My paper for this class will be on motivation in foreign language learners and how knowing what motivates US students to learn a foreign language and reach advanced-level proficiency or higher can be used to improve future L2 teaching practices. I will be comparing the results of two online surveys I have been giving to UNH language students during the past few weeks. While each of the surveys contain the same questions about what motivates them to pursue proficiency foreign language, the first survey was given only to students currently taking a language at the 631 level or above and the second survey was given to beginning (401) level students.
I am curious to see how the two groups compare, and I have my own predictions about how the data might look, but I'd like to ask you guys what you think motivates FLLs at the beginning level vs at the advanced level. Are they motivated by the same factors by the time they get to 631 as they were when they began? Would their motivation levels change over time? How might the teacher be able affect student motivation?
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Teaching/Learning gender of nouns
Right
from the beginning in French 1 I had to memorize the gender of nouns for every
test and quiz. Later on, my teachers tried to teach us how you can often tell
what gender based off of things like suffixes, but I never memorized any of the
rules they told us. However I do really well knowing what words are what gender
when I speak and write getting it right about 95% of the time. I have no clue
how I compare with my peers; perhaps everybody just figures it out without
realizing it or thinking about it. I think my brain has probably just figured
out the rules on its own, maybe partly through the forced memorization in the
beginning of my French instruction.
I
wonder how exactly we learn and memorize the gender of nouns; there are a ton
of them. How should we as teachers teach it? When I first had to learn gender
it was hard for me to memorize, just like verb conjugations, now I have no
problem with either of them and have not had a problem for a very long time.
Did that mandatory memorization in the beginning set me up to establish a
system of rules in my head that I do not think about, or was it a waste of time
and I would have figured it all out eventually without that tough memorization?
Knowing
gender is really important in French and as I can see in German and Spanish as
well. It would be interesting to see if there are any scholarly articles on it,
any research. But I definitely do not have time to research it now! J
Making Connections with Foreign Students
The first topic that I have questions on that I could think of was setting up a pen pal system. I never did this in school, but liked the idea of it. I have friends that did this in high school and loved it, but I do not know much about it. I know we have talked about this before briefly, but some of the logistics are interesting. Mainly as teachers, how do we monitor if the exchanges are happening, and how do we base a grade on it? Do we grade it on participation? Or do we grade on the level of discourse that is being had? If so how do we create a criteria since the discourse depends on both people that are involved. Also, at what level is it appropriate to try an exchange like this? Plus just finding a group to exchange with sounds like it could be very difficult. I don't know if anyone here has had any experience with this type of exchange, but I would like to hear your input.
Flipped learning in the foreign language classroom
For my final paper for this class I will be writing about flipped learning in the foreign language learning environment. Flipped learning is the idea that students learn the concepts on their own outside of class so that class time can be used for skill application. Usually instructors assign their own video lectures or already made ones for homework. Students may have to answer comprehension questions to show they've done the work outside of class. Then class time is free to put the new concepts to use.
I went to a workshop on flipped learning last spring led by my former AP biology teacher who has now flipped her classes and is having a lot of success with it. I would like to know how this would go in the foreign language classroom. From the brief and less-than-adequate description I gave above, do you have any initial feelings about how this would work for language learning? Advantages? Disadvantages?
I went to a workshop on flipped learning last spring led by my former AP biology teacher who has now flipped her classes and is having a lot of success with it. I would like to know how this would go in the foreign language classroom. From the brief and less-than-adequate description I gave above, do you have any initial feelings about how this would work for language learning? Advantages? Disadvantages?
Online Learning at a Local Middle School
I decided to write the blog post in order to solicit your
help/input in relation to a group of middle school students that I just started
working with. Just a disclaimer: I am not trying to bash the school, but am
simply looking for input. Last week was my first week working with seventh and
eighth graders from a K-8 public school with 80 students total. Due to the very
small number of students, the seventh and eighth graders (there are only 12 of
them) have, beginning this year, enrolled in an online middle-school Spanish
course via the Virtual Learning Academy (Vlacs), which is an online charter
school for New Hampshire middle and high school students. The students spend
three 40-minute periods per week working towards the completion of their
year-long Spanish course in the school’s computer lab. Although all students
are enrolled in the same course and are more or less working at the same pace,
they are expected to work individually and in some cases actually get in
trouble for working together and/or sharing information.
The course
was created and is currently organized by a teacher from the Holderness School
in Plymouth, NH, who acts as the “teacher” and evaluates student work. The curriculum
incorporates reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills, making use of
technology to do all student evaluation online. It is structured so that students
read “lessons” related to different thematic units, and then complete a series
of evaluations that test their comprehension of what they have reviewed. The “teacher”
never actually “teaches,” but simply writes the lessons and creates course
materials. Unlike many UNH courses that are taught online, the Vlacs course
does not include any audio or video of the instructor; students are expected to
learn the language simply by reading the lessons.
The school
recently hired me to tutor the students three times a week, as students and
parents had voiced strong frustrations with the online Spanish course. The
students are accustomed to having “real teachers,” and so do not like having to
learn online without being able to work directly with a live instructor. This
past week I conferenced individually with the students to see how each is
doing, and realized that their online course has been a complete disaster.
Students generally do not understand the material, and simply fill in answers without
actually retaining any language skills. They want to learn Spanish, but
struggle immensely with online learning and the independence that it solicits.
Beyond the students’ lack of personal motivation to make use of the online
program, the course itself is not well structured. The lessons are extremely
confusing, and assignments often do not relate to what students are learning.
My SPAN 401 students would not be able to understand the lessons, let alone a
group of seventh and eighth graders.
I am not
entirely sure as to how I should approach the task of the working with these
students, as it seems to me that the course itself is not appropriate for them.
The school’s principal had envisioned that I work with students one-on-one, in
order to answer questions and help them with things like pronunciation, but I’m
not sure how effective this strategy will actually be given the fact that most
students are completely lost. I am thinking of potentially working with small groups
of students, in order to conserve time and target major issues (like verb
conjugation), but am generally just overwhelmed by the task at hand. It is
obviously not my job to fix the situation or teach the class, as I was hired
simply to tutor the students, but I feel as though my work will be like simply
putting a Band-Aid over a massive problem.
