a choice of chocolate, cheese, French stick, ice cream, pasta, rice, fish, fruit, egg, cake, sugar or rabbit. The third bullet point is an opinion, with one of the aforementioned food items. Then the fourth is the future reference, answering one of the nosy waiter's impertinent questions. And finally the second question to be asked by the pupil, which is a mixture of a set phrase to ask "at what hour" and maybe a set phrase about closing, or perhaps testing the grammar/vocabulary knowledge to concoct a sentence.</p><p>Can't help wondering about the turn this has taken, with the pupil responding to the waiter enquiring about whether they have any plans for later, by asking what time they finish work...</p><p>Here's another example from Edexcel:</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgO5RDJL1Za3kGZZgG90aRGPUtHzHy_GJADf9wN0jIqcdBnNCTDvui4qKv104X3ugZEB7qP6-O3JSjRJaXzWDOGkTMYHkLqdCWWqogTuadqdWvO4GERBvIelVOEgJST3TJ7FUxxMKp_sB69WFOVb63Kk6gqo12GM0JESvfNptw0oLgCNizbeurJ6PfrfrGZ" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="541" data-original-width="1061" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgO5RDJL1Za3kGZZgG90aRGPUtHzHy_GJADf9wN0jIqcdBnNCTDvui4qKv104X3ugZEB7qP6-O3JSjRJaXzWDOGkTMYHkLqdCWWqogTuadqdWvO4GERBvIelVOEgJST3TJ7FUxxMKp_sB69WFOVb63Kk6gqo12GM0JESvfNptw0oLgCNizbeurJ6PfrfrGZ" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Edexcel sample role play</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p></p><p>Again, it's a mish-mash. Some situational language learned phrasebook style. Some opinion/tense questions. Having the cues in English was meant to make the Role Play clearer, but even so, there are some questions on these sample role plays that leave me scratching my head. "Say why you are in France." Or "Say why your friend is paying." Taken in the high stakes exam context of constant chopping and changing between being yourself, being in character, talking about a photo, this topic, that topic, short answers, long answers... there is still the potential for pupils to be bamboozled and just not knowing what to say. I don't want my pupils to be bamboozled.</p><p>And I don't really want my teaching to be a mish-mash. I will have to have planned a grammar progression that covers the spec, building in each new item as part of the pupils' growing conceptualisation and repertoire. I will want to make sure they can express themselves on any topic, using opinions and reasons and tenses to develop an answer where required. I will need to be covering a huge vocabulary list of adverbs and adjectives. In addition to all this, do I really also want to have to fit in phrasebook learning for situational role plays that may or may not turn out to be situational transactional role plays? It seems like a whole extra dimension to the course for just 10 marks. Some people may love this idea. But I don't think I do.</p><p>So what do AQA role plays look like? Here's some.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi2AUySYcwmG3ECgK39hDCRIBbAgOcogZWfk4mFkiRHs0XCDL7J4mFAzunmPotNuEis1wsHSfshb4VIo9onVYyVr82tz3HKkDxolBKQkntRGGJqR-3vQlJGopnnRHTaee7MtAXfoRBjbpMVHqX3N8YHxaiHxWoyPXH_V-qHuMUYmPdGghBHGSd5uFUl06KC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="1078" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi2AUySYcwmG3ECgK39hDCRIBbAgOcogZWfk4mFkiRHs0XCDL7J4mFAzunmPotNuEis1wsHSfshb4VIo9onVYyVr82tz3HKkDxolBKQkntRGGJqR-3vQlJGopnnRHTaee7MtAXfoRBjbpMVHqX3N8YHxaiHxWoyPXH_V-qHuMUYmPdGghBHGSd5uFUl06KC=w400-h184" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AQA sample role play</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgkPBVPfDb4FmaH_b34gxJQTVWEcW2z8MNI6CBF3o_C6czA7IjbqOdkeB9EnDD0_8TXwed6NYAnNJwAcH-SogOb0kBjFIHA9mTnQAauLXQBVH-0zsV-sz32RAxKmUYiVRFg8KgRsNCW2flCX-diuRxLvMCcVMN6YadkbdPgJrOStoXqTtciY07FY8WUoC2N" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="1078" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgkPBVPfDb4FmaH_b34gxJQTVWEcW2z8MNI6CBF3o_C6czA7IjbqOdkeB9EnDD0_8TXwed6NYAnNJwAcH-SogOb0kBjFIHA9mTnQAauLXQBVH-0zsV-sz32RAxKmUYiVRFg8KgRsNCW2flCX-diuRxLvMCcVMN6YadkbdPgJrOStoXqTtciY07FY8WUoC2N=w400-h199" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AQA sample role play</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p></p><p>In terms of the exam, these AQA Role Plays don't require the pupil to suddenly imagine they are in character ("<i>Say why your friend is paying</i>."?!?!?!) or in a bizarre conversation with a creepy waiter. </p><p>And in terms of planning and teaching, they don't need me to teach set phrases in addition to the repertoire of vocabulary and grammar pupils are learning for the rest of the exam. In fact these AQA "Role Play" questions seem entirely in-line with the type of compulsory questions that follow the Read Aloud and Photo Card tasks (<a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2023/10/is-new-gcse-conversation-killer.html" target="_blank">see previous post</a>) and the Conversation questions I will be asking. I won't have to teach pupils a separate set of rote-learned language just for the Role Plays if we go with AQA.</p><p>I don't know if Role Plays will be the deciding factor for me in choosing between the specifications. There is a clear difference here between the boards which could make it easy to decide. There may be other features which could push me in the other direction. And of course I could be wrong or you may love the real life dimension or even the learning of useful phrases. This may be a really important feature for you. We will have to keep up the debate and sharing insights as we come to our own conclusions.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p>The Nice Man Who Teaches Languageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17343658160135320978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4888632576340957766.post-76494799697051813022023-10-08T05:23:00.009-07:002023-10-08T23:40:45.645-07:00Colonial Curriculum<p> At the same time as "<a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/10/dangerous-current.html" target="_blank">the knowledge curriculum</a>" is promoting the study of authoritative voices, the "best" of great literature and "standard" English, there is also a conflicting movement to "decolonise" the curriculum. In our subject, this is deeply problematic.</p><p>For a start, if we were decolonising the curriculum, why would we be teaching the languages of faded colonial powers? </p><p>There is a hierarchy in the English establishment, of the status of different languages. Highest status are Latin and Ancient Greek. The original languages of heroic superiority, empire and unproblematic slavery. The signs of an elite education, where languages are an intellectual and cultural pursuit. The study of Latin and Ancient Greek came in handy in portraying a small remote island as the inheritor of ancient civilisation through an era when we were colonising in India and Mesopotamia: Civilisations who could trace back their own written culture for thousands of years to a time when agriculture and urbanisation were barely getting started in Britain.</p><p>After Latin and Ancient Greek in the hierarchy, comes English. The power dynamic is that we expect others to learn our language. It is beneath us to learn theirs. As language teachers we come across this regularly in the attitudes shown by our learners. Of course, the practical predominance of English is not down to us. It hangs firstly on the cultural and economic protagonism of the United States in the Twentieth Century. And secondly on the fact that English no longer belongs to us. Just as we may claim to have invented football, but the rest of the world are quite capable of playing it without our say-so, so English for most speakers is not the language of England. Much as we may try to pin our cultural commercial properties such as Shakespeare or the Beatles to the global English language business.</p><p>But if we do learn a modern "foreign" language, which one would it be? It would be French, German or Spanish. The languages of European colonial powers we grudgingly accept could have similar (if lesser) status compared to English.</p><p>Languages spoken in the British Isles such as Welsh are not deemed worthy of study. Languages spoken in our former colonies or by communities living here in the UK are not deemed worthy of study. This hierarchy of languages is clearly linked to colonialism.</p><p>But so too is how we study languages and what the study of a language involves. Because as an academic subject, studying a language is learning what millions of ordinary "foreigners" can already do with no intellectual effort! So we bulk out our A Levels and degrees with essay writing (often in English, to maintain standards of intellectual rigour), literature, culture, history and politics.</p><p>Our attitude to how to learn a language <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/06/the-swing-of-ideological-pendulum.html" target="_blank">swings with political changes</a>. For the right wing, language learning is intellectual study of complex grammatical terms and systems. Preferably of ancient languages. For the left wing, language is communication and engagement with authentic materials.</p><p>So where to start with "decolonising" such a colonised subject?</p><p>Firstly, on a national level, we should be questioning why we offer, for example, Urdu or Portuguese GCSE to speakers of those languages, but we don't think that it would be a superb idea for us (as teachers) and our pupils to learn to speak the languages spoken by families in our own community. Or British Sign Language.</p><p>Secondly, we should be looking at why it is that our pathways for language learning fizzle out in the dead end of worthy intellectual academic study. A Level languages or a degree in Philology, with study of literature and grammar and essays. That should not be the main offer of language learning. It should be (and is) for a specialist academic few. There should be the pathway of doing a language course in any language or languages, studying the language for the pleasure of learning and communicating. One thing we know the human brain can do is learn a language. It takes time and requires regular exposure to the language, without forced models of progress and pass/fail. We need to make language-learning the norm for our young people.</p><p>And meanwhile, what should we do in the French, Spanish, German classroom? Widen horizons, yes. Learn that what we know is only a small part of humanity. Question stereotypes. Teach how people are the same? Or teach how people are all different?</p><p>Having lived in Mexico, I see some pretty horrific attempts at diversification of approaches in Spanish resources. Factual error, cultural appropriation, stereotypes. Europe-centric (ie colonial) labels such as "with a strong accent" or "dialect". In fact a majority of Spanish speakers live outside Spain. Just as the majority of French speakers do not live in France. Were I to teach about French-speaking countries other than France, would I be perpetuating the same ignorant takes? I certainly avoid pictures of mud huts and cheerful resilient poverty. I follow the <a href="https://twitter.com/jeune_afrique" target="_blank">Jeune Afrique newspaper on Twitter</a> and try to get a sense of local perspectives and modern life.</p><p>I admit I do concentrate on France. But in our booklets we use French musicians such as Louane or Oli and Bigflo. For our pupils they are the representatives of France. But when we study them, we learn that their parents came from other countries. With songs like <a href="https://youtu.be/PTJLmBfG8yc?si=XWm45Lubp_qwCLtG" target="_blank">Bienvenue chez moi</a>, we see that they are as French as any other French person.</p><p>We try to set up <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/05/virtual-exchanges.html" target="_blank">communication with French pupils</a>, often with schools with diverse intake. And look at everyday life in France rather than just tourist sites and special celebrations. What I need to do as much as possible is let French-speaking culture speak for itself, with authentic resources.</p><p>We are living through a phase of right wing emphasis on grammar and <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2022/11/corpus-dead-body-zombie-language.html" target="_blank">vocabulary selected from a specific corpus</a>. Of communication being delayed until later. Of reading being word-by-word parsing of sentences to practise known language. Of authentic materials being questioned as encouraging guessing and frustrating pupils. Of Latin being revived for high status intellectual study. Decolonisation does not sit well with the current political pressures. It means resisting or at least questioning what we are being asked to do. I would invite you to go back through this post and click on some of the links to other posts to see how the issues we are currently faced with all tie into the power of the colonial hierarchy currently seeking to dominate language teaching.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>The Nice Man Who Teaches Languageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17343658160135320978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4888632576340957766.post-12644059991745588302023-10-07T11:25:00.006-07:002023-10-14T05:26:35.989-07:00Is the new GCSE a Conversation Killer?<p> The new GCSE is a reaction to <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/04/dealing-with-issues-of-old-gcse.html" target="_blank">the 2009-2017 GCSE which ruined language learning</a> for a generation. In that exam, Controlled Conditions speaking meant pupils memorising long scripted answers containing fancy language. So the new GCSE will be deliberately designed to stop this.</p><p>Of course, I hated the Controlled Assessment exam. And was glad to see the back of it. And although not perfect, the current GCSE means that rather than learning lots of answers off by heart, pupils can practise <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2022/02/a-game-of-two-halves.html" target="_blank">speaking spontaneously using a core and growing repertoire</a> of language, interacting with the teacher in a conversation. They can deploy their core of language to any of the topics, with lots of speaking practice, making up different answers each time, and responding to prompts for more information and to develop their ideas further.</p><p>But it would still be possible for some teachers to ask pupils to learn a huge number of answers off by heart, if you are still stuck in the mindset of the old Controlled Assessment GCSE. So the new GCSE is designed to prevent that.</p><p>How is it going to do this? And what does it mean for teaching pupils to develop spontaneous answers and interact with further prompting and questioning?</p><p>I've looked at the speaking exam for AQA and for Edexcel, with my own personal perspective of hunting for where it rewards pupils' ability to develop spontaneous answers from language they can use across topics. Not just because this is what I want them to be able to do, but because this is how I want my lessons to be and what pupils seem to love doing.</p><p>So what does the exam look like, and what are the marks for?</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj7__IQUc2lWC7oX7FedmiBhp45TfGvBOMRyozxacGc2honM6rpKy2_-Kl1xSvGAAWdcrB02j-Rf3ZtvBeXnTYSA0c02zrQZaOLg3uLjvbA5VryauKN2ofdrOLj0XBdbYNlQeYVUg1i-msKz2cZJxESoo2QkcunbApwFjJy2TmwG2oHiUqDKcbYNRsJIuxO" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="1228" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj7__IQUc2lWC7oX7FedmiBhp45TfGvBOMRyozxacGc2honM6rpKy2_-Kl1xSvGAAWdcrB02j-Rf3ZtvBeXnTYSA0c02zrQZaOLg3uLjvbA5VryauKN2ofdrOLj0XBdbYNlQeYVUg1i-msKz2cZJxESoo2QkcunbApwFjJy2TmwG2oHiUqDKcbYNRsJIuxO=w400-h194" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>There are the set pieces of the Read Aloud, the Role Plays and the Photo Description. In amongst these, there are the questions pupils will have to respond to spontaneously. These fall into 2 types. What I have called "scripted" (for the teacher) questions, where the teacher has to read the question exactly as set by the board. And "unscripted" (for the teacher) questions, where the teacher can decide what questions to ask and follow it up with further questions to make it into a conversation.</p><p>For AQA, all four "scripted" questions are based on the topic of the Read Aloud task. They are worth 10 marks. Then after the Photo Card, there is a Conversation where the teacher can ask their own questions and conduct an interactive conversation. This is worth 20 marks. So in total, there are 30 marks for speaking in response to unprepared questions.</p><p>For Edexcel, the four "scripted" questions are split between the Read Aloud task and the Photo task. In total, there are 8 marks for these questions where the teacher has to read the question set by the board. And after the Photo Card there is time for the teacher to ask unscripted questions. This Conversation is worth 16 marks. Giving a total of 24 marks for speaking in response to unprepared questions.</p><p>So AQA gives more marks for the unprepared questions overall, both for the ones where the teacher reads the set questions, and for where the teacher can conduct an interactive conversation. This is because Edexcel gives more marks to the Reading Aloud and to the description of the Photo.</p><p>It may well be that you like the idea of giving more marks to the set piece tasks that the pupil can make notes on in the preparation time. It might even be the case that I end up going for this, if it turns out I have to abandon teaching spontaneous developed answers. I know to my cost from the 2009-2017 exam that you can't carry on teaching spontaneous developed answers if the exam doesn't reward it.</p><p>Next, I looked at what the set questions are like. For AQA and for Edexcel, they are nice open questions. The sort of question that isn't designed to test if the pupil has learned an off pat answer to every obscure question. Or to see if they can remember specific vocabulary or use bits of abstruse grammar. No. They are the sorts of questions designed to invite the pupils to show off what they can say.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzYuFl03sp1gkU5czHVDvhlrqoYOkoMyI3jRMr3P0gSEKgJ6uk6JN9I8p-YcpX8nDFrtiVkw-soz_MoQqtzOVI-Oo2QP41W5gFuvmSwJnHhXeg5iTYrmh7OsEoCuHQlPl5iEs0qg6N5BSbNT_YlLZojgxOahipWmSr2bFnOED2HDysh6QaUwoddpM-QDUO" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="195" data-original-width="637" height="98" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzYuFl03sp1gkU5czHVDvhlrqoYOkoMyI3jRMr3P0gSEKgJ6uk6JN9I8p-YcpX8nDFrtiVkw-soz_MoQqtzOVI-Oo2QP41W5gFuvmSwJnHhXeg5iTYrmh7OsEoCuHQlPl5iEs0qg6N5BSbNT_YlLZojgxOahipWmSr2bFnOED2HDysh6QaUwoddpM-QDUO" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These are from AQA, so follow the Read Aloud task.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p></p><p>For both boards, the set questions are like this. Open questions on the sort of topics we are used to for the conversation, often asking for an opinion and details.</p><p>But. With Edexcel, when you look at how these are rewarded, you are in for a disappointment if you are looking for opportunities for pupils to show what they can do with their language or in developing an answer.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbb55nGFRBRkN_cG2D6t_H-ftvl-pEDu02Y7IczqcwkOTZf9U4z77rJ5Ht2YzBM59d--khugvf3VMc9eMETxxmhe6x1oNFlhWA9ngO548WeiQKArENkwaocIkWGitlmhrfD6hUCxVswaKKNA1mdFydQ08nlu7rPjII1p839VoqHrSW6RONC87aOCQJcAFS" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="203" data-original-width="988" height="66" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbb55nGFRBRkN_cG2D6t_H-ftvl-pEDu02Y7IczqcwkOTZf9U4z77rJ5Ht2YzBM59d--khugvf3VMc9eMETxxmhe6x1oNFlhWA9ngO548WeiQKArENkwaocIkWGitlmhrfD6hUCxVswaKKNA1mdFydQ08nlu7rPjII1p839VoqHrSW6RONC87aOCQJcAFS" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marking for Edexcel set questions</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p>The marks are for short correct answers with a verb. Similarly to the current GCSE Role Play marking, it's best to give a short answer to the question. Developing your answer further means no further credit and if by speaking more you make mistakes, it will cost you marks.</p><p>AQA looks a little more promising for marking these set questions.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEimoAQaeXp8BNoV8u1dipFThdjIcvB0l9NnDnaX3zYWT44e3xNREu6sBeJEzFOAX7tbffnxqh3kgTMxEQo9YBMBAyV5wNCi21c3omBPGHahokNjpHWSAulAqYhuYKL4ilaFOa3nvXFKKNVx-oYnwtSt60DMQleYSmdVT8jKfQuGgtySwjvruF3guc4pmXfs" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="228" data-original-width="842" height="87" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEimoAQaeXp8BNoV8u1dipFThdjIcvB0l9NnDnaX3zYWT44e3xNREu6sBeJEzFOAX7tbffnxqh3kgTMxEQo9YBMBAyV5wNCi21c3omBPGHahokNjpHWSAulAqYhuYKL4ilaFOa3nvXFKKNVx-oYnwtSt60DMQleYSmdVT8jKfQuGgtySwjvruF3guc4pmXfs" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AQA marking for the set questions</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p></p><p>Here there is some reward for being able to develop an answer. So although it's not a real conversation with interaction, there is perhaps an opportunity for pupils to start to show what they can do in terms of their ability to use their language, rather than just testing their knowledge of bits of language.</p><p>And so to the Conversation itself. This follows the Photo Card and is on a theme determined by which card the pupil has been given.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXqHgK7kAShieCSLRvuwTAoaFC36W8ddNO9XZsrBY9TgUAUQw1mdb6n3FspJgAGoAyiIoJ7Zb6kzmACwLlDInPGe4uLbZjiqXY3fL8JZ3hA5ukPuPH8WLVdXdYkn1MeillUJwLmSde1GaG4JVfzLflpEha59mmnmq_W8D6krAJtFleeoni72n00XHdzy1K" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="356" data-original-width="1213" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXqHgK7kAShieCSLRvuwTAoaFC36W8ddNO9XZsrBY9TgUAUQw1mdb6n3FspJgAGoAyiIoJ7Zb6kzmACwLlDInPGe4uLbZjiqXY3fL8JZ3hA5ukPuPH8WLVdXdYkn1MeillUJwLmSde1GaG4JVfzLflpEha59mmnmq_W8D6krAJtFleeoni72n00XHdzy1K=w640-h189" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Edexcel Conversation Marking - Higher</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Edexcel do reward developed and extended answers, mentioning use of past, present and future.<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgl83GIsnVTV_EJVspXRvE4GV-51EuThFXPpBICk7FipxPw9DGcuYrSo_zrxck5shE8pkrq2krELHdlgQ25hlHjJa32ieHB3rPefElfMFkDA3EFMeHRVYRf_vbazlKj2TkqjJ-xLccEsm6up2bVXqOQvNyKtOPhS8F1qZvYNsDILwBudjwFHifGXcAUL5S1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="304" data-original-width="754" height="129" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgl83GIsnVTV_EJVspXRvE4GV-51EuThFXPpBICk7FipxPw9DGcuYrSo_zrxck5shE8pkrq2krELHdlgQ25hlHjJa32ieHB3rPefElfMFkDA3EFMeHRVYRf_vbazlKj2TkqjJ-xLccEsm6up2bVXqOQvNyKtOPhS8F1qZvYNsDILwBudjwFHifGXcAUL5S1" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AQA Conversation Marking - Higher</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhuACJMm_lOMVvd0ZbLO5U0FSnPVq4CRqWv1Dib7JpC-7_gPGnjBK84uuIbYDMGotp43Z3OzpoR6WSmb7IyHv_qk6no2OMZejyEwmFS8GUyB-xgtL93zZQBM3amWsVZYX2PnvNDlGymyFmeQXYfQwleh0w4OyTYnrpKnVdQTZGf3LdvekOaFhbp31YiFYv-" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="297" data-original-width="843" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhuACJMm_lOMVvd0ZbLO5U0FSnPVq4CRqWv1Dib7JpC-7_gPGnjBK84uuIbYDMGotp43Z3OzpoR6WSmb7IyHv_qk6no2OMZejyEwmFS8GUyB-xgtL93zZQBM3amWsVZYX2PnvNDlGymyFmeQXYfQwleh0w4OyTYnrpKnVdQTZGf3LdvekOaFhbp31YiFYv-" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AQA Conversation Marking - Higher</td></tr></tbody></table><br />AQA also mention developed answers and extended responses. They don't mention past, present and future, but these would be good examples of the wide variety of structures that is called for.<p></p><p>I also looked at the AQA guidance for the Conversation. It specifies open questions, designed to allow the pupils to show off their ability to use the language, and encourages the teacher to push for more detail and explanation with short prompts, like <i>"Why?"</i> rather than a list of different questions. BUT...</p><p>And it's a big BUT...