Creative Grammar: Developing Learners' Independence

Linguascope2018 from Isabelle Jones

Practical Pedagogies Conference, International School of Toulouse (IST), 15-16th October 2015

I am very excited to be joining the 60+ teachers from all subject areas who will be presenting at the Practical Pedagogies conference organised by @russeltarr at The International School of Toulouse next October.

What is the Practical Pedagogies Conference?
-A high-impact training conference for teachers, from NQT to senior teachers, run by and for primary and secondary school teachers ;
-A not-for-profit event hosted at the International School of Toulouse, October ;
-Workshops and networking activities around the theme: "Creativity, Internationalism and Innovation in the classroom" ;
-Two days of inspiring keynotes, 70+ workshops and networking activities delivered by experienced primary and secondary teachers ; 15-16th October 2015-that's just before half term for some of us in the UK.

How much does it cost?€150 : This price includes a delegate pack, lunches and refreshments, and access to all the workshops, keynotes and other events on offer.

How to find out more / register your placeFull details about the conference, including how to register and the full workshop programme, can be found on the Practical Pedagogies Website. Other queries can be sent here.

The Venue
The conference will take place at the International School of Toulouse, a co-educational day school for children aged 3 to 18, situated in the South of France close to Toulouse Blagnac Airport [directions/map].

 

My workshop

Pinterest and Twitter? Motivating tools to develop reading and writing skills in EAL and MFL

Explore the potential of tools such as Pinterest and Twitter to motivate all pupils to develop reading and writing skills in EAL and MFL. Increase your pupils' independence as language learners and understanding of linguistic structures. Support the development of all your pupils' language skills and their linguistic creativity.

Led by Isabelle Jones (@icpjones), languages consultant and Head of Languages in Cheshire, England. 

Other MFL workshops include

 

Collaborative learning strategies for the effective teaching of mixed ability classes in MFL

This workshop will present collaborative learning strategies in MFL which engage whole classes to talk / write simultaneously therefore maximising class time. Delegates will go way with a much deeper understanding of the benefits of collaborative learning and will have a bank of ready-made resources (F/G/Sp) to use immediately on their return to school.

Led by Suzi Bewell (@suzibewell), Course Leader for MFL PGCE University of York

 

Using Quizlet to create interactive resourcesThis workshop is designed to help mainly modern languages teachers who want to teach students easy ways to revise grammar rules, verb conjugation and new vocabulary with Quizlet. This US software allows students to be more independent leaners and give them an opportunity to be more responsible for their own learning.

Led by J. Cavalli, Curriculum Leader for French at IST

 

Using Kahoot! to engage students in knowledge acquisitionKahoot! is a free tool to assess your students' knowledge (from FS2 to Y13 and beyond - you can even use it at home to test friends and family!) in any subjects, on any topics, in a fun, interactive and competitive way. Kahoot! just turns your classroom into a game show (with a very catchy musical theme). In this session, you will get to : play a Kahoot game (to see what it is like) and maybe win a Kahoot! Prize / see examples of what can be assessed through Kahoot! in different subjects in both Primary and Secondary / create your own Kahoot short quiz. Led by A. Braud, Modern Foreign Languages Teacher at IST

 

Using the “Accelerated Integrated Method”  to teach French as a foreign languageOriginally from Canada, this way of teaching has been very successful in various countries, with the help of gestures for each word, the use of the mother tongue is limited to an extreme minimum. The children learn French through stories told in gestures. After the workshop participants should have a good idea about what this didactic approach is, and be able to 'tell in gestures' some of the content of stories. Led by Dico Krommenhoek (@dico_kr), French teacher and teacher educator in Rotterdam

 

Using technology in the Primary Foreign Language classroomWhy and how can we use technology to enhance learning in the primary language classroom? Ideas for teachers and learners, beginners and those with more experience; some online, some apps but mostly free :) Covering 'the four skills' - listening speaking reading and writing as well as phonics and grammar, we'll consider how technology can help with assessment as well as managing transition, and how it can open windows and doors for you and your learners. Led by Lisa Stevens (@lisibo), Primary Languages and International Coordinator, Whitehouse Common Primary and Welford Primary, Birmingham

 

Boosting language acquisition for lower and upper primary through a FUN Reading Program. Developing comprehension and expression for upper primary (intermediate levels) through a Reading Program.

Led by P. Burgaud and J. Allcock, Primary Years Teachers at IST

 

The conference has its own Twitter Practical Pedagogies feed. We will be using the hashtag #pracped15 to allow delegates to share the ideas and resources they are being presented with and discuss the conference outcomes.

 

Would love to see you there!

Review: Languagenut, a Language Subscription Site with a Difference

Created in 2009, Languagenut promotes a fun, simple and engaging approach to language learning for KS2 and KS3 pupils. Although Languagenut has its HQ in the UK, it now has users all over the world in 32 countries, from Puerto Rico and the US to Asia and it has adapted its platform to meet the curriculum needs in those different countries.

The range of languages offered is truly global but also supports heritage languages including Gaelic and Te Reo Maori. This is complemented by a unique range of EAL resources which supports the children in the UK who do not speak English as their first language.

The MFL and EAL resources rely on simple games, engaging students in simple, fun and effective learning activities. Students explore a set of words or phrases through the “presentation” feature, and then reinforce the language working across the key skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking. All resources are organised by topics and graded by difficulty, with each topic also offering a song and a story to practise key structures in a different way. Each topic can also be assessed via the platform.

Teachers can also track and reward pupils’ progress through the activities whether they are completed in class or independently at home. All progress data can be exported into an Excel spreadsheet and progress reports including graphs can be produced easily. Reward certificates can also be generated automatically.

