How to Teach with Comprehensible Input (CI) Every Day in your Language Class

Have you heard about comprehensible input? If the answer is no, you’re not alone. I hadn’t for the first 5 years as a teacher. Then one day, I learned how comprehensible input is the key ingredient for language acquisition and the transformation began. I know this transformation is not easy, but it’s so important for language acquisition that we need to do the work. I’m going to share with you how to start with 3 small, but mighty, ideas. These ideas may be just what you need to start today.

As a first-year Spanish teacher, I taught following a textbook. There were long lists of grammar concepts and vocabulary. I did a lot of drills and memorized skits, worksheets, and conjugation charts. Does this sound familiar?

Soon, my dream to have students speaking Spanish in class and falling in love with the language was disappearing. It was evident that my instruction was not leading to language acquisition but to language memorization and only a few students were successful.  

One day, I started reading about Second Language Acquisition, and Dr. Krashen’s Input Hypothesis. It was my biggest AHA moment as a Spanish teacher! At that moment, I knew that I had to make the shift.  

After many years of trying different strategies, I finally gained the clarity to make an authentic transformation into a comprehensible- and communicative-driven classroom. I finally saw students using the language through authentic communication and students truly falling in love with the language and culture. 

What is Comprehensible Input?

So, what is comprehensible input? According to Bill VanPatten, comprehensible input is language embedded in communicative events that our students listen, read, and understand. That’s it.  

Comprehensible input is not a strategy or a special curriculum, or a different way to teach grammar. Comprehensible input is language used to communicate with students that they understand. 

Our students only acquire the language if they read or listen to a great amount of language they comprehend. 

But, how to start? I’m going to share with you three ideas to move to a more comprehensible input-based classroom. If you need more than these 3 ideas, sign up HERE for my free four video series Shifting to a Comprehensible Input Driven Classroom where I go into much more detail about why and how to shift to a comprehensible- and communicative-driven instruction. I know this series will give you the clarity and tools you need today. 

How to Start with Comprehensible Input?

Here are three ideas you can use today to start moving to a more comprehensible input classroom and boost your students’ motivation and interest. 

Low Stakes Conversation Activities for Any Class

Designate a few minutes of your class to have informal and low-stakes conversations with your students. You can do this regardless of their level. I start these conversations at level one, and this is how:

• Scaffold the question. If students don’t understand the question, they will not be able to answer. Use visuals, gestures, or just write the question on the board in their first language. What´s essential, is that they understand what you´re asking. 
• Allow for a variety of ways to answer. Students don’t always need language to respond. If you ask yes or no questions, they can provide a physical response. When asked a more elaborated question, they can respond by drawing. If you want them to respond using the language, then you need to provide linguistic support.    
• Ask questions that are compelling, interesting, and relevant to them. Their favorites are personalized questions because it´s all about them. 

These are some examples of questions that you can ask on a regular basis. 

1. How are you doing today? Students can respond with numbers, colors, or even move to a corner of the classroom. I usually create a slide with more options so my students can elaborate more. 
2. What did you do over the weekend? Again, you can have students draw their responses. You can use those drawings to narrate to the class about their weekends. It´s compelling and more input for them because it is about them. Bethany Drew has incredible resources to support and level up this activity. 
3. What’s happening this week? During calendar talk, I ask my students about birthdays, exams, homework, and extracurricular activities. I scaffold their answers so they can participate. This is one of my students’ favorite activities. You can learn more about calendar talk HERE and HERE.

All these low-stake conversations in class will provide a ton of comprehensible input to your students, and it will boost their engagement. We cannot wait until the upper levels to have these conversations in the language with them. We can start at level one. 

One Small, but Mighty, Tweak in Your Lesson Plan

One very common question among World Language teachers, is “how can I teach the subjunctive or any other grammar concept in a fun way?”

I don’t know about you, but I asked that question many times. The truth is that teaching and learning the subjunctive, or any other grammar concept is fun for us as teachers and for some of our students. That’s it. On top of that, knowing the subjunctive does not lead to language acquisition.  

So instead of that question, we can start creating our lesson plans by asking: “What story do I want to share with my students? What language do I need to tell that story? How can I make it comprehensible?”

These questions are much more engaging and relevant. This tweak puts communication and comprehension in the front seat of our lesson plan. Grammar is an accessory to the great story. 

Let me give you an example. In my house unit for level one, I tell my students a made-up story about Shakira and Gerard Pique going on an adventure inside the Casa Batllo in Barcelona. It´s super fun! In addition to receiving a lot of comprehensible input, my students learn about Antonio Gaudi and this incredible house in Barcelona.  

Once I had the idea of the story, I asked myself, what language do I need to tell this story? I then identified some frequent verbs that I needed like to go, to want, and to like, and some vocabulary related to the house.  

My main goal in this unit is for students to understand and have fun with the story and learn about Antonio Gaudi. I know that if they understand and are engaged with the story, they will acquire some frequent structures and vocabulary used in the story as well. It´s a win-win situation. This story is available for free HERE if you want to get it in your inbox. 

Start with Input and then Move to Output

I don´t know how many times I started my lesson asking my students to produce language. It was a disaster. The engagement was really low, and the use of online translators was abundant. 

Students cannot produce language that they don´t have in their heads, and it takes a long time for them to put that language into their heads. Susan Gross said, “Input precedes output by a mile.”

Therefore, I always start with scaffolded input. Let´s look again at my example of La Casa Encantada.  

I started by telling the story orally (oral input), and we did a lot of oral checks for comprehension activities (oral input-based activities). Then, we wrote the story together (write and discuss what I learned from Mike Peto). Once again, we completed a lot of activities with that text. 

After listening and reading the story a lot of times, we finally moved to a supported output activity where I asked my students to write about a very special house in their communities. 

Starting with input is essential. Again, comprehensible input is the key ingredient for language acquisition so it will take the most important place in our classes. 

Even though shifting to a more comprehensible and communicative driven class has been the best decision as a teacher, the stress and overwhelm of building a new curriculum is undeniable. That’s why I’m so excited to offer this FREE video series training Map Your Ideal Year for your WL Class. Click here and get access to 3 videos and a live session with me to map your next school year. I hope to see you inside!