A full day workshop by a nationally known language educator can be inspiring on a personal level but unproductive on a professional level simply because the presenter brings forward so many ideas that have proved successful in his or her long career. A member of the audience is likely to fall back upon the tried and familiar in his or her classroom without risking the untried and unknown however successful it may have been for another teacher. Teachers are not always receptive to “craft knowledge.” The lonely profession tends to stay lonely even in the face of a plethora of new ideas or novel strategies, and perhaps even because of the quantity of novelties offered.

The true test of a good idea is not whether it is well received the first time. Students tend to welcome any change of pace as a good idea. The test of a good idea is whether it produces results on a consistent basis. It is often impossible to make a commitment to a single idea when too many are offered – ranging from pronoun drills to student travel, from clubs to drama, from conversation to portfolios, and so on.

All this is to say a teacher needs to focus on repeating a given exercise or procedure in order to determine its value for students.

If you have read this far, you are asking yourself. “What does this author have to offer?”

One idea: “Nine new words.” This idea is appropriate for second year students and beyond, those who can write complete sentences in the language you teach.

The start of the exercise involves eliciting nine new words from the students. The words can be presented in the language you teach or in the language of the student in which case the teacher will translate the words before he or she writes them on the blackboard, white board, overhead, etc.  The arbitrary framework, which seems to work well, is that of tic-tac-toe, perhaps surrounded by a border, thus nine squares arranged three by three, reminiscent of the first nine numbers on the students’ portable phone. (More about that later.)

The process of eliciting random words requires a degree of control and civility. These words will become a class vocabulary responsibility and the basis for a writing assignment. Whimsy is acceptable; bad taste is not. The method for eliciting words can range from dictionary searches to reading references, from visual cues to complete randomness. Limitations might be imposed: verbs only, nouns only – as needed. However the best part of the exercise is the possibility of original associations among random words.

The teacher will determine how much time can be spent in the process of putting the words on the board. In the “ideal” class of nine students, each student would submit a word. With eighteen students, each pair might submit a word. With too many students, the teacher is most likely forced to call upon those willing to submit a word. 

Eventually the blackboard might look like this – and each student has the responsibility of copying all the words:

            railroad                        rain                  football

            mailman                       diamond          computer

            boots                           gasoline           cheese

To become familiar with the words, the students need to repeat them using a known pattern (1-9 on the portable phone). Two students reading the words continuously, alternating each word, in effect have different turns on each pass through the nine words. (When can they continue to “read” them without looking?) Further word recognition can be produced by using the space numbers as a cue (5 – diamond, 7 – boots). More word production can be simple (disguised?) math problems: “mailman” plus “rain” (4 + 2) = (6) “computer.” More word usage results from full sentence questions using the physical pattern presented. “What is between the railroad and the football?” “The rain.” “What is under the computer?” “Cheese.”

It would be hard to find a student who does not recognize the numerical assignments above, repeated here to verify the presumably obvious:

                                    1          2          3

                                    4          5          6

                                    7          8          9         

If time allows, each word can develop its own vocabulary constellation on the blackboard (with all students taking notes). One can write “player,” “game,” “to play,” “win,” “lose,” “throw,” “kick” etc. in proximity to “football.”  Next to “boots” one might write “wear,” “socks,” “puddle,” “pair.” And so on.

Before leaving class, pairs of students might challenge each other to put two words in the same sentence: boots, football “I can’t play football in my boots.” Rain, diamond “The rain makes diamonds on the grass.”  This is also an exercise in imagination.

Students leave with all the words presented in Nine New Words, including the ones added to the original nine. The assignment for homework is to create a story which must include the original nine words, underlined when used, but not including all the added words, words which were intended to facilitate story telling.

Vocabulary repetition and the addition of useful words to the exercise usually allow students to produce stories that are much livelier than one might expect. There are those students who try to cram words into the minimum number of sentences and others who take flight. Corrections for the teacher are both a chore and entertainment. Each student is expected to copy completely the corrected story for inclusion in a notebook, for posting, for reading aloud to the class. Public sharing does a lot to improve the quality of the work. Just one idea: Nine new words.