In addition, the “My content” allows teachers to use Languagenut’s framework of presentations, games and assessments for their own words and phrases. Sound and pictures can also be uploaded and the newly created exercises are automatically trackable by teachers as soon as they are published.

All exercises can also be assigned to specific groups of pupils or individuals, which can help differentiation for class work and homework.

Healthy competition is also encouraged via the lingualympics board, which displays the sign-in name of the top 20 students and 20 schools worldwide.

I was lucky enough to be taken on a guided tour of this excellent platform by the delightful Liz Brewer and I would advise to get in touch if you are considering languagenut as it does offer a lot more than your usual language subscription site…

Consultation: Making Primary Languages Compulsory at Key Stage 2

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocs_camp/2171492103/

The deadline for the consultation is 28th September 2012 and all related documents can be downloaded here.

My own response is as follows…

...We are seeking to make provision under the 2002 Education Act to ensure that all maintained schools must teach a foreign language at Key Stage 2, from Year 3 to Year 6. This could be either a modern foreign language or an ancient language such as Latin or ancient Greek.

Q1 a) Do you agree with the Government's proposal that foreign languages should become compulsory at Key Stage 2 in maintained schools in England from September 2014?

Yes

Q1 b) Please explain the reasons for your answer:

Our world is multilingual and young children need exposure to other languages to be able to reflect more deeply about how their own language functions and strengthen their literacy skills. Research also shows that younger children are more willing to try languages than teenagers who are often even more self-conscious than adults. Last but not least, starting early is a way to promote languages as an important part of the curriculum and should encourage more pupils to carry on studying languages later in life. This, in turn, will have a positive impact on our country’s linguistic capacity and improve our ability to do business abroad.   .   

The Government is not minded to specify the language to be taught, but rather give full flexibility to schools in their choice of languages. We are therefore interested in finding out more about the language(s) that primary schools would be likely to provide.

Q2 a) If you are responding on behalf of a primary school, what language(s) would your school be likely to teach and why?

As a secondary teacher who goes to some of our feeder primary schools to teach languages, I often see a choice based on the strengths displayed by more than one member of staff.  I agree that the actual language does not matter as much as the ability to deliver quality provision with enthusiasm. French and Spanish are often taught by our feeder primary schools for that particular reason.

Q2 b) If you replied to the question above, would the language(s) your school teaches be likely to change over time and if so, why?

The only reason to change the language would be linked to change in staffing, hence the real need for all members of staff to get appropriate training rather than relying on one person to deliver the language in rotation to different classes. There is a real need for planning medium and long term for schools to develop their capacity to deliver modern languages effectively and fairly independently.

The proposal to make languages compulsory at Key Stage 2 should impact positively on all groups of pupils.

Q3) How might the proposals affect different groups of pupils?

Pupils from underprivileged background who may not have had any opportunities to go abroad will have a better exposure to foreign languages and cultures.

Pupils with low literacy levels will benefit from learning foreign languages as it provide them with an opportunity to revisit key literacy skills through the foreign language.

Bilingual pupils will see their linguistic skills valued and special needs pupils will be given a chance to start something new and feel on an equal footing with the other pupils.

High ability pupils will be stretched by the challenge posed by the study of a foreign language and will benefit from the opportunity to deepen their thoughts about language in general and broaden their horizons.

We will consider the challenges that requiring primary schools to teach a foreign language will pose and how schools might best meet them.

Q4) How might the proposal affect different types of schools? Please consider in particular small and large schools, rural and urban schools, those that already teach languages at Key Stage 2 and those that do not.

The proposal will affect schools differently depending on the way languages have been prioritised in their curriculum. If the schools have continued to embed the foreign language over the past few years through developing the skills of their own teachers rather than relying on visiting teachers only, the provision is likely to be good. However, schools that have been unable to do this until now will require substantial support in order to develop their teachers’ expertise and ability to develop quality in-house language provision. If schools rely on external providers only, the language provision will be more likely to be unsuccessful, with pupils making limited progress. 

Q5 a) If the proposals go ahead, what do you think the priorities will be for training and professional development of teachers?

Links with secondary schools must be strengthened by allowing secondary teachers to support primary colleagues’ training at their request and share their good practice through face-to-face meetings, online platforms and video-conferencing.

Primary colleagues must be made aware of where to find good quality resources, particularly to enhance their pupils’ pronunciation of the foreign language, an area which is often a challenge for non-specialists.

Adequate funding and time must be allocated for primary teachers to go to the target-language country to gain a better understanding of the foreign language and/or learn it for a formal qualification.

Q5 b) Do you have any suggestions for how schools and other stakeholders could work together to meet these needs?

The creation of MFL Primary/Secondary clusters would be useful to develop secondary teachers’ understanding of how to build on successful primary literacy practice and primary teachers’ knowledge of foreign language pedagogy.

Primary schools should also join forces to share the cost and expertise needed to develop appropriate schemes of work for KS2.

Q6) Please let us know if you have any further comments you would like to make about the proposals in this consultation document.

The allocation of time and resources is key to making Primary Languages a success especially for the schools that are lagging behind in terms of developing their own capacity to deliver languages.

The issue of assessment also needs to be tackled as well as some guidelines provided regarding expected content to ensure a smoother transition to secondary school.

Please share you views by uploading the questionnaire here.

If you are a member of ALL, the Association for Language Learning, you can  email them your views so that they can be shared through your subject association.

Not yet a member of ALL? Time to join! J

 

Resources Review: Spanish for Preschoolers E-Guide, Ana Lomba

This e-guide aims to provide “everything you need to craft creative Spanish classes for toddlers, pre-schoolers, kindergarten and elementary school children”.