</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiRVrHZ06nufdK1x-hFFuawG0aDICgsDvKzOcaOyv_rMz71OCWLXcOM5H1KfcnVWc1TdUoAqNvYm-rLrKn2iaGjl9T9eqU5arAXpaBQ3dP-9MgV6aSLVsn-Dattv4_l4QwT_OsmFUniyvF-oolB9QZRzhiqvDkzvBqY5HA6xtjFJ080rJghQoTqfdVvybvf" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="198" data-original-width="1211" height="52" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiRVrHZ06nufdK1x-hFFuawG0aDICgsDvKzOcaOyv_rMz71OCWLXcOM5H1KfcnVWc1TdUoAqNvYm-rLrKn2iaGjl9T9eqU5arAXpaBQ3dP-9MgV6aSLVsn-Dattv4_l4QwT_OsmFUniyvF-oolB9QZRzhiqvDkzvBqY5HA6xtjFJ080rJghQoTqfdVvybvf" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AQA conversation guidance</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p></p><p>What do AQA mean by an extended answer? They mean 3 clauses. This is not what I mean by developing an answer. Not when I have pupils who can easily have a 5 minute conversation about a trip to the beach or a theme park or <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2023/04/language-world-2023-part-two.html" target="_blank">a zoo</a>.</p><p>So that's what we've got. Reading Aloud, Role Play, Photo Card prepared and notes written. With some conversation style questions squeezed in between. Some of them are set questions, and some that can develop into more of a conversation. One of the boards, AQA, gives these questions more marks than the other. Edexcel focuses more on the pre-prepared tasks. AQA also has a markscheme that rewards more developed answers for the set questions. Whereas Edexcel want a short correct answer. It's important to note that AQA has used more of its allocation for accuracy marks in the Writing paper. So for AQA, the speaking emphasis is slightly less on accuracy and more on being able to express the information. Both boards do have scope for a Conversation at the end where pupils' ability to use the language is rewarded. There are no marks for interaction. But there are marks for developing answers, even if that means relatively short and simple development.</p><p>This was one of my fears for this new GCSE. In its attempt to stamp out the rote learning we saw in the old 2009-2017 GCSE, would it also stamp out spontaneous extended speaking? It's certainly tried. I think what will save it in my classroom, is ironically the Writing paper. Pupils are still going to have to write 150 words, developing ideas spontaneously. So lessons spent practising speaking will directly support that. Even if it's not required or rewarded in the actual Speaking exam anymore.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I am planning to look at other aspects of the Speaking exam such as the <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2023/10/what-role-will-role-plays-play-in.html" target="_blank">Role Plays</a>, Read Aloud task and Photo Card in future posts. So watch out, because as with the Conversation questions, there are big differences between the boards.</p><p><br /></p><p>This post was based on parts of my talk for the Association for Language Learning in the East. The video of the talk will shortly be available to members on the <a href="https://www.all-languages.org.uk/secondary/" target="_blank">ALL website Secondary Zone </a>along with Dr. Rachel Hawkes' presentation.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>The Nice Man Who Teaches Languageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17343658160135320978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4888632576340957766.post-13469236152228046512023-08-27T01:59:00.017-07:002023-09-25T22:29:04.998-07:00AI and Language Learning<h4 style="text-align: left;">Red flag. Since I wrote this, I have discovered that Google Bard's sexism is also accompanied by colonialism and racial stereotypes. Of course this is not intentional, but it is a result of the material it has been trained on. And it has no moderation or filter. I asked it to write the story of an American child who goes to Guatemala. It immediately made stereotyped, negative, colonial, prejudiced assumptions. The conclusion of my post was that the best use of AI is to let learners chat with it. This is now off the table. Here is the start of the story it wrote, based entirely on affirming stereotypes:</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi74TKgFnF0GbSn4qHRf7bE9uO6VuXR1n4MiuZ6e5u70fS05lA99EgGF53khiiM8GCjKWV-WnAlFn1AZvZn9O6-JQ76KFuKJk7Uw8n_0yjNDSegmqv5VPf7dLTA5OKIe7Rchq62nfWM-sSkUCgTXJXh1wblL8GiUk52O-cKfD-W8IwCWX0zWB0ePidsONKK/s2400/Screenshot_2023-08-27-16-14-56-821_com.android.chrome.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi74TKgFnF0GbSn4qHRf7bE9uO6VuXR1n4MiuZ6e5u70fS05lA99EgGF53khiiM8GCjKWV-WnAlFn1AZvZn9O6-JQ76KFuKJk7Uw8n_0yjNDSegmqv5VPf7dLTA5OKIe7Rchq62nfWM-sSkUCgTXJXh1wblL8GiUk52O-cKfD-W8IwCWX0zWB0ePidsONKK/w288-h640/Screenshot_2023-08-27-16-14-56-821_com.android.chrome.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">And if teaching in the UK, that doesn't strike you as problematic, just imagine you are teaching Spanish in the USA, to a class of pupils many of whom are from a Hispanic background. That's the stereotype of Latin America they live with. And based on a false comparison with the States as a rich, clean, comfortable, safe, entitled, white country.</h4><p>Here's the post as I wrote it. But this isn't funny anymore.</p><p><br /></p><p> Yesterday I saw an article advocating the use of Google Bard for language learning. Google Bard is one of the popular Artificial Intelligence bots currently causing a storm with their amazing ability to replicate human speech. I have already tried to use Bing and ChatGPT, so I thought I would test the capabilities of Bard and see if it really is any use for teaching languages.</p><p>My first question was simple. I asked it, in Spanish, to explain the rules for using question marks.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi-KLRuQQn8POwePO8ehx1Oq96XUUlNLeRb4k00SwYSFVmkhsbgvvO6owxAPw20kh4mgG3VyVimUQ-HAlYqZvDzOC6SyF7QYbbf1qL39fEcXi9hMrmnNYg7MrtKM3DvygmRkAhtYhO7YzdXY7_6YW1y_eI9PKbyJRUUhdhD8roR9fiJ49CnaxDz-XxIrb1x" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="405" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi-KLRuQQn8POwePO8ehx1Oq96XUUlNLeRb4k00SwYSFVmkhsbgvvO6owxAPw20kh4mgG3VyVimUQ-HAlYqZvDzOC6SyF7QYbbf1qL39fEcXi9hMrmnNYg7MrtKM3DvygmRkAhtYhO7YzdXY7_6YW1y_eI9PKbyJRUUhdhD8roR9fiJ49CnaxDz-XxIrb1x=w180-h400" width="180" /></a></div><br />It gave me perfectly good examples, in Spanish, of questions using the Spanish ¿___? . But its explanation made no mention of upside down question marks. It just said to put a question mark at the end. So it failed my first test.<p></p><p>I had this test ready, as I'd already used it on ChatGPT (which also failed it). The reason is that these AI chat bots have been developed to work in English. They can then translate into other languages, but their working is in English. It's important to realise this, and the fact that it does impinge on its ability to work as a language learning tool. It's also alarming to note the fact that it doesn't detect when its examples don't match its explanation. More examples of this to come!</p><p>I wondered, if it's working in English then what will happen if I ask it for words that rhyme? If I ask it for words that rhyme with <i>pescado</i>, will it translate into English and give me a list of words that rhyme with <i>fish - dish, wish - </i>and translate them back into Spanish? It did this:</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiSWjkCaMHOtlsDjzAnC7CuB6kkJyxJRLfuya-ORVoubWKeSe48tg-zRpvkufYQl_vcJ181ODZA8xsKoq0lvqIp8EVnJCIbtp-k8HoKtTspz9kaYcdA60flCx5C5eDrWDjkEsAIdvttTPFHgq1JhXng1gBFyIHY54LhlhTcSrgeEkEkB4g4PyVuZaCU13FH" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="405" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiSWjkCaMHOtlsDjzAnC7CuB6kkJyxJRLfuya-ORVoubWKeSe48tg-zRpvkufYQl_vcJ181ODZA8xsKoq0lvqIp8EVnJCIbtp-k8HoKtTspz9kaYcdA60flCx5C5eDrWDjkEsAIdvttTPFHgq1JhXng1gBFyIHY54LhlhTcSrgeEkEkB4g4PyVuZaCU13FH=w180-h400" width="180" /></a></div>So, it is capable of working in Spanish. It's taken a definition of "rhyme" that means containing the same vowels. So <i>lavo</i> sort of rhymes with <i>pescado</i>. But I can't help noticing <i>expedientes</i> on that list. Which doesn't rhyme at all.<br /><br /><p></p><p>I did another test of its Anglophone bias by asking it in Spanish who the President is. I thought it could offer maybe AMLO or Sanchez as possibilities, because I had asked in Spanish. But it automatically assumed I meant Joe Biden. I've tried this cultural bias with ChatGPT with questions about Spanish food or French music. It does tend to come up with answers known to English speakers and even stereotypes.</p><p>Back to language based questions. This is one that Dr. Rachel Hawkes had alerted me to, when she was genuinely using ChatGPT to "help" create language learning resources. She asked it for a list of French nationality adjectives ending in "-ain". It was unable to do this, producing a list including the marvelous "espagnolian". So I tried it with Google Bard:</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhPJ0wyPE3YL0TdDCWIEBW6I-q7Wx0CNnzVPDj2V5vOBiBVZgfpmsJ7bE1S4_X0aDRNG0yJwifUw7YGxAMfJX5cJLNfoNk6sJnAvBVkVJ7HRoY4cVNNMTH8rraDhGe5URg6Xx2bqAVSqJKD-TkKx_Wh6JcdGTSZO6Rrztc3kU9MmoHssxtrvMRHKw54ABse" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="405" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhPJ0wyPE3YL0TdDCWIEBW6I-q7Wx0CNnzVPDj2V5vOBiBVZgfpmsJ7bE1S4_X0aDRNG0yJwifUw7YGxAMfJX5cJLNfoNk6sJnAvBVkVJ7HRoY4cVNNMTH8rraDhGe5URg6Xx2bqAVSqJKD-TkKx_Wh6JcdGTSZO6Rrztc3kU9MmoHssxtrvMRHKw54ABse=w180-h400" width="180" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>It didn't have the wonderful and undesired inventiveness of ChatGPT. But it still was no use at all. <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1R3oV4CbVrkSuJjrk51ZNwCaw2VM1EdXG/view" target="_blank">Joe Dale had a further extended conversation</a> with Bard on this question where it acknowledged that it had done badly, and then in a series of attempts went from bad to worse.</p><p>Unlike some of my questions, this wasn't a deliberate trap or tricky test. It started from a genuine question Rachel asked to try to save some time. And it's not clear why it failed. It seems that AI isn't very good at taking language apart. So gaps in texts, parts of words, or focus on endings can all trip it up. Unfortunately these are exactly the sorts of things we want to concentrate on in language teaching.</p><p>I tried to use it to create a text where it removed the words for <i>his </i>and <i>her</i> and replaced it with <i>son/sa/ses </i>for the learner to choose the correct one. I explained this carefully in English, to avoid it simply doing what Microsoft Word would do and replace the letter string <i>son</i> even if it was in the middle of the word. Even so, it did this:</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEglKn-KcQ5qXfWmBJcSBdXOevbqH4cDiD2NUBMDBgv6WZERS6w7D_hJsn2_dcvgPmZ4EWdkLPdF7LU2_SXHpLutppP31MCvNsvKSek64iFwXkLuF_pPGf_jdOmBSs0RdffW1VkqAydi6Ip0p8LGQugF1aZmeznTLdrW1gIkB0rmOaTZVxmlOvFp004KpN0-" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="922" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEglKn-KcQ5qXfWmBJcSBdXOevbqH4cDiD2NUBMDBgv6WZERS6w7D_hJsn2_dcvgPmZ4EWdkLPdF7LU2_SXHpLutppP31MCvNsvKSek64iFwXkLuF_pPGf_jdOmBSs0RdffW1VkqAydi6Ip0p8LGQugF1aZmeznTLdrW1gIkB0rmOaTZVxmlOvFp004KpN0-=w288-h640" width="288" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0vkP-6qvZFwthKDXfA6_4iPxjLuMSPpW4m8wp2J_D_sPcn9GfJTxnjGSfQg9guNJ804sQJsGRpUgn9fJyps1FqnwBJdnXHhT_ExPmHpw4sP7cUTcRKHq0wHkpaROB-yoGvAE1d-GS04W30NKrjkQsvszfvurj9VeiAYOIu0vhHWLHAkzcLDu1jUJhUPbi" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="405" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0vkP-6qvZFwthKDXfA6_4iPxjLuMSPpW4m8wp2J_D_sPcn9GfJTxnjGSfQg9guNJ804sQJsGRpUgn9fJyps1FqnwBJdnXHhT_ExPmHpw4sP7cUTcRKHq0wHkpaROB-yoGvAE1d-GS04W30NKrjkQsvszfvurj9VeiAYOIu0vhHWLHAkzcLDu1jUJhUPbi=w288-h640" width="288" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>Not only has it done what I was worried about, and replaced <i>son</i> inside the word <i>sont</i>, and <i>sa</i> in the word <i>responsable</i>, but in giving the "answers", it's also tried to do it with the words <i>garçon</i> and <i>attentionnée</i>. We can't ever understand why this happened. AI works by "learning" from huge amounts of language. And somewhere in that learning it knows that <i>çon </i>is equivalent to <i>son.</i> And it thinks that <i>tion</i> is the same too. So it's struggling with phonics! That's cute, because so are our learners!</p><p>I didn't pick it up on the sexism of its examples. But I had previously challenged chatGPT on a very similar piece of writing it created. It got very snarky and self defensive. Of course, its biais is a reflection of the material it has been trained on.</p><p>While we are talking about using it to create resources for the new GCSE, here's what happened when I asked it to write me a story using only words taken from the 2000 most frequently used words in French.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXubh6c8sHpILGIPRLB9hBxigcHRZuE7DKsfAlwCqjCBsIgzoFTd6nFB0y90w7ruEzNEOogleEXx8zF7XtfRZoYp1dqPLU9qXiw5DO9CjPEOXa9ZX1QtrJvjMtwUSlKAbtu7k0yG6_pG_VPke4IvvoSQNgbhoGljAmM0PZkEt8iUgsuMooh4c3GgmCzUui" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="405" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXubh6c8sHpILGIPRLB9hBxigcHRZuE7DKsfAlwCqjCBsIgzoFTd6nFB0y90w7ruEzNEOogleEXx8zF7XtfRZoYp1dqPLU9qXiw5DO9CjPEOXa9ZX1QtrJvjMtwUSlKAbtu7k0yG6_pG_VPke4IvvoSQNgbhoGljAmM0PZkEt8iUgsuMooh4c3GgmCzUui=w288-h640" width="288" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>I was surprised at the mistake with <i>est peur</i>. I've done similar things with ChatGPT and it shares all the flaws that we're finding here in Bard, but it doesn't tend to make mistakes in its French. But both have the annoying tendency to happily tell you they have done something, when they haven't. I am pretty sure s'enfuir and un serpent are not in the top 2000 words in French. But then again, ChatGPT's story had sword, treasure and dragon. If only it just said, "Sorry, I don't know what the 2000 most common words in French are" then it would be fine. Bing AI also has this tendency to oblige and make things up when it doesn't know. Which is inexcusable because Bing does have access to the internet and acts as a search engine.</p><p>So far, Bard immediately failed all my requests based on language. Whether they were tests I designed to see if I could catch it out, or genuine requests of the sort you might make for creating language teaching resources. You can see more on <a href="https://twitter.com/VEverettmfl/status/1695316694158237975" target="_blank">this twitter thread</a>. It also failed other straight-forward requests like a list of masculine countries in French.</p><p>So instead of trying to see if it would work for creating resources for a teacher, I decided to see how it would work for a learner asking for explanations of language points. This is one of the uses directly mentioned by articles advocating the use of Google Bard for language learners.</p><p>Where shall we start? I may as well say at this point, that it goes on to fail at explaining every single grammar point I asked it.</p><p>Here it is saying that c, z and s are all pronounced as <i>th</i> in Spain:</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi-uxwULvpxESQg8ywmvizKDL8fHbr4YBVHzPAzT-Nnc9Thl9e-WDy_Jk48AUoEgNgxoOMd_9J0yx9Jp3qQ-jU6nVhyVLn3tuyP9kBzB_sh56cqq-9zVeKnwFHbYrh5Q7Lf9ToXF-hci0YrX00wQHW0Cg4csmC1j8VWTex8hH9Mqi41J0i8XkLJbGuYFlOB" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="405" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi-uxwULvpxESQg8ywmvizKDL8fHbr4YBVHzPAzT-Nnc9Thl9e-WDy_Jk48AUoEgNgxoOMd_9J0yx9Jp3qQ-jU6nVhyVLn3tuyP9kBzB_sh56cqq-9zVeKnwFHbYrh5Q7Lf9ToXF-hci0YrX00wQHW0Cg4csmC1j8VWTex8hH9Mqi41J0i8XkLJbGuYFlOB=w180-h400" width="180" /></a></div><p><br /></p>Now it tells us that <i>mieux </i>and <i>meilleur </i> are pronounced the same. (It made the same claim for <i>bien</i> and <i>bon</i>.)<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhU8Wwov2yo8TWi4xN5flGYR4IIrGMwZtyIp5KeAFhn0H20Su3b2vu3zK1o93C90Vo2hm3OcaAwj4Mg725nr2i425g9xKx1KAVKlp7YyFX7iXxnyZyIoXv5gtPX7fB9ngCdxwz8xORnG3JZ2g5zO8NdHC3ai1t_uCwSRrvM_beA5a8HlPPzjyhgSQFpvhGu" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="405" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhU8Wwov2yo8TWi4xN5flGYR4IIrGMwZtyIp5KeAFhn0H20Su3b2vu3zK1o93C90Vo2hm3OcaAwj4Mg725nr2i425g9xKx1KAVKlp7YyFX7iXxnyZyIoXv5gtPX7fB9ngCdxwz8xORnG3JZ2g5zO8NdHC3ai1t_uCwSRrvM_beA5a8HlPPzjyhgSQFpvhGu=w288-h640" width="288" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>And now it explains why you need a grave accent on the word for <i>at</i> in French:</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXCLs9OrQwEboAppvaT2yV9Rw2qWuLXm44qM5ARYOFC9INsu2qksLBjJzauZvV7XrPU-M30zXobFQzGaDC2mimJd7x7YmMPslxIT2CVvOw-lcoDxhTJr6u7_QVEKdSdIa9V_1gcbFay8qvvBCfCUIFn4LVML2CINMHvd_ltS7NqZ1IrVmBDixTWMhzvVIp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="405" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXCLs9OrQwEboAppvaT2yV9Rw2qWuLXm44qM5ARYOFC9INsu2qksLBjJzauZvV7XrPU-M30zXobFQzGaDC2mimJd7x7YmMPslxIT2CVvOw-lcoDxhTJr6u7_QVEKdSdIa9V_1gcbFay8qvvBCfCUIFn4LVML2CINMHvd_ltS7NqZ1IrVmBDixTWMhzvVIp=w288-h640" width="288" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>Again, you can see more hilarious examples on the twitter thread. It got in a muddle with <i>tout/toute</i> and with black and white cows being zebras. Oh, go on, I'll give you that one here:</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg8vb6rc-Ctw33EE0_M1befxxh-c0xj72TG-BcguuSyVcT6v-1xLxoHfE__oc7UQKifvaRJmIkXCIudAx44XTUufE83EXIKjTP1RSCadbY-LVDzjYfKjEkjG-jMnR23SeCJRwpbXXEA5DwM04O6mxlWQFxQe9IzWjg6lo-VEKwkhntVp2lziRLRxEAXq2rJ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="405" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg8vb6rc-Ctw33EE0_M1befxxh-c0xj72TG-BcguuSyVcT6v-1xLxoHfE__oc7UQKifvaRJmIkXCIudAx44XTUufE83EXIKjTP1RSCadbY-LVDzjYfKjEkjG-jMnR23SeCJRwpbXXEA5DwM04O6mxlWQFxQe9IzWjg6lo-VEKwkhntVp2lziRLRxEAXq2rJ=w288-h640" width="288" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>I was surprised at that one, because the difference between some cows which are all black and white (des vaches noir et blanc) and a mixed bunch of black cows and white cows (des vaches noires et blanches) is the go-to example used in explaining the rules for adjectival agreement. I think that ChatGPT may be slightly better here. But both ChatGPT and Bard suffer from the general problem of the examples they give just not matching what they are explaining.</p><p>So AI isn't good at looking at parts of words, and it isn't good at explaining grammar with coherent examples. What else do people suggest using it for? It's suggested that it is good at giving feedback to learners. I know already that ChatGPT is terrible at this. Just as with grammar explanations, the examples it picks out from pupils' work, just don't match the point it was trying to correct. Let's see how Bard does. Are you feeling hopeful? Sorry:</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjjKxRUhWsRKrUW4ZXHKBxkidvHse_-iVa7iC7p-TB-g9e48ERMBcu0li3Xgr1zKzMubLZSajnoMQdg10Ii4G9E9SP1EQh60MpwQqaADZEYMUDcmVJgSpLdkSYoXIfB-qmDzMUmHo5_9whYl4EtwU9AJtBEtk2rAuXGAMuEQaUYPxmQp2REIjDm98dt5teo" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="641" data-original-width="732" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjjKxRUhWsRKrUW4ZXHKBxkidvHse_-iVa7iC7p-TB-g9e48ERMBcu0li3Xgr1zKzMubLZSajnoMQdg10Ii4G9E9SP1EQh60MpwQqaADZEYMUDcmVJgSpLdkSYoXIfB-qmDzMUmHo5_9whYl4EtwU9AJtBEtk2rAuXGAMuEQaUYPxmQp2REIjDm98dt5teo" width="274" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>It has ignored the actual mistake in using the article with a job, and the question of gender. And instead it's made up something called "noun-verb" agreement, saying the verb <i>est</i> should be feminine.</p><p>Alarm bells should be ringing. We should not be using AI for grammatical explanation. AI has no knowledge or intelligence. It is simply a very very impressive predictive text tool. It has been trained on patterns of human speech. It can parrot and sound as if it knows what it is talking about. But it has no knowledge. Any information it gives is a lucky coincidence, the result of putting words together in a way it has spotted humans do. And it seems that the humanity it reflects is anglophone and sexist. The fact that it comes even close to giving vaguely reliable sounding information, is a comment on how predictable we all are!</p><p>What should AI be good at? Well, language, I suppose. But have a look at the <a href="https://twitter.com/VEverettmfl/status/1695316694158237975" target="_blank">twitter thread </a>where I posted all the questions I asked it. It failed every single one. It's inexplicably bad at language, or maybe languages. <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/letting-ai-teach-is-like-using-casualty-actors-in-a-amp-e-nd3gqntt7" target="_blank">This article from The Times</a> may be behind a paywall, but its conclusion is that "Letting AI teach is like letting Casualty actors run A&E." AI is just mimicking. Nothing else.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">And here's what was my final paragraph. Which now has to be withdrawn. Because interacting with google bard is not safe for our learners.</h4><p><i>Except there is one way you could use AI for language learning where the potential is huge: chat to it. The clue is in the name ChatGPT. In your prompt, explain that you want it to be a conversational partner for learning the language. Tell it your level. Ask it to answer but also to ask questions. And have a conversation with it.</i></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">When you start to use google bard, it does warn you that it is experimental and may be inappropriate. But all the articles suggesting you use it for language learning don't say that. And they should.</h4>The Nice Man Who Teaches Languageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17343658160135320978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4888632576340957766.post-25994613769934446352023-08-22T02:19:00.002-07:002023-08-22T02:19:42.828-07:00Coming up on the horizon already: The new GCSE<p> How much of a roadblock is the new GCSE going to be? There are several things to look forward to over the next few years. The NCLE hubs working to share good practice, the possibility of a new government, and hints of a National Language Strategy being formulated. Will this be a period of renewal and excitement? Or will it all be insignificant pretty little daisies growing around the edges of a hulking great boulder: the new GCSE.</p><p>We know what is in the new GCSE: grammar, vocabulary, role plays, pictures, translation, dictation, reading aloud. Will it be similar enough for us to easily move to teaching the new exam? Or does it require fundamental change?</p><p>The exam boards have indicated that the areas of content will be similar to the current topics. Many of the tasks and question types will look familiar. It would be reassuring to think that minimal adjustment is needed in planning and teaching. And yet, this exam was supposed to be a lever in bringing about change in how we teach. So is it dangerous to assume we can carry on as we were?</p><p>At the <a href="https://www.all-languages.org.uk/uncategorized/new-gcse-vocabulary-by-rachel-hawkes" target="_blank">East of England Association for Language Learning meeting in June 2023</a>, Rachel Hawkes warned us to be careful. Of the current GCSE, only 50% of the vocabulary list is on the new GCSE list. So there is a lot we could cut out. Perhaps more importantly, 50% of the vocabulary on the new list, wasn't on the old list. So we do have to teach words that we haven't been teaching before.</p><p>The vocabulary list is central to the new GCSE. The idea is that with limited time for learning, the content to be learned should be clearly defined. And the GCSE panel specified that the most logical vocabulary to learn is the words which are used most frequently. This way, from KS3 (or even KS2), we can cut out words which are not going to appear in the GCSE. All those lists of pets, foods, sports, places in town, pencil case items, family members. We don't need to teach so many nouns.</p><p>And the words we do choose to teach can be revisited regularly. When they are introduced and how often we come across them again (and again) can be preplanned. Texts can be built out of the words and out of the carefully sequenced grammar. And this is what NCELP did. Their materials are a marvel of carefully sequenced and revisited language. A far cry from so many text books with long lists of words met only only once and grammar points covered ticked off on a grid.