Bilingualism and language aptitude
I thought that I would take the opportunity to share my final project for my ESL Methods class that you might find interesting. It focuses on the effects of early bilingualism (before the age of 10) on future language learning experiences. Many cognitive studies have been conducted in this area of interest, studying the executive function (mostly with word recognition tasks) of early bilinguals compared to monolinguals. The results show a clear advantage for the bilinguals, though not a drastic one (sometimes a difference of .10 of a second). Nevertheless, it does have statistical significance.
I used these cognitive studies a basis for my personal question: how do early bilinguals perceive their aptitude in language learning? I conducted a basic survey with 16 participants that analyses their thoughts on the importance of bilingualism/language learning and their ability/ease of learning in past FLL experiences. As expected, most of the participants felt that learning language was relatively easy for them, and that being bilingual was a beneficial life skill for them.
This research has really imprinted in me the importance of learning a second language at an early age: the advantages are clear and strong. I am truly an advocate for FL education in elementary school.
Have you taught or known any early bilinguals and found them to be particularly proficient in LL? Do you support early FL instruction based on this research?
I used these cognitive studies a basis for my personal question: how do early bilinguals perceive their aptitude in language learning? I conducted a basic survey with 16 participants that analyses their thoughts on the importance of bilingualism/language learning and their ability/ease of learning in past FLL experiences. As expected, most of the participants felt that learning language was relatively easy for them, and that being bilingual was a beneficial life skill for them.
This research has really imprinted in me the importance of learning a second language at an early age: the advantages are clear and strong. I am truly an advocate for FL education in elementary school.
Have you taught or known any early bilinguals and found them to be particularly proficient in LL? Do you support early FL instruction based on this research?
Movies in a Foreign Language Classroom
I have been thinking about this a little bit as I have been going through my internship:what is the role that movies should play in a foreign language classroom?
I believe that playing movies is an important, and necessary, part of a foreign language classroom. However, in my personal experience as a student, I remember my teachers playing the movies and then they just had a worksheet at the end of the movie. Is that enough to test the comprehension of the students? We have played a couple of movies so far this year, and for each movie, we have stopped the film at certain parts to ask comprehension questions and explain what is going on, if necessary. I think that a lot of the time (and maybe this is more prevalent in high school than in college), teachers use movies as more of a break than as a helpful teaching tool. I do not think that that is the case all of the time, but I think that that is a factor.
Also, when playing movies, what do you think about the use of subtitles? Thus far, when we have played a movie in class, it has been in French with English subtitles. My concern in that case is that the students are reading the dialogue rather than listening to it. However, if you do not add the subtitles, I fear that they would be lost and they wouldn't understand. Something we haven't yet tried is playing the movie in French with French subtitles, which would be interesting. When you play movies in class, what do you think are the ways you would go about teaching the material during, or after the movie?
I think that movies can be an extremely useful tool to teach culture and language, but sometimes I think that the students do not see watching a French movie as learning. Rather the students see it as a day off from learning.
I believe that playing movies is an important, and necessary, part of a foreign language classroom. However, in my personal experience as a student, I remember my teachers playing the movies and then they just had a worksheet at the end of the movie. Is that enough to test the comprehension of the students? We have played a couple of movies so far this year, and for each movie, we have stopped the film at certain parts to ask comprehension questions and explain what is going on, if necessary. I think that a lot of the time (and maybe this is more prevalent in high school than in college), teachers use movies as more of a break than as a helpful teaching tool. I do not think that that is the case all of the time, but I think that that is a factor.
Also, when playing movies, what do you think about the use of subtitles? Thus far, when we have played a movie in class, it has been in French with English subtitles. My concern in that case is that the students are reading the dialogue rather than listening to it. However, if you do not add the subtitles, I fear that they would be lost and they wouldn't understand. Something we haven't yet tried is playing the movie in French with French subtitles, which would be interesting. When you play movies in class, what do you think are the ways you would go about teaching the material during, or after the movie?
I think that movies can be an extremely useful tool to teach culture and language, but sometimes I think that the students do not see watching a French movie as learning. Rather the students see it as a day off from learning.
Monday, November 17, 2014
Testing anxiety: a perspective
Since a lot of us talked about testing anxiety in our blogs but don't have a lot of experience with this ourselves, I decided to ask a friend of mine about her experience with testing anxiety. She is my age and very successful academically and professionally. She's currently holding down a job in her field of study and will finish her master's degree in the spring. Although it wasn't her main focus, she did study Spanish during undergrad and studied abroad. I asked her how testing anxiety affects her and what she does to mitigate those effects. Her answer is copied and pasted here:
"For me confidence definitely plays a huge part in anxiety with tests. I don't think I necessarily get more things wrong, it doesn't necessarily affect my accuracy in responding. When it builds up, what's most affected is my ability to focus. I just either flip through the test a million and a half times or stare off or get up and leave. I just get super overwhelmed and shut down.
I asked her when she figured out those strategies for herself and she said,
"I think I actually didn't really figure any of it out until I started taking education classes. So probably college. Through high school I had a lot of teachers who learned to check in with me during tests and remind me of where I should be but that never taught me to self monitor. I definitely wish somebody had taught me how to do it myself earlier."
Obviously it's different for every person, but I never though of self-doubt being what causes people to be unable to focus. Psychologically it's smart to eliminate that problem by starting to study way ahead of time, but I understand all too well how hard it can be to do stuff that far ahead. I also liked her emphasis on time management as a test taking strategy, which also happens to be a skill that every single test taker, anxious or not, needs to employ to successfully complete an intensive test.
"For me confidence definitely plays a huge part in anxiety with tests. I don't think I necessarily get more things wrong, it doesn't necessarily affect my accuracy in responding. When it builds up, what's most affected is my ability to focus. I just either flip through the test a million and a half times or stare off or get up and leave. I just get super overwhelmed and shut down.
The two biggest things I've learned is really planning out how I will use my time during the test and when I start preparing for a big test. When I'm good (which is rare) I will start to study for exams about two weeks before daily. That way I can tell myself that I absolutely know the material and self doubt doesn't become a big issue during the test. Also, when we first get the test I go through and decide when I should get to certain parts or I do the biggest part first and give myself a time limit (If there are multiple choice and two essays and the exam is two hours long I may do the essays first and tell myself I should complete them in the first 45 minutes.) Learning to time manage during the test is the most important. Breaking it into sections and thinking about that amount of time rather than the test as a whole makes it considerably less overwhelming. "
"I think I actually didn't really figure any of it out until I started taking education classes. So probably college. Through high school I had a lot of teachers who learned to check in with me during tests and remind me of where I should be but that never taught me to self monitor. I definitely wish somebody had taught me how to do it myself earlier."