 Joseph Scott

Author, TACTICS: Conversaciones Entre Dos

Teachers and students are always looking for magical helpers to make learning more entertaining and time spent more productive. Why not consider enlisting “little people” in the interest of pronoun mastery? Little people allow everyone to adopt the same working assumptions and the same point of view. 

Learning about the little people from an entry at a web site is much more challenging than having one of the TACTICS books in which they are prominently displayed: in Spanish in Cara a Cara and in French in 1,2,3, GO Grammaire Orale, in each book on the very last page. In any event the little people are international with appropriate variations for styles of address or reference specific to the language being studied.

One may be disappointed to learn that the little people are simply stick figures, readily recognizable as male (no skirt) or female (one extra line from knee to knee, with skirt). Of course one can enhance them to taste. However, the bare essentials are most effective.

Let us start with the little people on the blackboard, or white board or smart board or overhead projector – in short, on the wall. I recommend a half sheet of poster board with the desired figures drawn in marker for instant presenting in case of all possible technical difficulties. Since there are no little people keys on my computer keyboard, I will use M for male and F for female, as needed and show you the basic arrangement once in English, using subject pronouns:

                                                            You

                        They                He          I        She                  They

                                                            We

Draw your own stick figures on a scrap of paper to help make this discussion easier to understand.

                                                     M         F

                        MM                 M         O         F                      FF

                                                     M         F

The O represents the center of the pronoun universe which every student understands immediately as “I,” no stick figure needed for either a girl or a boy.  Self-centeredness is accepted here as a useful perspective. 

Now one needs only point in order to speed up conjugation drills (Je parle, Il parle, Elle parle, etc.) without any confusion of I-you perspective. “You” is above, “We” is below, the third person axis is horizontal with the singular close to “I” and the plural farther away. Touch two different “pronouns” (with a model sentence) to rehearse “I see you.” “He sees them.” “She sees us.” and so on. A student from Martinique (a French speaker learning English) demonstrated to me that one could touch the little people five times (along the horizontal) to produce “They told him that I had seen her with them.” Students can always take flexible learning aids way beyond actual instructional needs. Adults rarely use more than three pronouns in a sentence. Students rarely accept such reasonable limits once they learn to communicate in pronouns. What is more personal than pronouns?

Students are also capable of and open to (in the interest of variation and novelty) all sorts of changes in perspective. Once they know who and where the little people are, it is easy for them to imagine the little people on the floor (with or without supporting diagram). That means they can stand and rehearse with their feet and their mouths, simply stepping on imaginary little people.

Standing on one foot is singular (I-you-he-she) and standing on two feet is plural (we-you-they-they). Singular and plural “you” is indicated by one or two feet. Masculine/feminine and plural “they” is indicated by left or right. Years of research suggest that female on either left or right is a personal preference of the moment. Standing, in and of itself, along with some physical motion, is often accepted as a welcome variation upon sitting for the entire class. Every student can say individually what he or she is stepping on in any particular drill; students can work in pairs either giving orders as to where their partner is to step or reporting where the partner is stepping – and then changing roles to be fair.

Another easy change in perspective, students can work with their hands to continue the same drilling. Sit down and point. Forward is “you,” Back is “we” and “he-she-they” are left and right, however the student pointing indicates. Again students can work alone with changing model sentences or in pairs, leading or following. Moving hands will very quickly become pointing with fingers, because fingers use less energy and appear more natural or more sophisticated or more subtle.

The language you teach may require adjustments for grammatical clarity. Once the students experience control and speed in a basic subject drill, or a basic emphatic pronoun drill, they will be more than open to small adjustments for grammatical necessities. If the teacher can’t think of how to represent a grammatical distinction with the little people or with gestures or stepping, given an explanation of the problem the students will find a solution. They can be remarkably creative in removing impediments to their own competence. 