</p><p>This is the task facing exam boards and publishers. To do it properly, they have to take this approach: start with the defined content (grammar and vocabulary), sequence it, and then build texts out of it. Starting from the vocabulary list, planning the occasions when the words are to be met, and then writing texts using those words.</p><p>Sounds easy. But it is immensely difficult. The exam boards have already come a-cropper with words in the Sample Assessment Materials creeping in which are not on the list. I think, like a vegetarian exchange student staying with a French family, that one of the offending items was chicken!</p><p>This summer I have turned down writing work from companies wanting to tweak and update resources for the new GCSE. Because doing it properly will not be tweaking. Doing it properly means starting from the vocab list and planning what to create. Like cooking based on what is in the fridge, not on what you and your guests would like to eat. </p><p>It means you have to hold at arm's length any actual texts of interesting or true information. Because the words you need will not be the words you have at your disposal. So you have to start to create an alternative reality built out of the words you do have. Reminds me of <a href="https://youtu.be/pyAEWQrEAVg" target="_blank">this sketch rewriting the the Sesame Street song</a>, being forced in frustration to change one word at a time until you end up with "Stormy Nights... can you tell me how to get to Yellowstone Park." Because ultimately content, culture and meaning are secondary to meeting and practising the language.</p><p>If this is how professional published material will work - starting from the word list - I think teachers will work differently. When we write or re-use texts, we will write the text first. Then we might use the <a href="https://ldpedagogy.org/resources/multilingprofiler/" target="_blank">multilingual profiler</a> to check which words we have used are not on the list. And then we can give a gloss of those words in English so pupils don't have to worry about them and we don't have to throw away our text.</p><p>So we won't be doing it "properly" like the publishers will have to. We will be doing it pragmatically. Taking texts and checking them, tweaking them where we can.</p><p>Will we be cutting back on vocabulary taught in KS3? It sounds like a great idea. But what words will be cut? We've already mentioned chicken. If not many foods or animals are on the list, then what do we do? Teach the core ones and let individual pupils know the ones they personally want to ask for? Because at GCSE, they can use "chicken" in the speaking and writing exam. But it won't be in the Listening or Reading exam, and the Speaking and Writing tasks will be devised so as not to require any chicken.</p><p>This model of teaching the core high frequency vocabulary and handing out individual preference words to individual pupils sounds like a lot of work. Teaching individual pupils individual words. But it also puts a stop to communicative tasks in the classroom. If the only animals all pupils know are dog and fish -and you teach cat, bird, snake to individual pupils but not to all - then how do they do a survey about what pets they have, when they don't know what the other pupil is saying?</p><p>Here's a question. What are the Restaurant Role Plays going to look like at GCSE if words like chicken aren't on the list?</p><p>So again, I don't think I am going to be doing it "properly". I will not be removing words from KS3 which are not on the GCSE list. I don't think I'll be removing them from GCSE either. When it comes to revision, homework and exam preparation, I can be much clearer in telling the pupils what words they have to know. But I don't think that is the same as long term language learning.</p><p>At KS3, I will be sticking with our approach of simultaneously building pupils' accumulation of language and developing what they can do with it. So that, like snow, rather than having an even coating (prone to melting away), they have a snowball that more and more language can stick to.</p><p>And I think that if that's what works at KS3, then it's what works at KS4 too.</p><p>It would be lovely to think that rather than a massive boulder we crash into or have to find a way around, the new GCSE is a bit of a speed bump that slows us down and makes us pay attention, but doesn't actually make us change our plans completely.</p><p><br /></p>The Nice Man Who Teaches Languageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17343658160135320978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4888632576340957766.post-79039503712085352532023-06-01T03:14:00.012-07:002023-06-01T03:48:08.898-07:00Thoughts on Dictation<p> The new GCSE is going to include a Dictation test as part of the listening exam. This is in order to test pupils' knowledge of the sound-spelling link and make sure we are all explicitly teaching phonics.</p><p>The immediate red flag is, of course, FRENCH!!!!! French, with its silent letters and redundant grammatical endings which occur in the written form but not in the spoken form. Dictation has been a staple of schooling for French children, already fluent, but struggling to learn to spell.</p><p>So the sentence</p><p><i><b>les petits garçons mangent de magnifiques gâteaux</b></i></p><p>has six markers for plural in the written form, but only one (<i>les</i>) in the spoken form. Knowing to add the various endings <i>s / x / ent</i> is nothing to do with the sound spelling link. It is a grammar test.</p><p>From the perspective of a sound-spelling link test, would it be acceptable to transcribe the sentence like this?</p><p><i>les petit garçon mange de magnifique gâteau</i></p><p>The grammar is wrong, but the sounds are transcribed correctly.</p><p><br /></p><p>What if they wrote something like this?</p><p><i>lait petit garce ont mens-je deux magnifique gatte eau</i></p><p>It's complete nonsense, but a good effort at transcription.</p><p>This may well be a nightmare for the exam boards. And looking at how they intend to mark the dictation task in terms of what is acceptable (sound/meaning/grammar) may well be one of the criteria for choosing one exam board over another.</p><p>I'm going to leave that to the exam boards to panic over for now. And start with what I CAN do to get stuck in to dictation.</p><p>So far, I have come across several interesting things to tackle:</p><p>1. How much French can pupils process?</p><p>2. What is the interaction between sound and meaning?</p><p>3. Grammar?</p><p><br /></p><p>So I find that if I give pupils a blank piece of paper and read a sentence to them, they find it very hard. By the end of the first word, I have protests that they can't be writing the first word and simultaneously listening to the rest of the sentence.</p><p>There are two solutions to this. One would be to dictate single words as in a traditional spelling test. The other would be to have pens down, listen to the whole sentence, then attempt to write the parts you could make sense of. And fill in the gaps in a second reading. Pupils find this very difficult, but that's not a reason not to work on it.</p><p>This approach brings in the dimension of processing meaning. It is impossible to hold a whole sentence in the mind as a sequence of sounds to be rendered into written form. To hold the sentence in your head, you have to process the meaning. So for pupils, the process is not just one of transcribing sounds. It is: listen and understand, probably translating into English, then write the sentence in French, probably translating back from English into French. So a separate listening task and then writing task.</p><p>Once we understand that the second half of the dictation process is a writing task, this is where the need to tackle grammar comes in. So a pupil has to decide whether the sentence they are writing requires the form <i>aller/allez/allé/allée/allés/allées</i>, for example.</p><p>Here are some thoughts on how to tackle this. Some I have tried and some I will be trying:</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Instead of a blank piece of paper, give the pupils options to pick:</h4><p><i>je peux faire les magasins / je préfère les magasins</i> - the teacher reads one of the options and the pupils have to listen for which one is actually said. This puts the attention onto the sounds. But when I have tried this, the lure of meaning is still strong. With this exact example, pupils wrongly went for <i>I prefer</i> despite what they heard. This seems to be because they were more familiar with <i>les magasins</i> as a noun than in the expression <i>faire les magasins</i> and so picked the one that made most sense to them. It is possible for your brain to be totally convinced that you have heard something that wasn't actually said. There's a listening from the Expo textbook that says, "Dans ma chambre" but once you hear it as saying "Donald Trump", it's impossible to un-hear it.</p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Instead of a blank piece of paper, give a sentence to modify:</h4><p>I use a whole sentence rather than a sentence with gaps in. For example, pupils have a printed sentence like:</p><p><i>J'aime aller au cinéma avec mes amis</i></p><p>and they hear a variation with one word different. First they listen and identify which word has changed. Then on a second listening, they write in the new word correctly. This works much better than a sentence with a gap to be filled. The printed sentence is supposed to support the pupils' understanding and reduce the cognitive load of meaning, listening, remembering, processing, spelling. This reduction of cognitive load is not as effective if the sentence we give them already has a gap in it. It makes it much harder for pupils to work out than we might think when a vital part of the sentence is missing!</p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Give them a printed sentence in English:</h4><p>The pupils have a sentence printed such as</p><p><i>I would like to take the bus into town</i></p><p>Then the teacher dictates the sentence in French. Pupils are not struggling with the meaning, because that is given to them in English. It recognises that Dictation is a dual task, and focuses on the second part: writing the sentence in French. In this case the dictated sentence helps and supports their writing. Pupils can feel as if they are being given the answer rather than panicked over having to write down what they hear. This feels like a positive perspective on dictation and I will be giving it a go!</p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Make processing writing a two stage process:</h4><p>The teacher reads the sentence in French. But asks the pupils to write down exactly what it means in English. Then the pupils translate their English sentence into French, supported by hearing the sentence again a second time in French. I haven't tried this. I will give it a go and see how it works. It may be an over complication. Or it may be taking apart exactly the process that pupils have to go through in order to be successful.</p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Tackle grammar explicitly:</h4><p>We need to talk to pupils about the way one slight change in sound changes other words in a sentence.</p><p><i>grande vache noire mange</i> sounds exactly the same as <i>grandes vaches noires mangent</i></p><p>We teach this grammar. But do we teach that it all depends on whether the first word you hear is <i>la</i> or <i>les</i>? And practise picking up on this? So we need to make dictation a tool we use in grammar teaching. Before we get to the stage of finding grammar is an issue when we try to do dictations.</p><p><br /></p><p>I think the key is going to be focusing on what the specific demands are. In any given practise task (or test), do we want pupils to:</p><p><i>correctly spell known words, keep sounds in their head, process meaning, translate into English and back again, attempt unknown words, apply knowledge of grammar... ?</i></p><p>As we become more aware of the actual demands involved in dictation, we will be able to target the skills required, hopefully with more and more success.</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">Note I haven't even got into the teaching of phonics here! I'm a great advocate of explicit teaching of the sound-spelling link. One of my very first posts was on exactly this!</span> <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/04/phonics-basis-for-everything.html" target="_blank">Phonics, the basis for everything.</a></p><p><br /></p>The Nice Man Who Teaches Languageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17343658160135320978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4888632576340957766.post-69553885956523701232023-05-19T23:44:00.004-07:002023-05-19T23:51:58.036-07:00Writing: Criteria, Cognitive Load, and Feedback<p> When we ask our pupils to do writing, we are not just testing their recall. We are working on how well they can deploy their French in order to create a better piece of writing. We are looking for detail, personalisation, and coherence.</p><p>But when we do this, we increase the cognitive demands considerably. As well as having to recall the French, our pupils have to think about the selection and ordering of ideas, how they link and are developed or contrasted.</p><p>And this invitation to express themselves opens up more challenges. Instead of sticking to a Present, Practice, Production model, and churning out exactly the things they have just been learning, they may bring in language from their own repertoire and find ways to say things they want to say. This drive to communicate, to say things, to have their own control of what they want to say and how to say it is not something we want to crush! But sometimes it does feel as if we are stamping it out with our feedback. </p><p>This happens in two main ways:</p><p><i>You're trying to say things you can't. Just stick to what I've taught you.</i></p><p><i>You've said what you want to say, but you haven't used the language features I wanted to see included.</i></p><p>Here's some examples of pupils' work and my feedback where I wrestle with this.</p><p>Of course, sometimes, you get a pupil who has the perfect balance. They can think carefully about what to say AND organise it coherently AND write accurately AND build it out of the structures we've been learning AND bring in language from their own wider repertoire of French:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyvESqucUuaAaQS83mfIIso92pZtWVRfQ43dq42MhqJE58st-x3ckXRnfNjQeWYvZIEXnfbp1A5wt2gxWU6KJUMihK2engj4z79YcYAcpaxAEFg1_tjX4ia-nLmHo6I8jYBNZ2N97WwxbC0fbAV-H7j6VwHE53PsmX0MAC4SR8TuvQiJpaY0V1SqVn9Q/s4000/1%20this%20one%20is%20KT.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyvESqucUuaAaQS83mfIIso92pZtWVRfQ43dq42MhqJE58st-x3ckXRnfNjQeWYvZIEXnfbp1A5wt2gxWU6KJUMihK2engj4z79YcYAcpaxAEFg1_tjX4ia-nLmHo6I8jYBNZ2N97WwxbC0fbAV-H7j6VwHE53PsmX0MAC4SR8TuvQiJpaY0V1SqVn9Q/w640-h480/1%20this%20one%20is%20KT.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>I like the way they put together the ideas to contrast what they have to wear and what they can choose to wear, and what they have decided to wear. Good selection of ideas, developing thoughts around one idea at a time, rather than linking separate ideas. Careful attention to the language features of the topic (adjectival agreement). Bringing in French from their personal repertoire (<i>j'ai décidé de / au lieu de)</i> to make it read how they want it to sound. They have the perfect balance of building something out of French they know, alongside wanting to express themselves, and wanting to craft a piece of writing that works.</p><p>On the other hand, sometimes you get work like this.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPSBh7mcRzFX_ry9FuflUm2Dgo__AajwnfJi3W2eJHXtfCA0jFlTDZn4veiXRaG487NFC-OiPn79CYE0O6wtEg0h174DDq-C0UsyBMjIrCbUoy51W_5zeL-j-8ahtbJrnv1cNp3XjMdne2nk8TZDSHNtlFnFfEy3BTLeP21c4ITd1s7nWw7TKQHLRwag/s4000/2.%20mistakes.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPSBh7mcRzFX_ry9FuflUm2Dgo__AajwnfJi3W2eJHXtfCA0jFlTDZn4veiXRaG487NFC-OiPn79CYE0O6wtEg0h174DDq-C0UsyBMjIrCbUoy51W_5zeL-j-8ahtbJrnv1cNp3XjMdne2nk8TZDSHNtlFnFfEy3BTLeP21c4ITd1s7nWw7TKQHLRwag/w640-h480/2.%20mistakes.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>This pupil has made errors in just about all their adjectival endings and some of their verb endings. The thing is, I know that this pupil, when they were just writing sentences in their booklet, had correctly written <i>une veste noire</i> and <i>une chemise blanche</i>.</p><p>So what has happened? What do we need to do about it? What should I say to this pupil? What mark should they get?</p><p>Here's my feedback on this piece of work:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUcNSuCCUrrPeh--sqWUXNFnOaLr2G3EMcyJTBkXw2AEdyNOtXMEYVb4SmHmYsPSAoHwknWYmh4U6u7HUyW-s9YtIQve6g-vrvuhGKZxyGaFQqb5PoS_K6-tbePNQO70bDQ26qEmY7BJDni-LDKkhCdAhU_P5Vpg_NXz9k0SpXE96WRSvqroXhCx8vyw/s4000/fb.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUcNSuCCUrrPeh--sqWUXNFnOaLr2G3EMcyJTBkXw2AEdyNOtXMEYVb4SmHmYsPSAoHwknWYmh4U6u7HUyW-s9YtIQve6g-vrvuhGKZxyGaFQqb5PoS_K6-tbePNQO70bDQ26qEmY7BJDni-LDKkhCdAhU_P5Vpg_NXz9k0SpXE96WRSvqroXhCx8vyw/w640-h480/fb.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>This is a pupil who will instantly look at the mistakes in gender agreement and realise what they have done. But when they wrote it, their attention was on other features. They were focussing on meaning and on expression and on what they were saying. And they did a good job. They discussed what they used to wear and what they wear now, and which they prefer. This is very different from the sentences in their booklet just itemising in a list all the things they wear. And they are bringing in words from their own repertoire in order to achieve this. And this is what I want. I don't want my pupils to have no interest in expressing themselves.</p><p>I have this next example which interests me a lot. It is a pupil who does very well in languages, can read authentic texts with confidence and tackles things other pupils struggle with. But this piece of writing made me raise an eyebrow because it was too careful and accurate!</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXjtieOKupzNtT292pVl371N6dS6iETCPIhbGGWsGimW6zNOWwPnWGO2fIWw552OEP0xTBuLBljJDNCSjXz2l2HbNgDv4XK5GDvmGsT7E_e4tIDIjQaFKkW77-piQjTvGfrfp1PMoKLgrNiTQ1NKzTfUZLaGXR2bjEY2ykFmieNIcEz8jL8T5SMf4VEg/s4000/3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXjtieOKupzNtT292pVl371N6dS6iETCPIhbGGWsGimW6zNOWwPnWGO2fIWw552OEP0xTBuLBljJDNCSjXz2l2HbNgDv4XK5GDvmGsT7E_e4tIDIjQaFKkW77-piQjTvGfrfp1PMoKLgrNiTQ1NKzTfUZLaGXR2bjEY2ykFmieNIcEz8jL8T5SMf4VEg/w640-h480/3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Their comment at the end is revealing. Unlike the other pupils, their focus was always on the language not on the ideas. But it reads like a series of sentences, without the flow or sense of expression the other pupils were aiming for. It's more accurate. But in some ways less ambitious.</p><p>This is where I am going to need a good metaphor to feedback to the class. I am thinking of something along the lines of a circus act. Someone who does a couple of backflips on the ground is quite impressive but fairly safe. Someone who does a backflip on a narrow beam, is very impressive but it might all go wrong. Someone who does a backflip on a high wire risks total failure. But well done for trying. Hopefully when it comes to their French, they have a teacher who can help them understand what went wrong and help them get back on the horse rather than scaring them off forever.</p>The Nice Man Who Teaches Languageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17343658160135320978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4888632576340957766.post-28041868809188217802023-04-15T06:11:00.013-07:002023-04-15T08:11:19.907-07:00Novices and Experts<p> This morning, <a href="https://twitter.com/icpjones" target="_blank">Isabelle Jones</a> posted a link to this<a href="https://evidencebased.education/novices-experts/" target="_blank"> interesting blog post</a> on Novice learners and Expert learners.</p><p>As MFL teachers, we have met this concept in the Ofsted Research Review. It says that most of our learners are Novices. And only a few pupils at the higher levels of GCSE are in any way to be considered starting to reach Expert level. Expert pupils may start to cope with extracting meaning from texts with unknown words and be able to start to communicate and express themselves. But for most of our pupils, Ofsted mandate a concentration on explicit knowledge of phonics, grammar and high frequency vocabulary. Communication, self expression and reading that involves deduction and inference of meaning should be delayed until pupils are Expert.</p><p>Behind this there is a noble and extremely complex idea. It is a view of education which does away with the old idea of "ability". Instead of labelling some pupils as able and others as less able, it asks us to look at where those differences between pupils start to appear, how they are reinforced, and how they become self-fulfilling. </p><p>It is closely linked to the idea of cultural capital and the importance of knowledge. Specifically to the idea that "skills" and abilities can be broken down into knowledge. By thinking in terms of "skills" and "ability" we have loaded the dice against pupils who don't have the same level of cultural capital to start off with. We have allowed some pupils to fly and some pupils to sink, explaining it away with the concept of "ability," effectively blaming (or praising) the pupils.</p><p>Instead of this, we are now exhorted to think not of the skills, but of the knowledge. Some pupils with a slightly better starting point, get a head start and are labelled as "able." Other pupils may be missing some knowledge and have a slower start and seem unable to perform the skills we ask. What is the knowledge that needs to be put in place? What is that knowledge that pupils who do well have, and other pupils lack?</p><p>Lovely ideas. And ones that perhaps teachers have always approached through working carefully with pupils as individuals, nurturing their attempts and their skills, watching very carefully to pitch the level of challenge and support.</p><p>But a child-centred approach is out of fashion. It is portrayed as being the opposite of what is supposed in the previous paragraph. It is portrayed as being a lazy, coasting approach with too much play and not enough ambition. We also have a fashion for defining the curriculum with rigorous sequencing, rather than a focus on classroom pedagogy and the pupil's development. And perhaps we are also a nation of Novice teachers, with a dearth of experience. And of course, teachers love to be offered a formula, a magic bullet, some pseudo science, a bandwagon, a fad.</p><p>You will have guessed, that the Novice-Expert distinction is one I am uncomfortable with. So why don't I like it? For a start, the idea that content can be broken down into knowledge is the easy part. Especially if we then test for recall of that knowledge. It can appear to be very successful. But the idea that "knowledge is key to acquiring skills" part of the deal can end up being completely forgotten. I have written <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/10/dangerous-current.html" target="_blank">here</a> about how the rush for knowledge can be at the expense of thinking, creativity, expression, experimentation.</p><p>The Novice-Expert distinction legitimises this. It demands that we teach knowledge first, so that skills can come later. Much later.</p><p>I would say that this is an idea that doesn't stand up on its own. The post I referred to at the start almost acknowledges this by at the same time as setting up the Novice-Expert distinction, declaring that we need to see it as a continuum. Thank goodness. But once we forgo the attractive neat binary distinction, there's not a lot of the idea left.</p><p>Because it is part of a bigger idea. The bigger idea is that there is a very interesting relationship between knowledge and skills. And how we INTEGRATE the teaching of knowledge and skills is really important.</p><p>People blurt out the mantra, "But you need to know things before you can think."</p><p>This shocking image from an Ofsted video has been circulating on Twitter, shared by Early Years Teachers.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiauZejx9Qnh-jdnJozxr_r6Eg2PROQHC8kRAGP54YPFidlypN6HbahxABCpB7jr1Ztt2aA3mdGqjYvPQTRQeCMnh6xBOTSHAGv8KP4mFM740eCwXr7l7PrUp4AGmQjCFWINr-_U7fSotVsoIAp04sgop1eJTrYPqJPLTHVcLIW7tkY5U8NAnjIrjYzqw/s749/shape%20sorter.