Ana Lomba is originally from Spain but she has been involved in languages education in the US since 1990 as a teacher, consultant, advocate, entrepreneur and mother. I was touched by the story of how she decided to take her business further to look after her youngest child-a little girl with complex special needs- at home. Ana’s approach to discussing her methods are always very personal and she clearly targets parents but there are many points made and examples in the e-guide that are of interest to ALL Spanish teachers.

Ana’s e-guide consists of 2 parts. Part one looks at ways to promote what you teach, considerations for different age groups, a range of language teaching approaches and Curriculum Planning. Part two presents more in detail Ana’s own immersion approach and how it helps structure her language curriculum, Ana’s favourite techniques with many examples and ideas to develop activities further as well as business opportunities using Ana’s immersion method. All language teachers will also find useful the two appendices, the 60 minute lesson plan and the Thematic Unit Template.

Although parents are clearly targeted, the e-guide introduction is actually addressed to teachers and encourage them to find their “own ways of doing things as well”

Ana’s belief is that “great teachers are first and foremost artists”, so there is a clear message for teachers to use the guide to find their own path to creativity in the classroom. The only point that would not find be totally transferable is the idea that you should not “waste your time thinking that you have to motivate your students to learn” but only concentrate on what the students are really interested in. I would say that developing activities that are intrinsically interesting for our students is essential but that sustaining their interest is certainly easier to do when your audience is willing to cooperate, which might not be the case of every student in a class of 30 in a school context… There are also many constraints imposed on the curriculum taught in schools, so I guess this is a call for teachers who are more independent to make the most of that independence.

Ana’s advice to teachers is to pay attention only to constructive criticism as “the pursuit of perfection leads to paralysis”. I would say this applies to any teachers-whoever criticises you, unless they can justify their criticisms against a set of criteria and suggest ways forwards that apply to your particular context, this is NOT constructive feedback. This is definitely worth reflecting upon…

Ana also encourages new teachers to join Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn as they are a great way to get to know other teachers in similar situations and feel less isolated. I would however say that the use of these platforms for professional purposes for teachers needs to be linked with some specific training to ensure that all new teachers understand fully how they work and ensure that they are safe online. A teacher’s reputation takes time to build up and teachers new to using social media should understand fully what developing their online reputation entails.

I was very interested to read about how to develop partnerships with parents. Although some of the points did not apply to my secondary school context in the UK, they did make me think about different new ways to engage with parents.

I found the following points useful when I looked at reviewing communication with parents: (the headlines are Ana’s and the rest a mix of Ana’s and how I intend to implement these in my own context)

*Communicate: create an on-going dialogue, trying to make it as personal as possible and starting by introducing the course and what is expected in terms of personal studies at home.

*Educate: provide information about language learning and tips on how parents can help their children whatever their own command of the foreign language. As the parent of two bilingual little boys, I would say this is all the more important for younger learners, as some parents may expect “lessons” in a set format that is totally unsuitable for younger learners. There are also quite a few myths circulating about early language learning that need to be dispelled. Interestingly enough, these myths live on into secondary school and are often applied to EAL learners e.g. Children learning two languages are slower linguistically or academically.

*Provide a roadmap: Share your teaching philosophy and the goals for your students in your sessions and expectations for the parents. Ana also suggests mentioning your personal history-What made you want to teach young children a language, how you learnt the language yourself, what other languages you speak etc… Although I do think this is a good idea to mention these on a one-to-one basis, some teachers might find this could interfere with the professional distance they want to keep with their students and parents.

*Engage: document and share what you do in your classroom-this could be done electronically, for instance. Get parents involved in learning homework tasks. Ana suggests inviting parents to take part to classes-although this might be difficult in a formal school context, this could be considered for family learning and enrichment activities.

Ana gets us to look at the characteristics of different age groups within early learners and the type of activities that are more likely to be successful with each group.

I was pleased to read Ana’s words of warning about what she calls the “flashcard approach”. Learning a language and memorising words are two separate things. Although learning new words will help increasing the range of what can be expressed in the new language, it is how the new items of language are put together that will demonstrate linguistic skills and help getting messages across.

Like Ana, I feel that we underestimate what children can understand and if they are spoon-fed words only, they will not develop the skills to learn the language and get anxious when they do not know the meaning of every single word in a sentence. They will not be resilient learners, get impatient and ignore para-linguistic clues like gestures and other visual and contextual clues. They will behave this way, not because they cannot understand, but because of the messages we have given them by focusing on individual words only.

I found very interesting the references to theories and initiatives from the US and other countries, like the reference to the ACTFL Foreign Language Standards, the “Backward Design” theory by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe and James A. Asher’s Total Physical Response (TPR).

It is always fascinating to see how these approaches overlap with our national context, what their limitations are and how they have been adapted. Ana warns against “laundry lists of language functions, vocabulary, cultural notions etc…” and encourages a more global view of planning with some of these resources being used as guidelines, insisting again on the teacher’s professional judgement being key in deciding the focus for developing their learners’ skills.

In addition to the many references provided throughout Ana’s e-book, many other links are given to online resources for parents to support their child’s learning.

Like me, Ana is a big fan of using music in the classroom and she introduces many ways music can support language learning. She also warns against translated songs that do not always “work” in the translated language or original songs that are too challenging linguistically for a young audience-although she also gives us tips on how to still make it work for our young learners.

