An effective method for learning a new language is immersion, where grammar receives explicit attention at a later stage. These are the main points from the previous articles in the series ‘Learning a Language’. In this article, we discuss perhaps the most challenging part: what does immersion look like in the classroom and what role does the teacher play?
Current Teaching Practice
To bridge the gap between current and desired practice, we first outline the current practice based on research from the National Expertise Center for Curriculum Development (SLO) and Peil.onderwijs 2018.
Currently, the focus in English lessons is on practicing oral language skills. This is a positive development in line with the guidelines set by SLO (see previous article: The Rules!). When we zoom in on speaking exercises, they mainly involve repeating new words, conducting standard conversations, and having conversations with the teacher in English. Conversations between students, games, or retelling a read text are rarely or never done.
Given the types of speaking exercises that dominate in the classroom, it is not surprising that teachers use ⅔ of the speaking time, while all students together use only ⅓ of the time. Although teachers know that language production is important for language acquisition, this distribution may explain why students have less confidence in their speaking skills than in their reading and listening skills.
Desired Practice
In immersion, the keyword is ‘doing’. Whatever educational method a school adopts, the ‘doing’ of conversations, which is primarily what learning a new language is about, will largely take place in the classroom under the guidance of a teacher. The practice of other skills can now be done individually by each student with an online method.
In the classroom, it is important that students have the opportunity to speak. The student is responsible for an active attitude, or showing initiative, otherwise, language acquisition will not occur. The teacher encourages this attitude by choosing activities that promote intrinsic motivation. Such activities are meaningful and functional.
To maximize student speaking time and realize Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development, students are expected to engage in conversations in pairs or other group forms. The high amount of language production increases learning opportunities. The better student in the pair can elevate the other student to a higher language level. In these situations, the teacher acts as a coach, helping students progress by providing appropriate feedback. But what does a coaching role look like for a teacher?
Teacher’s Role
Before the teacher’s coaching role begins, it is essential that the teacher applies modeling. Demonstrating the assignment with a strong student provides tools and a clear goal for all other students.
Then, the students work together in a collaborative form. The challenge for the teacher now is to find the right balance in the amount of feedback provided. Regardless of the amount of feedback, the structure of the conversation will change with the teacher’s involvement. When the teacher briefly joins the conversation and applies scaffolding, the students will start using the same scaffolding strategy. Thus, teacher intervention leads to better peer interactions. We would like to see this approach in classroom lessons.
However, it still often happens that teachers lose balance and provide too much help during one intervention. At that moment, the students’ initiative decreases, and they become dependent on the teacher. The students then do not get enough learning situations, which slows down the acquisition of the new language.
Let’s Get to Work!
The comparison between current and desired practice shows that teachers know that students’ language production must be high to acquire a language. Only the practical implementation can still be improved. With the following practical tips, we offer you some tools:
- Reserve the majority of time for interaction between students;
- Think of motivating activities (dialogues, games, drama, short exercises from the internet or a colleague, as long as the students can interact with each other);
- Create constantly changing pairs (or other work forms) with a small level difference;
- Apply modeling during the explanation;
- Briefly interrupt conversations with scaffolding.
An additional advantage of student interactions is that students get to know each other better by constantly working with different partners. Additionally, social interaction strengthens social cohesion, and an interactive work form is often already motivating for students. Finally, students simply enjoy being interactive.
Have fun!
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