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="749" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiauZejx9Qnh-jdnJozxr_r6Eg2PROQHC8kRAGP54YPFidlypN6HbahxABCpB7jr1Ztt2aA3mdGqjYvPQTRQeCMnh6xBOTSHAGv8KP4mFM740eCwXr7l7PrUp4AGmQjCFWINr-_U7fSotVsoIAp04sgop1eJTrYPqJPLTHVcLIW7tkY5U8NAnjIrjYzqw/w400-h216/shape%20sorter.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>You may think it chimes with what I just said about the importance lying in how we integrate the teaching of knowledge and skills. But the context is that of a video stipulating explicit teaching of knowledge. And the caption on the picture makes it clear that knowledge comes first before a skill can be performed. With a picture of a child playing with a shape-sorter.</p><p>Surely playing with a shape-sorter is the absolute paradigm that explicit knowledge does not come first. When we say some pupils lack cultural capital, it may well be that they missed out on the opportunity to play with shapes. Not that they missed out on having it explained to them.</p><p>But it's the same right through to Secondary School. And even in "knowledge based" subjects like Physics. If you are going to learn Newton's First Law, you need to confront how you think about how things move. You may well think that if you push things they move. And if you stop pushing them, they stop moving. This is thinking. The science teacher wants you to examine this idea and discover that there's a better way of explaining it. Things do stay still until something pushes them. But things also stay moving until something stops them. If under the guidance of a teacher, you start with your thinking, observe objects moving, come to a new conclusion, then you are learning. If someone tells you the knowledge, "Every object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled to change its state by the action of an external force" then that's not going to mean anything.</p><p>Of course, no-one is advocating that. Knowledge-based teaching is very careful to engage with prior knowledge and pitch the level of challenge so that it moves the pupils forward but doesn't overwhelm. But this does rather clash with the idea of "You can't think without knowledge." Learning happens by thinking, engaging with content. You can theoretically split thinking, knowledge, learning. You can theoretically split skills and knowledge. But in practice, what matters is how they are integrated.</p><p>In language-learning this is reflected in the debates around form and meaning. Or learning and acquisition. Or explicit and implicit learning. While the distinctions are useful for debate, the whole point is the interaction, the integration, the synergy, the balance.</p><p>In Languages, my parents' generation learned grammatical forms as a purely intellectual exercise. But since then it has been axiomatic that you don't delay the learner's ability to express themself until the grammatical system is mastered. We construct a curriculum which balances the pupils' ability to say things, with their evolving conceptualisation of the language. And the two are in no way incompatible. Conceptualisation of the language is what allows you to say more things. Wanting to try out saying more things is what drives conceptualisation of the language.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>The Nice Man Who Teaches Languageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17343658160135320978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4888632576340957766.post-52804617962884805392023-04-12T01:08:00.008-07:002023-04-21T22:45:32.889-07:00Where next for Languages?<p> I wonder what the new National Consortium for Languages Education is going to be like and what will it mean for us in the classroom?</p><p>Just like NCELP, they are mandated to build on the 2016 review of language teaching and its core principles.</p><p>I have written on Twitter a little bit about NCELP. They will have a chapter of their own in the History of Language Teaching, as an extraordinary landmark attempt to try to bring about changes in practice and thinking.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidenkwI7Jx3nqzQoaiVEauntA3JwJhuwa8bi2FOZjXETxkY7pCBs8fhQ3YDtPkw0ANS9o9MQH7g6kRgkz3r_qAbcDxKHL1pLrMvM3f_I-OqoS3KBJsJgxue2bCB2ysLG24U4tMrd_YHXcM2NZuxFObRiARGzeKosdsijQdV0pmmJwHReY4basD0-DO4w/s598/ncelp.PNG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="598" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidenkwI7Jx3nqzQoaiVEauntA3JwJhuwa8bi2FOZjXETxkY7pCBs8fhQ3YDtPkw0ANS9o9MQH7g6kRgkz3r_qAbcDxKHL1pLrMvM3f_I-OqoS3KBJsJgxue2bCB2ysLG24U4tMrd_YHXcM2NZuxFObRiARGzeKosdsijQdV0pmmJwHReY4basD0-DO4w/s320/ncelp.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>I don't think that Chapter is coming to a close. They have made us think about important questions. And whatever comes next, we can't ignore them.</p><p>Firstly, the Sequencing of Learning. The NCELP schemes of work have raised the bar for any publisher in terms of the logic of what is taught when. We can't continue to see textbooks organised around ticking off grammar content in a grid, planning where it is met (once or twice) without now thinking in terms of the pupils' conceptualisation and accumulation of language.</p><p>Likewise, the focus on phonics is a well overdue shift away from the old idea that we shouldn't show pupils the written form, because it would interfere with their pronunciation.</p><p>There are other aspects which I think we have only just started to get to grips with, whether or not we ultimately end up accepting them. One is the idea that while we should be very careful to introduce things in carefully planned steps, they should also be deliberately contrasted. This is also linked to the idea of removing duplicate markers, so that pupils have to focus on the specific form (and its meaning). So instead of saying, "Je suis allée en ville hier", if we want the pupil to focus on the past tense, then we should show them, "Je suis allée en ville." That way they have to look at the verb form and can't depend on the word 'hier'. And we should ask them to distinguish between go/went or between different persons of the verb. The questions here are about how well we understand what NCELP are trying to do. It's not just about spotting patterns. It's about how pupils process language.</p><p>I can see that my pupils are happy to know that aller is "go". But despite our teaching, how much attention do they pay to the endings <i>aller, allé, allés, allée, allées, allez, allais...</i>? Are they just happy to pick up on "go". And are we as teachers happy that they then use that to try to deduce the meaning from the whole sentence, rather than processing the endings? Do we assume that inflection is something it takes time for pupils to grasp the importance of? Or do we think it's something we need to force pupils to process?</p><p>Then there's the High Frequency Vocabulary idea. This has so many implications, and I can't yet see clearly what it means for my teaching. Does it mean the <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-case-against-topics.html" target="_blank">end of topic teaching</a>? I can see the importance of non topic words and the very high frequency words. The thing is sometimes these words are highly grammatical. Or are low on meaning, high on re-combinability. Meaning that they are very slippery to teach with a bottom up approach. <i>Je vais à la piscine; J'habite à Paris; Je vais au cinéma; Un pain au chocolat; La dame au chapeau rouge... </i>In each one <i>à</i> is doing something different. Might it be better for pupils to learn some of this in chunks without getting stuck <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2022/08/is-not-post-about-whether-you-say-je.html" target="_blank">over-thinking words like à or du, de la, des? Like the pupil in this post trying to say things like, <i>I like pizza with pineapple.</i></a></p><p>Does a focus on High Frequency Vocabulary mean a bottom up approach, focused on processing known words and grammar? Or is it the key to a revived focus on authentic texts and materials? If these are the words that feature in all texts, and if they are the key to unlocking meaning, then more authentic texts should be accessible. We've always been good at asking pupils to look for the words strong in meaning. Which can be deduced from clues in the context or may well be cognates. If our pupils are going to be better equipped to deal with the little words and process grammatical inflections, does this mean we can have more (not less!) focus on authentic texts?</p><p>If a High Frequency Vocabulary approach means an end to topics and to lists of inconsequential nouns to allow pupils to talk about their trivial lives (pets, stationery, hobbies, clothes), then could it instead bring a greater focus on culture and Culture? A move away from the first person obsession would also fit well with the grammatical sequencing. <i>In Spain they... This Spanish person... In England we... I...</i></p><p>Ultimately, I can't tell how great the role of NCLE will be in where this goes next. What we need to see is what the new GCSE means. I'm holding off digging deep into what it means until the drafts are tweaked and firmed up. We will need to understand the marking criteria in detail to understand what is rewarded. The DfE were right in thinking that if they wanted change, then changing the GCSE was the way to do it. But whether those changes will be exactly what they intended, we will have to wait and see.</p>The Nice Man Who Teaches Languageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17343658160135320978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4888632576340957766.post-22747543438565111892023-04-07T01:45:00.011-07:002023-04-07T02:44:54.518-07:00Language World 2023 Part Two<p> In <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2023/03/language-world-2023-part-one.html" target="_blank">Part One </a>of these two posts on my talk at Language World 2023, I looked at how we find ourselves in the middle of a polarised debate about language-learning. On the one hand, there is an emphasis on explicit learning of well-sequenced grammar, selected vocabulary, and phonics. On the other is the idea that communication and meaning come first, with grammar only making sense once pupils have enough language for the patterns to emerge.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAAK1mXhepJL4M5EHQGNHeZbO5r9oAOYDVgrMfteBvnL_NVzorBQkgL7nN9greZXgvDXgY3PZOujY5bZRxMs9XEZvkDIxkE3ugzKeQdIdE54izwdZB5v4cbQsMk5FUPygeqihl6gok-U-4Ox521twYxi5mzN15a9-Q4D_gGrbezuxlPcVrgSID8mUHyw/s1341/poles.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="215" data-original-width="1341" height="64" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAAK1mXhepJL4M5EHQGNHeZbO5r9oAOYDVgrMfteBvnL_NVzorBQkgL7nN9greZXgvDXgY3PZOujY5bZRxMs9XEZvkDIxkE3ugzKeQdIdE54izwdZB5v4cbQsMk5FUPygeqihl6gok-U-4Ox521twYxi5mzN15a9-Q4D_gGrbezuxlPcVrgSID8mUHyw/w400-h64/poles.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>At the end of the first post, I said that for me, the key thing is a well-structured and deliberately sequenced curriculum. But one that shifts the focus from just accumulating <b>knowledge</b> of the language, to a deliberate development of what pupils can <b>do</b> with the language.</p><p>And we don't have to look far for validation of this approach. We may be worried about Ofsted or even our own schools being obsessed with knowledge, but what we are required to teach is the National Curriculum. And the National Curriculum is very clear that our pupils should be making progress in what they "know and can do" with the language.</p><p>What do I mean by developing what pupils can do with the language? I mean a curriculum where we deliberately focus on how well pupils can develop their answers in speaking and writing, with increasing spontaneity, detail, personalisation, complexity, accuracy and independence.</p><p>The next few slides showed examples from my school's curriculum to show what I mean by this. Here I will give links to previous posts explaining activities in greater detail. And at the end I will come back to look at some overall principles and what "grammar" really means for me.</p><p>First an example that happened just before the conference so featured as a last minute extra, without a slide. Here's a story for you.</p><p>One of my Year 10 pupils arrived early before the others. I asked him, in Spanish, "<i>Do you like to go to the zoo?" </i>He looked puzzled because <i>zoo</i> pronounced in Spanish doesn't sound like a word. So I wrote <i>zoológico</i> on the board and asked him the question again. He said, "Sí, me gusta." I raised an eyebrow in expectation. He thought and said, "<i>Sir. I am going to need the words for monkey and scratch</i>." I put these on the board for him. He then said, in Spanish, "<i>I like to go to the zoo because I can see the animals. In the holidays I went to the zoo and I saw a monkey. He was eating a banana. But while he was eating the banana, he scratched his... I was sick.</i>"</p><p>This is where I want pupils to end up. Able to develop answers spontaneously. With a secure repertoire they can deploy. It meets the GCSE criteria of extended answers, justified opinions and narration. And pupils with this kind of a working core of grammatical knowledge do well when they move on to A Level.</p><p>In my talk, I went back to the beginning and showed how first of all we work on fluency and spontaneity. Even saying/writing nonsense. Just to get the French flowing with activities like World Record Sentence or Connectives Dice (see second half of <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/05/nice-with-dice.html" target="_blank">this post</a>).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghjdDb7nXYC0xDNbStxdcfKk_vbqFa7j1EWzLCUdW4h7Z7lHJXrWmEsb1cZCQsB21ahTRqG8zJKC2T1q_4AwIKHPShX61NlX7xdumrEXA_rHjD0ZlRk0bP703ty4NfHBJVo1IsDtIrmbEUlWYRD_Yw2hZFdUcDEBSjXftr-ZFnDoGT2gQBY4DdEbaKww/s1240/world%20record%20sentence.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="689" data-original-width="1240" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghjdDb7nXYC0xDNbStxdcfKk_vbqFa7j1EWzLCUdW4h7Z7lHJXrWmEsb1cZCQsB21ahTRqG8zJKC2T1q_4AwIKHPShX61NlX7xdumrEXA_rHjD0ZlRk0bP703ty4NfHBJVo1IsDtIrmbEUlWYRD_Yw2hZFdUcDEBSjXftr-ZFnDoGT2gQBY4DdEbaKww/w400-h223/world%20record%20sentence.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>With activities like this, two things can happen. On the one hand, pupils relish the randomness of the sentences and enjoy saying things that no-one has ever said before. (Isn't that the point of grammar?) Or on the other hand, they try to make it make sense. Which is taking the next step in the right direction.</p><p>We quickly establish that knowing the French isn't the issue. What we need to spend time on is getting better at using our French. Thinking of things to say, what to say next. Making it coherent, varied, more sophisticated, more detailed, more personal.</p><p>Activities like <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/06/pimp-my-french-and-ready-steady-french.html" target="_blank">Pimp My French</a> focus on this, by taking a simplistic repetitive answer and improving it using all our repertoire. Annotating model answers and <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/05/writing-in-colours.html" target="_blank">writing in colours</a> helps pupils think about how to deploy their repertoire and create a better answer.</p><p>We look at how creating a piece of writing with just one infinitive has positives and negatives. Positive: it sticks to one idea, it shows off the whole repertoire of what you can do with an infinitive, it saves your other infinitives for another paragraph, and perhaps this person really likes playing with a ball.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYYNjMRiBfLHQrgJQTb-dgNl7LWcO5dZm2e84ukEnj8Qnjc034pYqr2yHBhQ5KXTCd4VFo-vA_nHZQ2wvBq3m2wjtjlLtC50zLeLMsf5wQELI6BVLabwB6z0jfhV7RtNEE8CkhIBnibmOzq-6uRmAKFNMNUaAW5RVl2AdrFARCcZOCjHyaQW_XlKftcg/s797/ball.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="797" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYYNjMRiBfLHQrgJQTb-dgNl7LWcO5dZm2e84ukEnj8Qnjc034pYqr2yHBhQ5KXTCd4VFo-vA_nHZQ2wvBq3m2wjtjlLtC50zLeLMsf5wQELI6BVLabwB6z0jfhV7RtNEE8CkhIBnibmOzq-6uRmAKFNMNUaAW5RVl2AdrFARCcZOCjHyaQW_XlKftcg/s320/ball.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>But of course, this paragraph is also repetitive. So we look a paragraph (C) with more infinitives. Which turns into a bit of a list with <i>and, and, and, </i> because there was no real link between the activities. And then a paragraph (A) with carefully chosen activities which do link into a coherent paragraph. You can see, the pupils then write their own versions of these 3 paragraphs.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Oeomo-OLy459PVedZaM_oCC_H0YQ_0KqIEMUmrzzVTNP_dBJBjWqbkgzRvRoyMcQtLK-Q6e4aVD32OiShNRq-dxgpI05Af-T0LdnOwhzuey2aLRKsADx8Kd0etrNbTIf3KJ2ocJTYC6rlwBvDujpy2ChkZrmOoCGrS0--ee2noiJOwbgptdr8xs4Qw/s1351/paragraphs%203.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="554" data-original-width="1351" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Oeomo-OLy459PVedZaM_oCC_H0YQ_0KqIEMUmrzzVTNP_dBJBjWqbkgzRvRoyMcQtLK-Q6e4aVD32OiShNRq-dxgpI05Af-T0LdnOwhzuey2aLRKsADx8Kd0etrNbTIf3KJ2ocJTYC6rlwBvDujpy2ChkZrmOoCGrS0--ee2noiJOwbgptdr8xs4Qw/w400-h164/paragraphs%203.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Except often they don't. When you ask them to write paragraph (B) or (C), they instinctively want to improve it and make it read well!</p><p>You can see the beginnings of my Year 10 pupil's monkey story here, as pupils start to develop one idea, rather than just link ideas together.</p><p>In my talk, I moved on to explaining how to develop this kind of narration.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW9_hAOZ_NHvlJnQLsZhw8nMDvkZbAu9NtkIRaZfLFwEqrci2qmlOHVw3VHax2Vq-_UtKS3m9sEbfuBd-nVa963WlaNLTsAYElAROiS-Xz2VRBKIdws5SVvwBwlk24j6taRHsmtCNZjPR-tBHv6FoSRYBe_KE-qKPtR-p8DSjgpsbkSt15JH24ggCyvA/s395/acuario.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="223" data-original-width="395" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW9_hAOZ_NHvlJnQLsZhw8nMDvkZbAu9NtkIRaZfLFwEqrci2qmlOHVw3VHax2Vq-_UtKS3m9sEbfuBd-nVa963WlaNLTsAYElAROiS-Xz2VRBKIdws5SVvwBwlk24j6taRHsmtCNZjPR-tBHv6FoSRYBe_KE-qKPtR-p8DSjgpsbkSt15JH24ggCyvA/w400-h226/acuario.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>I expect you probably already all teach the structures involved. Opinions. Verb + infinitive. Past Tenses. In my talk I showed how we deploy them to create a narrative. Each pupil has ownership of one of the key structures. And we go round the class to build the story. Here's <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/10/my-granny-went-shopping-and-she-touched.html" target="_blank">a post on how to set this up</a>. Initially it follows a template, but as it gets transferred across topics, pupils deploy the repertoire more and more flexibly, (<a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2022/11/how-current-gcse-works-across-topics-my.html" target="_blank">as shown here</a>) until they can spontaneously develop answers on any topic.</p><p>So where does this leave grammar? Firstly, you can see the accumulation of grammatical forms. But the important thing is that they are added on to a working repertoire. And they are added because they are needed and useful. With a specific use. Imperfect to set the scene and say what was happening. Preterite or Perfect to say what happened. Different persons of the verb when you need them to create conflict or a difference of opinion. I talk to pupils about their "snowball" of language. Instead of leaving their French to melt, they have to grab hold of some, make it their own, and then more and more language will stick to it.</p><p>And secondly it takes a slightly different definition of grammar. Rather than taking the formal grammar in the sense of a linguist's dissection of the overview of the language and chopping it up into what seems logical chunks and sequencing, it focuses on the pupils' grammar. Grammar in the sense of their growing repertoire and ability to deploy the language. How the language is articulated, put together, used by the pupil to create meaning and develop answers. Scott Thornbury has a metaphor for this. He says that the synthetic grammar syllabus is like trying to make an omelette by taking an omelette, chopping it up, and trying to rebuild it back into an omelette. Instead, what I am trying to do is to take the raw ingredients and slowly cook them into something tasty. Developing the pupils' grammar, not chopping up the linguist's grammar.</p><p>I finished my talk with a third metaphor, bringing it back to the title, "Having your cake and picking the cherries," with the idea of language-learning as similar to Food Technology. You have your ingredients and you learn to use them to make something nice. If you have ingredients left over you didn't use, there will be something missing. And don't keep demanding ingredients you haven't got. Make something tasty with what you have got.</p><p>And I added one last image. We often talk about the swing of the pendulum. From one pole to the other. In this case, from Communication to Grammar. But rather than a single pendulum, this is a Newton's cradle. The balls on the end swing wildly. But the balls in the middle never move. We are bashed from both sides, but we can find a middle way!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1KGdsFaVfuwIUJjs8ulETdUFAArGLIaTXnXmZ6SudbZRgBFrKFOHNVRGnTxD5nclxsgvgAZsf-xez8SCtYPMfjmwwzLOOqmMzQq5G1SwDu4AgDXWBZOPvKxgLxjhrT0nOKOuPotT9Yh1jPjo8gtWjwwKgKcSEQ69HgIfibbGr9t1NAaqSS6mLG4zTZw/s494/pendulum.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="494" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1KGdsFaVfuwIUJjs8ulETdUFAArGLIaTXnXmZ6SudbZRgBFrKFOHNVRGnTxD5nclxsgvgAZsf-xez8SCtYPMfjmwwzLOOqmMzQq5G1SwDu4AgDXWBZOPvKxgLxjhrT0nOKOuPotT9Yh1jPjo8gtWjwwKgKcSEQ69HgIfibbGr9t1NAaqSS6mLG4zTZw/s320/pendulum.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>Thanks for coming to my talk!</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZj7fQQ9LjLfFf1rN_nw7M3kzJpmy9kSl1XA8Evl9eGQ7lZ4o7_qxF8u6wkQnJLAnB3H_fZmaS_DDrTZDV_MAXf-CGpGBxeMjKXYQ9R_0LYnOUj0y7q70skV2HAeDcJjLEPZQkzau_6E2EoWDhOr023JTgC5FYwx2CPP_UrCUOo7GYqWo2u2Hvg1l25w/s680/talk.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="680" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZj7fQQ9LjLfFf1rN_nw7M3kzJpmy9kSl1XA8Evl9eGQ7lZ4o7_qxF8u6wkQnJLAnB3H_fZmaS_DDrTZDV_MAXf-CGpGBxeMjKXYQ9R_0LYnOUj0y7q70skV2HAeDcJjLEPZQkzau_6E2EoWDhOr023JTgC5FYwx2CPP_UrCUOo7GYqWo2u2Hvg1l25w/s320/talk.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo byHelen Myers.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>The Nice Man Who Teaches Languageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17343658160135320978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4888632576340957766.post-25788036744367711632023-03-25T23:04:00.004-07:002023-04-07T01:46:18.256-07:00Language World 2023 Part One<p> Fantastic to meet up with so many people at Language World 2023! As always at <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2022/03/language-world.html" target="_blank">Language World</a>, there's a wonderful atmosphere and an opportunity to recharge your batteries by talking to people who share the same passion and purpose.</p><p>My talk was about balancing Communication and Well-Sequenced Grammar.</p><p>In this first post, I shall pose the questions. And in <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2023/04/language-world-2023-part-two.html" target="_blank">a later post</a>, I will sketch some possible answers and try to redefine the debate.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij_CK7U7aOS4r5qIbQV0GKmDJ8q_H2wR30TxXKXBMGPLngm9rwV9UA21W3MaU7BB7ZTRdh-2mVHlk9tCzC0usHmNYFm0wpcjAw3cVKi9G_9rFeOm1kN5seNpOBLBqzbHY0rCUsXXz8UK2wZoSrW3ADcP33rM2cZQtr_BMYUF9V6_Xs4MeU3z_twAXw0g/s1174/all%20talk%201.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="705" data-original-width="1174" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij_CK7U7aOS4r5qIbQV0GKmDJ8q_H2wR30TxXKXBMGPLngm9rwV9UA21W3MaU7BB7ZTRdh-2mVHlk9tCzC0usHmNYFm0wpcjAw3cVKi9G_9rFeOm1kN5seNpOBLBqzbHY0rCUsXXz8UK2wZoSrW3ADcP33rM2cZQtr_BMYUF9V6_Xs4MeU3z_twAXw0g/s320/all%20talk%201.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTdyceKswohVzqplAGX6F2Q-0sB_qn133fF697jp5_Oy0FLlM5_p1WawyNX9tOgzJcKcdEA8VGM_6Pc4nCM-1K3LuSUPy9YEKpIVS17RDp3OL9c0hcXyWRbVU0SqxZLxRDMoTEMejej0kaofw47WO8kCMvPn5G6qphM-mklRv3PiidEDmmhr8Z653MEA/s1187/all%20talk%202.