Obviously it's different for every person, but I never though of self-doubt being what causes people to be unable to focus. Psychologically it's smart to eliminate that problem by starting to study way ahead of time, but I understand all too well how hard it can be to do stuff that far ahead. I also liked her emphasis on time management as a test taking strategy, which also happens to be a skill that every single test taker, anxious or not, needs to employ to successfully complete an intensive test.
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Foreign Language Assessment
How accurately do you feel that classroom-based tests reflect student abilities? What are your experiences as a test-taker? Do you think there are students that do not test well? What method of testing do you think is most effective to measure students' language skills? Use examples to justify your point of view.
As an intern at Exeter High School, I have handed out, corrected, and handed back close to 12 in total throughout the semester. As I correct the exams, I often find myself thinking about these discussion questions. Did this test accurately reflect my students' abilities? I often find that students who do not do well in class are the students that do not perform well on the exam, and students who participate and make connections in class do well. As high schoolers, I think this has a lot more to do with their study habits, attention span, and interest in the material than it does with the test. I had a couple of students come into class one day and say that they didn't like my class because "they had to try". I do agree, and have first-hand experience that foreign language comes more easily to some than it does to others, but even those that understand it need to put in effort. When students do not perform well on an exam, I go back over the parts that they got wrong and I constantly ask myself if I covered that section enough? Was I clear enough in my presentation? Was the question confusing? Every time I found the question to be clear and the material to be covered well. Therefore, when students do not do well on an exam, I think it has more to do with their study habits than the quality of the question.
With that being said, I do not think that written tests are always a great indication of the knowledge that our students have. I do believe that there are some students who are genuinely poor test-takers, and let anxiety and stress interfere with their ability to portray their knowledge of the subject. I find that this is more likely when the subject doesn't come easily to students. When I was a student, I would study for a French test, go into the exam with little stress and do well. However, the story was completely different when it came to calculus or chemistry. I could study for hours on end and I would go into the test shaking with nerves, and get a mediocre grade. The grade didn't always reflect that I didn't know an aspect of the subject; when I was anxious or stressed I would have a much harder time recalling the information, which I think happens to some students.
With foreign language, I think that there are a variety of tools and methods to test students' ability. I remember when I was in high school, my teacher had a test with four separate parts on it: a listening, a speaking, a reading, and a writing component. I think that if a written test is the preferred method then these are the four areas that need to be tested. However, technology has added more ways of testing students. Exeter high school has a wonderful language lab where students have headphones with attached microphones, and students can record a conversation, or answers to a question. This is a great tool because the teacher can assess pronunciation, without having to take time out of class to do so. Presentations can also be a form of summative assessment. My ED500 experience was at Noble high school and the teacher was wrapping up a unit on restaurants and food, and the exam was a café experience in class that the students had to act out. They had table cloths, plastic silverware and menus, and they had to display their knowledge of the roles of waiter and customer through acting it out. I think that when it comes to assessing students, variety is a good thing because if the same teacher uses tests out of the book all of the time, the students come to expect it.
As an intern at Exeter High School, I have handed out, corrected, and handed back close to 12 in total throughout the semester. As I correct the exams, I often find myself thinking about these discussion questions. Did this test accurately reflect my students' abilities? I often find that students who do not do well in class are the students that do not perform well on the exam, and students who participate and make connections in class do well. As high schoolers, I think this has a lot more to do with their study habits, attention span, and interest in the material than it does with the test. I had a couple of students come into class one day and say that they didn't like my class because "they had to try". I do agree, and have first-hand experience that foreign language comes more easily to some than it does to others, but even those that understand it need to put in effort. When students do not perform well on an exam, I go back over the parts that they got wrong and I constantly ask myself if I covered that section enough? Was I clear enough in my presentation? Was the question confusing? Every time I found the question to be clear and the material to be covered well. Therefore, when students do not do well on an exam, I think it has more to do with their study habits than the quality of the question.
With that being said, I do not think that written tests are always a great indication of the knowledge that our students have. I do believe that there are some students who are genuinely poor test-takers, and let anxiety and stress interfere with their ability to portray their knowledge of the subject. I find that this is more likely when the subject doesn't come easily to students. When I was a student, I would study for a French test, go into the exam with little stress and do well. However, the story was completely different when it came to calculus or chemistry. I could study for hours on end and I would go into the test shaking with nerves, and get a mediocre grade. The grade didn't always reflect that I didn't know an aspect of the subject; when I was anxious or stressed I would have a much harder time recalling the information, which I think happens to some students.
With foreign language, I think that there are a variety of tools and methods to test students' ability. I remember when I was in high school, my teacher had a test with four separate parts on it: a listening, a speaking, a reading, and a writing component. I think that if a written test is the preferred method then these are the four areas that need to be tested. However, technology has added more ways of testing students. Exeter high school has a wonderful language lab where students have headphones with attached microphones, and students can record a conversation, or answers to a question. This is a great tool because the teacher can assess pronunciation, without having to take time out of class to do so. Presentations can also be a form of summative assessment. My ED500 experience was at Noble high school and the teacher was wrapping up a unit on restaurants and food, and the exam was a café experience in class that the students had to act out. They had table cloths, plastic silverware and menus, and they had to display their knowledge of the roles of waiter and customer through acting it out. I think that when it comes to assessing students, variety is a good thing because if the same teacher uses tests out of the book all of the time, the students come to expect it.
Testing
I believe
classroom-based tests are usually pretty good indicators of how a student is
performing in a class. They are better for testing particular knowledge or
skills that a lesson or a course is aimed at teaching though than they are for
testing overall proficiency. So for example, a test would be good for seeing if
a student learned particular rules of grammar in a foreign language class, but
probably not as good for testing how well they are able to employ those grammar
rules in their speech and writing on a consistent basis.
I believe I am a
good test taker and know all of the good strategies and thought processes for
taking a good exam. For many students, I do think there are many factors that
can affect test scores more than just how well a student knows the material.