Similar dilemma can happen with story-telling: young learners need stories they can identify with but we also need to teach them about the culture of the countries where the target language is spoken and avoid stereotyping by exposing them to a wide range of genres. I found the advice to NOT present stories in one tense at a time a very interesting one-it mirrors what happens in real life, where young children do not get “put off” by their parents mixing tenses when telling them stories and are able to decode and established what happened when without many problems.

The e-guide provides many examples of activities as well as more detailed lesson plans to show how particular activities could be developed.

Many approaches are considered and I liked the reassuring tone of the e-guide telling teachers that whatever method they use “the important thing is to keep learning, thinking and evolving in our profession”.

The “Curriculum Planning in a Nutshell” is a very useful chapter in the e-guide. It will support all teachers who need to plan in a more thematic way for younger learners and provide ideas of mini-projects to integrate all 4 skills (Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing).

Ana’s no-nonsense rationale for the use of Target Language is also refreshing as it includes bilingual materials as a way to extend the interactions in the foreign language at home and it acknowledges that a grammar-led approach tends to hinder the use of the target language in the classroom.

Ana talks about Technology as “another fabulous platform for classroom and at-home learning” and recommend the Tech and Young Children ECETECH-L forum for informations on using iPods, iPads and other electronic gadgets. The forum is not specific to language learning but it provides great generic ideas that can be used in the languages classroom.

Ana discusses assessment of young learners and refer to examples of external assessments for young learners-SOPA and ELLOPA created by the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL.org) as well as the “Keys to Assessing Language Performance” book by Paul Sandrock-although the materials in this book are more suitable for older students.

I have found this e-guide a fantastic source of inspiration for all the language classes I teach for the younger and the older students. I will need a lot more time to explore all the pedagogic approaches and ideas discussed in the guide as well as the wealth of resources and other links mentioned.

Ana’s e-guide can be bought via her site by clicking here. 

Language World 2011: Modern Languages-Achievement and Challenge 2007-2010 OFSTED Report

This session presented the latest evidence from OFSTED. The full report and report summary are available from here.

Inspection focus:

• Achievement
• Teaching
• Curriculum
• Leadership & Management

Special issues:

• Reading

• ICT

• Take-up at KS4

• Progress towards entitlement at KS2

Additional evidence:

FE and SFC inspections 2009-10

Survey of good practice in colleges 2008-9

Phone survey of primaries found not to teach languages in previous inspections

Core outcomes:

Primary-positive general picture

Good or Outstanding in 6 out of 10 schools visited;

High variance skills development-focus on Speaking and Listening;

Knowledge About the Language (KAL)-concept of gender and adjectival agreement put into practice with some confidence;

Intercultural Understanding (IU)-good in most schools;

Primary schools can adopt very creative approaches to develop Intercultural Understanding: they use the internet, skype, dvd and try to get the local communities involved;

A bigger picture of Intercultural Understanding is developed through trips, visits and topics;

Foreign Language Assistants, Trainees from other countries also support the development of language learning.

Out of the 235 lessons observed in primaries, 2/3 were Good or Outstanding.

Languages are reinforced through a drip-feed technique;

Subject knowledge is mostly good although there are still some issues with pronunciation and intonations.

Good support by language specialists: FLAs and other native speakers.

Assessment is satisfactory but emerging evidence show assessment as the weakest area.

Curriculum: model of external language specialist is effective when teacher stays with the language specialist during the lessons.

Schemes used tended to be commercial ones-there can be issues with planning for mixed classes or planning and adapting the commercial resources for the actual curriculum time taught.

The Leadership and Management of PMFL at Primary is usually assumed by a language co-ordinator or the Headteacher themselves.

The rationale for choosing a language is sustainability as a priority.

Transition arrangements to secondary schools are still under-developed.

There can be weaknesses in the monitoring and evaluation of provision especially when senior staff did not feel competent to judge language provision.

More trainees have some language background but Local Authorities are not providing as much support as they did in the past, with many Las not having Languages Consultants any more.

Secondary: KS3 and KS4

Overall the provision for 6 out 10 schools was deemed Good or better.

Students' progress was Good or Outstanding in over half the schools visited.

Listening was found to be impeded by a lack of target language use in class.

Writing was good but could be over-reliant on model practice.

Speaking can be a concern when there were too few opportunities to use the language routinely & spontaneously.

The explicit teaching of language learning strategies has had a positive impact.

Effective pair and group work is key to students’ skills development.

Pace and challenge are essential to keep students on track.

Activities to monitor class progress throughout the lesson are successful in re-focusing students (mini-plenaries)

Exemplification of good practice in the report

Secondary schools are trying to link with primary schools to check about content taught (not achievement levels).

Strong leadership-innovation, use of local networks, effective liaison with primaries and post 16.

There can be inconsistencies in practice, insufficient monitoring, lack of clear policies and priorities for language learning.

Variable access to CPD can be an issue in some schools.

International staff development to be extended-TIPED e.g. research immersion teaching in Canada

Post 16

Progression rate to A level is lower than in other optional subjects (uptake issues).

 

The challenges:

Primary

There is a need to develop students’ early skills in reading and writing;

Clarification of progression through KS2.

Secondary:

Regular use of the Target Language in the classroom;

More use of authentic materials to develop language skills and motivation;

More planning need to be done to ensure smooth transition from KS2;

Increasing the uptake of languages at KS4 is still an issue in the vast majority of schools where languages are not compulsory;

Ensuring that KS4 prepares for KS5 more effectively.

Language World 2011: Handing Over! LinkedUp Project, Claire Dodd and Sue Balmer

This year, Language World showcased many of the wonderful projects set up for the Linked Up Award scheme. LinkedUp is now over but its legacy lives on with 100+ projects freely accessible with all their resources from the LinkedUp website.

