John Bald/language and literacy

German Summer School 2021, First session, audio recording.

   Download Audio_only     

This may be clearer if used with the first slides of this ppt

Download Languages Show 2017

 

How a new approach to teaching grammar can teach pupils to communicate.

The controversies over language teaching methodology raise a fundamental question. Should languages be taught around a core of grammatical progression, or thematically? The thematic approach allows mixed ability teaching, as a topic can be presented at different levels within the same group. The progression approach ensures mastery of a growing range of structures, and so allows progress towards the range of competences needed to understand and communicate in reading and writing for the purposes of further study and the world of work.

Until comprehensivisation under Crosland, languages were almost exclusively taught in grammar schools, with only a little in secondary moderns. This was elitist, denying most of the population the opportunity to learn a language. It was also pretty ineffective, even in grammar schools.

 

 

I was initially taught French by a succession of not very good teachers, followed by excellence as I moved up the school, and took advantage of Anglo-French Easter and summer schools run by one of these excellent teachers, the late Francis (Fred) Holmes, who ran them, virtually pro bono, for 28 years and had the Palmes Académiques. Our textbook was Sheila M Smith's series, followed by Whitmarsh in the sixth form, and we learned the range of French sentence structures, orthography and prouniciation assiduously. Or some of us did. In fact, very, very few. I kept in touch with Fred until the end of his life, and he said, frankly, that I was one of a tiny handful of his pupils, in a career lasting from the early 40s till the early 70s, who had actually learned to speak French. Even "the bright ones, those who could handle the subjunctive," couldn't do it. So, Smith and Whitmarsh were not working, even for the grammar school population, and most people did not enjoy learning French.

 

This continues to haunt us.

 

The alternative, initiated by the late Eric Hawkins, was to focus on communication and tolerate the kind of errors that native speakers of Figs languages spend much of their school lives trying to eradicate (adjectival agreements, slient letters, case endings, verb conjugations, word order, etc). Daily dictations were the norm in France when I took part in exchanges 10 yrs ago, including this sentence from a class of 6 year olds - Arthur n'a pas peur des fantômes. In seven words, I count five silent letters, a contraction with apostrophe, a circumflex and a vowel combination. The teacher was dynamic and humorous, the working atmosphere and relationships great, but accuracy was the only goal. Who Arthur and the ghosts may ave been was not an issue. Significant numbers of children in France, especially those with French as a second language, are failing with this approach.

 

Without basic grammatical accuracy, on the other hand, it is impossible for a person to form a simple sentence and so communicate. An example from a UK school that taught French without grammar was the sentence, which I saw copied by a class - Eric Cantona suis un footballer. While most of the pupils who ask me for help with languages do so because they are failing completely, I also coach A level students aiming for high grades, and even they have problems with basc sentence construction - eg accurate use of verb inflections in present tense and gender agreements- as well as more advanced features.

 

 

My late friend Michel Thomas cut through the problem by using the Latin link to build vocabulary through what I call "shared words", building sentences using pronouns, and using a small number of verbs, but in a full range of tenses. Nothing like traditional grammar. Adding writing, using sentence building without copying, and making the key adjustments to thinking, required to move to a new language, clear in the first three or four lessons, led both to the success of high-attaining pupiils in my French to Falkirk, and to a whole class of Hackney 8 year olds writing accurate positive and negative sentences in French, presented a the BETT conference in 2008. Other approaches to sentence building are also reported to have a positive impact on understanding and achievement, and we need more investigation of the issue.

 

 

Michel Thomas was awarded the Légion d'Honneur and made a fortune from his courses for adults, but failed to get his approach adopted by any school system. His first UK lesson was filmed by BBC2 and is on youtube. To locate it, type Michel Thomas into youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0w_uYPAQic  Before the end of his life, I showed him how sentence building with clicker could add a bridge for pupils, and he was immediately impressed. Our approach is consistent with brain research and, for those who prefer that route, with cognitive load theory. It is not traditional, but nevertheless ensures accuracy as well as communication at all stages. I am happy to discuss further, pro bono, and to demo.

A Checklist for A level Spanish or French Essays.

1..Language and grammar,  with the thought that electronic aids, particularly Deepl, are now so accurate that it is difficult to know how much is a student's own work.

1, Noun groups - are all companion words lined up for gender and singular/plural.

2. Verb groups -  lined up with subject, and using the tenses and endings you need.

3, Short words -  have you included all you need to make sense in t Spanish or French?

4. Usage - if you're in doubt as to whether a Spanish or French person would have said something in the  way you've phrased it, use Linguee or Deepl as a reference point.

 

2. Structuring the Essay - points raised earlier in teaching.

 

1, You are not writing down everything you know, but answering a question.

2. Create a "buffer zone" between you and the question. How many issues does it address? How will you arrange these in a way that lets you hit all of them, while answering the question.

3, Look at the question again, and check for hints, such as "how far...?" that tell you that there may be more than one side to the main point of the question.

4. Jot paragraph headings, with lead points

5. Go for it.

 

3. A brief note on sentence construction.  It's a bit like a meal out. 

 

Almost all sentences have a subject and verb - main clause in grammar, main course in a meal out: Il s'est engagé à la Légion Etrangère.