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="634" data-original-width="1187" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTdyceKswohVzqplAGX6F2Q-0sB_qn133fF697jp5_Oy0FLlM5_p1WawyNX9tOgzJcKcdEA8VGM_6Pc4nCM-1K3LuSUPy9YEKpIVS17RDp3OL9c0hcXyWRbVU0SqxZLxRDMoTEMejej0kaofw47WO8kCMvPn5G6qphM-mklRv3PiidEDmmhr8Z653MEA/s320/all%20talk%202.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>Surely the two things are not incompatible? Sometimes we are being invited to see them as sitting at different ends of a spectrum.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZzX31zpBVZHR1BpFYnlZ-qL0nfw6gn0R6Gr1lhydco5iTAvP9o2rdgFBqgJOmmv7QBNjDHs4532E7Rsq5fQwrGSTzUVzFOnA0FTinYPI3LAf6iqLBbQPwwgTdsEGsBLRTCkqBoglb96ty4IpxB4HujqVbY-9xarrppC2zcrQln8gK1URZm-kFloD_Qg/s1273/all%20talk%203.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="1273" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZzX31zpBVZHR1BpFYnlZ-qL0nfw6gn0R6Gr1lhydco5iTAvP9o2rdgFBqgJOmmv7QBNjDHs4532E7Rsq5fQwrGSTzUVzFOnA0FTinYPI3LAf6iqLBbQPwwgTdsEGsBLRTCkqBoglb96ty4IpxB4HujqVbY-9xarrppC2zcrQln8gK1URZm-kFloD_Qg/s320/all%20talk%203.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>On the one hand, we are being told that the most important thing is explicit and direct teaching of phonics, grammar, and vocabulary. And on the other hand, we hear that language is acquired through Comprehensible Input and developing intercultural competency. It is argued that that we should give pupils lots of exposure to the language before starting to break it down and look for grammatical patterns.</p><p>In our teaching, this supposed incompatibility is reflected in something as fundamental as <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-case-against-topics.html" target="_blank">the idea of teaching a series of topics</a>. What if, when we teach a topic, we then abandon that language and move on to another? What if the topics we commonly teach mean that because each pupil wants to be able to talk about their own interests or pets or family or ambitions or outfits, then our teaching becomes a list of trivial fluff, mainly lists of nouns so they can each say the thing they want? Planning the curriculum by equipping pupils to talk about a series of different topics or scenarios may not be the best way to sequence the grammar. And there may be things in the unit that we teach them to say, which contain <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2022/08/jaime-la-glace-jaime-manger-de-la-glace.html" target="_blank">grammar that is incidental </a>rather than planned. What if we are focused on the outcome of the unit; a test or conversation or poster, rather than the learning?</p><p>All of these are great questions. But none of them mean we have to abandon communication or self expression. Or even topics. All of the above dangers are present when our Year 7s create their <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2023/03/deep-learning-or-distraction.html" target="_blank">Art Exhibition</a>. But surely, if we bear these questions in mind, it can and does work. So the whole point of teaching the grammar of gender, agreement, articles and word order, is so that each and every pupil CAN write what they want. They all create different artworks but we have equipped them with the grammar to be able to describe them. Grammar is a shortcut where knowing the rules means you can say things you want to be able to say, not just rehash what you have learned. Grammar is creativity and communication. That's the whole point.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGbjgJ9u_tMNON3SZ0VD3hbHDrenRNOVn68Ps2Wj5Bj_MtAVHJHXw2dU9OWX-oSGCXzGmQwOi5jXB3Lx624HkAaG_fh4C7Ogih8Y5B8rEzF7cf49Np-ZHWk41L9BwewKc9tIGlPkgbjiwUa2SH5e4tkA6hVvDm8ERrTmS29nCjntOUpu6H6F5RQ73-lw/s1197/all%20talk%20windmill.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="638" data-original-width="1197" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGbjgJ9u_tMNON3SZ0VD3hbHDrenRNOVn68Ps2Wj5Bj_MtAVHJHXw2dU9OWX-oSGCXzGmQwOi5jXB3Lx624HkAaG_fh4C7Ogih8Y5B8rEzF7cf49Np-ZHWk41L9BwewKc9tIGlPkgbjiwUa2SH5e4tkA6hVvDm8ERrTmS29nCjntOUpu6H6F5RQ73-lw/s320/all%20talk%20windmill.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>So, to borrow from Professor Henshaw, on the one hand we are being asked to see language learning as a collection of grammatical forms. And on the other, we are being invited to see it as a collection of things pupils can say.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZs99DwXGaztyMauZIqh8xlxJQXo5b_T5ZQkOsSZNt_iKsFG9C0sDOIx0MyxZjYkeSrQ0j-sk2r-H_AiVBweyfN5NXm8Ns9MkftUw4EzZ8YoQHBsabW5t-YNn1nNFOQ8d8mcbOMNAIsHlHLI5UULpWLAk3ryFblpUxCj79ZG2mdxJyIzOuE3yuIlYqfw/s1164/Screenshot_2023-03-26-06-52-12-389_com.google.android.apps.docs.editors.slides-edit.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="742" data-original-width="1164" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZs99DwXGaztyMauZIqh8xlxJQXo5b_T5ZQkOsSZNt_iKsFG9C0sDOIx0MyxZjYkeSrQ0j-sk2r-H_AiVBweyfN5NXm8Ns9MkftUw4EzZ8YoQHBsabW5t-YNn1nNFOQ8d8mcbOMNAIsHlHLI5UULpWLAk3ryFblpUxCj79ZG2mdxJyIzOuE3yuIlYqfw/s320/Screenshot_2023-03-26-06-52-12-389_com.google.android.apps.docs.editors.slides-edit.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>There must be a middle way.</p><p>So how can we ensure that well-sequenced Grammar teaching and Communication are compatible. What does it look like in practice?</p><p>Well, there are many ways that each school can do this, once they've set themselves the challenge of making it happen. In the rest of my talk, I showed examples from our school's curriculum that demonstrate how we do it.</p><p>But there is a principle involved. Our curriculum is based on what the National Curriculum asks us to do: Develop what pupils know and can do with their language. And the key element is that we are deliberately developing what they can DO.</p><p>So if at one end of the spectrum there is a grim emphasis on Knowledge (just look at the slide from the Ofsted webinar on the principles of curriculum design) and at the other end, there is a hope that just letting them interact with the language will see acquisition happen, then we are trying to sit somewhere in the middle. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-umUP8hTwGoPr9lqRRkw7KPIdz7pICgXFA0AbL_ztOtKZ4_aFIiKJiTVdvrfKeJ4_LRSe88UVK0JNLs1FVylM91e5Dua-mzFKTa5hf9HafmTZnfjtEZmMdEymMqWmic6A95YhWM4xcTYZtDNsLEpKM2jjDkApJBx3mkHUMdnlJKvYGzlUt-BYaxueBQ/s951/all%20talk%20ofsted.PNG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="951" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-umUP8hTwGoPr9lqRRkw7KPIdz7pICgXFA0AbL_ztOtKZ4_aFIiKJiTVdvrfKeJ4_LRSe88UVK0JNLs1FVylM91e5Dua-mzFKTa5hf9HafmTZnfjtEZmMdEymMqWmic6A95YhWM4xcTYZtDNsLEpKM2jjDkApJBx3mkHUMdnlJKvYGzlUt-BYaxueBQ/s320/all%20talk%20ofsted.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>We are school teachers, so we do explicitly teach grammar and vocabulary. But we also constantly work on the quality of what pupils say and write. By quality, I mean increasing spontaneity, fluency, development of ideas, personal expression, independence, accuracy and complexity.</p><p>None of these things happen by accident. They are deliberately worked on.</p><p>Here you can see the exemplars for each of the units in our Year 8 curriculum.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFud5BQ8XroloCjNssveMmIv-m5F6BLmBVirI0mqCBIMMUYN9EL4WgXrtOhupPxSzNfuObO1YKEmcTe4Y4-LDsnLtqnF01TL0xg2VTTRgj1GpHc4mHJo6peYtB7yM8tJ5q5wj--0A63LepnS9ffAFGubXelu4kZoz1Pr1xCW44FqJW6Gm4X0S8D2xh8A/s964/all%20talk%20y8.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="699" data-original-width="964" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFud5BQ8XroloCjNssveMmIv-m5F6BLmBVirI0mqCBIMMUYN9EL4WgXrtOhupPxSzNfuObO1YKEmcTe4Y4-LDsnLtqnF01TL0xg2VTTRgj1GpHc4mHJo6peYtB7yM8tJ5q5wj--0A63LepnS9ffAFGubXelu4kZoz1Pr1xCW44FqJW6Gm4X0S8D2xh8A/s320/all%20talk%20y8.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>You can see, we do have topics. If you look closer, you can also see that the language for all topics is very similar. It is based around opinions and reasons (using verb + infinitive constructions) and conjunctions. This forms a strong core, to which other grammar is added. Present tense verbs, perfect tense verbs. But the main thrust of the year is not about learning more and more French. It is about getting better and better at using your French.</p><p>In <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2023/04/language-world-2023-part-two.html" target="_blank">part two</a> I will look at materials, activities and examples of pupils' work to show what I mean by this focus on how well pupils can use their language. And try to work out what this means for what grammar we teach and how we define grammar.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>The Nice Man Who Teaches Languageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17343658160135320978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4888632576340957766.post-82837443893165852392023-03-05T05:48:00.008-08:002023-03-05T06:11:30.415-08:00Top Tip for Dictation<p> This post is going to start out as a top tip for Dictation. And may end up being just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what Dictation means for teaching listening in MFL.</p><p>It's inspired by <a href="https://twitter.com/MissWozniak" target="_blank">@MissWozniak</a>'s talk at this weekend's TM MFL Icons Teach Meet. (<a href="https://streamyard.com/watch/A3VBepyCGkZC" target="_blank">Recording here</a>.) Listen to Jennifer's talk for ways to start thinking about how to make Dictation accessible, especially in French.</p><p><br /></p><p>My top tip is, instead of using gapfills, use whole sentences with a word that is changed.</p><p>So for example you could give the pupils the sentence with a gap:</p><p><i>J'aime aller à la plage parce que je peux _________ dans la mer.</i></p><p>Then they hear the full sentence <i>J'aime aller à la plage parce que je peux nager dans la mer. </i>And they have to write in the word <i>nager</i>.</p><p>I have found it's much easier to give the pupils a full sentence for example:</p><p><i>J'aime aller à la plage parce que je peux jouer dans la mer.</i></p><p>They listen and change <i>jouer </i>to <i>nager</i>.</p><p>Our <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/07/assessment-reviewing-our-curriculum-in.html" target="_blank">KS3 tests</a> contain this kind of exercise and it is generally done well and with far less panic than you get with a sentence with a gap in it.</p><p><br /></p><p>I can see two possible reasons for this. Firstly, if you are giving pupils a sentence with a gap, there is already a level of cognitive challenge. The sentence is meant to be there to support them, but with a word missing, they are having to work hard to access the "help". In this case the missing word <i>nager</i> is a key word from the sentence, strong on meaning. Perhaps the first word that they would have been drawn to if they were given the complete sentence to make sense of. We, as experts can make sense of the rest of the sentence without the key word, using meaning and form to deduce what might be missing. This is an exercise in itself for the learner.</p><p>Secondly, maybe the tendency is for pupils to focus on the gap. To ignore the rest of the sentence, which as we saw may not be as helpful as it was intended to be. So when they listen, they are focused entirely on the gap in isolation, trying to work out which sounds to fill it with. Which inevitably come and go too quickly, without putting together sound and meaning let alone spelling.</p><p>So giving them a whole sentence with one word to be changed means that they have to listen to the whole sentence in order to spot which word is different. And the sentence they are given is a complete sentence that they can start to make sense of. They don't need to try to work out what type of word might go in the gap. They can see <i>jouer</i> and it's then just one step to replacing it with <i>nager</i>.</p><p>From experience, I would say it has been quite successful as a way to start asking pupils to transcribe words from dictated text. If you just want a top tip, you could stop here. Because, as I said, this could be just the tip of the iceberg!</p><p>What I think this is really getting at is the nature of dictation. It is not a simple exercise in phonic transcription, a friendly test of pupils' grasp of the sound-spelling link.</p><p>The Ofsted Research Review is wrong when they say that comprehension of French proceeds in a linear fashion from decoding sounds, to recognising known words and grammar, to arriving at meaning. You cannot tell if the word you heard was <i>port </i>or <i>porc</i> from the sound of the word. You have to have a feedback loop between meaning and sound at the sentence level.</p><p>And in French there is a multiplicity of ways of phonetically transcribing any utterance. Some of them meaningful, some of them nonsensical, some grammatically plausible, some not. So dictation is always going to be a test of meaning and grammar as well as the sound-spelling link.</p><p>Here's a fun example based on one of the proposed example dictation texts from one of the exam boards: <i>Demain j'ai un concert</i>. This is phonologically indistinguishable from <i>deux mains géants qu'on serre</i>. Of course no pupil is likely to write that. And it contains a grammatical error in the gender of <i>mains.</i> But it shows the wild variation in how an utterance can be interpreted. And makes us question exactly what our pupils are hearing when they listen to French.</p><p>We had a similar thing when we created listening materials to go with some of the recordings that go with the KS3 Expo textbook. Each listening question from the textbook turned into a 4 page set of activities that the pupils did in the computer room, with access to the listening track so they could pause and rewind as required. And we used it with GCSE groups not KS3. In order to make the listenings from the KS3 book accessible to KS4, we needed to structure 4 pages of work per listening track. Because they were not accessible at all. Here's one ridiculous activity that was in there that really makes the point: What are our learners "hearing" when they listen to these tracks?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKR6mHyJAhOUdBcgoM-LklMT2ykq9faZp7WLGc_gd8C29Ga8wAMQOaOfTMsCxcvru3wc31x5_QfwfuprQsUgidp02HlMY4TDp3HHZQllhNLcmJjTOagCssbAHrZqxvOAcaNz9zWIgbmbgQGr_zaGq6_vj2_NT8O_OVPcbaIMZxhJwVniAurYnZlwvPKA/s579/expo%20listening.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="579" data-original-width="393" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKR6mHyJAhOUdBcgoM-LklMT2ykq9faZp7WLGc_gd8C29Ga8wAMQOaOfTMsCxcvru3wc31x5_QfwfuprQsUgidp02HlMY4TDp3HHZQllhNLcmJjTOagCssbAHrZqxvOAcaNz9zWIgbmbgQGr_zaGq6_vj2_NT8O_OVPcbaIMZxhJwVniAurYnZlwvPKA/w434-h640/expo%20listening.PNG" width="434" /></a></div><br /><p>One of these is inspired by the pupils always hearing <i>huit tissues</i> instead of <i>produits issus</i>. Not to mention what they hear on the listening, again from Expo, about <i>les_expositions</i>!!! Oh, and there's another one where <i>dans la chambre</i> is now universally heard as <i>Donald Trump</i>. Once you've heard it you can't unhear it.</p><p>Picking the correct option in each case, is less to do with the sound you hear and much more about making sense of the sound. And turning it into words that make sense as a sentence.</p><p>So this isn't really just about dictation. It's about our whole approach to Listening. I think the inclusion of dictation in the new GCSE will be the start of unpicking what happens when we use Listening in the classroom and in the exam.</p><p>Firstly, I think dictation will end up not being dictation at all. Because it can't. You can't have an exam which pretends to be a phonics check but which inevitably is much more a check of grammar and meaning. You can't have an exam where there is a near infinite number of correct phonetic renditions of a text. What you will have instead is an exercise where there are sentences read out, but what is really being tested is the spelling of know words. Like <i>nager</i> in the example we began with. So the pupil isn't transcribing, they are recognising the words and being tested on whether they know how to spell it. Or perhaps it's more accurate to say, they are being tested on their ability to spell known words and not attempt to transcribe them because that's where interference from English phonics would lead to error.</p><p>Secondly, I think the difficulty of dictation will reveal the difficulty of Listening, as I have sketched out above. The current situation of Listening in the GCSE exams is absurd. I remember being on a panel of mainly Spanish native speaker teachers who thought that our Listening exam level was low. Because we have slow scripted speech and questions in English. It was only when they themselves got some of the questions wrong, they began to realise what was involved. They were used to training pupils to listen to natural speech and answer questions that showed they understood details of what was being said. I have written about it <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/05/what-is-real-problem-with-gcse-listening.html" target="_blank">here</a>, but basically they realised that our Listening is not about comprehension but about processing word by word and being tested on specific language features. Not on meaning, but of knowledge of the language. In a kind of dictation that you have to do in your head. A sort of word by word processing is required with a focus on the exact language, which is different to the comprehension of meaning as you listen.</p><p>And this will again come back to the error in the Ofsted Research Review. Our learners do not arrive at meaning by processing word by word. They start by approximating overall meaning, content, context. And then proceed to the detail of the language, holding bottom up meaning of words and inflections of words in constant tension with overall top down meaning. The questions in our GCSE target the lowest level of that process: the grasp of the tiniest inflections, sometimes even losing sight of the meaning of the overall sentence. For example the question, "What did one school do that really impressed her?" The answer that shows comprehension would be "They grew fruit and veg on the school field." But this was not an acceptable answer. You had to show word-by-word processing and put "They grew fruit and veg on <b>part of </b>the school field." Can you see how <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/06/more-on-real-problem-with-gcse-listening.html" target="_blank">the approach to Listening has lost sight of comprehension</a> of meaning?</p><p>I think the difficulties of dictation mean we will have to re-examine what we are doing with listening. On the one hand, where we <b>are</b> expecting word-by-word transcription, it will have to be fairly basic. And it may reveal that listening questions in the past have required mental word-by-word transcription to the extent that they are impossible. Perhaps this revelation may lead to a reconsideration of listening.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>The Nice Man Who Teaches Languageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17343658160135320978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4888632576340957766.post-58257502261901722902023-03-04T00:35:00.003-08:002023-03-04T23:50:54.161-08:00Deep Learning or Distraction?<p> It's March, so it's time for the <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-year-7-french-art-exhibition.html" target="_blank">Year 7 French Exhibition</a> at the local Windmill arts exhibition centre.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8QYqMTuaUihnXds6Md6q1yimyPxiHEtDdq4eAEr47eTR3DnlciE3mnBClO5sPlGBcLoTICzCxc3WUlekWi5w82tTZkc8_xeHfldDueF-OWci4O4OUAPXle5ohKgmQSiA8CxJd3OBlzz2W_mHW3a2P4GLttw_JW5AIIkZ7NxHwoMfO8a_eqDRixLd7Jg/s12000/exhibition.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="12000" data-original-width="9000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8QYqMTuaUihnXds6Md6q1yimyPxiHEtDdq4eAEr47eTR3DnlciE3mnBClO5sPlGBcLoTICzCxc3WUlekWi5w82tTZkc8_xeHfldDueF-OWci4O4OUAPXle5ohKgmQSiA8CxJd3OBlzz2W_mHW3a2P4GLttw_JW5AIIkZ7NxHwoMfO8a_eqDRixLd7Jg/s320/exhibition.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Every pupil in Year 7 creates an artwork and describes it in French. Then it goes on display to the paying public.</p><p>The idea is that from the beginning, pupils can use their French creatively, for a real purpose and for a real audience. In 2011 we won the European Language Label for an MFL curriculum built around creative outcomes for every unit. <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/04/learning-by-working-collaboratively-for.html" target="_blank">This post outlines how it was part of a LinkedUp project</a> between schools, using tangible outcomes as a driver of pupil engagement and deep learning.</p><p>The idea of Deep Learning is that it should be creative, personal, collaborative, involve time outside the classroom, and have a real purpose beyond the classroom. It should have an outcome that is big and important. There should also be a creative process where the pupil makes decisions crucial to the success of the project.</p><p>The opposite view, which is much more in fashion at the moment, is that all this is a distraction. That we shouldn't have to motivate pupils or show them the relevance of what they are studying. Instead, we decide what is important, we break it down into explicit steps, and they learn by memorising and being tested on it.</p><p>Through this shift in thinking, we have kept our curriculum and examined it in the light of the changing fashions in ideas. We have rewritten the booklets to make the teaching of grammar and phonics more consistently explicit for all teachers in the department. The question is, do projects like the Windmill Exhibition now feel more of a distraction than a driver of deep learning?</p><p>How could it be a distraction? Here's why: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>What if we are focused on the product not the process? So there's a deadline and we skip over important learning because we need to get the picture and the text done.</li><li>The pupils' attention might be too directed towards the meaning and not enough towards the forms of the words.</li><li>What if the pupils' descriptions bring in random words that they are never going to need again? When we should be teaching carefully selected vocabulary that exemplifies grammar patterns and which they will meet over and over in a carefully programmed way.</li><li>What if pupils are trying to say things they can't? So they fall into error but we gloss over it because they are "communicating well."</li></ul><p></p><p>I think all of these considerations do need to be taken into account. In fact this Unit of work very much brings you up against them. But while they are things to be aware of, they are not things that mean we should abandon the approach.</p><p>Here's an example of one of the exhibits:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEriYI_3zxntMEMXMRVROeCLZzHBp-VN6IyZPT-Wozqp4vKDuyc_QeUaEoi85y9t6TcK9UdoZPg6GCzeUnkrs6Q-bNUTzQTm-RsnbiRff0B7oRHDZ0PMB45ZbYfTtTsFwXWLyoHnNaTz5tQqU2w6gxVQ7wVsqd0fVhvNmZUNV37tv7snDAfoXuNwEJXw/s12000/car%20pic.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="9000" data-original-width="12000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEriYI_3zxntMEMXMRVROeCLZzHBp-VN6IyZPT-Wozqp4vKDuyc_QeUaEoi85y9t6TcK9UdoZPg6GCzeUnkrs6Q-bNUTzQTm-RsnbiRff0B7oRHDZ0PMB45ZbYfTtTsFwXWLyoHnNaTz5tQqU2w6gxVQ7wVsqd0fVhvNmZUNV37tv7snDAfoXuNwEJXw/w640-h480/car%20pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>You can see what the grammatical objectives of the unit are: Word order, gender, adjectival agreement, prepositions.</p><p>Here's a page from the booklet using describing shapes and colours to work on the concept of gender and why French sentences need it:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuup1XGd_u4GwepK5SAxQz6btid6ZD-Sa7mc-ZJpdnt4xrfiRGX0SxW8MarC-TCTRfvhwDLGO0WrQIkPr83sLQpJGuYpiL9Bm1s8G5hI7monopKCIEd_cSbFHpNiGqQPpHfWa8dI38JEEEZDJKOAylbkUdJxSzAPqeB8YVegIks2t8ByqTxVsnD4vYqw/s1217/m%20and%20f.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="624" data-original-width="1217" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuup1XGd_u4GwepK5SAxQz6btid6ZD-Sa7mc-ZJpdnt4xrfiRGX0SxW8MarC-TCTRfvhwDLGO0WrQIkPr83sLQpJGuYpiL9Bm1s8G5hI7monopKCIEd_cSbFHpNiGqQPpHfWa8dI38JEEEZDJKOAylbkUdJxSzAPqeB8YVegIks2t8ByqTxVsnD4vYqw/w400-h205/m%20and%20f.