Claire Dodd and Sue Balmer, from Gosforth Academy, presented the context of the project with a pyramid structure of 8 primaries, 3 middle schools and 1 high school.

The aim of the Handing Over! project was to motivate Primary School teachers with very little or no knowledge of Italian or German, to improve their linguistic skills and understanding of language learning to be able to deliver their chosen language to their pupils in an integrated programme of study.

There was a need for a consistent teaching approach so that all pupils in Years 3 and 4 would enjoy high quality language provision. Collaboration between teachers helped ensuring this by identifying and sharing resources and pedagogical approaches to develop language skills but teachers were at first very doubtful of their ability to deliver the language lessons themselves.

In each of the 8 “First Schools” in the Gosforth Pyramid, staff chose to focus on Italian or German and a Lead Teacher was nominated as the main contact in each school. The first joint planning session included a practical introduction to an online workspace set up for all to use (posterous). Although not all contributed to the blog and it was difficult to get teachers to contribute, the resources shared on the blog were widely used.

Teachers used the QCA Key Stage Two schemes of work as the basis for their planning, sharing ideas for additional “fun” and cultural activities. Teachers agreed weekly lesson plans to be modeled by the Project Leader. They shared ideas and resources to be able to carry on with some aspects of the lesson during the week and to maximise exposure to the target language.

Primary teachers also consolidated their linguistic skills through their participation in the pupils’ lessons. Active lessons really helped them to improve their pronunciation, cultural knowledge and general confidence. On the other hand, the use of shared resources and access to commercially-produced language CDs, songs, stories and web sites also helped building their confidence as they realised that all resourced did not have to be produced from scratch.

Primary teachers then moved on to identify opportunities for using basic target language at regular times during the school week so that their pupils could experience the use of language for real purpose.

Teachers used their expertise in Key Stage 2 pedagogy to enrich pupils’ experiences of language and culture. They chose to develop CLIL with Art as it was one of their areas of interest. There were also unexpected developments as more staff, including teaching assistants, wanted to take part. Free evening classes in Italian and German led by foreign language assistants have now been set up to continue with the project. The direct involvement of the teachers in the language learning was noted by OFSTED as, far from a case of “Spanish and Vanish”, there was clear evidence of linguistic consolidation integrated in the school’s routines throughout the week.

Last but not least, the 12 teachers who took part in the project went to Bologna on a course at half term to develop their language skills. It was a course for beginners but included a lot of cultural aspects.

More details about “Handing Over!” and all the resources produced for the project can be downloaded from here.

Language World 2011: Cross-Curricular Contexts for Learning and Authentic Resources, Martine Pillette

This workshop aimed to demonstrate how cross-curricular contexts and authentic resources can be used throughout the year to motivate and give students a more meaningful linguistic experience in the classroom.

The resources can be used as a visual/ aural stimulus: the activities simplify the language and support students’ understanding. Using “raw” materials also helps students to develop their capability and confidence in listening and reading.

The range of styles of activities was quite wide and included:

Film trailer like the “Bonobos” trailers from allo cine, a fantastic site with lots of trailers and articles about films in French and other languages. 

Transcripts

Start with the resource, play the trailer again and students try to match print to sound.

Students read and when you stop, students say the next word

Students put their hand up when you read something different from the text

Listening must not be presented as a test

Aux arbres citoyens video (dailymotion)

Aux arbres citoyens by Dolio-Keyok

Card activity –re-order the sentences to follow the order of what happens in the video clip

Support grid with key structures to mix and match

Find the corresponding French word in the lyrics

Use authentic resources to present real issues: e.g. Quinoa - basic food from Colombia now turned into a luxury item –prices go up, impact on poor people in Colombia.

Look at cognates, themes, titles

Regarde, ecoute, lève la main si c’est different

Does it mention these facts?

Discard the odd one out and sequence the paraphrased sentences in the correct order

Gap fill in English about a text in the Target Language

Some of these activities can be used with Y7 students as transition resources in order to re-visit some of the language taught in primary in a different and more linguistically challenging context.

Crossword with sound and gapped phrases as a clue

Listening activity to self-check

This is a fantastic starting point for anybody aiming to use authentic resources regularly in the classroom and I intend to use this post as a reminder of some of the generic activities that can be developed.

CILT National 7-14 Transition Conference, Wednesday 2nd February

I attended this event as a speaker and really enjoyed the keynote speech and the other workshops on the day. Transition is something we all work at but also something that is really difficult to resolve permanently as each school’s circumstances are different and always changing. So more than a magical recipe, an ever-growing set of possible strategies is likely to be more effective. Being opened to sharing new ideas on how to cope with transition issues is indeed crucial...

Jim McElwee, from Redcar & Cleveland LA, gave an inspirational Keynote speech presenting projects and issues he had come across as an adviser. He introduced us to the Honeycomb Project, aiming to develop students listening and speaking skills through the use of ICT.

Jim asked a controversial question: Are we interested in what children know? If we truly are, this should affect our attitude to errors and how we correct them. Making connections was also mentioned as essential to developing speaking skills in particular. The example given was a presentation on planets and it showed that the appropriate level challenge represented by integrating planet, colours and pronunciation made it more effective to develop students’ skills rather than teaching these items separately.

I then attended Liz Black’s session. Liz is an AST at Stokesley School in North Yorkshire. She has a wealth of experience in organising cross-curricular projects, some of them can be viewed on her school website .

Liz introduced us to her new project based around wild animals and the circus. The aims of the project are:

*to build on prior learning

*to merge primary and secondary pedagogies more closely

*to provide challenge and encourage independent learning

*to increase the use of authentic resources

*to link the different areas of the curriculum

The schemes of work were developed with the support of the SLN which provided quality time, something always crucial to the success of such projects.

