Engaging Students and Encouraging Talking in the Target Language

In episode 73 of Growing with Proficiency The Podcast, I was joined by Erica Peplinsky-Burge and Justin Slocum Bailey to discuss engaging students and encouraging talking in the target language. In this post, I’ll highlight our conversation, but listen above or here for a powerful conversation where we delve into the delicate balance of nurturing student communication in the target language. We’re not talking about forcing output, but rather creating an environment where students feel inspired and motivated to talk. 

In our discussion, you’ll discover strategies backed by brain research that reveal how to enhance student engagement and encourage voluntary, natural use of the target language in your classroom. These techniques are not just about getting students to talk more; they’re about transforming the way they interact with the language and each other.

How Talking Fits in an Acquisition Driven Instruction Classroom

Justin began our discussion by explaining what exactly talking is. He posed the following questions to us: What do we mean by talking in class? What counts as talking in class? And what does it look like? Talking includes students repeating words after a teacher and things that learners have memorized and then performed. He also pointed out that speaking the language is going to cause new language to enter our heads and take root there, but there might still be other reasons to do it, such as participating in the community, trying it out, getting that sense of achievement from saying things in the language, helping further the overall conversation, and asking other people questions. I believe that what really empowers us, as language educators, is when we know why we’re doing what we’re doing. 

Erica explained that she gets excited about getting students talking in class and that giving students a chance to talk in class helps build community. Community is key to making learning connections, and it lowers the affective filter and activates parts of the brain that gets excited about learning. It also helps kids have voice and choice within what they’re doing each day. Students are more invested in classrooms where they feel like they’re a part of the conversation and making decisions and attributing instead of being talked at all the time.

What Does Research Say About Talking?

Erica shared some interesting information about brain research. One interesting fact that she pointed out is that the part of the brain that tells us how painful something is, is the exact same, whether it’s mental pain or physical pain. The only difference in the brain between mental pain and physical pain is that if it’s physical pain, a different part of your brain lights up to tell you where in your body you hurt.

Erica went on to explain, “So, when we feel like we don’t belong, when we don’t have that sense of community, when we don’t feel empowered to take risks, our brains just can’t learn as well. In fact, new information can’t pass over into long term memory, and we don’t learn as well.”

Community 

“But on the flip side of that, when we feel like we have a community, when we feel like our opinions are valued and we matter, positive motivation impacts brain metabolism. The conduction of nerve impulses through the memory areas and the release of neurotransmitters that increase executive function. That’s when we do our best learning, when we kind of have that kindergarten enthusiasm for embracing each day with the joy of learning.” 

Justin added that success in something fuels more success; when you’re able to do something, it makes you want to try it again and you feel capable of trying it again and then keep on improving. He mentioned that one area where we can really help our learners is giving them chances, not by making everything super easy and no effort whatsoever, but by providing proper support and motivation. For example, helping students at least say something, and then really celebrating that is going to make students more willing to keep trying. In my classes, one of the things that I have really seen is that when my students feel competent in the class, they are much more willing to do anything.

How To Get Students To Listen and Talk More in Class?

Justin gave us two tips that he believes are important for helping our students listen and talk more in class. One is to discuss things that learners actually want to say something about. This is so important to remember! Many of us use different kinds of student interests surveys or questionnaires to find out these things. We also just kind of want to keep our antennas up to recognize what are the things that students are really latching on to and want to talk about.

Another tip he shared is to have phrases written on the board and/or your walls, such as stock phrases like rejoinders or sentence stems for students to use. It’s really good training for students from day one, that they can, and should, jump in and even blurt those out whenever they seem relevant. Listen to episode 73 to hear Justin explain this in more depth. What I love about rejoinders is how short they are, but they can also be said really easily. You can express a ton with them!

Brain Research and Talking

One strategy that Erica shared had to do with the brain. When we talk about ourselves, parts of the brain that are associated with reward light up, and it feels good and makes us happy. So, one of her favorite ways to get students talking about themselves, but also to build community, is to have class meetings. They usually only last about 5-10 minutes at the beginning of class. Erica shared an example of a simple class meeting with kindergarten students. She explained, “We sit in a circle, and at the very beginning of the year when they have no Spanish, we pass around a stuffed animal. I tell them to show me on their face how they’re feeling, whether it’s happy, sad, or mad. And, when the student shows me, I’ll say, “Oh, are you happy?” And I will say the words for them.” Very quickly, the students take over saying the words for her. 

Connection Between Community and Talking

As I mentioned before, classroom community is very critical when we’re discussing talking for our students. Talking requires that you feel comfortable with the person that you’re talking with, and it really requires a certain level of trust. Our students really need to trust their teacher and classmates to feel at that level of comfort. 

We also have to remember to maintain these strategies and be consistent, even though our students are not willing to do it at the beginning. Justin shared a few motivational hacks for students, such as giving your students a phrase and telling them that throwing in this phrase when they talk will make them sound amazing. Listen to episode 73 to hear Justin’s other motivational hack, this one for reluctant students, about putting a student in charge of a certain phrase or rejoinder.

Encourage Students

Erica added to this topic by saying that it’s important to encourage kids to participate in class at whatever level they are at, whether it be a simple thumbs up or thumbs down, indicating an answer with a number on their finger, moving to one side of the room or the other, or a mix of the target language and their first language. It is all a part of making a safe environment in which kids can blossom and grow in their language skills.

We ended our conversation by discussing more of the things  that we can do to create an environment where our students feel safe to talk and want to talk. Part of that is sometimes being okay with silence in the classroom. Listen to our whole conversation above or on your favorite podcast player.