Some possible influences are nerves, lack of test-taking strategies, and weird
questions like those that are worded badly or are ‘gotcha’ questions. Still, I
think a well formed exam will elicit responses that indicate whether a student
knows what they need to know or not. So to me, being a bad test-taker is not a
very good excuse, but maybe someone will make me change my mind on that!
Testing language
skills can be done in a ton of ways. It’s not like a math class where it is
hard to deviate from just one way of testing. I think it’s important for a
teacher to know what they want to test when making an assessment. If you only want
to assess if the students know how to conjugate particular verbs, make sure
other parts of the conjugation test, like reading comprehension, are not going
to be what messes them up. The test should be simple enough that if a student
gets something wrong, you know that it’s only because they do not know the
conjugation, and not because of some other aspect of the question. It’s okay to
test overall comprehension, proficiency, or another skill as well in other
assessments, or other parts of this one, but not where you want to know their
conjugation skills/memorization.
I think when
testing overall proficiency, it may be better to test on one of the four core
(reading, writing, listening, speaking) at a time. If you want to test their
writing abilities, make sure you have set up the exam so that it will not be
their lack of reading comprehension abilities to perform well on the writing
part. This is just like what I was saying above with the conjugations.
Finally, I think
quizzes and tests, even in the language classroom, are best, especially for
summative assessments. They are efficient, careful, and direct. However, I am
not at all opposed to using projects, presentations, etc. every so often too.
Formative
assessments is a whole other category that I did not really talk about here,
but you can do this in a ton of different ways. Formative assessments can be
much more diverse and creative. And they can tell you what you need to teach
better efficiently and before it is too late.
Assessment in the foreign language classroom
Assessment is, in my opinion an effective method of ensuring students' learning in the classroom. However, the effective teacher will vary their assessments to meet the needs of the diverse group of students. It is very important that the test focus on authentic material, as should all components of a foreign language class. That being said there are usually specific objectives in each unit or chapter of a given textbook that must be tested. The teacher needs to assess all students in the most equitable ways possible There are many creative ways to test even the required components. An example may be the use of interactive skits as a way of assessing students oral abilities.
I feel it is very important to have a variety of methods for a teacher to test a student's learning abilities. I have always been very successful in my foreign-language classes but I'm most successful in my oral assessments.
I certainly think that there are most definitely students that don't test as well as others. Some students have testing anxiety and may know the material inside and out but when it comes to to testing they mayfreeze and not be able to remember a thing.
I think the most effective test would test all four skills while certainly including a cultural component. In terms of format, the test will include at least multiple-choice, matching and filling in the blank and short answer. Each of these would have it's own section on the test. Listening is also a critical component to test. In terms of the most effective method to ensure students are successful, I would probably use either multiple-choice or true false. I would also allow the students to respond in English since I am not testing their ability to write but more importantly I want to test comprehension.
I feel it is very important to have a variety of methods for a teacher to test a student's learning abilities. I have always been very successful in my foreign-language classes but I'm most successful in my oral assessments.
I certainly think that there are most definitely students that don't test as well as others. Some students have testing anxiety and may know the material inside and out but when it comes to to testing they mayfreeze and not be able to remember a thing.
I think the most effective test would test all four skills while certainly including a cultural component. In terms of format, the test will include at least multiple-choice, matching and filling in the blank and short answer. Each of these would have it's own section on the test. Listening is also a critical component to test. In terms of the most effective method to ensure students are successful, I would probably use either multiple-choice or true false. I would also allow the students to respond in English since I am not testing their ability to write but more importantly I want to test comprehension.
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Testing in the Foreign Language Classroom
I am writing this blog post after having spent close
to four hours grading my Spanish 401 class’ most recent exams, and so the issue
of testing in the foreign language classroom is fresh on my mind. As was previously
mentioned, my students’ exams really do not tell me anything new, as I, having
known them now for almost a semester, had a fairly good idea of how they would
perform. Those who clearly come to class prepared earn high grades, while those
who seemingly put little effort into the course struggle on the exams. In many
cases, I think that my exam grades, more than anything, tell me how mature my
students are and how well they navigate life as a college student. I have
several students who seriously struggle as language learners, and yet earn A’s
and B’s on the exams due to their perseverance, hard work outside of the
classroom, and commitment to seeking out extra help when need be. On the other
hand, I also have students who I know (due to their performance in class) do
not struggle with memorizing vocabulary or comprehending grammatical structures
but who do not study, as well as students who do struggle but never seek out
extra help despite my constant urging.
I’ve come to
the conclusion that doing well on our Spanish 401 exams has much less to do
with being a good language learner than it does with putting in the time and
effort that is necessary to succeed on such an assessment. My “A” students are
not necessarily smarter or better language learners that my “D” students; they
simply have a better grasp of what it takes to earn high grades on this type of
assessment. In some cases, those who have a very natural ability to learn languages
will obviously have an advantage over those who do not, but, in my opinion,
everything comes down to how well a student prepares for and acquaints him or
herself with the given exam format. When studying for the exam students are not
necessarily honing their language abilities, but rather are attempting to
prepare themselves to answer the questions asked by the exam, and many of such
questions are seemingly unrelated to “authentic” or realistic uses of the language.
Testing, therefore, asks students to regurgitate information in order to asses
how well they have absorbed such material.
Although I am
often frustrated by our exam’s ability to test real language competencies, I struggle
to think of a better way to assess our students given the fast pace of Spanish
401 and relative lack of time in the semester for more creative types of assessments.
I like that our exams force students to be accountable for the material that we
have covered, but at the same time I very much dislike the idea that students
are simply memorizing material for a test. I wonder how much my students are
truly retaining, and whether or not the material is actually meaningful to
them. Will they actually remember any of what they have learned once the 401-402
sequence is over, or did they only learn parts of the language temporarily in
order to boost their GPA? I also obviously worry that such assessments create
far too much anxiety and therefore discourage students who are already
struggling in the class. Students who are seasoned test-takers and who are accustomed
to life as a college student know exactly how to prepare and what to expect, while
those who have testing anxiety, are not “good” test-takers, or who are new to
UNH seem to become quite nervous upon being given an exam and therefore hinder
their own ability to show what they know. I guess, more than anything, I am
unsure if a solution exists that responds to all of my concerns but that also
fits well within the time constraints of the Spanish 401 classroom. Any ideas?
