Challenge yourself! Mix it up! Get them using the language!

Get them using the language: A while back I posted about communication first in the target language. I discussed the importance of communication in the language classroom. Today I want to talk about how we can mix it up to keep students engaged and get them using the target language.

I know there are days when I am standing in front of my Smartboard pointing at pictures, lecturing away.  I am completely frustrated because my students look like they want to fall asleep. On these days students are so bored they can’t answer my questions, let alone start a conversation with a peer. My intentions as a teacher are good. However, I want to give them language skills so they can actually apply them to a conversation. But let’s face reality. When a student dreads class they aren’t learning.

How do we get them to use the language?

Here are some “rules” I have learned to follow when dreaming up speaking activities for my students to get them using the target language:

1. The activities must be engaging. You have to have student buy-in.
2. The activities must be varied. If you use the same activities every day students will become bored, even if it is a fun game.
3. The activities must be focused on a theme. Create activities based on what you are teaching and what students are learning.
4. The activities must be applicable to the student’s language level. Activities must be provided where students can apply the skills and language they know and feel accomplished using it.
5. The activities must be authentic. Activities must be genuine in order to get student buy-in and to allow students to acquire new knowledge in the process.

If you are familiar with ACTFL you will know that there are three modes of communication: Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational.
Photo credits to Regional 10 Education Center

Interpretive Mode  – One-way communication that contains no negotiation of meaning. In ASL it includes viewing information, receptive language, or watching the language and understanding it. In this type of communication, there is no way to question the author or ask for clarification or repetition. Students must interpret the meaning and read between the lines in order to comprehend. This type of communication includes viewing of stories, YouTube videos, or news reports.

Interpersonal Mode – Two-way communication that is actively negotiated between all parties involved. It includes an exchange of information monitored by all individuals. The parties involved can make adjustments and clarifications. Most importantly this is not rehearsed or practiced. This is spontaneous communication. This type of communication includes expressive and receptive signing.

Presentational Mode  – One-way communication that is intended for an audience. It is a presentation of information and not an exchange of information or negotiation. This is rehearsed, practiced, and not spontaneous. The presenter needs to have knowledge of the audience’s culture and language in order to convey information that is understood. This type of communication includes stories, literature, videos, or informational presentations.

Mix It Up!

Here are some thoughts on activities to get them to use the target language any day of the week.

Interpretive Mode

• Watch children’s stories in ASL. Dawn Sign Press has an entire series, Once Upon a Sign, that includes my buddy CJ Jones and other deaf performers.
• Use the Daily Moth for upper-level ASL students to get the news. Use these in class with prepared questions and use the clips on tests and quizzes.
• Have students interpret peer videos. Students can create a video and use a Google form to “quiz” each other.
• Use this site for a quick and easy recipe to check for understanding. Be the really cool teacher and bring in the ingredients so they can actually make the cookies. You know if they taste good, they got it!
• Use a video like this one and post it to a conversation board like Canvas or Flipgrid. Have students respond to what they learned and comment on others’ posts. Students can write or sign the responses.
• Have students analyze literature created by deaf people. Keep the work authentic. It can be written, film, humor, poetry,  comic strips or stories. Get students into the material by finding topics of interest to them. Students need to be able to connect and understand the material in order to talk about it.

Interpersonal Mode

Begin the class with a topic starter that relates to your class. I create a PowerPoint of topics for each unit I teach. The topic is up on the board at the start of class. They talk to their partner about the topic while I take roll. If you are teaching holidays post “Discuss your favorite holiday.”  If you are learning about directions to a location post “Tell your partner where your favorite restaurant is and what you like to order there.” Not only are you on topic but now you are reviewing too. Win, win!

• Use video chats, Zoom or FaceTime to call students in another class you teach or link up with another school for one day. Use created situations to give a purpose to the call.
• Gap activities are a great way to get students to use the language. A gap activity is anything where student A and student B have an incomplete activity that requires questioning and communication. Most teachers call them A-B activities. You can Google this and so many things will pop up. I use one like this to have students tell a class schedule. Their partner writes the person and their classes.
• Conversation circles are where students prepare questions to ask their peers using new vocabulary words. They sit in a circle. One student starts by asking a question of another student in the circle. Once that student answers, he or she will ask a question of someone else and so on. To get students started, I sometimes use a WH question cube to guide them.
• Pictures may sound old school but they are a great tool for starting a discussion. Take great sports photos from the internet and have students discuss the rules of the game, famous athletes, or the color of the uniforms. Students can describe how the ball moves down the field. The possibilities for this one are endless. Use magazine pictures, personal pictures students bring in, pictures from the Internet, or pictures from a coloring book to prompt pairs or groups of students to express their opinion, have a discussion, or tell a story.

Presentational Mode

• Students can research a topic on any aspect of Deaf culture, like greetings for novice students, to share in small groups or research deaf education and present it for a more advanced class. Use Google Forms to share information and assess.
• Have students analyze a piece of literature either written or signed and have them share the meaning the author is trying to convey.
• Advertisements are a good way to get students to think about products and ASL. Moreover, students can view ads with deaf people and then create a product advertisement of their own in the target language. Commercials may feature an existing product. Students can also choose to create a product. Here is a playlist to start with.
• Book reports or literary circles can be a fun way to get students to talk about their favorite book or what they learned from a culture book you have assigned. Give students a prep sheet like this one from ESL blog or prepare your own focusing on the information you want students to share.

Here is a link to a gap activity to try with your students. It’s FREE. So try something new today and let us know how it worked out in the comments below.

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