Sample solutions: French – vous-tu distinction, “vous” is a single stick figure with a hat, (“tu” has no hat), in gesture a finger is extended for “tu,” fingers are kept together for “vous.” The same applies to Spanish and “vosotros” is indicated by a pointer finger extended on both hands. The masculine and feminine in pointing can be signaled by using palm-down for masculine and palm-up for feminine. “Nosotras” shows both wrists, “Nosotros” shows the back of the hands (palms face the body of the person “speaking”).

(In stepping drills if one needs to distinguish masculine and feminine, a very small dip of the knee [curtsy?] might indicate feminine, and a touch to the forehead [salute?] might indicate masculine.) 

Note that objects can be added at will (by picture or by holding object) to produce “I gave it to him.” “She gave it to me.” Triple pronoun drills are challenging in any language, thus it is essential that every pronoun has its physical identification by picture, gesture, space or touch (object). The opportunities for confusion are ever present, especially in translation drills when perspective comes into play.

Note that the single greatest advantage of this style of drilling is that perspective is never an issue. In real life a turn of the head produces pronoun reference changes all around, which is the major reason why using real people for drilling is fraught with peril. The little people prepare students for that moment when each can look around and say what he or she means to say with complete understanding, secure in the sound of what has already been rehearsed. After all, there are just so many pronouns.

I recommend that the teacher get his or her language’s little people in good order before presenting them to students. The teacher should always be ready to demonstrate the role of the student in any particular drill. For paired drilling, the teacher demonstrates both student roles first, then is demonstrator with a volunteer student, and then the teacher gets out of the way (or continues as a student in an odd numbered class). 

Once students are allowed to demonstrate their competence at the blackboard – pointing and speaking – or without any support – stepping and speaking or pointing and speaking, with or without a partner, there will be pleasant surprises for all concerned. On pronoun tests thereafter it will not be uncommon to see students review their work with their hands, pointing in various directions to confirm the sense of what they have written.

Remember to do a little with the little people and do it well.

Eventually this all becomes an unnecessary artificiality. Until then, there is no limit to their utility: possessive adjectives, possessive pronouns, direct and indirect objects, subject and emphatic pronouns.

Get everything out of the little people that you can so that pronoun usage will have no surprises and you will be able to say to students in the language that you teach – and be understood – “I see that you have given his to them and hers to me and therefore we will go without them!” or “They told him that I had seen her with them.”

 Joseph Scott

Author, TACTICS: Conversaciones Entre Dos

TACTICS is an acronym attached to some language texts from Wayside Publishing. It stands for Through Active Conversation To Individual Communication Skills. Let me keep the emphasis on the word “active.” Active students are the ones doing the learning in class and TACTICS books support activities for students, usually in pairs. The goal of a TACTICS book is to help create classes in which every student talks more than the teacher.

 There is more than one way to create a class in which every student speaks more than the teacher. I repeat that line for emphasis. Let me introduce the idea of physical learning reinforcement (PLR?) which you can name any way you like once you have found ways to apply the concept to your own classes. No book required.

Language learning, especially speaking, requires practice, practice and more practice. Beginners require more repetition than a language user can reasonably stand, thus teachers do well to employ language laboratories for repetitive exercises. All too often teachers do not supply the enormous quantity of repetition necessary for fluent recall of a language structure.

 Think of learning to tie one’s shoes. I don’t think anyone ever learned to tie shoes by the lecture method. The teacher may be willing to go on at length about how to tie one’s shoes, but the only ones who can appreciate the clarity and accuracy of the explanation are those who already know how to tie their shoes. One learns to tie shoes by tying shoes, and one learns to speak by speaking.

Back to physical reinforcement. Certain concepts in languages can be signaled in relation to or with motions of the body. Singular could be one finger, plural two fingers. Personal pronouns can be indicated by pointing (but since people facing each other interpret such pointing (I-you) differently, we will save that topic for another day). Time can be interpreted by pointing forward (future) and pointing back (past). To point down in front of the body is to insist upon now (present). And of course it is fun for the teacher to point this out to the class, but what the teacher really needs to do (once the class knows what is going on) is to get out of the way.