Response to Discussion #7: Foreign Language Assessment
I think that classroom-based
tests accurately reflect students’ abilities, but only in certain areas. Tests usually only evaluate one way of
thinking – if it’s a well-made test, maybe it requires you to think a handful
of different ways – and that’s a fairly narrow way to measure the various ways
different people’s brains work. I think
testing does have its place in the foreign language classroom because it does
evaluate basic understanding of vocabulary and grammar, and frankly, if you
can’t reproduce those things on an exam, then there is probably a breakdown of
your understanding of them. I also think
it’s important for students to occasionally be expected to produce language on
their own without any notes or book to help them. However, tests should not make up a huge part
of the grade, especially in beginning levels – maybe 30% at the most.
I think proficiency-oriented tests
do the best job of measuring arguably the most important ability in language,
which is the ability to understand and communicate. Instead of testing only your understanding of
direct object pronouns, for instance, they test how well you can apply the
language as a whole, and that’s really the area foreign language education aims
to develop. However, proficiency testing
does not measure how well someone is absorbing specific course content. Of course, gaining and evaluating specific
content is also of value because individual skills are what ultimately improve proficiency. As a compromise, such achievement-oriented
tests to measure content absorbed in the classroom should utilize different
types of questions to allow for different ways of thinking about the
concept. As many questions as possible
should require meaningful processing, meaning that student needs to be able to
understand the context in order to answer the question. This requires them to apply more skills on
each question and represents a somewhat closer, but in no way exact,
approximation of their proficiency level.
I am fortunate as a test
taker. I get just enough anxiety to get
me to study but not so much that it negatively affects my performance. As a seasoned student (as we are all in this
class) I am used to the way exams are formatted and usually have some idea
ahead of time about how best to study.
Of course, just a little guidance from the instructor about how to study
goes a long way, and in turn I make an effort to help my students structure
their studying for Spanish exams, especially with the use of study guides.
This has been touched on in
previous posts, but I will explicitly ask here, do you accept the idea that
there are people that “don’t test well”?
I especially remember this being discussed when I took the SATs in high
school and some of my friends who did well in school struggled to raise their
scores to where they wanted them to be.
If you can’t reproduce information on an exam, what does that say about
your understanding? I do not mean to
imply that it means you don’t understand – it could just be that you understand
it when you think about the same material in a different way than the test
frames the question. I understand that
many people’s anxiety gets in the way of their performance, and later they see
the exam and wonder why they did what they did, when they know they know
better. I guess I have mixed feelings -
in some ways I understand that some people “don’t test well,” but in other ways
I think that the ability to reproduce certain information does represent the
level of understanding. What do you
think?
Friday, November 14, 2014
Testing in the Language Classroom
How to test students is always going to be a tough question. Students have various strengths and weaknesses that will affect which testing method is the best for them. On top of that some students just are not good testers in general. I know several people that were good at class work, and knew the material, but could not do well on the tests.
That being said, testing is necessary to see how students are doing. Otherwise we would never know that the quiet student sitting in the back is in fact one of the best students in the class. Testing can be used to adjust the curriculum to review tricky sections, and either slow down or pick up the speed. Obviously if a whole class does badly on a test or quiz there needs to be more work on the section.
As for my own experiences, I was a pretty good tester in high school, so I did pretty well. I think my teachers used pretty standard testing formats. Lots of vocabulary tests as beginners, and eventually we built up to writing short essays. We also ended up practicing listening and speaking more as we advanced. I feel like we should have done more with these from the beginning though. I feel like it would have helped me a lot in the long run despite how much everyone hated speaking and listening tests.
The problem with speaking tests is that they have to either be graded on the spot, which can be difficult, or recorded. Grading recorded tests takes a lot of time, especially if you want to transcribe them so that students can see their errors. Obviously it is important to do this, but finding the best way can take awhile for the novice teacher.
As for listening tests, I guess you just have to try to take the stress out of it. Of course that is easier said than done. I know what some teachers do for lower level students is do read the listening part themselves, so they can control the speed and the students are used to their voice. You could argue that this is too easy, or that it is a building block up to more authentic sounding material. I personally like this method for novice students with general topics like time or the weather.
My last point is that I do not think that tests should be a huge part of the grade. They are important but students need to also be evaluated through other means, including projects and regular day to day work. I also believe that effort should be a section of the grade since languages are not for everyone and some people struggle a lot in language classes.
Effectiveness of Assessment
How accurately do you feel that classroom-based tests reflect student abilities? What are your experiences as a test-taker? Do you think there are students that do not test well? What method of testing do you think is most effective to measure students' language skills? Use examples to justify your point of view.
In my view, classroom testing only provides limited insight into a student's language abilities. From my admittedly limited teaching experience, I found that for the most part classroom testing seemed only to confirm what I already knew about my students. The students that were performing well in class did well on tests and vise versa with very few exceptions to that rule. I think this is especially true in lower level language courses, were tests also happen to occur more frequently as a measure of student skills. More often than not, I think classroom tests are used as a way of forcing students to demonstrate their abilities and knowledge in a high pressure situation. I think this is interesting given the amount of time we have devoted in class discussing how important a low anxiety environment is to facilitate successful language learning.
This is not to say that testing is entirely useless. I have given both short quizzes and large chapter tests in the classes I have taught and they were useful to me as a teacher because they provided me with a good way to know whether the class was understanding certain concepts and learning goals. A quiz especially gives a teacher a good benchmark to work from and allows him/her to adjust lesson plan accordingly, depending on the needs of the class. Larger tests can make a teacher aware of student needs as well, but since they usually come at the end of a chapter or unit, it can be difficult to backpedal and incorporate further practice while at the same time moving the class forward and on to more advanced concepts.
End of unit or end of course projects can be an interesting alternative to traditional tests to measure language skills. A project tied to an oral and written component can serve well to measure a student's language skill when the teacher is clear about expectations. Since it is difficult to create "authentic" speaking activities in the context of a text, I see student projects/presentations in lieu of testing to be a good alternative. It provides a more authentic and meaningful context to measure the student's speaking skills. Ideally, my language classes would have a mixture of student projects/presentations and traditional tests. This approach would also cater to student needs and learning styles. Not every student, including myself, are good test takers and a teacher should provide ways for students to demonstrate their skills beyond a traditional test.
