One of my goals in moving "beyond the textbook," was to give students more authentic opportunities to use the language. Actually, that was practically the only goal. I hadn't adequately considered how those opportunities would compare to typical abilities for their level such as those articulated in the ACTFL Can Do statements. I hadn't considered if they would get enough practice attending to form (accurate verb conjugations, matching verbs to subjects, dropping the e in je when it precedes a word with a vowel, etc). I hadn't thought enough about the cultural knowledge they would develop.
This past semester (fall 2018) I embedded more authentic cultural resources into the curriculum and students generally did well on them. Those who did the homework did well on those assignments as well as the cultural questions on the exam. When we debriefed at the end of the semester they were able to discuss many cultural features about different countries, not just their own for which they were an "ambassador." While I used summative assessments with similar if not identical questions on the unit exams, I didn't use a course-level summative assessment that asked specifically about the knowledge they learned about French pastimes, global environmental management, single-parent families, etc. I wish I had so I had some data on their ability to handle more abstract, cultural knowledge.
After a semester of relegating the textbook to the backseat I think I can conclude that students can handle greater rigor in the form of intellectual knowledge, but I think their basic communicative language skills have suffered, compared to past semesters. When I think back to FREN 103 the fall of 2017 it seemed that almost everyone spoke with greater ease. I haven't compared exam scores, and since I modified the exams, the data might not be that relevant anyway. Maybe my feeling comes from a general lack of maturity in this year's group over last year's. This year there were more freshmen and more immature upperclassmen who struggled to attend regularly and come prepared when they did. Last year's group had a pre-med student, an honors student, and an overachiever adamant about learning French, among others with other strong qualities. I think last year's group was just better prepared to do the work necessary to gradually acquire language proficiency. Had I used more authentic resources last year, I may have found that group could handle BOTH the increased intellectual/cultural rigor AND more challenging communicative situations.
There is no way to know for sure, but I hope the students who continue on next semester are more committed to their schoolwork than they were this past semester.
Friday, December 28, 2018
Challenging the Professor
After a second semester French class asked if they could do a hands on final exam that involved planning and executing a francophone breakfast I've given this option to my students. This past semester I asked my FREN 103 students to vote to do a traditional final oral exam or the francophone breakfast. The traditional exam would mean signing up for a 10 minute time slot to talk to me about 5 randomly chosen questions from throughout the semester. After much discussion they opted for a traditional exam, much to my surprise and disappointment.
In weighing the options, one student commented that she didn't see how a 10 minute exam would actually be a meaningful assessment since it's so short. She said this in front of the class with what seemed to me to be a contemptuous tone. I strive to create a collaborative, supportive atmosphere and positive, approachable presence so I suppose I should be gratified that she felt comfortable making that point in class. However, the tactless way she made the comment came across as very disrespectful.
The question was worthy of discussion for everyone because it gave me the chance to convey to them how much preparation they should expect. Since the questions are drawn from throughout the semester they have to be able to say something substantive on approximately 50 questions. They need to be able to effectively communicate the grammar and vocab on each of them. They need to be prepared for me to ask a related follow-up question to each. For example, if they are asked to describe their family and they tell me about their sister's looks I may ask about her personality. I don't want it to be an interrogation where they just move from question to question-I want it to be a conversation that evolves somewhat organically. The original 5 questions are basically just inspiration. Given this scenario, it is much harder to prepare for all of those possibilities.
After explaining this several students winced or opened their eyes wide. I could see regret on some faces for having opted for this kind of exam over the breakfast which would have given them a great deal more control. But maturity was an issue for the group and this was a good, if slightly painful, lesson for them.
In weighing the options, one student commented that she didn't see how a 10 minute exam would actually be a meaningful assessment since it's so short. She said this in front of the class with what seemed to me to be a contemptuous tone. I strive to create a collaborative, supportive atmosphere and positive, approachable presence so I suppose I should be gratified that she felt comfortable making that point in class. However, the tactless way she made the comment came across as very disrespectful.
