By now we all know the 5 C’s of World Language teaching…Communication, Culture, Comparisons, Community, and Connections. They are, after all, the foundation to what we do as language teachers. How often do we think of these 5 components when creating daily lessons? And how easy is it to just focus on a few and let the others fade into the oblivion?
Communication tends to be the easiest to incorporate into our daily lessons because we teach language and it better be happening in our classrooms! Right? What we need to be asking ourselves is…”Does my lesson have a real communicative goal?” “Is communication really happening?” “What does real communication look like?” “Are our students really communicating?”
Does my lesson have a communicative goal?
This is a question we should all ask ourselves when creating a lesson. Often times we fill in the class period with activities that help students build vocabulary or we drill and kill them until they are bored. When my World Language department finally caught on to the ACTFL “I can” statements it was an eye-opening experience. The process has been filled with challenges, mistakes, regrets and a whole lot of learning. Most of what I have learned is just because it says “I can” in front of a task does not mean communication is happening. The phrase I can in itself does not make a task communicative. Let’s look at a few of the statements I started with:
I can recite the ABCs
I can give basic commands
I can count to 10
Let’s think for a moment what these really say about a student and what they can do. Statements on their own generally equal no communication. When was the last time you were at a Deaf community event and recited your ABCs to someone? That is probably not the casual conversation someone is expecting. Vague outcomes just tell us what a student can regurgitate and not really what they “can do.”
Is communication really happening?
For communication to be taking place, we need to put these outcomes into real-life situations. Wouldn’t it be better for a student to know how to use the vocabulary and skills for communication in a real-life situation? It is important for us as teachers of the language to provide opportunities for this to happen and to make sure there is a clear understanding of how to do it from a student’s perspective. Let’s take the above goals and put them into real-life situations.
I can tell where I am from (ABCs)
I can tell someone where the paper is located in the classroom (basic commands)
I can give my address (numbers and ABCs)
Students can complete tasks in a number of settings at various levels of skill. Students will produce language differently. Because a few students will use phrases or sentences while others begin to use paragraphs to communicate. At each of these proficiency levels, there is room for students to grow and improve their communication. Here are some ideas on how to take the “I can” statements and use them in real communication situations.
Improve Communication
- “Introduce yourself to a deaf girl you just met at the park…tell your name and where you are from”
- “Tell your new friend where the bathroom is located in the park…”
- “Give your new friend your phone number so you can Facetime later…”
The great news about these type of communication activities is that students are not expected to master each task immediately. Some students will struggle behind and some will pleasantly surprise you with what they can expand on. Just remember with language, these skills should always be revisited. Don’t forget to incorporate them into future units or expressive tasks.
If communication is your classroom goal…and I hope it is, start to think about your objectives and how to incorporate them into your daily lessons.
I would love to hear your thoughts on how to improve communication in the classroom and how you use your “I can” statements. Comment below.
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