Scaffolding the Interpersonal Mode

 

Have you noticed it's more difficult to encourage students to interact in the interpersonal mode in the world language classroom than it has been in the past?  If yes, you're not alone.  Common discussions circle around the fact that we were all isolated for so long so students now need to relearn how to converse in L1 before they can be expected to communicate in L2.  Others argue that students are always "plugged in" leaving less time for natural, face-to-face communication to occur.  Either way world language teachers are in a conundrum:  how do we encourage interpersonal communication in class?

One group of language educators started implementing what they refer to as Conversation Stations into their lessons to help with this situation.  What are they and how are they used in class?  Conversation Stations are a set of 10 different mini conversations based upon the same topic.  For example, the theme of School Life, Clothing, and Hobbies have been used with success following this model.  

The first step in creating the mini conversations after choosing the subject matter is to peruse authentic materials in the target language and highlight vocabulary that native speakers use in context.  What questions are common for this theme?  Keep these words and expressions in mind and then its time to let your own creativity come to life.  Now, it's time to develop 6 complete mini-conversations.  Anywhere from 3 to 4 exchanges is appropriate for learners.  Once the six complete conversations have been created, it's time to make 4 mini conversations with only one part of the conversation provided.  The portion provided could be either a question which would require a response from students or it could be the response which would then mean the students would have to think of a logical question eliciting the answer provided.  

The conversations are ready, now what?  In class students either choose a partner or are assigned to work with someone.  They move through the classroom to "stations" where only one conversation is seen.  Students are encouraged to work together to find the meaning of the interaction between the two roles first.  Then each student chooses a role and role plays by reading his/her part.  Students switch and repeat.  The repetition is important as it provides an opportunity for students to really grasp comprehension in context.  The learners work through stations 1-6 with the full mini conversations.  This provides them with a lot of input so that when they start with station 7 and only see half of the exchange, they can pull from what they've seen in stations 1-6 to think critically and solve the problem of how to respond in context to the statement or question provided.  Stations 8,9, and 10 further support problem solving and critical thinking.  After moving through all of the stations students are now at a point where they feel confident in creating their own conversations and the expectation of having them work in the interpersonal mode is more achievable.  

Here are links to several sets of conversations that can be used for various themes in Spanish and in French.  Simply click on the links provided.  

Spanish Conversation Stations Bundle

French Conversation Stations Bundle

How have you responded to the dilemma of encouraging student communication in the target language in your classroom?  

Higher Order Thinking Skills in the WL Classroom

Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) are activities in which learning requires augmented levels of cognitive processing.  On a Bloom's Taxonomy scale these activities would fall under the category of analysis, evaluation, or synthesis.  Chances are that if you're still in the classroom you've heard this terminology a lot.  How can we add these activities in the language classroom?

One way to incorporate HOTS is by providing students with more activities that require problem solving.  Think of conversations where students are only given half of the information and then must complete the missing parts logically to finish it.  This activity could be completed by providing students with blank spaces where the other half of the conversation would be found.  They could work individually to brainstorm possible responses and then after a specified amount of time students could partner up with each other.  Next, they would share their thoughts from their brainstorming session.  Then, students would decide who is Partner A and who is Partner B.  The teacher would provide Partner A with one half of the completed conversation and Partner B with the other half.  Students would take turns reading their role and filling in the page with what they hear from their partner.  Finally, students could create a Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting their initial ideas of the logical completion of the conversation with the full conversation they worked on with their partner.  As a follow up activity students could develop their own conversation on the same concepts for a class work or homework assignment.

Check out these ready to go activities for the French classroom:

L'École

 

Les Passe-Temps

La Jeunesse

Greetings and Salutations

How do you incorporate HOTS activities into your WL classroom?  We'd love to hear some other ideas!  Leave a comment below.

First Week Lessons and Activities in WL Class

SpanishPlans tells about how to hit the road running by using the Target Language on the very first day. His lesson lets students know that the teacher's job is to make class comprehensible for the students and that they students can be successful in class without needing English. Read more in... Spanish From Day 1. 

SpanishMama wants students to understand 3 things on the first day: 1)The target language is spoken as much as possible. 2) The teacher cares about you and you are in a safe environment. 3) The teacher is there to make the class comprehensible. To accomplish this, she offers 10 games and icebreakers that take out the anxiety and make students feel comfortable. Read more in... 10 IceBreakers and Games for the Language Classroom.  She also gives a great outline of her first two weeks of lessons here.

La Profesora Frida will tell you that establishing a good rapport with your students the first week of school will pay huge dividends the rest of the year. She gives some great ideas on how to get to know your students and creating a safe environment for language learners. Read more in.... The First Week of Spanish Class, Part 1. 

Ellen of MinutebyMinuteSpanish explains her first day's lesson using a Daily Tech Guide which provides visual support for her students to make the language comprehensible. You can read more about it in.... Spanish 1 Day 1 Lesson Script for 90% TL. 

Carolina of Fun for Spanish Teachers makes a book about herself to share with students. You can read about it in... An Idea for First Day of School. But she has also used a Prezi, played games, and used exit tickets, which you can read more about in...My First Day Back to School.

Allison of Mis Clases Locas, shares a detailed look into her lesson plans, which include music, persona especial, the Super Siete, and more! Read more in... 1st Week of Spanish Class using CI. She even has a "Can-Do statement" for each day: in this post about the first week of Spanish Class.

Profe Oxana shows us how she uses a song to practice names of students. (Nombre) se comió el pastel que le hizo su mamá. (Quién yo?) Sí, usted. (Yo no he sido). Quién fue? (nombre). Watch it in action here.

Mundo de Pepita uses pictures of words that are already part of our language to show students that they already know some Spanish words. 

M&M Bilingual has students fill out a Back to School book where students share information about themselves and also gets them started right away using her word wall. 

Sra. Cruz focuses on relationship building, with the Patch Adams philosophy,  and offers some fun activities and games in the TL including The Name Game, Would You Rather, Ball Activity, Two truths, one lie, and more in the First Days of Spanish Class post.

Free Resources:

-Have students fill out a profile that looks like a Facebook Page lets students tell you about their interests. Great way to get to know your students.

-Or have them fill in this document with information about themselves.

-Have students create a banner with their goals for the year.

-Students will write about class expectations in Spanish in this mini book.



Check back for more free resources for the first day to be added!