The question was worthy of discussion for everyone because it gave me the chance to convey to them how much preparation they should expect. Since the questions are drawn from throughout the semester they have to be able to say something substantive on approximately 50 questions. They need to be able to effectively communicate the grammar and vocab on each of them. They need to be prepared for me to ask a related follow-up question to each. For example, if they are asked to describe their family and they tell me about their sister's looks I may ask about her personality. I don't want it to be an interrogation where they just move from question to question-I want it to be a conversation that evolves somewhat organically. The original 5 questions are basically just inspiration. Given this scenario, it is much harder to prepare for all of those possibilities.
After explaining this several students winced or opened their eyes wide. I could see regret on some faces for having opted for this kind of exam over the breakfast which would have given them a great deal more control. But maturity was an issue for the group and this was a good, if slightly painful, lesson for them.
Breaking Up with My Textbook: A Gradual, Multi-Stage Process
I'm writing this on Dec 28, 2018, well after the fall semester of 2018 when my breakup began. When I prepared the syllabus for my fall FREN 103 (accelerated beginning French) course, I somehow thought the break would be clean.
I don't know how on earth I thought that since I had also adopted an open-source text produced by the University of Texas-Austin, Français interactif. It is only $30 if you opt to print it and have it shipped, but all the materials are available for free online. I figured it was a good first step since students (and I) would still have some traditional support and a skeleton of sorts to rely on as I worked on fleshing out the course will real resources produced for native French speakers. It has a good variety of exercises, videos, and more elaborate assignments, just like Chez Nous, but for a fraction of the price.
I experienced buyer's remorse almost immediately after it arrived because I was still wrestling with how much of the textbook to include in the class, what chapters, what pages, what exercises, etc. I kept reminding myself the goal was to STOP doing that to myself (and the students). I felt like because I had the textbook I HAD to include it. I felt like I HAD to include it because going from a (full, expensive) textbook package to nothing would be too hard. Yet, if I had opted for a clean break from ALL textbooks, I probably would have saved myself some time and anguish. Hindsight...
One teaching approach that quickly emerged when I contemplated my breakup was CI (comprehensible input). The thinking is students need lots of exposure to quality input in the target language before they can be expected to produce their own language. Many of the practitioners use TPRS (Teaching Proficiency Through Reading and Storytelling). A google search of CI or TPRS in the French classroom will bring up a lot of sites about stories and novels written by non-native speakers that are used in the classrooms. Theoretically, the language in them is just a bit above the students' current level so there is a lot that is familiar, which serves as a scaffold, but there are a few new elements that help them grow and increase their proficiency. It seems like CI practitioners are on one side of a continuum where they do almost all the preparation of culturally empty lessons while students do little active learning. On the other end of the continuum are the ACTFL endorsed practices like adapting the task, not the (culturally relevant) text, where teachers and students both have a high level of preparation for each class period. I experimented a bit with CI and found the students to be engaged and to have absorbed a good amount of vocab, but they also got by without having to prepare anything themselves outside of class. If my understanding is accurate, does that make CI a better choice for middle school or high school than college? If so, does that mean using CI from time to time, like when introducing a unit for example, is appropriate but it isn't necessarily appropriate as the main teaching method?
While grappling with these reflections, I also identified and adapted some authentic resources to adhere to ACTFL's recommendation to get students using the target language in meaningful ways that are realistic for a given proficiency level. They included:
Overall I was pleased with each resource and the worksheets I developed to fully leverage each one, but it was very time consuming. I'm imagining our repository as chock-full of cool websites and activities, but I'm wondering if it is better to create a small repertoire of authentic texts that can be modified in numerous ways depending on the nature of the class and the proficiency level of the students. I could modify both my approach to the texts (how I use them to give students input) and output activities (what students DO with the input).
Somewhere near the end of October I came to terms with the gradual breakup and realized I needed an adjustment period to move away from Chez Nous and to experiment with some of the textbook-free principles I had gleaned over the summer and fall. I also came to terms with what would be "appropriate" for the college level and accepted that occasionally using CI will work for me.