The transition unit included latin words for some of the animals, geography, science, Art, citizenship. The aim was for the content to be age-appropriate, meaningful and challenging. Each areas of the curriculum were linked-for instance the geography units on “Les continents” and “Le réchauffement de la terre” set the scene for the animal unit. There was also a strong focus on developing independent learning skills through encouraging the use of dictionaries and glossaries, for instance. The link to science was made through looking at the characteristics of the Artic Hare and the link with Art involved describing various animals and looking at unusual sculptures.

Poems like Cinquains and Haikus were used to raise self-esteem and demonstrate that “with a little bit of language, you can do a lot”. I found Haikus particularly interesting-3 lines and 17 syllables-with the idea that students could beat the rhythm of a particular word for others to guess. Y8 were asked to do these poems for Primary children to raise their motivation.

Topics like animals in captivity with strong images and music were used and movie-maker presentations designed as outcome to be assessed and revision material for Year 9. The assessment was done by using a Flip camera to record and peer-assess the outcome. It was felt that there was no need for a formal sit-down test. Plenary activities included “Find the link between...”, “Give an example of”, “If I was an animal, I would be ... because...” as a way to recap using the Target Language. Other websites used by Liz for her Unit of work can be found here .

Last but not least, I attended Florence Finneberg’s workshop, run with Betty Sachet from Coldfall Primary School: “ Developing capacity in primary environments and capitalising on students’ progress in Year 7. Florence is an AST at the Fortismere High School in Muswell Hill, North London and she works closely with her 4 feeder primary schools in order to build on previous learning and stretch students in Year 7. The National Curriculum levels 1-5 are introduced in Primary and resources shared although used differently e.g. listening materials. Sharing success criteria earlier has also been key to raising standards as well as introducing peer assessment for speaking.

ICT Links into Languages Conference, 12-13th February 2011, Southampton University

The ICT Links into Languages 12-13th February 2011 will be held at Southampton University, Avenue Campus. Modelled on the extremely successful Isle of Wight Conference, it features an extensive programme of seminars and hands-on workshops delivered by a range of speakers including some of the most creative and innovative language professionals in the UK today (see list below).

I am looking forward to presenting, being in great company and learning a lot as well attending plenaries by Joe Dale and Rachel Hawkes and contributing to a Show and Tell event on the Saturday night. No doubt this will be a very productive weekend!

If you are at all interested in how technology can enhance language learning, this is the right event for you. It caters for all levels of ICT skills and at £100 for both days or £75 for one day (discounted rates for PGCE students), it is incredibly good value for money too.

For more information or to book follow this link. Speakers will include:

Wendy Adeniji - Independent MFL Consultant

• Teach them to pronounce it right! (Seminar)

• iLanguages: teach them the usual in an unusual way (Seminar)

Jackie Berry - Primary Languages Consultant, Hampshire LA

• PowerPoint Magic: presentation tips and tricks for the languages classroom (Hands-on workshop)

• Getting started with screen casting (Seminar)

Suzi Bewell - PGCE MFL Curriculum Area Leader, University of York

• Going global! The importance of Intercultural Understanding (Seminar)

• MYLO – an exciting new way to learn languages (Hands-on workshop)

Alex Blagona - Language college coordinator, Northgate High School

• Collaborate, Communicate, Consolidate – How wikis can transform learning in MFL (Hands-on workshop)

• An A-Z road map of ICT resources in MFL (Seminar)

Joe Dale - Independent MFL Consultant

• If you build it, they will come! The rise and rise of the MFL Twitterati (Keynote)

• Podcasting with Audacity (Hands-on workshop)

Catherine Elliott - Training Manager at Sheffield South City Learning Centre

• Encouraging creativity in languages through animation (Hands-on workshop)

• First steps in using video in the MFL classroom (Hands-on workshop)

Chris Fuller - Educational Consultant

• Moblogging across the universe (Seminar)

• Typepad – I blog, you blog, we blog (Hands-on workshop)

Esther Hardman - Teacher of French, Spanish and German, Curriculum Development Coordinator for MFL (ICT), Weald of Kent Grammar School

• Flashmeeting for easy videoconferencing (Seminar)

• Using ICT to enhance teaching and learning in MFL (Seminar)

Dale Hardy - Primary & Secondary Languages Consultant, Nottingham City LA, Links into Languages regional trainer & CILT KS2 framework trainer

• So you have a school link? Now what do you do with it? (Seminar)

• Gifted and talented linguists – Identification, Inclusion, Provision: Using simple techniques as well as ICT (Seminar)

Chris Harte - Assistant Head Teacher for Personalised Learning, author and trainer on PLTS in language learning, Cramlington Learning Village

• Managing social learning – Edmodo (Hands-on workshop)

• Languages: Reboot (Seminar)

Rachel Hawkes - Assistant Principal, Director of Languages, AST and SSAT Languages Lead Practitioner, TES Resources Languages Advisor, Comberton Village College

• Get real! Language Learning for the 21st century (Keynote)

Kath Holton - Head of Languages, Argoed High School

• Using voice and video recorders in the classroom (Seminar)

• Interactive Web 2.0 tools to enhance learning (Seminar)

Isabelle Jones - Head of Languages, The Radclyffe School

• Personal Learning and Thinking Skills in the MFL classroom (Seminar)

• Inspire, Create, Share: Developing the use of ICT in the MFL faculty (Seminar)

Helen Myers - Teacher of French, Assistant Head, The Ashcombe School; Chair of ALL London branch; ALL former President

