Making Our Classroom Communication Driven – The Third Pillar of a Successful Language Classroom

This week is the final post and podcast episode of our special 3-part series on the 3 Pillars of a Successful Language Classroom! Listen to episode 72 of Growing with Proficiency The Podcast to hear the details of the highlights mentioned in this post. Listen to part one and part two here.

Today, we wrap up with a topic that’s close to my heart – communication. In the first two parts, we’ve chatted about building connections and making target language comprehensible. Now, we’re diving into communication, the trickiest but most rewarding part of language teaching. In episode 72, I also chat about why communication is so central in our language classes and what it really means to have a communicative classroom.

The Crucial Role of Communication in Language Learning

Communication is important in language classes for many reasons. According to Dr. Stephen Krashen, language acquisition doesn’t require extensive use of conscious grammatical rules and doesn’t require tedious drip. Acquisitions requires meaningful intent actions in the target language, natural communication, in which speakers are concerned, not with the form of their utterances, but with the messages that they’re conveying and understanding. Comprehensible input is crucial and necessary ingredient for the acquisition of language. We’re using target language to practice language.

What is Communication?

There are two definitions that I’m going to share with you. the first one is the definition that Dr. Bill Van Patten has in his book, “While We’re On The Topic“. Communication is the expression, interpretation, and sometimes negotiation of meaning in a given context. 

It has so many components, but I’m only going to highlight two. We need to have meaning attached to those messages that we’re reading, or listening, or expressing because that is where our brain processes. So, what is the meaning what are we conveying here? 

The second one is the purpose. Why are we doing this? Why are we listening or reading? In “Common Grounds” by Dr. Florencia Henshaw and Maris Hawkins, they explain this a little more. Listen to episode 72 to hear more about their explanation.

Context of Communication

Now, what about the context? According to Dr. Bill Van Patten, we have a fixed context, which is our classroom, and we cannot change that. Sometimes, we want to change that because we want our class to imagine that we are in a restaurant or that we are in the mall. It may not be authentic because we have to pretend, but it’s still communication for language acquisition.

Questions About Communication

There are two important questions to ask yourself about communication in your language class. First, “What information and content is being conveyed?” The second is, “What will the audience do with the information?”

I’m going to give you a few examples, and I want you to think about it and say, “Is this communicative or not, and why?”

• Read the story and identify all the verbs in preterite. 
• Have your students read dialogue in their textbook.
• Choral reading. Choral reading is when you have a text, and then as a class, you read the text.
• Calendar talk. 

So, what do you think? Are they communicative or not and why? I go through each one of these in episode 72. Think about each one, and then go find out by listening to the episode above or here. 

Communication in Language Class is Hard

If you are struggling with communication in your language class, you’re not alone. I think it has to be a major mind shift. I share some personal experiences of my struggle with communication in episode 72. 

Sometimes, it’s hard because our students are not used to communicating. You could also struggle because maybe your administrators are not on the same page. Maybe it’s also the parents. I like to explain communication to parents during open house.

I love to ask my parents, “How many of you took Spanish in high school?” And then they raise their hands. Then, I ask, “How many of you are able to have a conversation in Spanish?” And, nobody puts their hand up. So, I say, “Okay, we’re going to do something different than what you may have done in your Spanish class, and maybe this is going to have different results”. Then, it starts to make sense to them. I also do the same with my administrators.

Making Communication Happen

I go into more in-depth ways to make communication happen in your language classes in the podcast, but it really is all about integrating conversations into our daily teaching. So, regular chats with students using high-frequency language, calendar talks, weekend chats, student interviews – these aren’t just exercises; they’re opportunities for genuine communication. They help us hit those three pillars: building connections, ensuring comprehensibility, and driving communication.

Remember, it’s not about using the target language just to practice language; it’s about using it to communicate. And if you’re wondering, “Am I doing this right?” Remember the  two questions from “Common Grounds”: What information or content is being conveyed, and what will the audience do with that?

Listen to episode 72 above or on your favorite podcast player to hear the whole conversation and more details of this post. Don’t forget to check out all of the resources and links below.