In my view, classroom testing only provides limited insight into a student's language abilities. From my admittedly limited teaching experience, I found that for the most part classroom testing seemed only to confirm what I already knew about my students. The students that were performing well in class did well on tests and vise versa with very few exceptions to that rule. I think this is especially true in lower level language courses, were tests also happen to occur more frequently as a measure of student skills. More often than not, I think classroom tests are used as a way of forcing students to demonstrate their abilities and knowledge in a high pressure situation. I think this is interesting given the amount of time we have devoted in class discussing how important a low anxiety environment is to facilitate successful language learning.
This is not to say that testing is entirely useless. I have given both short quizzes and large chapter tests in the classes I have taught and they were useful to me as a teacher because they provided me with a good way to know whether the class was understanding certain concepts and learning goals. A quiz especially gives a teacher a good benchmark to work from and allows him/her to adjust lesson plan accordingly, depending on the needs of the class. Larger tests can make a teacher aware of student needs as well, but since they usually come at the end of a chapter or unit, it can be difficult to backpedal and incorporate further practice while at the same time moving the class forward and on to more advanced concepts.
End of unit or end of course projects can be an interesting alternative to traditional tests to measure language skills. A project tied to an oral and written component can serve well to measure a student's language skill when the teacher is clear about expectations. Since it is difficult to create "authentic" speaking activities in the context of a text, I see student projects/presentations in lieu of testing to be a good alternative. It provides a more authentic and meaningful context to measure the student's speaking skills. Ideally, my language classes would have a mixture of student projects/presentations and traditional tests. This approach would also cater to student needs and learning styles. Not every student, including myself, are good test takers and a teacher should provide ways for students to demonstrate their skills beyond a traditional test.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
#7: Effectiveness of Assessment
How accurately do you feel that classroom-based tests reflect student abilities? What are your experiences as a test-taker? Do you think there are students that do not test well? What method of testing do you think is most effective to measure students' language skills? Use examples to justify your point of view.
I feel that all in all, tests do a reasonably good job in reflecting student's abilities, so long as they test all four skills, as well as the different elements of communicative competence, and not just reading and writing. It is very important to include listening and speaking, as well as a cultural component into tests in oder to have a well rounded assessment of a student's abilities. Our textbook provides examples of the "Hybrid Approach" to classroom testing, which I believe does a serviceable job combining these different elements and placing them into a "naturalized" context. The test should mirror the format of classwork; this provides another layer of schema for students because they are already familiar with the expectations and format of the test.
The same principles hold true for testing as they stand for teaching; the testing and development of FL skills require multiple smaller skills (the different competencies) and an authentic context. The further that tests deviate from these principles, the less accurately they reflect student's abilities.
Luckily, I am a good test taker; I have never had a hard time taking exams regardless of their format, but I do believe that there are some students whose test scores do not accurately reflect their skills. I think that for the most part, anxiety is the biggest factor in these student's test performances. A student who allows the permanence of a test (the idea of a grade!) scare them into over-thinking and anxiety will have test scores that are probably much less proficient than their assignments (where they have more time and resources at their disposal) or in classwork, when it is unlikely that they are being graded.
In my experience, the most important factor in my success in a test has been whether or not the expectations of the test were clearly defined by the instructor. Above all, students need to know what to study, and how to study it in order to be successful. This means that teachers must clearly define what subjects will be on the test, and in what format. It is nearly impossible for a student to study all of the material—teachers can tell students what is the most important to know. For example: "The test will cover everything you have learned up to now," or "Study chapters 5 and 6," are not sufficiently defined expectations for a test. A better way to inform students would be "Please review the conjugations of all of the irregular verbs from chapter 6, there will be phrases to translate, also: reread the culture section, there will be related listening activities with true or false questions."
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Discussion #7: Foreign Language Assessment
How accurately do you feel that classroom-based tests reflect student abilities? What are your experiences as a test-taker? Do you think there are students that do not test well? What method of testing do you think is most effective to measure students' language skills? Use examples to justify your point of view.
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Culture in the Classroom
In order to learn a language you have to learn about the culture associated with it. The most obvious reason being that you need to know how to act when you arrive to a country that uses the language. The more subtle reason is that culture affects the mechanics of the language. So in order to truly understand the language you need to understand the culture. An example of culture affecting the mechanics is seeing the influence of indigenous languages in the Spanish of Mexico. Knowing about the indigenous culture makes it easier to pronounce the native words and be able to hold a conversation with them.
Now that brings up the question of what is culture? Culture is essentially the way in which humans live their lives. It covers every aspect, including beliefs, habits, social interactions, food, and the way that we think. Because of the range of culture it is very difficult to teach in the classroom. In order to get students to truly understand the C2, we need to teach them a new way of thinking.
Trying to get students outside of their own way of thought is a complicated process. You are essentially challenging every thing that they have learned before taking this class. In consequence some students will resist. I know I did at first, but once I learned to embrace the culture I fell in love, so it just takes work.
Within the classroom the most common ways to teach culture are through lessons about traditions, food, and history. These are all very important,but can get stale. So teachers need to cover a variety of topics in order to keep students interested. Movies and music are some of the best ways to insert culture into the classroom and keep things fresh because students can see what the culture is like, but also relate a little since these are mediums that they love. Creating connections between the C1 and C2 are ideal in having students learn about the second culture.
Beyond these tasks obviously the best way to learn about a culture is to live in it and be forced to adopt it. As teachers our job is to prepare our students as much as possible for this immersion. That is the point of the class. To make students prepared to use the language, which in turn means using the culture as well.
Now that brings up the question of what is culture? Culture is essentially the way in which humans live their lives. It covers every aspect, including beliefs, habits, social interactions, food, and the way that we think. Because of the range of culture it is very difficult to teach in the classroom. In order to get students to truly understand the C2, we need to teach them a new way of thinking.
Trying to get students outside of their own way of thought is a complicated process. You are essentially challenging every thing that they have learned before taking this class. In consequence some students will resist. I know I did at first, but once I learned to embrace the culture I fell in love, so it just takes work.