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>So what is really happening in a curriculum that asks pupils to use their language for a purpose? From the "Deep Learning" point of view, they are taking ownership of their language, relating it to things that are important to them, and taking responsibility for the quality of work that is to be presented to an audience.</p><p>But from the point of view of well-sequenced grammar teaching, it also works. Asking our pupils to be creative is exactly what drives the need for grammar. Grammar, by definition, is what allows you to say an infinite number of things, not just repeat what the teacher has taught you. They may decide to draw a pirate ship or an astronaut or a daffodil or a heron. Good. The possible plethora of random items they put in their pictures is grammar in action.</p><p>The description of any one of the artworks looks simple. Stating what is in the picture, the size, the shape, the colours, the position. But the fact that hundreds of pupils can all produce their own unique version using the French that they have been learning, is what you want from grammar learning. We teach definite and indefinite articles, gender and and word order, precisely so that pupils can use any nouns and adjectives they chose. This isn't wasteful low frequency fluff. This is the whole point of teaching grammar. Grammar <b>is</b> creativity.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFxMkk5rhQt-eGJSllLjcucBKyKNEOmzPO1Us94_veYvK0jOWuWQekXRuHwZg3_w9O1pO1bwd3ADLWfj6wLQZn0WSVh2FTEfiBKR4vTnvwaidjWnRkNW-_s-QFwiPs0iQ4vJ5ZMiavMbep6TqevOcDTrJSix-DIX_oLxp9pWEqIyDsgGpTXWWEQlzRMg/s680/windmill%20pic.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="510" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFxMkk5rhQt-eGJSllLjcucBKyKNEOmzPO1Us94_veYvK0jOWuWQekXRuHwZg3_w9O1pO1bwd3ADLWfj6wLQZn0WSVh2FTEfiBKR4vTnvwaidjWnRkNW-_s-QFwiPs0iQ4vJ5ZMiavMbep6TqevOcDTrJSix-DIX_oLxp9pWEqIyDsgGpTXWWEQlzRMg/s320/windmill%20pic.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>The Nice Man Who Teaches Languageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17343658160135320978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4888632576340957766.post-60202875296817297232023-02-04T00:30:00.005-08:002023-02-04T01:25:46.168-08:00AQA GCSE Reading Exam Success<p>Sometimes I can be a bit slow. Eating out in restaurants in Spain with teachers from our exchange school, I often would think, "Gosh, the starter is quite big." Or "Thank goodness the main is quite small." It wasn't until we went over as a family to stay, that my wife said, "Spanish starters are bigger than the mains." And then it all made sense. The same thing happened with the AQA GCSE Reading Exam.</p><p>In the <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/05/a-lesson-from-2002.html" target="_blank">90s and 00s</a>, the Listening and Reading exams didn't need a lot of focus. You worked through the topics and you concentrated on building pupils' repertoire so they could speak and write. The Listening and Reading exams, while containing tricky distractors, were based around testing the language that pupils were learning. So different foods, or numbers, or places in town, or illnesses. At some point this changed. And I missed it.</p><p>It might have been around the time we moved from Coursework to Controlled Assessment. When <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/04/dealing-with-issues-of-old-gcse.html" target="_blank">the GCSE that destroyed language learning</a> came in, we were preoccupied with how to preserve teaching pupils how to speak and write spontaneously, when the exam rewarded pre-learned fancy monologues. But while we were grappling with that, there was a change in the Listening and Reading exam that suddenly meant pupils were doing much worse.</p><p>I started to notice some things, but it wasn't until the current GCSE came in that I was able to clearly identify them and take them into account in how to prepare for the Listening and Reading exams.</p><p>Here are the two main points:</p><p>1. The current GCSE has a huge topic vocabulary list in the specification, reflected in the published coursebooks. But the exam boards have wisely ignored most of this vocabulary. Instead, the texts are largely built out of the <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-secret-of-gcse-reading-exams.html" target="_blank">non topic vocabulary</a>. If this is a new idea to you, click on the link to this <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-secret-of-gcse-reading-exams.html" target="_blank">previous post</a> to see examples.</p><p>2. The Questions in the Listening and Reading exams are not comprehension questions. This<a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/06/more-on-real-problem-with-gcse-listening.html" target="_blank"> previous post</a> gives an explanation, but the most egregious example is the question that asked, "What impressed her about one of the schools?" The honest answer to the question was, "They grew fruit and veg on the school field." But AQA only accepted "They grew fruit and veg on PART OF the school field." Now clearly, the fact that it was part of the field was not the thing that impressed her. But for AQA that was required for the mark. Because AQA questions aren't comprehension questions. They are <i>show you know what all the words mean</i> questions.</p><p>And you've probably spotted it. But like with the Spanish starter dishes, it took me a while: The two points above are one and the same. Not only are AQA texts largely based around the non topic words, but these words are also the key to the accepted answer.</p><p>So this is what we've been doing with Y11 this week.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5zZAs-f6pPR2cdQdvpNlbt2XEqTn9dVX8eQO7qGiABDcgplnm5d8h1GEFXt9qlslsPPExftho-V8779-8eJFsuQj3D5ZbZNRZV3_m9H5_IY4oXpUZ_SdEKe5wgawD2S_zFSJ8tQeQw-vyvaHm8YKRL_I9LBZ1T3NtijyJcB2i7J7aT4mRcUeCOM6VbA/s4000/non%20topic%20words%20colour.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5zZAs-f6pPR2cdQdvpNlbt2XEqTn9dVX8eQO7qGiABDcgplnm5d8h1GEFXt9qlslsPPExftho-V8779-8eJFsuQj3D5ZbZNRZV3_m9H5_IY4oXpUZ_SdEKe5wgawD2S_zFSJ8tQeQw-vyvaHm8YKRL_I9LBZ1T3NtijyJcB2i7J7aT4mRcUeCOM6VbA/w400-h300/non%20topic%20words%20colour.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Perhaps the usual exam technique would be: Read the questions, locate the answer, answer the question. Instead, we concentrated on identifying Topic and Non Topic vocabulary. This is the version on the projector as we fed back as a whole class. But in the lesson, the pupils had their own printed version. For the first paragraph, I gave them a list of non topic words to find and highlight in yellow: <i>more, then, if, often...</i> In the second paragraph, they are going to be hunting for them for themselves. And they are looking for topic words to highlight in pink.</p><p>This led to useful discussion about the importance and difficulty of the pink words and the yellow words. The topic words are often basic words that they know, or are cognates. And where they are unknown, their meaning is often easily deduced from the context. Because they are words strong on "meaning". In a tricky text, the topic words were surprisingly accessible. </p><p>The yellow words. For a start there are lots of them. Many of them <i>should</i> be known. But do they get relegated and ignored compared to the topic words? They are often harder to deduce. Because they are more about nuance or the relationships between words in a sentence, rather than referring to concrete meaning. And some of them can have more than one meaning depending on context.</p><p>For a comprehension question, the pink words might have been enough. For an AQA answer, you are going to need the yellow words.</p><p>Next lesson:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN6ftNiLsEV1YJ3c7yHib4WeLkQivbwue4yot__5IRwI1XrP1N3l1eiej3uGOKJgxY5G-HMzk6pC5B7ms2ng3PFH7lzkZPKt-d-Cg6BPSsKM3IEioPyaNKx8uzJYahHa0v9RGUTHn7drKTcSZj-kpZEPRu4tGZsZEjYgcsqhYD8kBhadE1UCdbFSS0tg/s4000/wrong%20answers%20aqa.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN6ftNiLsEV1YJ3c7yHib4WeLkQivbwue4yot__5IRwI1XrP1N3l1eiej3uGOKJgxY5G-HMzk6pC5B7ms2ng3PFH7lzkZPKt-d-Cg6BPSsKM3IEioPyaNKx8uzJYahHa0v9RGUTHn7drKTcSZj-kpZEPRu4tGZsZEjYgcsqhYD8kBhadE1UCdbFSS0tg/w640-h480/wrong%20answers%20aqa.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>The same text. With questions on the board. And answers on the board too. But while the answers are not wrong, they would not get the mark chez AQA. So for example, "Why are young people healthier?" has the answer, "They are active." Which is correct, but would not be acceptable to AQA. Pupils have to read the text carefully and give the answer, "They are generally more active than older people."</p><p>Then you can see the questions for a subsequent paragraph. Here I haven't provided the inAQAdequate answers. It's up to the pupils to make sure their answers reflect what they understand about what AQA require.</p><p>I strongly suspect that this will continue with the new GCSE. It's definitely in line with the intentions of the reforms. And the exam boards, if their specifications are accepted, have done a good job of minimising the changes. But once you realise what is going on, it has the potential to change something frustratingly stupid, into an understanding that can help your pupils get more marks!</p>The Nice Man Who Teaches Languageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17343658160135320978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4888632576340957766.post-69266958665648020602023-02-01T01:11:00.005-08:002023-02-01T05:27:43.898-08:00Year 9 Spanish beginners - writing on the tables, telling their own stories<p> You may have been following my Y9 after school beginners Spanish lessons, as we work on narrating amusing stories about aquariums, theme parks and sea gulls. <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-lost-art-of-teaching-with-whiteboard.html" target="_blank">Last week's lesson </a>went really well, with the pupils confidently rebuilding the aquarium story from their knowledge of key structures and verb endings. After a lesson the previous week where I worried I had got the pace and challenge all wrong. So this week I wanted a lesson that was going to stretch and support and move them on to the next level.</p><p>So I used Writing on the Tables to enable them to create their own stories.</p><p>First we recapped<a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/10/my-granny-went-shopping-and-she-touched.html" target="_blank"> the aquarium story</a> quickly, going round the class. Then we transformed it into the theme park story, keeping the key structures but with new infinitives. This is where we were up to at the end of the last lesson. The template is flexible, but roughly like this:</p><p><i><b>I like</b> to go to a theme park <b>because I can </b>go on the rides, <b>especially if </b>it is sunny, <b>because if </b>it rains <b>I prefer </b>to go to the aquarium. My brother<b> doesn't like </b>to go on the rides. He <b>prefers</b> to buy loads of sweets and fizzy pop. Last year, <b>we went</b> to Chessington. <b>I said</b>, "<b>I want </b>to go on the rides." My brother<b> said</b>, "<b>I want</b> to buy lots of sweets and fizzy pop." <b>We decided to </b>buy sweets. Later <b>we were</b> ridi<b>ng</b> on a roller coaster and my brother vomit<b>ed.</b> I cri<b>ed</b>.</i></p><p>You can see it contains the verbs <i>go, buy, ride, </i>and <i>vomit. </i>We throw in <i>cry</i> for free because it is the ending of all the stories!</p><p>Then I gave each pair of pupils a felt tip and a dictionary. They each chose a place - stately home garden, cinema, beach, park... And they chose 4 infinitives to look up in the dictionary - words for something they like doing, something their nemesis likes doing, and something that went wrong. I don't know what the fourth infinitive was for. Probably <i>cry</i>.</p><p>They wrote the infinitives on the desk with their felt tip. In the first half of the story, the verbs stay in the infinitive. But in the second half, they need endings. So they wrote their infinitives again, this time ready to be changed. They had to decide which of their verbs was going to be what <i>was happening</i>. And which were the things that <i>happened</i>. Then they rubbed out the ar/er/ir endings - remember these are written on the desk in felt tip. And added the endings. For first person endings, they can do this from memory. For 3rd person endings, they used their verb tables.</p><p>Then they were ready to write their stories:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5qsihVshBXuQVf8sLPZRnyurY0jSJiomNOuMG-SeYF6kn7swtCQKgL58YEb9oj5C5oOW5iDootNuhMlf5RtAEZ4OY7ZyeTZnfGZEiyzxT85q51KYUDlqq3sPS05p0gw8cHOCanlGAcKe28n6A7Z9P4RClX295f7fiQY6nXeDK5LTMVwmRK-mWD8OoHg/s4000/desk%20story%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5qsihVshBXuQVf8sLPZRnyurY0jSJiomNOuMG-SeYF6kn7swtCQKgL58YEb9oj5C5oOW5iDootNuhMlf5RtAEZ4OY7ZyeTZnfGZEiyzxT85q51KYUDlqq3sPS05p0gw8cHOCanlGAcKe28n6A7Z9P4RClX295f7fiQY6nXeDK5LTMVwmRK-mWD8OoHg/w640-h480/desk%20story%201.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg88SCPFF-8BCfXOovii3rg_aI8q6kYwiNOvyEvSpIsyr3aD4Y_qSdELN22MuLTUoMPJP33m8x93YKpmJzJK9Lz5jQsCp4PKvmUVXEoDdarg2rbXL8x_ZeQsdPyStcWeY0M1y_4t5WQCPvb66kGQi9wNQCrGBV9Wb-Uaat3fEubNxoyr4yKeFJIlbUwA/s4000/desk%20story.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg88SCPFF-8BCfXOovii3rg_aI8q6kYwiNOvyEvSpIsyr3aD4Y_qSdELN22MuLTUoMPJP33m8x93YKpmJzJK9Lz5jQsCp4PKvmUVXEoDdarg2rbXL8x_ZeQsdPyStcWeY0M1y_4t5WQCPvb66kGQi9wNQCrGBV9Wb-Uaat3fEubNxoyr4yKeFJIlbUwA/w640-h480/desk%20story.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>So, <i>I like to go to the waterfalls because I can take photos of nature when it is sunny. But if it is raining, I prefer to go to the cinema. My friends like to have a picnic. We went to Crystal Falls. I said, "I want to take photos." They said, "I want to have a picnic, pretty please." We were taking photos of the waterfall when I fell. I cried.</i></p><p>What is the point of doing it on the tables? Firstly it's fun. Which I know is a dirty word, but you can see it comes out in the gleeful excitement of the stories. Pupils are excited about writing. Excited by all the words in the dictionary. Excited by the felt tips and the spray to clean the tables. Excited by the possibilities of saying things they wanted to say, excited by the progress they are making, excited by their Spanish lesson. It doesn't take a lot! And secondly it's memorable. I know. I know that there are those who will say, "They will remember writing on the tables and getting to wipe it off with spray and a paper towel, but they won't remember the learning." Except they will. They will remember the very physical process of writing the infinitives. Changing the endings. Inserting them into the story. It highlights the process of writing.</p><p>Here's a post on more ways to use <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/05/writing-in-colours.html">different approaches to writing</a>. And another one on<a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/04/fun-with-chunks.html" target="_blank"> making constructing sentences physical</a>, to break it down step by step for pupils who don't think writing French is something they can do.</p><p>And what is the point of the stories? Firstly they meet the GCSE criteria of opinions, reasons, tenses, narration, developed answers, spontaneity. Secondly they meet the national curriculum criteria of developing what pupils can do with their language, not just what they know. Thirdly, the core of language the stories contain, allows more and more language to stick and transfer across topics.</p><p><br /></p>The Nice Man Who Teaches Languageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17343658160135320978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4888632576340957766.post-53696160672813304092023-01-28T00:16:00.000-08:002023-01-28T00:16:16.160-08:00The lost art of teaching with the whiteboard?<p> I thought I had messed up with my Year 9 after school Spanish beginners. Last Monday we were doing the round the class <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/10/my-granny-went-shopping-and-she-touched.html" target="_blank">My brother touched a starfish </a>story. And I hadn't pitched it quite right, or they were a bit tired after school, or something else. But probably, I hadn't pitched it quite right. So this week, I made sure that the pace and challenge of the lesson evolved directly and flexibly in response to their interaction. Teaching with a whiteboard and a whiteboard pen. No plan except the unfolding logic of what the pupils need next.</p><p>So when they arrived, the story of the Brother and the Starfish was on the board. They were pleased to see it, and before the lesson started, were already telling each other what they remembered it meant.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilp8S6gSow-ky4_kiHyZZfe8SHHfqxNaNRGQFeo0nlRP3cGCyCbpcZyXd3tkgUjVzCl5yMazFcGRVJVBZQviDrFgSuLRSs7PVJQ5LJBEDNx140n-vUKAu5rT3lE6vVXOVB0in1rA31_8l4HKMdUfAlSdgyen7GPRVyE7RNfvtbW_Ye-QwZmTPecZZddw/s4000/1.%20start%20story.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilp8S6gSow-ky4_kiHyZZfe8SHHfqxNaNRGQFeo0nlRP3cGCyCbpcZyXd3tkgUjVzCl5yMazFcGRVJVBZQviDrFgSuLRSs7PVJQ5LJBEDNx140n-vUKAu5rT3lE6vVXOVB0in1rA31_8l4HKMdUfAlSdgyen7GPRVyE7RNfvtbW_Ye-QwZmTPecZZddw/w640-h480/1.%20start%20story.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Several things to note. Firstly, it's a nice story of going to an aquarium and dropping your phone in the touch pool. Secondly, it is designed to meet the GCSE criteria of opinions, reasons, tenses and narration. And thirdly, it is built around the powerful core language pupils are going to use across topics.</p><p>We began the lesson with reading aloud and translation, in pairs and then picking pupils to tell the class. It was good to see that something which had stretched them the week before, was now something they were enjoying working on.</p><p>Next, I removed the words and verb endings that make up their core repertoire. Just by rubbing them off the board. I have removed the words like <i>I like, because, I can, I went</i> and the endings for what was happening and what happened:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif_mnWGysrxsQ9zn-YLGut8HvrQAhDXr9OQ6YbWsgF6R1L5mbHZhBolYCoQ1GVlFZ3eqFdGrdtzAZNyFsMksSV9ze3nwiLK5aMvxOG-m8LmPeUVNUVoEUmMSRTCceOhHsbkTJBC9zV-d0NYFA2EufKwHCGxEXFYRHn6jL9ZtvkKuXQVeyZEh6kHzzlQA/s4000/2%20missing%20me%20gusta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif_mnWGysrxsQ9zn-YLGut8HvrQAhDXr9OQ6YbWsgF6R1L5mbHZhBolYCoQ1GVlFZ3eqFdGrdtzAZNyFsMksSV9ze3nwiLK5aMvxOG-m8LmPeUVNUVoEUmMSRTCceOhHsbkTJBC9zV-d0NYFA2EufKwHCGxEXFYRHn6jL9ZtvkKuXQVeyZEh6kHzzlQA/w640-h480/2%20missing%20me%20gusta.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>As a class, we went round and told the whole story. This is helped by the fact that each of the structures "belongs" to a pupil - in the original <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/10/my-granny-went-shopping-and-she-touched.html" target="_blank">Brother touches a starfish</a> lesson, they had it written on their desk in board pen. So if one pupil gets stuck, there is always one pupil in the class who definitely knows the structure. We did it as a class with each pupil in turn supplying their missing word. Then the pupils did it in pairs, telling the whole story. Then we did it with a class, with me deliberately NOT picking the pupil who owned each word. Here you can see us in the process of telling the story and putting the missing words back in.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgchwEZNZn_tXiIl7gcVKG-yE-nNwLdxPKeVN8GmTwhWCNcnVMQoXdRrGCMRDZpCQWPVSah096qgEF4r2IGIMOcp303dMlbIn1mZmLEyU9aIB7j-voorK96jqo2st3d7Ew8Fc4lbz5D9zQT_fPVQHgz8b7_fYgAHOe1rBEl_OUGrZVrS9EZhN7Q2VQg7A/s4000/3.%20starting%20to%20put%20words%20back%20in.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgchwEZNZn_tXiIl7gcVKG-yE-nNwLdxPKeVN8GmTwhWCNcnVMQoXdRrGCMRDZpCQWPVSah096qgEF4r2IGIMOcp303dMlbIn1mZmLEyU9aIB7j-voorK96jqo2st3d7Ew8Fc4lbz5D9zQT_fPVQHgz8b7_fYgAHOe1rBEl_OUGrZVrS9EZhN7Q2VQg7A/s320/3.%20starting%20to%20put%20words%20back%20in.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Of course, now we've put the core repertoire words back in, I can now delete all the aquarium words:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib5dZXozQhG5xzBU_XiD5FViRMMcPp-lMcgGyUjqD_FSoEz5oCdplWr-5y_zwAgolPQwSxmq7i9Co99kShku1qywKLA5Lk20Djhtl42unod1LScigzof7ZFZ54Wrb8iTPRGUmax8ooW9m6VnE_ZsbSpOsl4HP6Gp6_OOFmXD5U6SvFjgZWa-MLVac1aA/s4000/4%20missing%20starfish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib5dZXozQhG5xzBU_XiD5FViRMMcPp-lMcgGyUjqD_FSoEz5oCdplWr-5y_zwAgolPQwSxmq7i9Co99kShku1qywKLA5Lk20Djhtl42unod1LScigzof7ZFZ54Wrb8iTPRGUmax8ooW9m6VnE_ZsbSpOsl4HP6Gp6_OOFmXD5U6SvFjgZWa-MLVac1aA/w640-h480/4%20missing%20starfish.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>In pairs, the pupils reconstructed the story and as a class we took turns to tell the whole story together.</p><p>Then I rubbed the board completely and pupils told me the story.</p><p>And before we left, we did this:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3gOIsyLO9FXURrzyf9xfWuz7VbNy6sWthIX360GYUvLu53EyfHVylytLoVtk7K_sTyZTr8jfvl_jlrrtFWmwYFz_vAVgGxklJ8l1SmsXaIaEK7qryK3FpereA4p0HKdXyxFlD0fptYff0jTiDxxdsDuCrxU9bIM7-zOxXU-RJYSR0HjYvXg2q6l_cew/s4000/5%20theme%20park%20words.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3gOIsyLO9FXURrzyf9xfWuz7VbNy6sWthIX360GYUvLu53EyfHVylytLoVtk7K_sTyZTr8jfvl_jlrrtFWmwYFz_vAVgGxklJ8l1SmsXaIaEK7qryK3FpereA4p0HKdXyxFlD0fptYff0jTiDxxdsDuCrxU9bIM7-zOxXU-RJYSR0HjYvXg2q6l_cew/s320/5%20theme%20park%20words.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>A list of infinitives for the Theme Park story. So using the same (now rubbed off) template as the aquarium story, the pupils told me a completely different story by changing the infinitives. We did this quickly at the end of the lesson with each pupil in turn deploying the structure they have "ownership" of. And next lesson, that's where we will start. Going through a similar process as in this lesson, with the new story.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>The Nice Man Who Teaches Languageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17343658160135320978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4888632576340957766.post-4553659925574411362023-01-20T13:02:00.000-08:002023-01-20T13:02:01.882-08:00Join the Dots Speaking<p> Had fun (some of them rather too much fun) with Year 11 doing this easy and effective speaking activity today.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuEKkfm5Ic6wjAZ1baCfo6DlPzIMKbNSZofsBsTPD53EdA2zHvfdeG99RC_laCLqPwgEkysS1kduYFf6qeVnpFjNFgCT-L08JppiWqkZ8kOpahDiQ2k4wF4V9cxbYMkJPtMEZ7BHmxDmU0BA4VEFRgv5L0TF0zXbQTWLrJBLX8SQ81CCsY0N8_fJHTVQ/s4000/join%20the%20dots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2347" data-original-width="4000" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuEKkfm5Ic6wjAZ1baCfo6DlPzIMKbNSZofsBsTPD53EdA2zHvfdeG99RC_laCLqPwgEkysS1kduYFf6qeVnpFjNFgCT-L08JppiWqkZ8kOpahDiQ2k4wF4V9cxbYMkJPtMEZ7BHmxDmU0BA4VEFRgv5L0TF0zXbQTWLrJBLX8SQ81CCsY0N8_fJHTVQ/w400-h235/join%20the%20dots.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>It was at the end of the lesson, and I put the words <i>I like, I can, I have to, I want, I said, he/she said, I went...</i> on the board. Pupils took it in turns to speak using the words. As they spoke, a pupil at the board listened out for any of the words and joined them up in the order they were used.</p><p>So in the example you can see, it was something like this (but in Spanish):</p><p><i><b>I like</b> to to to the beach because <b>I can</b> swim in the sea but if I <b>have to</b> go with my family, <b>I prefer</b> to go to a café because <b>I want </b>to drink something. At the weekend <b>I said</b>, "I am going to the beach" and my dad <b>said</b>, "I don't want to". <b>I decided to</b> go on my own and <b>I went</b> swimming.</i></p><p>Then we look at the picture and try to decide what they have drawn. In this case, I'm not sure. We thought it was probably someone whose shoe laces have got tied together and has fallen over in the mud.</p><p>Then I can rub off the drawing, add more key words on the board, and ask another pupil to pick another topic to speak on.</p><p>So another pupil could say something like:</p><p><i>I went to McDonalds because I like to eat fast food, but if I go with my parents I have to eat a salad. I prefer to eat hamburgers. At the weekend I said, "I don't want a salad" but my dad said, "You can't eat a burger."</i></p><p>And we would end up with a different picture!