Teacher of the year, Kate Fawthrop, believes that for students to learn language they simply must not learn it, but learn to use it. She believes in language immersion. When teaching French or Spanish, if she says something the children do not understand, she uses an English word. She says it is pointless to continue to talk if the children do not understand, because then they will never understand. She believes in letting the children speak the language they are learning as much as possible. In this new ploy, students are immediately drawn into the culture of the language they are learning. She plays native Spanish music before the start of Spanish class. The students then read books in the language they are learning. They do not read novels, but they read children's books and translate some of the lines. The children are also told to translate song lyrics into English, and it is this ploy that has helped many of them learn the new language.
I feel this is the best way for any teacher to teach another language. Because it is pointless to continue rambling on in lets say, French, when the students only understand Spanish and do not know what you are saying. If a student is lost, and you continue on the path that they are lost, of course they are going to continue to be lost. They will not get it eventually. And if they do, it will be because one of their friends who speaks the language will point out to them the meaning of the words. So, I am all for speaking English in Spanish class if it helps the students understand the material.
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While learning Japanese one of my friends immersed himself in the culture outside of the classroom. He began to watch anime, try to read simple books and manga, and even brought himself to listen to J-pop. His genuine interest in the culture helped him gain the upper hand in class and he improved at a rapider pace than others in the class who just paid attention in class.
Another issue of learning languages in the classroom is whether or not students should be required to speak in the language they are learning the whole time. I realize that at the beginning levels of language learning, students have a limited vocabulary and are unable to express every thought completely. However, at higher levels there is an issue. For example, my AP Spanish teacher would not let us ask what an English word meant in Spanish. We would have to use circumlocution in Spanish in order to describe the word we wanted, and then she would supply the answer. Although this helps students with thinking skills, at times the process was more frustrating than what it was worth. All in all, I still have mixed feelings about this issue within the classroom.
Interesting post, but i wonder, why do you think immersion works so well? Is it just as Anya suggests in her comment that immersion leads to more interest and motivation to learn the language? Or does the process of immersion actually help your brain learn the language in a new way that classical textbook approaches to language can't capture?
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