Principles
I don't know how on earth I thought that since I had also adopted an open-source text produced by the University of Texas-Austin, Français interactif. It is only $30 if you opt to print it and have it shipped, but all the materials are available for free online. I figured it was a good first step since students (and I) would still have some traditional support and a skeleton of sorts to rely on as I worked on fleshing out the course will real resources produced for native French speakers. It has a good variety of exercises, videos, and more elaborate assignments, just like Chez Nous, but for a fraction of the price.
I experienced buyer's remorse almost immediately after it arrived because I was still wrestling with how much of the textbook to include in the class, what chapters, what pages, what exercises, etc. I kept reminding myself the goal was to STOP doing that to myself (and the students). I felt like because I had the textbook I HAD to include it. I felt like I HAD to include it because going from a (full, expensive) textbook package to nothing would be too hard. Yet, if I had opted for a clean break from ALL textbooks, I probably would have saved myself some time and anguish. Hindsight...
One teaching approach that quickly emerged when I contemplated my breakup was CI (comprehensible input). The thinking is students need lots of exposure to quality input in the target language before they can be expected to produce their own language. Many of the practitioners use TPRS (Teaching Proficiency Through Reading and Storytelling). A google search of CI or TPRS in the French classroom will bring up a lot of sites about stories and novels written by non-native speakers that are used in the classrooms. Theoretically, the language in them is just a bit above the students' current level so there is a lot that is familiar, which serves as a scaffold, but there are a few new elements that help them grow and increase their proficiency. It seems like CI practitioners are on one side of a continuum where they do almost all the preparation of culturally empty lessons while students do little active learning. On the other end of the continuum are the ACTFL endorsed practices like adapting the task, not the (culturally relevant) text, where teachers and students both have a high level of preparation for each class period. I experimented a bit with CI and found the students to be engaged and to have absorbed a good amount of vocab, but they also got by without having to prepare anything themselves outside of class. If my understanding is accurate, does that make CI a better choice for middle school or high school than college? If so, does that mean using CI from time to time, like when introducing a unit for example, is appropriate but it isn't necessarily appropriate as the main teaching method?
While grappling with these reflections, I also identified and adapted some authentic resources to adhere to ACTFL's recommendation to get students using the target language in meaningful ways that are realistic for a given proficiency level. They included:
- the song Papaoutai by Stromae to discuss different types of families
- Thierry's CV to compare CVs to resumés
- an article on French pastimes
- another on global natural resource management
- photos of recipes from Quebec to practice the partitive
- a video of a school district dietitian explaining the guidelines for balanced meals
Overall I was pleased with each resource and the worksheets I developed to fully leverage each one, but it was very time consuming. I'm imagining our repository as chock-full of cool websites and activities, but I'm wondering if it is better to create a small repertoire of authentic texts that can be modified in numerous ways depending on the nature of the class and the proficiency level of the students. I could modify both my approach to the texts (how I use them to give students input) and output activities (what students DO with the input).
Somewhere near the end of October I came to terms with the gradual breakup and realized I needed an adjustment period to move away from Chez Nous and to experiment with some of the textbook-free principles I had gleaned over the summer and fall. I also came to terms with what would be "appropriate" for the college level and accepted that occasionally using CI will work for me.
Principles
- use authentic resources produced for native French speakers
- select resources with cultural relevance whenever possible
- adapt the tasks for each resource, not the text
- aim for good scaffolding that includes the following ideas
- begin with interpretive questions that verify comprehension and help familiarize them with the new concepts and/or vocab
- repeat the new concepts/vocab OFTEN and in different ways
- move to interpersonal questions so students interact and have to produce their own language, thus learning by doing
- culminate in some kind of demonstration of their knowledge (on the order of "presentational" in ACTFL parlance). This could be answering an essay question on a written exam, summarizing a discussion with a partner or small group for the whole class, or answering an analytical question on an assignment
Now that I've identified and implemented some general principles I feel more prepared to work towards finalizing the breakup. In retrospect, I needed to do it gradually so I could maintain a level of confidence with the students and reassure myself that they were still acquiring solid language skills.