When the class is organized in pairs, two students take turns being the teacher. One points and the other speaks. The simplest form of language behavior for this pointing is “today, tomorrow, yesterday.”  Is this too easy for students? It can be perceived as too easy by an instructor who is a language speaker. However, changing pairs and changing speeds will create, for a few minutes, the kind of activity necessary for deep learning. Another variation is (for a brief period of time) to have each student speak and point, so called “coordination drills,” for the finger and the mouth should indicate the same thing.

Adolescents are more often than not starved for physical activity in the language classroom. A change of air, mood, attitude can be effected by having all students stand and do “tomorrow, today, yesterday” with their feet. (Both feet together = today, step forward (both feet) = tomorrow, step back (both feet) = yesterday.) Obviously this is not a class but an idea for punctuation in a class that may need to breathe differently for a few minutes. Also this is a ridiculously simple idea which seems to require a lot of explanation (try writing instructions for tying one’s shoes.) In my experience, workshops in which student demonstrate such exercises are more entertaining and much faster than written explanations.

The point is to give students the ability to work with a language structure independently of the teacher for the time it takes to really master the structure. Students will always say that they understand – passively; the teacher needs to demand demonstrations of mastery. Physical coordination (individually and/or in pairs) along with language structure at speed is a very good way to determine what students can actually do.

Consider using two hands in front of the body to rehearse and learn the affirmative, negative, interrogative, and negative-interrogative. The teacher demonstrates: two hands forward (palms up) (we are); two hands forwards with fists (we are not); two hands forward (palms up) crossed (are we?); and two hands forward crossed with fists (aren’t we?). One student can cue another or all students can work individually. In French it takes beginners a long time to get used to what appear (to a teacher) to be simple variations: nous sommes, nous ne sommes pas, sommes-nous, ne sommes-nous pas. Coordination of action and structure (hands and mouth) is language learning at its best. How many pronouns can be used as variations on this exercise? How fast can students go and stay coordinated? Always faster than necessary and faster than you think.

Students are remarkably adaptive to this kind of drilling. A grammatical explanation becomes simply agreeing upon what will cue the language structure to be rehearsed. And if the teacher can’t think of appropriate cues, students will supply them. Consider expanding the front-to-back time line to include near future and recent past. A Spanish example: point down (hablo); hand in same position, finger points forward (voy a hablar); hand in same position, finger (or thumb) points back (acabo de hablar); hand moves forward (hablaré); hand moves back (over shoulder) (hablé). Change pronouns, change verb, change partners, and now you’re on your way to that class in which every student speaks more than the teacher.

Individual “coordination” drills allow all students to point and speak at once. Paired “leader-follower” drills allow variations on speed. Both forms of physical reinforcement drills lead to control and comprehension and fluency. The teacher may even have a few moments for attentive observation (or relaxed breathing) in his or her own class.

Such drills are effective but perishable. Once the language structure is internalized and well-controlled, doing the drill is unnecessary. However, drills can always be expanded (made more difficult for whatever reason) and used for rapid review. (You can tie up presents, not just shoes.) You are invited to find one physical reinforcement drill which works for your class and then find variations and find new drills. You will know you have found one when every students is speaking and moving and on task!  Your assignment is to think of what comes next…

Joseph Scott

Author, TACTICS: Conversaciones Entre Dos

Desperation can be a gift. You are looking for ideas about language teaching. After decades of language teaching I have a few ideas to share.

TACTICS is an acronym attached to some language texts from Wayside Publishing. It stands for Through Active Conversation To Individual Communication Skills. Let me put the emphasis on the word “active.” In the worst sense your students are too active to behave in class and you are too active wearing yourself out trying to maintain civil order. In the best sense your students learn by doing, actively participating in acquiring skills.

