During the first week of January, I went to my state conference in Orlando. I wasn’t super excited to go the first week of the new year, but I am happy that I did. When I go to conferences, I meet amazing teachers and have such interesting conversations. This week, I’m sharing a conversation I had with another World Language teacher at a conference last year and how the reminder of it was just the motivation I needed for the new year to plan this episode.
This teacher was a French teacher, and she was discouraged, disappointed, and not excited about the new school year. She had serious concerns: her French program was shrinking, she wasn’t seeing engagement with her students, and they weren’t speaking or writing the language. I shared my framework for how I teach a second language and the role that comprehensible input plays in my classroom.
This teacher left that training motivated to try something new. She was open-minded and implemented changes in her classroom. Her students became happy and started using the language. Some told her that they were planning on not taking French again but had since changed their minds. In this post, I’m explaining what comprehensible input is and how you can incorporate it into your classroom.
Why You Should Incorporate Comprehensible Input
The first reason is so you can make decisions. When I had a better understanding of language acquisition and comprehensible input, I was able to make decisions for my class more effectively. When you are confident about the activities that you are doing in your class, your students pick up on that confidence and begin to trust you more.
Second, I used to spend hours online looking for fun activities that I could do with my students so they wouldn’t get bored. That was my criteria, would they have fun and stay engaged? Now, I look for activities and resources that have specific strategies that promote language acquisition in my classroom. I also do this when I choose trainings at the conferences I go to. And, I’m also more intentional when I scroll online and who I follow on social media.
Finally, your expectations for your students will be more realistic. I use to dedicate weeks on a unit and expected my students to acquire how to speak and write all of the adjectives to describe people and things that we had gone over and how to conjugate verbs through the drills we ran in the classroom. I would get so disappointed when my strategies didn’t work, and I felt like a bad teacher. Now, I know that my students can’t acquire 70 words in four weeks. I also know that if things aren’t going well, I take a look at what is going on and feel confident that I can figure it out.
What is Comprehensible Input?
Sometimes, we make this more difficult than it is. It’s not a strategy, resource, or activity. Comprehensible input is the essential ingredient for language acquisition. It’s the language that students can read and listen that they understand. Students will learn, listen, and read because they want to understand or listen for the message embedded in the language.
In the classroom, there has to be communication. This interaction in the target language has my students listening to me because they want to understand what I’m saying, not because they want to just figure it out. This is comprehensible input. When we do it this way, students will acquire the language.
In episode 16 of Growing with Proficiency, The Podcast, I share a mini unit I’m using with my students about the new year. Listen above or follow the podcast HERE so you don’t miss an episode. The unit follows my framework and my cycle of instruction. You can also get a copy of my Framework HERE. I also talk about my pillars and how I structure my lessons.
Comprehensible Input Activities for Language Acquisition
So, what can you put in place tomorrow? What are some activities?
Chat with Your Students
The first is to just chat. On Fridays, chat about what you will be doing that weekend. On Mondays, chat about what happened over the weekend. This allows us to use present and past tenses. I’m exposing my students to the tenses by just chatting about these topics. You can use chat mats for this, go to the podcast episode 16’s show notes HERE for a link to some mats for you to use. You can print and pass them out or just put them up as slides like I do. This helps your students when they chat about their weekend. In episode 16, I’m also sharing more details on activities to expand these chats.
Star Student Interview
Star Student Interviews are interviews on any topic. You design six slides with six questions with options for answers that students can use. Whenever you ask an open-ended question, especially with beginner students, give them options. I give them several options so they have something to say. You can also have a volunteer student to come up and ask the questions. Merge your curriculum with this activity for more engagement.
Picture Talk
Picture Talk is a great activity because you can use any picture. Pictures have stories and allow you to use the language with your students. One tip that has been shared by Adrianna Ramirez is to use family pictures. There are always stories you can tell about family members and from the experiences happening in the pictures.
I hope you found these tips and activities helpful for incorporating comprehensible input into your classes. If you’d like more guidance, I also have a video series that helps you map out your year that I’m opening up for one week. Sign up for the Map Your Year Free Video Series HERE.
Do you have strategies for language acquisition that you’d like to share? Share them in the comments or tag me in Instagram.