Within the classroom the most common ways to teach culture are through lessons about traditions, food, and history. These are all very important,but can get stale. So teachers need to cover a variety of topics in order to keep students interested. Movies and music are some of the best ways to insert culture into the classroom and keep things fresh because students can see what the culture is like, but also relate a little since these are mediums that they love. Creating connections between the C1 and C2 are ideal in having students learn about the second culture.
Beyond these tasks obviously the best way to learn about a culture is to live in it and be forced to adopt it. As teachers our job is to prepare our students as much as possible for this immersion. That is the point of the class. To make students prepared to use the language, which in turn means using the culture as well.
Discusson #6: Teaching culture
In your view, what is culture? Is it important
to teach L2 culture? Why? Is it possible to teach L2 culture in the classroom
setting? What are the limitations? How should culture be learned or taught? Use
examples to support your points of view.
Culture is an important part of the identity of a person
because it affects their behaviors and perspectives on the world. If you want to get to know someone, it helps
to get to know their culture because of the influence it has on them. Culture is made up of beliefs and traditions
that belong to a certain group of people.
Often someone’s culture is defined the same as their nationality (i.e.
French, Costa Rican, Haitian) but culture is not confined by national
borders. The most obvious example is of
indigenous peoples or ethnic groups (Native American culture, Quechua culture,
Roma culture).
It is very important to teach L2 culture. I like the example on the first page of
Chapter 8, where the teacher points out that it is even more important for a student who will never leave Georgia to study
foreign language precisely because he
will never leave Georgia. He may be a
great guy and live a very content life in Georgia, but he may not be exposed to
many different cultures there. He may
not know what to think of different cultures if he does encounter them; and he
might not be open to tolerating something he’s never been exposed to, for
instance. Fostering cultural
understanding and tolerance in students seeps into other parts of life –
learning to accept that others are different from you is a lesson we spend a
lot of time teaching children and one we often have to remind ourselves of in
adulthood.
It is possible to teach L2 culture in the classroom to a
certain extent – the easiest manifestation of that would be lessons on holidays
in the target culture. There are some
really interesting and far-out festivals that go on in other cultures that are
totally foreign to us, and often students are fascinated by the ways holidays
are celebrated in other cultures. That
also provides the opportunity for some valuable self-reflection about our own
holiday traditions that we take for granted.
What’s a little harder to teach is attitudes and how they
differ in other countries. Anecdotes are
the best way I can think of to compare how people behave in their day to day
lives. For instance, almost all of the
host parents I knew of when I studied in Spain made the meals for the
students. I know my host mom didn’t even
let me put the food on the plate; the full plate was waiting for me when I sat
down. When I first arrived I asked if I could help with various kitchen tasks,
and she turned me down for all of them, so I stopped offering. There weren’t enough seats when we ate in the
kitchen so she would eat standing up while my father, sister, and I ate, or she
would eat after us or take the first empty seat when someone finished. This rigid domestic role for the mother is a
little outdated in our culture but it is not unusual in Spain. I don’t know how I would convey this to
students other than by telling them the story.
Luckily, I do think they enjoy when I tell personal anecdotes, because
they are interested in something that really happened.
Of course, the best way to experience culture is to live in
it (insert study abroad plug here). Living
in a foreign country allows you to immerse yourself in all the nuances that you’d
never catch onto in a classroom.
Teaching culture in a classroom should be a multimedia experience
- you need to use authentic material to show what life is like in other
countries. Interviews with natives,
music from the target culture, lots of photos, and any useful videos you can
find are a must. Images and sounds can make
you feel closer to something that you’re unfamiliar with. Getting a native speaker in to talk about
his/her own culture would be fantastic. It’s
also important to draw connections to the students’ own culture - that way, a
foreign culture won’t seem quite so foreign after all.
Teaching Culture in Foreign Language Education
In your view, what is culture? Is it important to teach L2 culture? Why? Is it possible to teach L2 culture in the classroom setting? What are the limitations? How should culture be learned or taught? Use examples to support your points of view.
Culture can be broadly defined as the products, practices, and perspectives of a certain country, region, or area. This can include material objects such as food, but it also includes inanimate objects, such as languages and traditions. It is difficult for two countries or regions to have the same culture, but it is certainly possible for aspects of two different cultures to overlap. For instance, Canada and France are very different, but their history, and therefore their language and traditions may be very similar (parts of Canada, at least).
I find it to be extremely important to teach L2 culture in the foreign language classrooms. Looking back on my French studies, the culture lessons were the lessons that I enjoyed the most and made me more curious about the language and the culture. In my experience teaching, the students react in a very similar way to me about studying culture. In our French classes, we do a lot of language study, and a lot of grammar, but the students really excelled in a culture presentation that they had to do. I think that it is important for students to learn about the culture, as well as language, because the two often go hand-in-hand. As we have studied, sociolinguistic competence requires understanding the social context in order to speak appropriately. In French, you must understand that there is a cultural difference between using the formal and the informal -- the "tu" and the "vous" form. You would never use "tu" with a professor, elder, or shopkeeper. This is not a part of the English language, we just use "you", so this presents a challenge for some students in a foreign language class.
I think that it is possible to teach the L2 culture in a foreign language classroom setting, although it does have its drawbacks. With my students, we did a cultural project where the students worked with a partner to research a particular region, château, or holiday in France. They were responsible for creating a PowerPoint and presenting it to the class. Of course, the students do not get to experience the culture first-hand, but they have a much better idea and understanding of it when it is presented. In most examples, the students are limited to what they see or hear. They have to take somebody else's word for what the culture is about rather than experiencing it for themselves.
With that being said, I believe that the best way for the students to see and learn about the culture is through authentic material that comes from a source other than the teacher. Watching films, video clips, or reading about the culture is a good method to use when teaching culture. If you can incorporate food into your lessons when teaching about French cuisine, that would be a great tool to use as well.
Overall, I think that culture needs to be taught in schools and in classes because it is imperative for students to learn about in order to communicate effectively. I think that it is an effective tool to use to keep the students interested in the subject as well.
Culture can be broadly defined as the products, practices, and perspectives of a certain country, region, or area. This can include material objects such as food, but it also includes inanimate objects, such as languages and traditions. It is difficult for two countries or regions to have the same culture, but it is certainly possible for aspects of two different cultures to overlap. For instance, Canada and France are very different, but their history, and therefore their language and traditions may be very similar (parts of Canada, at least).