My essential point is that what you do is not as important as what the students do. Can you observe your own classes? What are students doing?

You can look around when all students are writing. You can observe when they read individually and silently. You can supervise when every student is glued to his or her own individual computer or other electronic device. Is that active enough? What about those times when it is just you and a room full of students?

Worst case: Sit down! Shut up! This is a language class!

Traditional case: Listen carefully. I will ask a question and call upon raised hands.

TACTICS: Here is the task. Turn to a classmate. Go to work.

In the worst case, very little is accomplished. In the traditional classroom order is maintained and progress is slow, especially when one student is active and all others are passive. A hard working teacher can elicit as much language activity (answers?) as he or she demonstrates (via questions?). However, the students must share response time. In a class of 25 the individual student response time is 1/25th of 1/2 (the other half belongs to you) of the class time. Another way of looking at this sharing is that students can anticipate 98% wait time! In an age of electronic instantaneity, impatience and distraction can undo your extraordinary efforts made with the best will in the world. And how many times a day?

Students need engagement and the only way to engage them is with each other. Students need support and direction and a good way to provide it in a language class is with TACTICS materials or TACTICS ideas in whatever form. The most energetic and least utilized teaching resource in the language classroom is the student.

When all students are engaged with each other, you can observe your own class. Paired activity is ideal but in classes with an odd number of students I recommend the role of another student to the teacher. If that is dangerous or impractical, I have been told by others that three girls (you know which ones) will be able to manage “paired” activities for the time allowed.

The way to move from the traditional class to a TACTICS class is simply to share. If every student has in hand a copy of the teacher’s questions for the day, the task is simply to ask and answer the questions. I used individual pieces of paper for a very long time before a book became a logical solution to copy and distribution problems.

If private rehearsal time is followed up by public performance time (traditional question and answer before the class), students have some stake in making rehearsal time worth while. In this context students are surprisingly supportive, remarkably resilient, and nearly inexhaustible. Various studies suggest that language is no more than half of any communicative interaction. Thus, changing partners and performing the same task is very much a new experience. Add to that the glue provided by a real human being, a peer even, paying attention and language activity becomes more of a pleasure than a chore.

Private (protected by the noise of the class) rehearsal, personal interaction, changing partners, results in extraordinary language production. Improved pronunciation comes directly from production, production, production. Observe any toddler learning language.

Public performance before peers with no rehearsal is fraught with peril and adolescent angst. It is a grotesque commonplace observed in more than one Hollywood movie that a high school public nervous breakdown occurs in French class! Successful rehearsal leads to confident and competent performance. A general rule might be that students are never asked to say publicly anything they haven’t said privately at least ten times.

All this does not rule out discussion, thinking and hesitation. If the discussion is on the topic rehearsed, the results will be surprising.

Look in the TACTICS books for ideas. Ideally a classroom set is one book for every two students who are looking on while working together. A variation on working together is that only one looks at the book and the other responds without looking. The most common form of work involves lists of questions, vocabulary definitions, and suggested answers. Note that the question almost always contains all the language behavior needed for the answer. Always encourage full sentence interchanges to increase production.

Another common form of paired work involves a pattern of behavior (a verb conjugation, for example) arranged in an odd number of elements.  The odd number is essential, for as two students alternate they exchange elements with every repetition. (Two student (rehearse and) learn to count from one to nine (not one to ten). Student A, first time through says 1,3,5,7,9 and second time through 2,4,6,8. Student B first time through says 2,4,6,8 and second time through 1,3,5,7,9  alternating until they change partners and start again.) Each student always hears 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9.

My final bit of advice: Remember it could be as easy as PIE, Paired Interactive Exercise. Now you can observe your own class hard at work. If you can share your agenda in the form of private interactive rehearsal exercises for paired work for half the class, then everything that once took a whole class to do will be done in the remaining half class.

Don’t believe me? Try it. That’s why I lasted so long as a language teacher.

Joseph Scott 

Author, Tactics: Conversaciones Entre Dos