Cognitive Load Theory and the 道 of Chinese pedagogy Helen Lewis Lead Teacher MEP FPS Jess Mansell School Direct Trainee FPS 20202021 Views on Sentence Builders Celebrated by the MFL ID: 1044204
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1. Beyond the Sentence BuilderCognitive Load Theory and the “道” of Chinese pedagogyHelen Lewis – Lead Teacher MEP FPSJess Mansell – School Direct Trainee FPS 2020/2021
2. Views on Sentence BuildersCelebrated by the MFL TwitteratiFully embraced by our MFL department at FPS (along with many other “Conti-style” activities)Maggie Sproule, Tingting Yin, Mengru Xie and Chris Webster have recently produced a book of Sentence Builders linked to the famous Language Gym website.However, some teachers may feel this type of resource makes the learning “too easy” for the learners – surely they should just get on with learning their characters properly and write sentences without all this “scaffolding” nonsense.Or perhaps you’ve tried them, and found they go down well at first, but students either get bored or don’t make the transition from sentence builder to writing/saying independent sentences
3. Why the sentence builder? (Cognitive Load Theory)According to Sweller’s (1998) cognitive learning theory (CLT), our working memory processes a limited amount of new information at one time. When the cognitive load and effort exceed working memory, the learner is impeded (De Jong, 2010). New learning content should be broken down so the learner’s short, finite working memory is not overwhelmed. Effective teaching and learning involve making connections between the new material and the learner’s existing knowledge and skills (Fletcher-Wood, 2018). This will support the acquisition of new language and the development of literacy skills.
4. What is a sentence builder?Simply put, a teaching resource that helps students to create grammatically correct sentences.Not just grammar translation method/substitution drill repackagedIt seeks to minimise strain on Cognitive Load by providing everything the student needs to make a high quality sentence on one sheetFor our colleagues in MFL, target language plus English translationFor Mandarin, characters, pinyin and English translationIdeally, chunks of language with some kind of grammatical labelthe SB provides “comprehensible input”, material the student can understandAn important part of the “Listening as Modelling” approach to language learning
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6. Sentence builder example‘This is my bedroom.’
7. Sentence builder example‘I am tall.’
8. Method?These are many and various – Conti encourages teachers to “milk the material”, using really well-designed sentence builders for a range of activities.Typical FPS lesson, as demonstrated just now:Teacher reads a sentence aloud in Chinese slowly, repeating x 2/x3, students translate to English on mini white boardsMay get students to read sentences for each other in pairs to translateTeacher reads sentence in English for students to write in ChineseStudents are encouraged to practise further for HWKThey then turn over the sentence builder and try to write a sentence from memory.
9. RationaleALL students can participate and make progress, regardless of how quickly they are able to retain characters in long term memoryStudents are able to drill high value, accurate grammar structure, regardless of their starting pointTeacher can quickly see level of engagement and gather valuable AfL data during the lesson as to students’ understandingStudents are able to practise all four skills, reading, writing, listening and speaking over the course of the activities, building confidenceBy gradually reducing the scaffolding (turning over the sheet) students can then move to producing sentences more spontaneously
10. Problems?Too many of us stop there, using the SB in isolation from other activitiesOr we don’t fully utilise a wide range of activities with our SB, eg just setting SB sentence writing for HWKSome teachers overlook the engagement produced by varying the interaction, eg. getting students to “be the teachers” by composing sentences for one another, then peer reviewing translationsMany teachers struggle to come up with what to do next after SB work to bridge the gap from SB to spontaneous speaking/writing.
11. SolutionsMost important – the principle of “fading scaffolding”.Can be more sophisticated than turning the sheet overFor example – test students’ memory by insisting on an interval of, say, 10 seconds before they are allowed to put pen to MWB. This makes them repeat the sentence in their head before they write it, gradually developing the skill of saying and then writing sentences.
12. …choosing a lexical chunk from each row, climbing up the “wall”Translate English sentences into Chinese by…Rock climbing translation example ‘Hobbies.’
13. 篮球和网球游泳足球乒乓球不喜欢会喜欢打爸爸我今天弟弟星期日她星期一这个星期I like to listen to music and read books on Mondays.This week Dad plays basketball and tennis.On 16th March younger brother can swim.She plays football today.Grandma doesn’t like table tennis on Sundays.Rock climbingtranslations听音乐和看书踢奶奶三月十六日…choosing a lexical chunk from each row, climbing up the “wall”Translate English sentences into Chinese by…
14. 篮球和网球游泳足球乒乓球不喜欢会喜欢打爸爸我今天弟弟星期日她星期一这个星期I like to listen to music and read books on Mondays.This week Dad plays basketball and tennis.On 16th March younger brother can swim.She plays football today.Grandma doesn’t like table tennis on Sundays.Rock climbingtranslations听音乐和看书踢奶奶三月十六日12345111222333444555
15. Further examples of fading scaffoldingListening slalom example ‘Hobbies.’
16. Further examples of fading scaffoldingListening slalom example ‘Hobbies.’ ANSWERS
17. Further examples of fading scaffoldingFind the sentence example ‘I am tall.’
18. Further examples of fading scaffoldingGuess who example ‘I am tall.’
19. Questions-Build your own sentence builder
20. ReferencesConti, G. (4 May 2020). The art of science and creating sentence builders – key factors to consider in creating your sentence builders. [Online]. (URL https://gianfrancoconti.com/2020/05/04/the-art-and-science-of-creating-sentence-builders-key-factors-to-consider-in-creating-your-sentence-builder/). (Accessed 28 May 2021).Conti, G., Smith, S. and Vinales, D. (2016, October 16). 12 strategies for enhancing intermediate language students writing. [Online]. (URL https://gianfrancoconti.com/2016/10/16/6972/). (Accessed 2 June 2021).De Jong, T. (2010). Cognitive Load Theory, educational research, and instructional design: Some food for thought. Instructional Science, 38(2), 233-246.Fletcher-Wood, H. (2018). Responsive teaching: Cognitive science and formative assessment in practice. Routledge.Kalyuga, S., Ayres, P., Chandler, P,. and Sweller, J. (2003). The expertise reversal effect. Educational Psychologist, 38(1), 23–31.Reif, F. (2010). Applying Cognitive Science to Education. Thinking and Learning in Scientific and Other Complex Domains. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.Smith, S. and Conti, G. (2016). The Language Teacher Toolkit. Great Britain: Amazon.Sweller, J. (1998). Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning. Cognitive Science (12), 257–285.