You can add a starter:   Malgré ses inquiétudes, il s'est engagé à la Légion Etrangère.

You can have a dessert:  Malgré ses inquiétudes, il s'est engagé à la Légion Etrangèré, où il a accompli vingt ans de service.

You can have a coffee:  Malgré ses inquiétudes, il s'est engagé à la Légion Etrangèré, où il a accompli vingt ans de service; avant d'être tué au Viet Nam.

or an aperitif   Il était jeune, mais, malgré ses inquiétudes, il s'est engagé à la Légion Etrangèré, où il a accompli vingt ans de service; avant d'être tué au Viet Nam.

 

Remember that too many five-course meals will give you indigestion, and be sure to tie up your additions with link words and punctuation as necessary.

Draft Protocol for small-scale research in introducing writing in French, German and Spanish.

The protocol is designed to investigate the initial stages of writing in these languages, without copying, based on the primary toolkits on this site. Correspondence welcomed.

Download Draft Protocol for small

Culture, Language and Progress in the Primary Classroom. Durham University, Lingua Conference, 27th Feb 2019. Outline.

Language never exists in a vacuum. The basic linguistic structures introduced in the early stages of learning a language are in a context that can either engage pupils and so make them want to learn, or, through lack of substance, bore them. This paper will show resources that identify and present key cultural elements in French, German and Spanish in ways that support the early stages of language learning by inviting pupils to visit the country in their minds, and to share the thoughts and feelings of people of their own age and they live, eat, work, go to school and enjoy holidays. There will be illustrations from Zim Zam Zoum, A Green Mouse, children's books in different languages, and BBC's Being Spanish. Materials will be selected to extend and reinforce language learning, and not to expose children to language that they may not fully understand.

French Teaching and Translation in Ewell, Surrey

Anne Le Romancier has set up a teaching and translating business  in Ewell, Surrey.  Here is an example of what she offers.

LE CAFE FRANÇAIS

Le Café Français is on once a week in Ewell.  I pick a topic for us to discuss (chosen among your own pre-discussed preferences) and around “un café et un croissant” we have a friendly conversation.   Those get-togethers are a relaxed and friendly approach to learning French among like-minded people who enjoy all things French .  All levels of French welcome so everybody can get something out of it.  So come join us and have a go 

REGISTER YOUR INTEREST BY E-MAIL anneleromancer@gmail.com

Le Café Français is soon to open new groups across Surrey.  We are keen to answer the need of the local communities and can create groups in your area provided there is a group of 5/6 participants coming together.

Rockalingua - a super resource for the early stages of learning Spanish.

www.rockalingua.com is a collecton of animated Spanish songs and associated resources that are likely to be very helpful to primary teachers and those in the early stages of learning Spanish in secondary school. Written and spoken language are presented together in a bright, upbeat tone, with plenty of opportunities for practice and reinforcement. Additional materials include a picture dictionary, games and simple worksheets. Access to the songs and videos costs $47pa, with full access to the associated materials at $159. Additional options are available, and there is a 60 day money back guarantee that is, in effect, a free trial. Some of the best resources for the early stages of Spanish that I´ve seen, with the option of either signing up to the whole works, or, as I´d be inclined to do, use the songs and videos as reinforcement for my own approach. Recommended. 

Rockalingua

Rockalingua is an online collection of videos, games, worksheets, and more, designed to make learning Spanish fun and easy for kids around the world.

ROCKALINGUA.COM

Nathalie Paris - excellent presentation on using children's books as part of language teaching.

Pppt here on the use of children's books, presented at language world conference by Nathalie Paris.  Useful for CPD and initial training. 

Make your own emojis - a brilliant idea from Mele Bustamente, US.

These emojis, made by pupils on paper plates, are a brilliant way of teaching vocabulary that can't otherwise be illustrated concretely. I'm going to use it this morning. Thanks, Mele!

Click on picture to enlarge. Enjoy!

 

Clicker 7 - a unique and brllliant bridge between spoken and written language, in English and other languages.

In the early years of this millennium, I reviewed Clicker (www.Cricksoft.com) for The Guardian, and the publishers have kindly kept me supplied with updates. A review of Clicker 5, from 2008, includes this:

Clicker 5 itself remains the best ICT resource available to EAL teachers. Sarah Bailey, head of Queensbridge school, Hackney, in London, says that its "scaffolding and constant modelling with visual reinforcement" are so effective that teaching assistants use it to reinforce basic literacy skills from reception to year 2 "at least three times a week".

Clicker 7, the latest version, is astonishing. The voice recognition has been developed to include surprisingly accurate reading in French and Spanish, and the additional materials in the modern languages package provide excellent practice in grammatical features - eg Cinderella in French for feminine endings - and pronunciation. It takes a little practice to set the program up for language learning, but once it's in place it's plain sailing. I've uploaded this video to youtube - the sound is a little low, so you may need to  turn yours up.

As I said of the earlier version nine years ago, this is the best piece of software available to EAL teachers, and also to modern languages teachers. Its author, John Crick, is a modest man, but we need to say to him what Robert Schumann said of Chopin - "Hats off, gentlemen, a genius."

PS. Clicker resources for earliest stages of French, plus 2 ppts, here.