I find it to be extremely important to teach L2 culture in the foreign language classrooms. Looking back on my French studies, the culture lessons were the lessons that I enjoyed the most and made me more curious about the language and the culture. In my experience teaching, the students react in a very similar way to me about studying culture. In our French classes, we do a lot of language study, and a lot of grammar, but the students really excelled in a culture presentation that they had to do. I think that it is important for students to learn about the culture, as well as language, because the two often go hand-in-hand. As we have studied, sociolinguistic competence requires understanding the social context in order to speak appropriately. In French, you must understand that there is a cultural difference between using the formal and the informal -- the "tu" and the "vous" form. You would never use "tu" with a professor, elder, or shopkeeper. This is not a part of the English language, we just use "you", so this presents a challenge for some students in a foreign language class.
I think that it is possible to teach the L2 culture in a foreign language classroom setting, although it does have its drawbacks. With my students, we did a cultural project where the students worked with a partner to research a particular region, château, or holiday in France. They were responsible for creating a PowerPoint and presenting it to the class. Of course, the students do not get to experience the culture first-hand, but they have a much better idea and understanding of it when it is presented. In most examples, the students are limited to what they see or hear. They have to take somebody else's word for what the culture is about rather than experiencing it for themselves.
With that being said, I believe that the best way for the students to see and learn about the culture is through authentic material that comes from a source other than the teacher. Watching films, video clips, or reading about the culture is a good method to use when teaching culture. If you can incorporate food into your lessons when teaching about French cuisine, that would be a great tool to use as well.
Overall, I think that culture needs to be taught in schools and in classes because it is imperative for students to learn about in order to communicate effectively. I think that it is an effective tool to use to keep the students interested in the subject as well.
Teaching culture
In my view, culture is learning the ways of the people who live in the area where the target language is spoken. There are many different aspects which constitute culture such as, food, music, social customs, education, and religion.
I think it is extremely important to teach C2 because it will give students reason behind the language they are learning, especially when it gives students vocabulary related to food, sports, clothing,and daily life. One of the most effective ways to teach culture is to use authentic materials. For example, if a Spanish teacher is teaching a lesson on Machu Picchu he or she may use photos and give background information from their own travels on the cultural significance of the area.
Although I do believe that incorporating culture is effective, there are some limitations to teaching culture in the classroom setting. For example, the school may have policies restricting the distribution of food, thus limiting the teacher's ability to implement lessons surrounding cultural cuisine.
I think it is also critically important to use tangible materials when teaching culture. While the textbook cultural component can provide adequate background knowledge, it is usually easier for students to connect to the culture if they have some representation of it whether this be YouTube videos, music, Cultural presentation by a guest speaker or food.
I think it is extremely important to teach C2 because it will give students reason behind the language they are learning, especially when it gives students vocabulary related to food, sports, clothing,and daily life. One of the most effective ways to teach culture is to use authentic materials. For example, if a Spanish teacher is teaching a lesson on Machu Picchu he or she may use photos and give background information from their own travels on the cultural significance of the area.
Although I do believe that incorporating culture is effective, there are some limitations to teaching culture in the classroom setting. For example, the school may have policies restricting the distribution of food, thus limiting the teacher's ability to implement lessons surrounding cultural cuisine.
I think it is also critically important to use tangible materials when teaching culture. While the textbook cultural component can provide adequate background knowledge, it is usually easier for students to connect to the culture if they have some representation of it whether this be YouTube videos, music, Cultural presentation by a guest speaker or food.
Teaching Culture
In my
opinion, culture can be loosely defined as the language, customs, practices,
and traditions of a given country, region, community, etc., that distinguishes
it from another location. It attempts to denote the often indescribable idiosyncrasies
that pertain to a given group of people. Although geographical locations (i.e.
countries, states, regions, communities) may share a singular culture, it is
important to denote that, with the rise of modern technologies and globalizing
networks, individuals who do not necessarily live in close proximity to one
another may share the same culture.
I
think that culture is an essential part of L2 learning, and should be
emphasized as much as possible, although in many cases this is difficult with
very fast-moving language programs. As we have learned so far in this course,
being able to communicate effectively obviously comes from understanding the
basic grammatical structures of the language, but it can be equally important
to understand the sociolinguistic nuances of that target culture. Communication
is not just speaking or creating comprehensible output; it also entails the
task of interaction and exchange. The ability to work within cultural norms is essential
when communicating in the “real world,” and immersing oneself in the target
culture. One who speaks the language incredibly well but has a poor grasp of
the target culture may find him or herself in much more communication trouble
than someone who has a moderate understanding of the language but a very strong
grasp on cultural norms and sociolinguistic nuances.
As a
Spanish instructor, I think that teaching culture is essential for my students,
especially given the very broad, and often quite stereotypical, generalizations
that people tend to make when discussing Hispanic cultures. Some of my
students, at the beginning of the academic year, referred to all
Spanish-speakers, no matter their country of origin, as “Spanish,” assumed that
all Latin American cultures mirror Spanish culture, and thought that the entire
Hispanic world eats tacos. Having studied both Spanish and Latin American
studies as an undergraduate, and now obviously as a graduate student, I am
passionate about Hispanic/Latin American cultures, and have worked hard to
stress that there is no singular “Spanish” culture. I do not expect my students
to remember the specifics of each culture or country discussed, but I do hope
that they, at the very least, understand how problematic it would be to lump
all such cultures into one singular cultural entity.
Given
the diversity of Latin American and Spanish cultures, it is obviously difficult
to prepare students to interact with one singular “target culture.” Some
sociolinguistic norms are rather universal across the board, but others are
not. If my entire class intended to eventually study in Mexico, for example, it
would be easy to tailor the course so that students adequately reviewed the
sociolinguistic nuances of that culture. Unfortunately, this is hardly ever the
case, and so Spanish instructors must attempt to give the class a little taste
of everything. In upper-level Spanish classes, students often elect to take
courses that relate to the country or cultures that they wish to have contact
with, but in the case of the 401-402 sequence, discussions of culture are much
broader. My textbook, “Mosaicos,” for example, discusses a different Spanish-speaking
country (or region in some cases) each chapter, thereby allowing students a
brief glimpse of each unique culture. I like this set-up, as it offers students
a rather broad survey of Latin American and Spanish cultures, while at the same
time stressing the individuality of each.
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