Immersion, Skills, and Time

Teaching Foreign Language: How do students acquire a deeper understanding of the syntax?

           It is a common practice, when teaching foreign languages, translation is the first thought that comes to mind.  We might assume learning and teaching by translation could be easier, yet after researching the cons and pros, immersion is the most effective journey to be successful in acquiring understanding and comprehension of a foreign language.

          Learning vocabulary with visual drawings, facilities the connection to objects, and places, even activites.  One of the pros of the visuals, the brain connects the words to the picture.  Do you remember how you leaned your native language vocabulary when you were a baby?  This is  pedagogical method to learn demonstrates to be effective at the middle school level. 

       Often times, students are confused when asked to not write translations in their notes. The question always comes up: "How will I remember what it means?" Very calmly, the teacher's responses  are : "We will continue to practice it in class, and your brain will remember." or " Make a small drawing of an object that will make you remember what it means." 
      
      At times, teachers encounter challenges when students have learning difficulties, yet this should not be an impediment for students to learn effectively a foreign language. These students usually take longer time to produce their output verbal and written information or benefit from information presented in multiple ways and repetition. The question is, would all student benefit from extra time to respond or lessons and instructions repeated in multiple different ways?  Absolutely, it will furthermore give all students the opportunity to organize, and carefully process information received setting each one of them for a successful outcome.
      
     In a world where information is instant, as when we Google a word or a place we are looking for, it gives us detailed information about how much information was found per seconds:  59, 400,000 searches found in 49 seconds.   Students are teachers feel the urge to have instant responses from our brains, yet research shows persons with learning difficulties are capable to learn and produce information, not at the speed of a Google search. How many seconds does a  teacher wait before for students to have  an opportunity to respond?  Two? Three?  In the culture of my class, when a student is asked a questions, the stunt is responsible to respond. Sometimes it takes 12 seconds. When students recognize their effective participation, their level of interest to learn increases. 

This article written by Mark Keierleber explains the importance of teacher's state of mind to feel competent to address their lessons to reach every student, it all begins with believing in the potential of very student.

"We need them to understand what students are capable of and really believe that they can achieve at high standards,” Whittaker said. “Without that belief, all of the laws in the world aren’t going to make a difference in practice.”

    Students and foreign language teachers need to form a trustful relationship to ensure a safe learning environment in which mistakes and mispronouncing words are welcomed; a place where competition with Google searches against how fast your own brain responds, is not a priority. The journey of learning is key to keep curiosity for learning alive in a collaborative class community.

Believe in the polease share your thoughts.