Phases:- Phase 1 (FREN 103 fall 2018) was gradually subtracting the textbook from my course design and lesson plans, injecting some authentic materials, and thinking more explicitly about documenting assessment
- Phase 2 (FREN 203 spring 2019) will be even more subtraction and injection with a greater emphasis on assessment, specifically: 1) IPAs and 2) systematizing/habituating how I document the assessment of my courses
- Phase 3 (FREN 101 or 103 fall 2019) will be no textbook, although I may use Français interactif's vocabulary videos and lists as the basis of some units
Breaking Up with My Textbook: Some Background
For
several years now I have noticed numerous articles in publications such as The Language Educator, Foreign Language Annals, and The French Review as well as blogs and
Facebook groups, urging language educators to move away from a textbook-based
curriculum in favor of made-from-scratch lessons built upon authentic materials
made for native speakers like articles, novels, podcasts, and videos. Creating
such units requires identifying an authentic source of “input,” breaking it
down into manageable chunks, and creating manageable tasks of gradually
increasing difficulty so students move from passive, basic understanding to
thorough, applicable knowledge and skills. Research from
linguists like Stephen Krashen suggests students need high quality “input” in
order to be able to eventually produce high quality “output” (papers,
presentations, portfolios, etc).
I have
used the current French 101, 102, 103 and 203 textbook for almost ten years.
The supporting materials I have developed for these courses are all tied to the
chapter organization and content of Chez
Nous, published by Pearson. Their robust online workbook, MyFrenchLab,
contains tutorials, flashcards, grammatical explanations, and other resources.
While I like many things about the textbook and online materials, the
sequencing is somewhat illogical, the cultural examples within each chapter are
almost all from France while the Francophone world is almost exclusively
covered in the supplementary material relegated to the pages between chapters, it
relies heavily on childish drawings in an infantilizing way, and many of the
exercises are simplistic. On top of that, it is around $250 for the full package! The high cost is likely a result of the "supplemental" videos and accompanying activities that we rarely use. Even if we use it over three semesters, it's still an exorbitant price for something that we can only use pieces of due to time constraints.
I am
increasingly aware that in the field of second language teaching many teachers
are moving towards a self-created curriculum. The belief is integrating real
resources will enhance student’s cultural competence, an increasingly important
facet of language learning in this global age. I have not yet had the time to carefully
research, read, and analyze what the recognized experts in the field are
currently doing. This process, including distilling down all the information
into a collection of best practices will require considerable time.
I have
long wanted to move away from a textbook in these courses. A close friend who
teaches French at Cornell College, Dr. Devan Baty, also uses Chez Nous. We have both explored the
recommendations from groups like ACTFL (The American Council on the Teaching of
Foreign Languages) and the AATF (American Association of Teachers of French),
are similarly disenchanted with Chez Nous,
and are similarly poised to undertake a challenge.
All of
these curricular changes will lead to substantial pedagogical change.
Currently, I give students a homework syllabus for each chapter which indicates
what page numbers to work on each day. It notes if there is homework and where
to complete it (MyFrenchLab, Canvas, or on paper). Most exercises in
MyFrenchLab are assessed by the software and students see their errors after
submitting them. Before each class period, I review the grades on the exercises
and note which were problematic for students. Then I build in time during the
lesson to address those common errors. Having taught the courses with the
existing curriculum for so many years, it is relatively easy to plan lessons
because the general framework is in place. I slightly revise things, ensure
there is time to address common errors, cull activities that did not work in
the past and add new ones.
A key component of this process is creating a central, searchable repository of authentic materials. There are TONS of curated lists out there from organizations like the Association of Teachers of French (AATF) and others. A search of YouTube videos for a given concept will yield hundreds, if not thousands of options. There are hundreds of websites for museums, monuments, newspapers, podcasts, etc, all produced in French for native French speakers. How to harness the vast, but daunting potential of all that content? Given that other repositories exist, the goals for ours are:
- To be tagable and thus SEARCHABLE. We want to be able to tag a resource with multiple modalities (writing, listening, etc), multiple levels (beginning, intermediate, etc), as well as genre and geographic location so it can be leveraged in a multitude of ways
- To be largely focused on the FRANCOPHONE world
- To be curating and added to by STUDENTS
- To be ADA friendly, if not compliant
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
ACTFL 2018 New Orleans!