</p><p>It can be easily adapted with different words, and pupils can work in pairs on paper instead of on the board.</p><p>It works really well. Pupils think how to make sentences while moving logically from one word to another in the order that best suits what they are saying. They get used to developing answers spontaneously, thinking what to say next that makes sense. They build answers that meet the key criteria of giving and justifying opinions, giving examples in past and future. And instead of having one fixed answer to learn by rote, they are confident making up answers on the spot from their repertoire of Spanish.</p><p>My lovely Year 11s started off picking their next word based on the logic of what they were saying. But they quickly worked out they could draw rude pictures on the board by carefully choosing what word to use next!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>The Nice Man Who Teaches Languageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17343658160135320978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4888632576340957766.post-387732819425500932023-01-14T01:35:00.008-08:002023-01-15T01:34:02.108-08:00Disciplinary Literacy and MFL<p> Disciplinary Literacy is one of the latest terms to be imported in to the school context. You can tell it belongs elsewhere because of the use of the word "discipline" in a very academic sense, not the everyday meaning it has in schools. It means the literacy of the specific school subject. And it's about time we paid attention to it rather than seeing literacy as an extension of the English department somehow foisted on the school. We have entire subjects which are teaching pupils language at least as much as content. In Geography, the subject consists of teaching pupils that their Anglo Saxon words are not good enough. They have to learn the Latinate words. So erosion not wear away. Saltation not bounce down the river. Precipitation not rain and snow. Irrigation not water the crops. I could go on about this at length but I need to get on to MFL.</p><p>So in MFL, when we are asked how we pre-teach vocabulary and whether we define the vocabulary pupils are learning, then we can smile and say yes. If we are asked how we make sure that vocabulary is recycled and not lost, and how we make that vocabulary intellectually rich and age appropriate, then we frown and say that's what we are working on. If we are asked when we deliberately programme the teaching of High Frequency Vocabulary, then we get into <a href="https://www.meits.org/opinion-articles/article/the-proposed-changes-to-gcse-in-modern-languages-a-teachers-view" target="_blank">an argument about fishing and wrestling</a>.</p><p>But what if we are asked how we explicitly foreground Technical Vocabulary?</p><p>Technical Vocabulary. What would it be? How important would it be? Would it be helpful to test pupils on it explicitly? I have lots of separate ideas and arguments and I need to bring them together, discuss them with everyone else in the department, and decide if we need to change what we do.</p><p>There is a social justice argument that we have wrongly neglected explicit grammar teaching. That we assumed pupils who struggle with language-learning need an approach that avoids terminology. And so we are depriving them of the clear building blocks they need. We can also say that pupils appear to love terminology. We know as soon as they put their hand up to answer a grammatical question, they are going to say, "Is it masculine/feminine?" "Is it a cognate?" "Is it a doing word?" These are the 3 most common and perhaps the only explicit grammatical concepts pupils cling on to. And invariably you know they are going to come out with the wrong one for the question you have asked.</p><p>So is it worth foregrounding the teaching of grammatical terms? Or is it secondary to an intimate knowledge of the language itself? It is possible to know the terms <i>raven, nightingale, albatross</i> from literature, without being able to identify one in the wild. Just as it is possible to closely observe that little bird with the loud song and sticky up tail in your garden without knowing its name. What makes more sense? To learn lots of names of abstruse (avestruz) birds in the hope one day you see one? Or to see lots of birds and learn their names?</p><p>Here are some immediate thoughts that will eventually get pulled together, I promise:</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Connectives or Conjunctions?</h4><p>Conjunctions is a grammatical term. Connectives is an invented term, popularised under the Labour government Literacy Hour drive. It is not a grammatical category. My first instinct is to avoid using "connectives" as non-grammatical and out of use under the current Primary SPAG regime. It includes things like relative pronouns as well as conjunctions. We will come back to this and I may have a surprise.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Modal Verbs?</h4><p>If you have read any of my posts on <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/05/teaching-verbs.html" target="_blank">our curriculum</a>, you will know the emphasis we put on building pupils' repertoire of language, heavily <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2022/02/a-game-of-two-halves.html" target="_blank">based around verb + infinitive</a> constructions. Some people call some of these 'Modal Verbs'. Including some teachers in the MFL department and also in some resources used by the English department. The definition they are using is un-grammatical. It's based on a confusion of two ideas. Firstly it is related partly to their function in a sentence - they are followed by an infinitive. So they include can, have to, want to. But they don't include like, love, prefer, going to. Which have exactly the same position in the sentence. Because they use a secondary definition based on a vague idea of meaning - wanting, wishing, probability. This attempt at defining Modal Verbs doesn't delineate a grammatical category. As a definition, it is gaining currency, and I have even seen it transferred into native speaker French grammar definitions. Even though French does not have modal verbs. It's something that English takes from its Germanic roots.</p><p>A modal verb is a verb which has no infinitive and is invariable for 3rd person. So can, might, will, would, could, should and must. You can't say "to can" or "he cans" for the verb which means "to be able to."</p><p>My instinct is not to use the term Modal Verbs when teaching French. And unlike on Connectives, I don't think I am going to change my mind. We shall see...</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Indefinite Articles</h4><p>I'll talk about Articles. But really they are a proxy for all the other grammatical terms. Definite articles, partitive articles, comparatives, superlatives, possessive pronouns, subject pronouns. Do we need pupils to know the terms? Do we need pupils to know that un/une are indefinite articles? Or 'determiners'? Or do we just need pupils to know that un/une are the French words for <i>a</i>? My instinct is we can give them the label to make the teaching neat and tidy, but what we want is for pupils to understand and use the words un/une correctly.</p><p><br /></p><p>Let's start to pull some of this together.</p><p>Using the example of Indefinite Articles, I am not in favour of SPAG style learning to label things for labelling's sake. Knowing to call something an Indefinite Article is not the point. The point is being able to use the word un/une in a sentence.</p><p>Where the technical term is useful in expediting an explanation, a conceptualisation, a distinction and the ability to apply it directly to real language, then we can make use of them. And I think this will be very specific to the grammar which is being learned.</p><p>With the case of un/une, we might label this in the booklet as Indefinite Articles, but there is plenty to be dealing with (gender, pronunciation, memorising), without adding terminology to be learned.</p><p>So maybe in the case of connectives/conjunctions, I turn out to be in favour of connectives. Because conjunctions is an abstract grammatical category. Whereas connectives is a description of how certain words are deployed, and an invitation to use them in order to improve your expression.</p><p>Having a word for can/have to/want to might be useful. But I am not going to stretch to calling them "modal verbs" because French doesn't have modal verbs. In this annotation/highlighting activity (pic below), we don't have a name for them. The best I can do is "verb + infinitive". Which perhaps is enough. Especially when it comes to distinguishing between using a verb in this way, or by conjugating it.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI43PAtURQg2HLMexcSzEguG9ukC5ayhF9oXKNIqxKPimfJfmY5GOx4xynNzMwbPjB1OW0foRj0eKWlMjfso9ETelMSqaGkWIQqGZvP2jf9uoQchMZsRQh6rLlHwmiYLuEBlhdCE9y2e6H0viDf7vcMYTuhgq_bmsyKmKF7lu9R3d2TFRSmDcPgaEX2w/s658/annotate%20modal%20verbs.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="516" data-original-width="658" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI43PAtURQg2HLMexcSzEguG9ukC5ayhF9oXKNIqxKPimfJfmY5GOx4xynNzMwbPjB1OW0foRj0eKWlMjfso9ETelMSqaGkWIQqGZvP2jf9uoQchMZsRQh6rLlHwmiYLuEBlhdCE9y2e6H0viDf7vcMYTuhgq_bmsyKmKF7lu9R3d2TFRSmDcPgaEX2w/w320-h251/annotate%20modal%20verbs.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>So what terminology is useful? We've discussed this at school, and everyone I spoke to shared the idea that the important terminology is self selecting. Where we need to use it in order for pupils to understand how to deploy their language correctly, then those are the terms we need to highlight and teach explicitly. So there is no need to consider what technical language we "should" be teaching. What is required is that we look at what language we are already using. And make sure we are not assuming that pupils know it without ever explaining it.</p><p>So for us, Technical Disciplinary Language means the words we actually use to talk about language. The words we use to guide pupils through the correct selection, formation and deployment of words. </p><p>We'll be meeting as a department this week to look at this. My candidates to get us started would be: </p><p>verb, infinitive, conjugate, tense, person, regular, irregular, negative</p><p>noun, gender, singular, plural</p><p>connective (?!)</p><p>As always, it brings us back to Scott Thornbury's analogy. It's not about chopping up the cold dead omelette of the language and trying to piece it back together. It's about how you take raw ingredients and cook them into something tasty.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>The Nice Man Who Teaches Languageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17343658160135320978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4888632576340957766.post-49714580747474066612023-01-10T08:23:00.002-08:002023-01-10T08:23:13.244-08:00Part 4. Year 9 Les Loisirs Booklet: Stories<p> We left the booklet at around page 12 in <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2023/01/part-3-booklet-year-9-les-loisirs.html" target="_blank">Part 3</a>. With pupils using past tense "cheats" to write their stories. And seeing model stories in French using the imperfect to set the scene and the perfect to say what happened. This post will take us through some of the pages up to the end of the booklet, with pupils making up their own stories in speaking and writing.</p><p>We've seen that all the language and the activities have to be scaffolded, so that all Year 9 groups can use them successfully. We have seen that it builds on pupils' well established repertoire of French. We have seen that all new (or nearly new) language is integrated into their existing repertoire. And we have seen that learning to deploy their language is just as important as learning the language itself.</p><p>The first thing we do is get the verbs ready that we are going to need in the rest of the booklet. This is so we can do it methodically, working through the step by step process of choosing tense, type of verb, person of the verb to arrive at the correct ending. Then when pupils need them later, they know they have them ready. This is part of the way we use Food Tech or other Technology subjects as a <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/05/metaphors-and-language-learning.html" target="_blank">metaphor</a> for language-learning. Pre-prepping some of the tricky ingredients is familiar to pupils from Food Tech, as is the idea of then assembling the dish for the customer.</p><p>Here's the page for the verbs in the Imperfect. There is a grammar explanation and an accompanying powerpoint. Then the pupils prepare the exact verbs they are going to be needing later.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTVtH1YonwkP3jThCBnpYBy7BWzrkWh2Jqht0pmbQo1rPMgia2zG6XSz9xKqbeMp3UPi6x9yprglprrrXiK_ro6nPh1M_Q_v4gB13EOCv8PM6MbEltGTmuAZvSt9YZ0TG5svVAmGTIX8GJBxQAeFn-kXqt9GvulyfBbID7GlpC3QbhjSYm6eBjljRAZg/s749/imperfect%20prep.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="417" data-original-width="749" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTVtH1YonwkP3jThCBnpYBy7BWzrkWh2Jqht0pmbQo1rPMgia2zG6XSz9xKqbeMp3UPi6x9yprglprrrXiK_ro6nPh1M_Q_v4gB13EOCv8PM6MbEltGTmuAZvSt9YZ0TG5svVAmGTIX8GJBxQAeFn-kXqt9GvulyfBbID7GlpC3QbhjSYm6eBjljRAZg/s320/imperfect%20prep.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Then there is a double page working on the verbs in the Perfect. The explanation and examples on the left act as a guide to assembling the verbs they are going to need on the page on the right:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifrGTTYZrbfIdjxqzeiJzn6OE31mxly-Jk1SGFfqEoawRHgAqev2t9PlLPA9G7I4Ar50EJBgg2Cr2zXAgo72Cwtwas6snjrCeqUdo6ME-EwM0Vs4AIzUvxKIS8fRyk7XHbbE--YaQgn4JxGfBbo1hWJAHK6SVgtGgTYaA_7mXGQp3kXD2v94H9EtAaOw/s4000/perfect%20assembly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifrGTTYZrbfIdjxqzeiJzn6OE31mxly-Jk1SGFfqEoawRHgAqev2t9PlLPA9G7I4Ar50EJBgg2Cr2zXAgo72Cwtwas6snjrCeqUdo6ME-EwM0Vs4AIzUvxKIS8fRyk7XHbbE--YaQgn4JxGfBbo1hWJAHK6SVgtGgTYaA_7mXGQp3kXD2v94H9EtAaOw/s320/perfect%20assembly.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>The page on the right contains the verbs they will be needing later in the booklet.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The first story to assemble is the Aquarium story. You may remember that the pupils read a version of this earlier in the booklet as a model. This can support them now, but it is worded differently so they can't just copy word for word.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7jBQik8JlrwVWoh4yt-KQ97mH5gbD5QfwruJnLICQbbucH0n9o4gADBuilGsYgmNX4ZiOpJkXUN_cslvApsVAPeAOmNcrXF1AXOEp3XjBwHQGkJ127Jo5wEwxIoOiAsjxb2nSnf_08WdqMyp-pcimiSyCujbJaWonjVC3MW_mN1kGBfFG69cTS4XiJw/s691/aquarium%20in%20French.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="691" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7jBQik8JlrwVWoh4yt-KQ97mH5gbD5QfwruJnLICQbbucH0n9o4gADBuilGsYgmNX4ZiOpJkXUN_cslvApsVAPeAOmNcrXF1AXOEp3XjBwHQGkJ127Jo5wEwxIoOiAsjxb2nSnf_08WdqMyp-pcimiSyCujbJaWonjVC3MW_mN1kGBfFG69cTS4XiJw/w640-h494/aquarium%20in%20French.PNG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>They retrieve their imperfect and perfect verbs from the chiller cabinet and have them ready for when they are needed. Then they translate the story into French using their core repertoire, adding the ending saying what was happening and what happened using the the verbs they had ready.</p><p>They do exactly the same process again for a story about going to a museum. And for the unpleasant experience on a roller-coaster story you will remember from Part 3. But this time, they write the story in French.</p><p>By the end of the booklet, they are invited to select their own infinitives. They process them into Imperfect or Perfect, and make up their own stories in speaking and writing:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx3YRuYNaXp5SuKNc8mXkAy0gedIL8kz3iuEBMGeV1gociqJmyHBp_uPUvznIxH3NHLLheWE3frOKruJIGhU3a-iqRUwcbVFmsxRiz3MiGLQPzUXkS4E-9bX-e3PwcBC5i0Z3KSLWPxON5dMoeW6Vv5z3MMPuKoeqIYwvBSh0dhF0Jj8XliA8MqSbQyw/s687/repertoire%20prep.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="369" data-original-width="687" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx3YRuYNaXp5SuKNc8mXkAy0gedIL8kz3iuEBMGeV1gociqJmyHBp_uPUvznIxH3NHLLheWE3frOKruJIGhU3a-iqRUwcbVFmsxRiz3MiGLQPzUXkS4E-9bX-e3PwcBC5i0Z3KSLWPxON5dMoeW6Vv5z3MMPuKoeqIYwvBSh0dhF0Jj8XliA8MqSbQyw/s320/repertoire%20prep.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg11ezC18G3TO6-rUzPxSSxcVvydhC2FQ6uvKFLk64N5QI-G771LZzVc3u2JEXF4E7SIilw63eoyAJobl8SJLl-NVAwZ50KTrhQjDSGF_mGIL5aJxqLbcz2wAeNKZK91V-YmB1wv-qspfI2m7XwCvweOyb9S9HAqXXQctoSO24a4uO_Y1cFEnXlk02YIQ/s696/repertoire%20use.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="370" data-original-width="696" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg11ezC18G3TO6-rUzPxSSxcVvydhC2FQ6uvKFLk64N5QI-G771LZzVc3u2JEXF4E7SIilw63eoyAJobl8SJLl-NVAwZ50KTrhQjDSGF_mGIL5aJxqLbcz2wAeNKZK91V-YmB1wv-qspfI2m7XwCvweOyb9S9HAqXXQctoSO24a4uO_Y1cFEnXlk02YIQ/s320/repertoire%20use.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6du4C288TwSNMxuA1iwsXNob79j2PwbY1qJwwCeuSZoemjJWtx7A_u1v4ZcCm_vuCk3WsGf0_xPXXXCui5m2RyAW0RHUCs4pnQ_mbPlK9DeTAOqK3EG_DN6IGIU0sjxvJqSkGO-mjeuVhrAGRbDA8RHqa2jKgP_WzqZYtNiTe_moFZSCTL1CWCxhDhg/s671/pick%20story.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="157" data-original-width="671" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6du4C288TwSNMxuA1iwsXNob79j2PwbY1qJwwCeuSZoemjJWtx7A_u1v4ZcCm_vuCk3WsGf0_xPXXXCui5m2RyAW0RHUCs4pnQ_mbPlK9DeTAOqK3EG_DN6IGIU0sjxvJqSkGO-mjeuVhrAGRbDA8RHqa2jKgP_WzqZYtNiTe_moFZSCTL1CWCxhDhg/s320/pick%20story.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>So by the end of Year 9, the pupils are producing answers which meet the GCSE criteria of: opinions, reasons, personal detail, past and future, and narration. We work on their ability to do this with increasing coherence, accuracy, confidence, independence and spontaneity. Having the core repertoire means new language sticks, and it helps with the development of a conceptualisation of grammatical structures. Most importantly, all the language they learn is language that they use. They have it at their fingertips and they are keen to learn more.</p>The Nice Man Who Teaches Languageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17343658160135320978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4888632576340957766.post-50623244169017037712023-01-09T04:05:00.002-08:002023-01-09T04:06:41.268-08:00Part 3. Booklet. Year 9. Les Loisirs<p> We left <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2023/01/part-2-year-9-les-loisirs-booklet.html" target="_blank">Part 2</a>, with the pupils happily riffing on any infinitives you care to give them, spontaneously developing answers with opinions, reasons and if sentences, working on making their answers coherent and realistic. And we promised a story about a terrible combination of roller-coasters, sweets and fizzy pop. We'll get there!</p><p>We are up to page 7 of the booklet. And we are going to start adding tenses to the repertoire of opinions and reasons. First of all we do this with some past tense cheats.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRe9ieHjzjBODHTvPHObZ8SgTRDOiifZxnTtkRQEB5KJ6ArK48dCK7ryVo_lKeWLMBcpprbAbFGI2AxU5eWUaaDNnD05-2mQKd8fVXrjx_qiIbtWSrVrF9mDBbYWB-wC6XpOvuT_WDn5e1i-RGk70jEpBUjY2edtdiwUDGTHMl16edoPbZtl3nNaOH1A/s1157/introduce%20cheats.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="1157" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRe9ieHjzjBODHTvPHObZ8SgTRDOiifZxnTtkRQEB5KJ6ArK48dCK7ryVo_lKeWLMBcpprbAbFGI2AxU5eWUaaDNnD05-2mQKd8fVXrjx_qiIbtWSrVrF9mDBbYWB-wC6XpOvuT_WDn5e1i-RGk70jEpBUjY2edtdiwUDGTHMl16edoPbZtl3nNaOH1A/w640-h120/introduce%20cheats.PNG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>We are still on the topic of La Plage, and the pupils have the next iteration of the Beach Keep Talking Sheet. This time with <i>I was going to, I said, He/She said, the weather was..., </i>and<i> I decided to...</i> As you can see from the little anecdote above, these cheats can be very effective in developing answers into little stories.</p><p>Pupils work using this template, modifying the story using different infinitives:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2S7oh8Xmk9r2iXo0-n_XaywozNrn8btZp7rjNxtDshQIsO1ICdqtFynx6nEufxHTGLA5R3PBIYGz7nWuIU46_1_eJJYNeMWgS8xuyeX80F1tgmM-KnqhKTvKfin4WjAm1ndo8R3dNBUoc10YND-5GJJ66FlhyFCAyHNG_ZJ80DCksxR9qkr1wXp0Xcw/s1090/cheats%20change.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="68" data-original-width="1090" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2S7oh8Xmk9r2iXo0-n_XaywozNrn8btZp7rjNxtDshQIsO1ICdqtFynx6nEufxHTGLA5R3PBIYGz7nWuIU46_1_eJJYNeMWgS8xuyeX80F1tgmM-KnqhKTvKfin4WjAm1ndo8R3dNBUoc10YND-5GJJ66FlhyFCAyHNG_ZJ80DCksxR9qkr1wXp0Xcw/w640-h40/cheats%20change.PNG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Again, some of the work is listening to the teacher, spotting the changes in the text. Then the pupils produce their own answers, maybe starting slow, carefully and in writing. But the aim is for them to be able to riff on any infinitives they are given, using their template to create spontaneous answers.</p><p>We are going to move on from the "cheats" to using verbs in the imperfect and the perfect. The imperfect doesn't work on its own. Just as <i>I was going to...</i> is followed by <i>but I decided to...</i>, so any verb in the imperfect (<i>I was swimming...)</i> is followed up with <i>but something happened.</i></p><p>Pupils have seen the imperfect separately for describing what somone was wearing. And the perfect for saying what they did at the weekend or in the holidays. But here they are being used together to create narrative. So we work on spotting one from the other, and then have lots of examples where pupils are reading or listening to stories modelling how they are used:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi39GllHoioxld6AVU0G_Wamdso3cCYrcIAxc-wJo4WE1Fn0GpqrbOwTilBb4ZfN7-225p2RJEZKF1nqyhHysScMDK95Yh8lv7kzVca_1zfLRpL9ei6UxjvB1DzD_EGiySFcgyNAmWp6dcaN-dpajYd-fKdlx8JPu1ZJF4kG3TqeRKvoZLP6eiGmn5dCg/s813/imperfect%20perfect.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="813" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi39GllHoioxld6AVU0G_Wamdso3cCYrcIAxc-wJo4WE1Fn0GpqrbOwTilBb4ZfN7-225p2RJEZKF1nqyhHysScMDK95Yh8lv7kzVca_1zfLRpL9ei6UxjvB1DzD_EGiySFcgyNAmWp6dcaN-dpajYd-fKdlx8JPu1ZJF4kG3TqeRKvoZLP6eiGmn5dCg/w400-h269/imperfect%20perfect.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ_HDRt1HCpOWTnNH-kvG_PU4NxtFqpDei4wPt1ooYcoJhDqUGyEF7BLBqoU5m-RHxez6UclCqiHGQwiTkzPsyzLGjDvApVIYaA6PdoRsHINN4yBbdbR8lnIZN-IgaEwbZ5okyEQecG6ABvnDUK_uJbHQK_khJSaVaacy2qZ0j_sfQyKPb_WAyskDVfA/s755/beach%20story%20perfect%20imperfect.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="131" data-original-width="755" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ_HDRt1HCpOWTnNH-kvG_PU4NxtFqpDei4wPt1ooYcoJhDqUGyEF7BLBqoU5m-RHxez6UclCqiHGQwiTkzPsyzLGjDvApVIYaA6PdoRsHINN4yBbdbR8lnIZN-IgaEwbZ5okyEQecG6ABvnDUK_uJbHQK_khJSaVaacy2qZ0j_sfQyKPb_WAyskDVfA/w640-h112/beach%20story%20perfect%20imperfect.PNG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Pupils work on identifying the verbs and identifying the meaning, before substituting other verbs into the story. At this stage, they are given the verbs conjugated in the infinitive and in the two past tenses, so they are selecting the correct form to replace the verb in the original story.</p><p>And now we are ready for some more stories. At this stage they are models given to them in French so they can concentrate on meaning, on the form, and on how the models are constructed.</p><p>First this one:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUtdgBicApKIG0L9jhIR8T38k1XPmkwBpzdD8rirNXUEMjPwAuie2_lrOybJEb9nfcVt_hz8gnK_6gc5IlHFgHYb0PDgwnevTDFKZulABHW4ki3YQ45IrzDat1IL_D4HrRoc0EFS2qMSA_Z_bbHbizzKDpEZmw5XM2NnhsZwzAkCNDK9PBy5KtJFLG2Q/s850/aquarium.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="840" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUtdgBicApKIG0L9jhIR8T38k1XPmkwBpzdD8rirNXUEMjPwAuie2_lrOybJEb9nfcVt_hz8gnK_6gc5IlHFgHYb0PDgwnevTDFKZulABHW4ki3YQ45IrzDat1IL_D4HrRoc0EFS2qMSA_Z_bbHbizzKDpEZmw5XM2NnhsZwzAkCNDK9PBy5KtJFLG2Q/w632-h640/aquarium.PNG" width="632" /></a></div><br /><p>And then the famous roller-coaster story:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvLSoFzrrgsv4uMi5nBePzeL4o3yX_cArHI-bxhwnh5o4UaluFLoG2K3Qs4ZTlzoeeCbFFDTtHjIijFXqrbyMhkpvUtgOI2SfV-BPrKMfoSsRz0suQ3iU4oCDqjS77OerxSEa3N_d7mPq7RWeGhhrSxkgdfiPCow4I_iY-asd2mtnSwFh0SZHCgwbTgg/s893/theme%20park%20story.