• Add a dimension to your teaching: an introduction to language learning in Virtual Worlds (Seminar)

• Let the technology take the strain!How ICT can provide the motivation and the inspiration for the hard grind of language learning! (Seminar)

Jo Rhys-Jones - Primary Languages Consultant, Hampshire LA

• Simple and effective tips for transition KS2-KS3 (Seminar)

• Making languages games for your VLE/blog (Seminar)

Amanda Salt - Head of Spanish, Grosvenor Grammar School

• Integrating ICT into an MFL department (Seminar)

• Using Web 2.0 tools in the MFL classroom (Hands-on workshop)

Clare Seccombe - Sunderland LA Support Teacher for Primary Languages and the International Dimension

• MFL Sunderland – It’s good to share! (Seminar)

• Arts Smart! (incorporating art, music, drama etc) (Seminar)

Lisa Stevens - PLL educator and consultant, Apple Distinguished Educator and eTwinning Ambassador

• What can eTwinning do for you? (Seminar)

• Tell me a story! (Hands-on workshop)

Lesley Welsh - Director of Languages and the International Dimension at Manor College of Technology

• Keeping it real – maximising the use of authentic materials (Seminar)

• Funky flipcharts and interesting interactivity (Seminar)

Thank you for supporting this event: spread the word and sign up here

See you there!

Are You Ready for PMFL?-2009 Update

In a previous post dating back to 2007, I was looking at what schools were doing to get prepared for the 2010 deadline for teaching foreign languages at Primary. Two years later, what has changed? Although there are pockets of outstanding practice, the overall picture is still “chaotic and variable”...

By 2011, all children aged 7-11 must have the opportunity to learn a foreign language. Learning a foreign language engages children, helps them develop general oracy and literacy skills, grow in confidence as learners, as well as broaden their intercultural understanding.

Primary language teaching is inclusive and can benefit special educational needs, English as an Additional Language learners, as well as children who have newly arrived in England. Some research also supports the theory that young children have the ability to learn languages quicker. Although the validity of this theory is discussed on a regular basis, anybody who has taught languages at Primary notices that the general attitude towards language-learning feels a lot more positive.

Recent research findings show that 92% of Primary Schools are teaching languages during class time, with 69% teaching languages to all 4 years of KS2.
The most often mentioned benefits of PMFL were to develop enthusiasm, Listening and Speaking skills and understanding other cultures.

Clearly, Primary Headteachers play a vital role in establishing a clear rationale, vision and strategy for primary languages. Planning for and delivering PMFL must be seen as a step-by-step learning process for all, and collaboration between schools (both primary and secondary), local authorities and key agencies is surely the recipe for success.

Good practice also includes:

-Conduct a school languages audit;

-Contact your Local Authority advisor, although sadly there might not always be one in place;

-Appoint a subject co-ordinator for primary languages (PL);

-Make links with local secondary schools and Specialist Language Colleges;

-Visit the primary languages website to check their training videos and resources

-Explore the possibility of taking on a PGCE student with a language specialism;

-Network with other language teachers to find out about new ideas and resources.

A school language audit is a very useful way of identifying expertise and capacity within the school and also among parents, children and the wider school community. It also shows that the school values languages other than English and raises awareness of the different languages spoken in the school community. Projects like the “Language of the Month” project can be replicated and are invaluable in boosting all students’ self image as successful language learners.

The school language audit should also inform the decision of which language to teach and plan future training needs but the choice of the language will also depend on:

-Contacts with target language countries, established community links through town twinnings for instance, ease of travel;

-The languages which are taught in neighbouring primary and secondary schools;

-The availability of specialist support in Local Authorities, Specialist Language Colleges and other secondary schools;

-The writing system of a particular language;

-The expectations and ambitions of parents and pupils;

-The language policies of the Local Authority;

-The capacity to sustain and resource the teaching of a particular language across KS2.

Primary teachers are in the ideal position to embed languages into daily classroom routines and across the curriculum. Their access to children opens up all sorts of possibilities which are denied to the secondary teacher with 1-2 hours a week. Children should also use languages for real communication purposes as well as learning language incidentally through activities combined with other subjects. That is why more and more schools are considering Comenius projects or e-twinning.

Schools are also becoming more and more skilled at planning such cross-curricular modules and the new reviewed QCA schemes of work can help with this too, suggesting ideas to include music, art, PE, ICT and much more...

KS2/KS3 Transition is still a worry but more and more strategies are being shared to cope with this.

So what has changed? The feeling that PMFL may be a passing trend. It is definitely here to stay, so let’s see how we can support each other to make this a successful journey leading to more good language-learning.

QCA Languages Update-RSA meeting, ALL, London 14th July

This was my first meeting as a Regional Secondary Adviser for ALL (Association for Language Learning) and it proved a very useful information-packed first contact.

The first session was lead by Chris Maynard, curriculum adviser for QCA (now QCDA). Chris presented the latest news regarding the recent development in languages and although a lot of the information was quite similar to the recent update by the Languages Company I attended in Manchester last month, I made note of the following points:

· New website to be set up about the changes in the Primary Curriculum for this Autumn-although the changes will not have to be implemented before 2011.
· The consultation about the proposed changes for the MFL Attainment Targets in secondary will finish on 24th July.

It is interesting to note that although Listening and Speaking are one Attainment Target in English, writing is assessed separately-whereas the suggested change for writing in MFL is to merge it with Reading.
The current proposal is that there is no weighting between Attainment Targets, which means that the new Intercultural Understanding Attainment Target would count for 1/3 of the overall level. The difficulty to assess Intercultural Understanding has been acknowledged as well as the fact that it may put the use of the target language at risk in some classrooms. However, its link with the KS2 framework makes it a logical suggestion.

