Allison Moore Associate Dean of Teaching and Learning Bentley School CAIS Southern Regional Conference March 3 2014 A language teachers dilemma Overview for today What is proficiencybased instruction What does the research say ID: 330872
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Slide1
Letting Go of Grammar
Allison Moore, Associate Dean of Teaching and Learning
Bentley School
CAIS Southern Regional Conference
March 3, 2014 Slide2
A language teacher’s dilemma… Slide3
Overview for today:
What is proficiency-based instruction? What does the research say?
If we know proficiency-based instruction is so great, why aren’t we all doing it all the time? What are the obstacles to a proficiency-based curriculum?
How can we tackle some of those obstacles? Slide4
What is proficiency-based instruction? What does the research say? Slide5
Some sources of this research:
Lee and
VanPatten
Making
Communicative
Language
Teaching
Happen
.
McGraw Hill, New York 1995.
Omaggio
Hadley
, A.
Teaching
Language
in
Context
.
Heinle
&
Heinle
. 2001
“
Foreign
Languages
and
Higher
Education
: New
Structures
for
a
Changed
World
” MLA Ad Hoc
Committee
of
Foreign
Languages
. 2007 Slide6
Daily
routines
and
reflexive
verbs
Slide7
Daily Routines and Reflexive Verbs
Lee and Van Patten asked university students to describe their daily routines and what they found was something like this:
“I get up in the morning around 9:00. I sometimes eat breakfast but usually I just go to my first class. In the afternoon, I have classes and often go to the library to study. I eat a quick snack when I can. In the evening I work until 11:00 at night. I study a little when I get home, but sometimes I just watch “Nick at Night,” then go to bed. “ Slide8
From Lee and Van Patten again,
“The
point, then, is that
topicalized
or contextualized
grammar is not equivalent to a communicative or proficiency orientation. True communicative and proficiency-oriented instruction
cannot be grammar driven.
Moreover, in many cases a communicative goal cannot be equated with (or reduced to) a particular grammatical item. In those textbooks in which communicative goals are apparently equated with grammar, the linguistic tools provided might not be what is needed to realize the stated communicative goals. What is evident from the preceding examples on daily routines is that the stated communicative goal is actually a window dressing for a predetermined grammatical point;
communication
is
actually
at the service of grammar rather than the other way
around”(
p. 76
).Slide9Slide10
A
re
you
sold
on
proficiency-based
teaching
?
Totally
Mostly
A
little
Not
at
all
Slide11
How closely aligned are your philosophy and what’s happening in your classroom?
Totally
Mostly
A
little
Not
at
all
Slide12
2. What
are the obstacles to a proficiency-based curriculum? Slide13
Let’s
look at a case study*
“Finding 1: There was more of a focus on linguistic competence rather than communicative competence.
Finding 2: Some communicative activities were implemented, but English dominated those activities, thus not aligning to the National Standards on Communication.
Finding 3: There were conflicts between what instructors said their goals were for their students’ language acquisition and what was actually possible with the language department.”
* Bryan Waite “Exploring the Development of Communicative Competence”
Connections
October 2010 v. 4 pp. 5-24 Slide14
angry students Slide15
How would you address the concerns of this student while still maintaining a communicative approach to teaching?
Write for 2 minutes.
Then, discuss with a colleague. Slide16
Grammar-based
objectives
Students
will
know
how
to
use
•
Preterite
tense
•
Double
object
pronouns
•
Verbs
like
gustar
•
Present
subjuntive
Slide17
Proficiency-based
objectives
:
Student
will
be
able
to
•
Order
food
in a restaurant
•
Comfort
a
friend
•
Give
directions
to
her
house
• Describe
the
plot
of
his
favorite
movie
Slide18
Take
a
few
minutes
to
write
4-5
proficiency
goals
for
an
upcoming
unit
in
one
of
your
classes
. Slide19
What
is
a
communicative
activity
?
It’s
authentic
It’s
task-based
It
requires
negotiation
of
meaning
It’s
contextualized
Slide20
Your
best
communicative
activity
Write
for
5 minutes
individually
. Describe
one
of
your
best
communicative
activties
that
you’ve
designed
. Slide21
Textbooks
What
textbook
do
you
currently
use (
if
any
)?
What
do
you
like
about
it
?
What
do
you
dislike
about
it
?
Are
the
textbook’s
units
organized
around
vocabulary
and
grammar
?
Does
it
have
grammar-based
activties
?
Communicative
activities
?
Or
a
combination
? Slide22
What
about
assessment
?
If
your
class
activities
and
homework
assignments
are
communicative
,
but
then
students
take
a
grammar-based
unit
test
or
final
exam
or
placement
test
for
the
next
level
,
your
students
will
feel
like
you
didn’t
prepare
them
.
If
you’re
using
a
communicative
approach
,
assessments
and
grading
ought
to
be
communicative
too
. Slide23
Assessment
Some questions to discuss about assessment:
• What has been your most successful communicative assessment?
• Have you ever given a communicative assessment, but then graded it for grammar accuracy? How might you grade differently?
• Are there any assessments at your school that are not in your control to design, e.g. placement tests? How can you reconcile your approach and the larger school context? At these ever at odds? Slide24
Connecting
with
families
What opportunities are there in your school to connect with parents and families? Is there a Back to School Night? A Newsletter?
Brainstorm at least 3 ways you can communicate with parents about your teaching methods.
How will you respond to a parent who asks why you don’t teach grammar? Slide25
Recommended:
Omaggio
Hadley
has in
her
book
,
Teaching
Language
in
Context
, a
chapter
devoted
to
how
to
implement
this
approach
.
It’s
called
“
Plannng
Instruction
for
the
Proficiency-Oriented
Classroom
:
Some
Practical
Guidelines
.” I
recommend
it
. Slide26
Conclusion
Some obstacles to teaching a proficiency-based language class
Some strategies for dealing with
those
obstacles