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="893" data-original-width="851" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvLSoFzrrgsv4uMi5nBePzeL4o3yX_cArHI-bxhwnh5o4UaluFLoG2K3Qs4ZTlzoeeCbFFDTtHjIijFXqrbyMhkpvUtgOI2SfV-BPrKMfoSsRz0suQ3iU4oCDqjS77OerxSEa3N_d7mPq7RWeGhhrSxkgdfiPCow4I_iY-asd2mtnSwFh0SZHCgwbTgg/w610-h640/theme%20park%20story.PNG" width="610" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>In Part 3 we will move onto pupils manipulating the tenses and creating their own stories...</p>The Nice Man Who Teaches Languageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17343658160135320978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4888632576340957766.post-50228137092441319912023-01-06T01:38:00.003-08:002023-01-06T07:00:56.944-08:00Part 2. Year 9 Les Loisirs Booklet<p> Instead of moving on (yet) to how the booklet introduces tenses, I want to spend a bit more time on one of the activities from the <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2022/12/year-9-loisirs-booklet-part-1-coherence.html" target="_blank">previous post</a> from the early pages in the booklet.</p><p>Pupils look at this version of the <i>Going to the Beach</i> Keep Talking Sheet. It's on its way to building up to the full version, but without any reference to past events at this stage.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF82X5FJgGabE0UAdW-YUhv5EDk3VxdDLBNjtmTmdZeGb_MrnCEAPHrV3n74pmumdmME_712sllQj0q3XtnyzGJ3DeVT84Bt2T4SsfYi1YyVlIybLGEsNSEdMyflR5SrVh6H67dimMwlUMGlZUTegdQgZUYXFk3Mt8nstOxNg3pgiVRFpVmfKuou8Qpg/s1050/beach%20present%20snap.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="656" data-original-width="1050" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF82X5FJgGabE0UAdW-YUhv5EDk3VxdDLBNjtmTmdZeGb_MrnCEAPHrV3n74pmumdmME_712sllQj0q3XtnyzGJ3DeVT84Bt2T4SsfYi1YyVlIybLGEsNSEdMyflR5SrVh6H67dimMwlUMGlZUTegdQgZUYXFk3Mt8nstOxNg3pgiVRFpVmfKuou8Qpg/s320/beach%20present%20snap.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>For the first activity, the pupils are concentrating on the middle column - activites / verbs in the infinitive. The teacher is going to read out 3 texts. For each one, the pupils listen for any of the activities mentioned and circle them in the middle column of their Keep Talking sheet.</p><p>Here's the first text to be read out:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhdwDIPa2geNSeWIUy1mKaWtk0aTC69K2hIrvd1RLQ32KliC9YyzhijrQMQFW8TqGu-no_rs35Fz0XO9Fo9LnfaDBYdI0Ll8QXIC3LYzuYuQwoFUXPUJFfUj-K71GOc1cCu-A6HEaaCbksIwxmQOUdQ-uf34hsdiuu17mYr3p-8MEDEbL6I_mSSL34Zw/s383/text%201.PNG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="189" data-original-width="383" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhdwDIPa2geNSeWIUy1mKaWtk0aTC69K2hIrvd1RLQ32KliC9YyzhijrQMQFW8TqGu-no_rs35Fz0XO9Fo9LnfaDBYdI0Ll8QXIC3LYzuYuQwoFUXPUJFfUj-K71GOc1cCu-A6HEaaCbksIwxmQOUdQ-uf34hsdiuu17mYr3p-8MEDEbL6I_mSSL34Zw/s320/text%201.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>You can see it has four infinitives: <i>walk, look for shells, explore, return home.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p>The second text only has one infinitve: <i>to play with a ball</i>!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXqBHN33ETYfAiX75EA9YE0HMWSnEJvS9G8m0yncRZj3v4sfTDmaaIDKGIEKt-mgEGYsYsS8u3uns7YeQ5h2JGUJ_C39R_8u-DbJn5-D3qcYOzoyT6XsyAL34wnf-R7LyS_8NveZVwmvdSSWItoGXZ86PQ5htkMos59-JPDQ5TgF8wnjbIXhSwkMSI2A/s400/text%202.PNG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="204" data-original-width="400" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXqBHN33ETYfAiX75EA9YE0HMWSnEJvS9G8m0yncRZj3v4sfTDmaaIDKGIEKt-mgEGYsYsS8u3uns7YeQ5h2JGUJ_C39R_8u-DbJn5-D3qcYOzoyT6XsyAL34wnf-R7LyS_8NveZVwmvdSSWItoGXZ86PQ5htkMos59-JPDQ5TgF8wnjbIXhSwkMSI2A/s320/text%202.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>You can see that apart from the choice of infinitive, it is deploying very much the same repertoire of opinions, reasons and if sentences as text 1.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Text three has 8 activities:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWzh1mqYKuvpBzMurfGzLyQWf_S2YtjfBLKqhfwbyJLYi37-1nhbMPJ_FYHBl8HoshbxUfxitWYmdhgk9o75J0RtgqD5flJPQwwpoCM1L4cJ8Bry54kyoUEh-aGv9DMI8kzjqaIyQXdv4Fhv1NwYPH6UsGz1f-AwFFpbhZha3sYphSxMqs4NCF3g5bpQ/s399/text%203.PNG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="207" data-original-width="399" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWzh1mqYKuvpBzMurfGzLyQWf_S2YtjfBLKqhfwbyJLYi37-1nhbMPJ_FYHBl8HoshbxUfxitWYmdhgk9o75J0RtgqD5flJPQwwpoCM1L4cJ8Bry54kyoUEh-aGv9DMI8kzjqaIyQXdv4Fhv1NwYPH6UsGz1f-AwFFpbhZha3sYphSxMqs4NCF3g5bpQ/s320/text%203.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><i>Go to the beach, swim in the sea, make sand castles, draw elephants in the sand, go into town, drink something in a café, take photos, see my friends.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p>Once the pupils have done these as a listening, they turn to the page with the texts and again identify the activities/infinitives in the text. Then as a class they discuss what they think of the 3 different texts. Some of their ideas will be related to the content: whether they can identify with the person's experience. Of course, what I really want is a discussion about the writing: The last one has lots of detail and nice ideas; the second one is too repetitive; the first one is a bit boring; the second one shows what you can do with only one infinitive if you are stuck; the last one turns into a bit of a random list.</p><p>There is a "right" answer. The right answer is to carefully choose a limited number of infinitives which go well together to make a coherent paragraph. Like Text 1.</p><p>This kind of focus is key to how we teach languages. Our mantra is that it's NOT always about learning more and more French. It is vital to work on how well you can USE the French that you have. There's a strong literacy/oracy imperative here - working on pupils' ability to develop ideas. And it's also central to language-learning. It gives the rationale for re-working the same language. It means everything pupils learn is added to their repertoire with anything new fitting in, and with nothing getting left behind. And it helps create that idea that they have <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2022/12/task-based-learning-in-school-context.html" target="_blank">a growing body of language that they can deploy</a>.</p><p>So here's the next activity:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEMgKb-MfMPfmaNcasbSHgBApwTv7WqVgHExF10p6059FkOzabOa28tTFUVQ-NSVnV0rb_NDAhdjQSs07KEjkhVMTcY_aDolpP1Cj6SV-8ooddDc3FW7spBZVms5-vOWSU3sZODPFifzf9PCLrVhVVP582sGETYO3yIEw7bdDpyOcKixHqkul8UOGesg/s1137/write%20own%203%20texts.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="1137" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEMgKb-MfMPfmaNcasbSHgBApwTv7WqVgHExF10p6059FkOzabOa28tTFUVQ-NSVnV0rb_NDAhdjQSs07KEjkhVMTcY_aDolpP1Cj6SV-8ooddDc3FW7spBZVms5-vOWSU3sZODPFifzf9PCLrVhVVP582sGETYO3yIEw7bdDpyOcKixHqkul8UOGesg/w400-h164/write%20own%203%20texts.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p>Pupils write 3 texts of their own. One with a carefully selected number of infinitives. One with just one infinitive. One with a random list of infinitives. In each case they recycle the same repertoire of language. And what they are working on is thinking ahead, choosing ideas that link well, and developing the coherence of their writing.</p><p>This gives us a glimpse into what's to come in the second half of the booklet when we start to introduce tenses. If you have these infinitives, can you see how the answer is going to develop?</p><p><i>go to a theme park<span> go on the roller-coasters<span> eat sweets<span> drink fizzy pop<span> vomit</span></span></span></span></i></p><p>From focusing on the coherence of answers based on opinions, reasons and if sentences, we are going to move into story telling in a combination of tenses...</p>The Nice Man Who Teaches Languageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17343658160135320978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4888632576340957766.post-38194617410779498132022-12-29T06:51:00.005-08:002022-12-29T06:55:16.455-08:00Year 9 Loisirs Booklet Part 1. Coherence and Stories.<p> I have been writing the booklet for the final Unit of Year 9 on Les Loisirs. Overall it's going back to a familiar topic from Year 8 so pupils can deploy their repertoire with fluency and independence. And with a lot more detail. It works on the kind of mini narrative that works so well at GCSE, based on<a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2022/11/how-current-gcse-works-across-topics-my.html" target="_blank"> opinions, reasons, if sentences, speech, what was happening, what happened next</a>.</p><p>We start with stories about going to the beach, building them up slowly, then transfer the same template to stories about sport, shopping, going to the cinema, skateboarding...</p><p>Here is the Key Performance Exemplar for the end of the Unit:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEkLPVE0toIZyjxgAwts9QtOifUQgTIk7AiuhW7DZ7SZ7GWfKawcp3cE8qM9UWpglLVK5vYO1sEkm1CHv0_C9sdmJfWrEowWKmX0MjvxAx7auuCU-IybunmkBuUjdA_GhqfPx1_PTqnsf3xYmuHJzeEwh8LBIGGztheb5NZraYD4ysaKAbziS13Pg4SA/s410/loisirs%20kpi.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="293" data-original-width="410" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEkLPVE0toIZyjxgAwts9QtOifUQgTIk7AiuhW7DZ7SZ7GWfKawcp3cE8qM9UWpglLVK5vYO1sEkm1CHv0_C9sdmJfWrEowWKmX0MjvxAx7auuCU-IybunmkBuUjdA_GhqfPx1_PTqnsf3xYmuHJzeEwh8LBIGGztheb5NZraYD4ysaKAbziS13Pg4SA/s320/loisirs%20kpi.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Of course, for Year 9, the booklet has to be carefully scaffolded to make sure all pupils can access it with confidence. And also to make sure that speaking activities with large Year 9 groups happen successfully.</p><p>I have taken the usual "<a href="https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/language-world-2020-12263744" target="_blank">Going to the Beach</a>" keep talking sheet and cut it down to introduce it in easy steps. It gradually builds up to its full version through the booklet, adding tenses and narrative by the end of the Unit.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrg4aJxTDRyU4vMeCwV4jqqJ3oUGsCCMDQ37xh-JsbJbnTo-76juUjrpuMT962bM1lRwsbETs5DrrnoULi7w6-EhPzQSAyKGVmUVm1TkCZVGyPu_sox5jj4Pnoo1RZqdnqhoRej1CmeGLrro9JGWhisA48fH_JYuk89Z3xNmr3xpmJ1EuWvY9EZIBCBQ/s1002/loisirs%2000.PNG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="544" data-original-width="1002" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrg4aJxTDRyU4vMeCwV4jqqJ3oUGsCCMDQ37xh-JsbJbnTo-76juUjrpuMT962bM1lRwsbETs5DrrnoULi7w6-EhPzQSAyKGVmUVm1TkCZVGyPu_sox5jj4Pnoo1RZqdnqhoRej1CmeGLrro9JGWhisA48fH_JYuk89Z3xNmr3xpmJ1EuWvY9EZIBCBQ/s320/loisirs%2000.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The first activities use listening and speaking, carefully scaffolded with the keep talking grid. It starts with a variation on <a href="https://whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/05/writing-in-colours.html" target="_blank">ski slope writing</a>, here done as a translation. Look closely and you can see that while each sentence offers some scaffolding for the next, there is variation as well as extension.</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6_I7egUf6nI5nDfsrar8JGx_BjW7NYTDm38VioHvXsySsVDxS-6ZiMsNc6MJGg6Gd4o-j37jGo6KP47kmRLffFVsiq0lFYkIk4Xbjwc6ZH89GuO-TDK6jQTiHfMnOsTCJ7P9ApPq3LcSYwgh08-PPvimhRRtXCb_tDTFWW1cM4Urwzb38l-QBw143Gw/s999/loisirs%201.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="314" data-original-width="999" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6_I7egUf6nI5nDfsrar8JGx_BjW7NYTDm38VioHvXsySsVDxS-6ZiMsNc6MJGg6Gd4o-j37jGo6KP47kmRLffFVsiq0lFYkIk4Xbjwc6ZH89GuO-TDK6jQTiHfMnOsTCJ7P9ApPq3LcSYwgh08-PPvimhRRtXCb_tDTFWW1cM4Urwzb38l-QBw143Gw/w640-h202/loisirs%201.PNG" width="640" /></a></p><p>The ski slope writing is to get pupils familiar with finding what they need on the Keep Talking Sheet and to let the new content integrate with their prior knowledge. It leads directly on to a speaking activity. First as a class, then in pairs.</p><p>The picture below is from a powerpoint where the story appears a sentence at a time, and then disappears. With each sentence, the pupils have to remember the story in French from the beginning. Here you can see that the first chunk, "I like to go to the beach" has disappeared completely. The second chunk, "because I can go for a walk" is faintly visible. And the new chunk, "but I don't like to swim" is still visible. This works as a challenge on the board, with pupils enjoying having a go, remembering or making up what they though it said. It recycles familiar language, practising building it into the beginnings of a story.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4JcSYuYHEjXYBVBoAqp5madkegp7Xu1cvVpEkv8r542iXKpB_CP89SMh5GGAHWDv2j4rvD81jwscetACfYhMUzej727GkeGNb9yHF34vl-_CklCSLH-GaR8sePPkbwGfWVDxsAMkw4Nv6H3vLtiIxrMEbveUHvRthnBQcsP8JqBPUU-aZwAvjC6VXpw/s1189/loisirs%2001.PNG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="376" data-original-width="1189" height="101" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4JcSYuYHEjXYBVBoAqp5madkegp7Xu1cvVpEkv8r542iXKpB_CP89SMh5GGAHWDv2j4rvD81jwscetACfYhMUzej727GkeGNb9yHF34vl-_CklCSLH-GaR8sePPkbwGfWVDxsAMkw4Nv6H3vLtiIxrMEbveUHvRthnBQcsP8JqBPUU-aZwAvjC6VXpw/s320/loisirs%2001.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The ski slope translation and the disappearing story both lead in to the pair work activity. One partner gives a short starter sentence in French. For example, <i>I like to go to the beach.</i> The other partner can add to it or change it: <i>I love to go to the beach because I can swim.</i> They continue, taking turns to add or change the sentence: <i>I love to go to the beach but I don't like to swim.</i></p><p>When we move to the next version of the Keep Talking Sheet, with more infinitives and adding talking about the weather, we continue the idea of changing a model sentence. This again starts off as a written task so pupils can find the words they need. Before turning into a task where pupils read their new versions aloud and other pupils have to listen carefully for what has been changed:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Rlfc7DBiXAGsor-qZSvC-8SmHgCTDNR3JfxU6PdnRS1wGCbUMy9eT--Aw13ps1hgEKnAVt_s4L6fiTJrSNEAM-MhjjBlID87RUTAVUO4yeGuVfcRwHFHzpXHYYxw685YEw5tDCYLUbi59C3Sd2IoFd6FMniX9iU_u1suYyvtmhQ2Q9XrfsD_gQtzOQ/s967/loisirs%202.PNG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="967" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Rlfc7DBiXAGsor-qZSvC-8SmHgCTDNR3JfxU6PdnRS1wGCbUMy9eT--Aw13ps1hgEKnAVt_s4L6fiTJrSNEAM-MhjjBlID87RUTAVUO4yeGuVfcRwHFHzpXHYYxw685YEw5tDCYLUbi59C3Sd2IoFd6FMniX9iU_u1suYyvtmhQ2Q9XrfsD_gQtzOQ/w640-h346/loisirs%202.PNG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>This tangled translation (below) is done as a speaking activity. First in English, then in French. Partly to practise recall of the language, but mainly as another opportunity to model how to deploy their French to make a coherent answer which is going to turn into a story:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNUgQmtjRcYGMb8iY_8VPwsVlGF6fdekApFR_gqwDJ7FymhX_985EeOlBOMPfcgyarhnaHuCerkbQqQyFcrcNBvkKc1j24KBnuYWRTZgCVbuncS_8-uAefPNDHn_efoBNSFbCe7WOAOlJ4DqMdidWjMZJZPDmfRR91ZuGrp2VFr6-BeXCSdZL0AmK3dQ/s982/loisirs%204.PNG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="263" data-original-width="982" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNUgQmtjRcYGMb8iY_8VPwsVlGF6fdekApFR_gqwDJ7FymhX_985EeOlBOMPfcgyarhnaHuCerkbQqQyFcrcNBvkKc1j24KBnuYWRTZgCVbuncS_8-uAefPNDHn_efoBNSFbCe7WOAOlJ4DqMdidWjMZJZPDmfRR91ZuGrp2VFr6-BeXCSdZL0AmK3dQ/w640-h173/loisirs%204.PNG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>And this next activity is all about thinking about how to best use the French in order to make something that is coherent.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDdxgPRCnfMBOr4sZWPivXjlu6Q4ZHCHVRaFoqL9UsK4ms5f9uCfV9qkDQDsWWzPaU6oUeeVtMfnZt1T5PgWvjqXoYrf1rT-LWBhvRNZW8_Z9qCvP5orKMr6CtwoNHmGtW_lSwWnQxFYz239e8t7t33EUFydTz45O8L4IUArz7m4yb36a07_oFp89hAg/s1066/loisirs%203.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="433" data-original-width="1066" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDdxgPRCnfMBOr4sZWPivXjlu6Q4ZHCHVRaFoqL9UsK4ms5f9uCfV9qkDQDsWWzPaU6oUeeVtMfnZt1T5PgWvjqXoYrf1rT-LWBhvRNZW8_Z9qCvP5orKMr6CtwoNHmGtW_lSwWnQxFYz239e8t7t33EUFydTz45O8L4IUArz7m4yb36a07_oFp89hAg/w640-h260/loisirs%203.PNG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>The teacher reads each of the 3 texts while the pupils are looking at the Keep Talking sheet. The pupils are asked to circle all the infinitives (in the middle column of the sheet) that they hear in each one. They then turn to this page and highlight them in the text. The 3 texts have a similar template in terms of opinions, reason and if sentences. But they are very different in how they handle the content. One of them takes just one infinitive and talks at length but repetitively about playing with a ball. Another has many different infinitives which ends up sounding like an incoherent list of activities. The other has a judiciously chosen set of infinitives which make a coherent story. The class can discuss how well they think each approach works. Then, as you can see in Ex 4, they are given 3 sets of infinitives to create their own 3 versions to try out.</p><p>We are only up to page 6 of a 28 page booklet. But you can see the principles emerging:</p><p><b>Using the language of the pupils' core repertoire in a new context.</b></p><p><b>Integrating Speaking and Listening with Reading and Writing with careful modelling and scaffolding.</b></p><p><b>Pupils can use the Keep Talking sheet but are challenged to do more and more without it.</b></p><p><b>Focus on how to create answers with increasing coherence has taken over from a focus on the language.</b></p><p>In a future post we will see another principle:</p><p><b>New language (tenses) is added to the existing repertoire. </b></p><p>With the focus continuing to be on how to deploy it in order to add to what pupils can say. Not for the sake of the language point.</p><p>Here's a glimpse of what is to come once we move away from talking about going to the beach:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Nr6KT4Ps4vrmhWbdXZRkWh4YqtpmVGPoXKOjsvLKiF30TntPqfqdVutcidmvlZ3MPfUlv9QFuroX31MYzt6v-Ufo8XqguxPQ3-29RAWkYmbUe0G-ONt8D5Hkp2Z7sI9IjUA5FPEZAfjdYLJ7uEVfdbXOFq8HSHRk6N0PAZH-wEDvyvc6Hk-MOsVyAQ/s668/loisirs%206.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="285" data-original-width="668" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Nr6KT4Ps4vrmhWbdXZRkWh4YqtpmVGPoXKOjsvLKiF30TntPqfqdVutcidmvlZ3MPfUlv9QFuroX31MYzt6v-Ufo8XqguxPQ3-29RAWkYmbUe0G-ONt8D5Hkp2Z7sI9IjUA5FPEZAfjdYLJ7uEVfdbXOFq8HSHRk6N0PAZH-wEDvyvc6Hk-MOsVyAQ/w640-h274/loisirs%206.PNG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><br /><p><br /></p>The Nice Man Who Teaches Languageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17343658160135320978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4888632576340957766.post-41286924766493310292022-12-06T08:40:00.001-08:002022-12-06T08:40:14.539-08:00Task Based Learning in the School Context<p> There is a lot of detail around what makes up full-on Task Based Learning, which I am going to avoid. I want to focus on what makes it important to me as a languages teacher in the school context.</p><p>The main point of Task based Learning is... Tasks.</p><p>And the point of a Task is that it is carried out with the focus on completing the Task. The focus is the completion of the Task, not on the language that is used. The pupils are communicating (or comprehending) in order to perform the task; not in order to use certain specified language structures.</p><p>It stands in contrast to an Exercise. In an Exercise, the pupil practises using certain language structures that have been being learned. You could see Task Based Learning as being the antidote to Presentation, Practice, Production. In the Presentation and Practice stages, it is clear that it is specific language structures that are being rehearsed. But even in the Production stage, the teacher will design the task (small t) such that those structures can be deployed. The teacher has specified the language to be used, practised it, and now they want to see the pupils using it more independently in a more open context.</p><p>This is what we do all the time in school. We ask pupils to practise over and over, challenging themselves to be more fluent, independent, spontaneous, expressive. And this works very well.</p><p>The risk is that pupils are able only to use the structures they have been working on most recently. And instead of communicating, they end up playing the game of saying things just to show off an expression or a tense. It's a good fit for exam criteria. Exam criteria can be deconstructed to determine the key language pupils need (vocabulary, tenses, idioms...). And the practice makes perfect paradigm is geared up to creating accurate work that gets the grade.</p><p>But at some level, I have the nagging idea that we aren't just teaching pupils to get a grade. We are teaching them the language. That they should be able to try to say things because they want to say them. Not just to tick off criteria in an exam. Very idealistic and sentimental, I know. But there's more to it. I think it is fundamental to learning that the pupil has a evolving body of language, a core, an interlanguage. I want them to be aware of the language as a whole. So they can call on everything they have ever learned. So they can make connections, links, patterns, rules.</p><p>We've all seen pupils who can't do words like <i>a</i> or <i>the</i> or <i>is</i>. And therefore can't say the simplest things. Because they've not made the language their own. They are reliant on the stages of Presentation, Practice, Production to be able to Perform and move on. And we've seen those pupils on the Spanish Exchange who CAN deploy their language in new situations. Who can say things they've not been taught, but find ways to communicate it all the same. With a focus on communicating successfully. From the building blocks of language that they have a grasp of. And these are the pupils who then acquire more and more language. It brings me back to the perennial snowball metaphor. They haven't let their language melt. They've gathered it into a snowball, made it theirs, and now more snow sticks to it.</p><p>This is what a Task does. It requires pupils to communicate, selecting and combining language from their whole repertoire, understanding how it works. Or exploring how it works. Finding ways to make it fit together. The immediate focus is getting the message across. But the effect of doing so is to explore the possibilities and limitations of the language at your disposal.</p><p>This can happen in anything from chit-chat (<i>Did you watch the match? Where did you get your bag?)</i> to written work (<i>Tell me about your Town. Would you like to go to School in Spain?)</i>. The key is how we share with pupils the idea that they are learning to communicate and that the language they are learning is ALL the language, not just what we need for this exercise.</p><p>The tasks we set our pupils could be Tasks. But we fight it! We try to steer them to saying things that deploy the structures we have been practising or which meet the criteria. Pupils try to say things they can't quite say, or try apply a rule to an irregular form, or use English syntax, extrapolating from what they know, in order to communicate. And when they do this, we label it as an error.</p><p>I think that in order for language to be successful, we need to keep these possibilities alive:</p><p><b><span> </span>When we set work, we are genuinely interested in what the pupils say or write.</b></p><p><b><span> </span>When we challenge pupils to express themselves, both we and they understand that they can take risks even if this will naturally lead to more errors.</b></p><p><span><b> If we ask pupils to express themselves, we are requiring them to curate their own repertoire of language that they can draw on.</b></span><br /></p><p>If we do these things, then we are straying into Task Based Learning.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>The Nice Man Who Teaches Languageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17343658160135320978noreply@blogger.com0