I'm fortunate to have become friends with two amazing, inspiring language professors through another beloved, talented language professor friend, Kelly. I've presented with Anne and Kelly a few times and always enjoyed it but this year the conference was especially satisfying because it offered
excellent mentorship, professional development and socialization against a francophone backdrop I ACTUALLY GOT TO ENJOY!
MENTORSHIP:
I got a good deal on a plane ticket by arriving a day early. I had ample time on my hands and a dear friend I met through Kelly who met her through Anne, Sue, generously shared her time with me. We sat and talked at length about our current professional projects. Besides publications, invited speaking gigs, earning accolades with her students, serving on the ACTFL board, taking aim at the EdTPA standards, and a slew of other things, she is among the most sincere, kind and thoughtful people EVER. I felt fortunate to have spent several hours immersed in chewy conversation.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
SOCIALIZATION:
Anne arrived next, several hours before the conference festivities started so we had time to walk all over the French Quarter and talk while strolling. She balances a sizable research agenda that includes a recent book with two kids and a spouse. She embodies discipline, drive, and growth mindset. If Anne respects you, you feel proud of yourself for earning it from a tough judge of character. I still marvel that she thinks I'm worthy.
Last to arrive was Kelly, someone I've known for over 20 years and who has seen all of me. Besides our presentation with Anne, she also presented for a publisher. She also serves on a regional board and was elected secretary to an ACTFL special interest group on top of managing the expectations of a tenure track job. She manages to juggle all of that and sizable adulting tasks that would make the most competent of us cry. I'm so grateful to her for introducing me to these accomplished women and being one of my best friends.
excellent mentorship, professional development and socialization against a francophone backdrop I ACTUALLY GOT TO ENJOY!
MENTORSHIP:
I got a good deal on a plane ticket by arriving a day early. I had ample time on my hands and a dear friend I met through Kelly who met her through Anne, Sue, generously shared her time with me. We sat and talked at length about our current professional projects. Besides publications, invited speaking gigs, earning accolades with her students, serving on the ACTFL board, taking aim at the EdTPA standards, and a slew of other things, she is among the most sincere, kind and thoughtful people EVER. I felt fortunate to have spent several hours immersed in chewy conversation.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
- My conversations with Sue inspired me to apply to read proposals for the Teaching and Learning of Culture SIG (Special Interest Group)
- I attended several sessions on LGBTQX identity in language classrooms and how to be inclusive-I felt like I was good at this already, but I can do more
- I attended a session on online teaching which will help with possible changes to beginning and intermediate French at RU
- I attended a session on weaving social justice themes into low level classes, something I've just started that holds promise for development
- I attended a session on designing units without a textbook as the foundation, something I'm doing in the Beyond the Textbook project. The presenters shared a helpful template I may adapt for my own purposes
- Anne, Kelly and I presented "Teacher's Toolbox: Strategies for Interacting with Authentic Texts"
- I was awarded a prize by the Teaching and Learning of Culture SIG for study abroad photos I am incorporating in my classes. I gave a small talk about it at their meeting.
SOCIALIZATION:
Anne arrived next, several hours before the conference festivities started so we had time to walk all over the French Quarter and talk while strolling. She balances a sizable research agenda that includes a recent book with two kids and a spouse. She embodies discipline, drive, and growth mindset. If Anne respects you, you feel proud of yourself for earning it from a tough judge of character. I still marvel that she thinks I'm worthy.
Last to arrive was Kelly, someone I've known for over 20 years and who has seen all of me. Besides our presentation with Anne, she also presented for a publisher. She also serves on a regional board and was elected secretary to an ACTFL special interest group on top of managing the expectations of a tenure track job. She manages to juggle all of that and sizable adulting tasks that would make the most competent of us cry. I'm so grateful to her for introducing me to these accomplished women and being one of my best friends.