Research findings at KS2 and KS3 show that:
· 92% of Primary Schools are teaching languages during class time.
· 69% of primary schools are teaching languages to all 4 years of KS2.
· 3 out of 4 schools feel ready for the 2011 deadline (that’s interesting, considering it is not everybody’s opinion)
· The aims most often mentioned for languages at Primary School are: to develop enthusiasm, Listening and Speaking skills and understanding other cultures.
· The typical discreet provision was a 40 minutes' weekly lesson.
· Transition to KS3 and progression within Ks3 remains a cause for concern.

An interesting way to facilitate this was mentioned by a RSA who has set up a cross-phase MFL co-ordinator meeting for his Local Authority. I thought this is a very interesting idea in many respects although the practicalities might be more difficult for larger LAs. This would also be more effective if it was supported by an online group like a NING to encourage linking outside of the scheduled meetings.

I greatly enjoyed the thought-provoking discussion around Assessment and how formal it really needs to be for it to be considered reliable. “Are languages teachers too fussy?” “What other kind of evidence is acceptable apart from pen to paper activities and one-to-one interviews?” I liked the fact that we were encouraged to trust our professional judgement and support it with a wide range of evidence, rather than using summative assessment as the only way to form an opinion about a student’s performance. I may seem obvious, but as our accountability grows, there is also a growing suspicion towards anything that is not at least partly assessed externally. Maybe it is time to have more confidence in our own judgements...

APP (Assessing Pupil’s Progress) is soon to be extended to foundation subjects-including MFL. APP is not statutory. It is not only relying on final pieces of work but also includes looking a progress and feedback as part of the assessment process.

A new distinction was also made between day-to-day, periodic and transitional assessment: The day-to-day provides immediate feedback on what to do next, the periodic gives a broader view across a full range of skills once a term or twice a year and informs medium to long-term planning and the transitional provides official recognition of a certain level of skills.

· The KS3 exemplification website is to be updated in the near future to show examples of key concepts and processes from the revised Programme of Studies as well as National Standards expected for each Attainment Target.

· QCA has developed a DVD to support MFL teachers with the controlled assessment of Speaking at GCSE. The DVD includes 14 examples of speaking activities with commentaries from examiners but does not provide detailed guidance on marking as this is provided by the different examination boards. The DVD can be ordered free of charge from http://www.orderline.qca.org.uk/ (order reference QCA/09/4138)

· During the Autumn QCA will be working with a small group of school on GCSE speaking activities involving interactions between students. Examples will be published with commentaries in March 2010.

As a result of the questions following the session, I made a note of three interesting suggestions:
· We need to build KS3 into KS4-to ensure a continuity of approaches between the key stages. Conversely, we must also build KS4 into KS3 to ensure that key skills are embedded.
· Looking at Primary MFL resources created with a typically primary approach and check how they can be adapted to Year 7 to ease transition issues (secondary awareness of primary methodology is key)
· Teaching the Y6 KS2 framework for the first half term of Y7.

IOW Conference: Video-conferencing With Flashmeeting-John Warwick

John Warwick’s background is Science/Chemistry but his present educational focus is ICT and e-learning. He is also an eTwinning ambassador, which has provided him with many opportunities to explore the possibilities of flashmeeting as a tool to connect schools globally.

· Flashmeeting is a video-conferencing tools that is free for educational purposes.

· The aim of video-conferencing is to set up live interactions between groups of people or individuals. It is however possible to record sessions on a webcam and send them to partners if synchronous communication via flashmeeting is not possible.

· It is worth remembering that a professional set-up will only work well if the video-conferencing partner has equipment of similar quality.

· Another alternative is an intermediate set-up where a webcam is used with specialist computer software (PVX)

· The advantage of flashmeeting is that it is free to use and that you only need to invest in a webcam (from £25)

· The video confererences are private-by invitation- only, which makes this activity safe and secure.

Students could be talking about/ comparing:
· Hobbies
· Local environment
· Food
· Topical issues

Staff could use flashmeeting for:
· Organizing international projects (planning meetings)
· Languages INSET
· Friendships
· Preparing visits abroad/ exchanges
· Setting up penpals schemes
· Record a session and send it to the partner school

The webcam image can also be projected onto an Interactive WhiteBoard or a whiteboard using a digital projector. The quality of the image is not always of high standards but the linking in itself is a great way to motivate students. As only one person can talk at any one time, students must take turn and this is also a great way to focus on oracy.

Flashmeeting can support languages projects/ tasters e.g. Kent primaries who do Chinese are using flashmeeting to link with Chinese school.

The sound quality can be improved by having an external microphone and the sessions are also recordable, although this function can also be disabled. Parental consent may be needed to be able to share the link to the recorded session.

When used within a class/ a group, video recording can be used:
· To develop students’ AfL skills (with teacher or FLA, for instance)
· To help with KS2/KS3 transition projects: mini language lessons from Y7-9 to Y4-6? (lunchtime clubs?)
· To support enrichment projects e.g. Sharing cultural differences about Christmas
=> Gains in students’ self-confidence and improvement of self-image as a language learners.

More research about flashmeeting links here.

Setting up a meeting
Authorised user to book and input date, time and duration of the meeting. More than one person/ school can be invited. Each computer is ONE station. The guests then receive a url to click on to join the flashmeeting. Bookings are always done using UK time.

Meetings can be :

*Recorded or not
*Syndicated or not
*Included in a powerpoint presentation to share parts of a meeting

You need to be a registered user to be able to book your own meetings and invite other people.

Online tips and hints are available here and here.