Monday, December 17, 2018
Beyond the Text: Assessing and Reflecting on Chp 4 Exam in FREN 103 fall 2018
Over the years my written exams have evolved so they are much less focused on form and much more focused on substance. This semester in particular I used videos of native speakers from the Français interactive website in the listening comprehension. I've given them more open ended questions like describing the weather and scenery they see in a photo. They get full credit for identifying 8 elements, the 8 student A picks could be different from those student B picks and that's okay. They're both working with elements that are meaningful to them. The final section is an essay question that asks them to apply autobiographical information to a logical setting.
The chp 4 exam was similar in format, yet after 47 minutes not one student was finished and with the other exams several had finished after just 30 minutes. When I graded them almost everyone did much worse than the past exams. I mulled over what to do and then decided upon giving them an anonymous survey with questions on a Likert scale to find out if they studied for it differently than the others or if I failed to design a test that aligned with what they actually learned.
Here are the questions I asked:
The results were equal parts reassuring and maddening. They spent between 30 and 60 minutes preparing. This was about the same amount of time as for other exams. They did run out of time. They did NOT think we needed to spend more time on the chapter before the exam. They thought exam matched the activities and assignments very well. I shared the results and said I couldn't really draw any conclusions about what I could have done differently.
I did allow them to redo the essay questions at the end and I would average their score on that section with the original score. Of 8 students only 1 opted to do that and she already had a B+ grade.
I guess this is when horses and water come into the picture. You can get a teacher to reflect and offer students opportunities to do better, but you can't make the students come to the water and actually do the work to do better.
The chp 4 exam was similar in format, yet after 47 minutes not one student was finished and with the other exams several had finished after just 30 minutes. When I graded them almost everyone did much worse than the past exams. I mulled over what to do and then decided upon giving them an anonymous survey with questions on a Likert scale to find out if they studied for it differently than the others or if I failed to design a test that aligned with what they actually learned.
Here are the questions I asked:
Please answer this survey anonymously to give me feedback on the chp 04 exam.
1. Approximately how much time did you spend preparing for this exam?
0-30 minutes 30-60 minutes 1-2 hours more than 2 hours
2. How much time did you spend on this exam compared to the others? More time / less time
3. Did you run out of time to answer the questions as completely as you wanted? Yes / no
4. Do you think we needed to spend more time on this chapter before taking the exam? Yes / no
5. How well do you think the exam matched the activities and assignments you did for chp 4?
Not well at all not well no opinion pretty well extremely well
I did allow them to redo the essay questions at the end and I would average their score on that section with the original score. Of 8 students only 1 opted to do that and she already had a B+ grade.
I guess this is when horses and water come into the picture. You can get a teacher to reflect and offer students opportunities to do better, but you can't make the students come to the water and actually do the work to do better.
Target Language Use in Partner Work
Intermediate French students recently worked in pairs to rewrite Candide, either a single scene or a modernization. There were 3 groups. One group (the most seasoned-upper level Spanish students taking French) did ALL the preparation in French. They suggested a complex rewriting of the play that involved changing the setting to modern day Alabama, Candide to a woman and a lesbian, and the whole thing explored a kind of fallacy theory for a result that was philosophical, substantive and lengthy.
The other two groups handled the project in English with a lot of joking and screwing around thrown in. How to make those groups more like the first? How to incentivize speaking in the target language?
The other two groups handled the project in English with a lot of joking and screwing around thrown in. How to make those groups more like the first? How to incentivize speaking in the target language?
- The course syllabus notes the importance of staying in the TL during pair and group work, but I don't enforce it like I should. I need to circulate and redirect them to English early and often in the semester.
- The grading for such assignments never takes into account HOW the project was planned. I will add that to the guidelines and rubric and attach points to it. It's actually not a bad idea to make them more cognizant of the processes they use to learn anyway.
- The directions always say both people need to take notes but inevitably only one does. I can build in points for the notes.
- I can build in a reflection that asks them to comment on their language use while preparing the final project.
- The reflection could include a question about what words or expressions they heard their partner use that they can add to their own repertoire (thus learning from their peers, something to be celebrated)
- I could direct each group to a different location and record themselves, then ask them to listen to themselves and reflect on THAT.
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