Authentic Tasks in the Classroom

I struggle with this everyday. Whether I like it or not, today's students (at least in U.S. public schools) must not only be challenged, but equally entertained. Many simply refuse to do anything that looks like work. I know, I know -- just give 'em an "F." Not so simple anymore. The public school teacher gets hauled in the principal's office if more than 25% of his/her students have Ds or Fs. That's the bad news.

The good news is that authentic tasks (even though simulated in my opinion) are entertaining and they work. Guariento and Morley quote Willis (1996:18) for students to achieve a particular communicative goal, employing authentic tasks is "far more likely to lead increased fluency and natural acquisition."

For my Praxis III Exam, where a trained observer is in the room, I had my students perform a fashion show in Spanish. We had just finished the unit on clothing and they already knew colors and some adjectives. Students were paired off and each was to be the presenter and then the model. As the presenter described each article of clothing their partner was wearing, the model had to point to and touch it as they walked up and down the runway. Although not required to wear special clothing, some of the students dressed up for the event. One student even wore a suit! He told me he wanted to stand out from everyone else. This was a kid who had been suspended multiple times and had even started that school year out on a two-week suspension held over from the previous year. I like to think that maybe, just maybe, that authentic task kept him for looking for attention in another way. But did the students learn the vocabulary? Yes, they did. Each of the 26 students in that class scored no less than 91% on the exam for that unit. Did they study for it? Maybe, maybe not. But I think the high scores have more do with the fact that each and every student had the opportunity to hear, see, and touch the vocabulary used in an "authentic" situation no less than 25 times. Hmmm, is that "natural acquistion?" It's natural enough for me.

I have noticed in the lower level classroom that normally apathetic students will participate in task-oriented exercises, even if they do grumble along the way. And authentic tasks are hard to design for lower level students. But Guariento and Morely point out that simple tasks can be used such as, "ordering coffee, booking a hotel room, or asking (directions)."

It's worked every time I've tried it. I just need to do more!

Website Evaluation #4

The BBC’s Learn Spanish (http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/index.shtml) website is fantastic whether you are just starting out or are an advanced learner. I wish this had been available to me when I was first learning Spanish. The content presented on the above page through links is quite extensive.

For the beginner, there is a self-contained online course, a “Quick Fix” for printable holiday phrases with audio and mp3 download, two video courses (one short and one long), a historical look at Spanish across Europe, two links for primary/elementary schools, and a message board.

For the more advanced student there are interactive crosswords, El Mensual audio magazine (with quizzes), Reportajes audio-based activities by topic or structure focus, Cool Spanish (slang), Spanish for Work, Spanish Journey (transcripts of a TV show), and links to purchase books, DVDs, and CDs.

There is something for almost everyone, even tutors http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/tutors/internet/. While this evaluation is in regard to Spanish, there are links to similar BBC sites for French, Spanish, German, Italian, Mandarin, Chinese, Portuguese, Greek, and more languages.

The website is so extensive, very easy to use, and so much of it is free that it is hard to find any are for improvement. It would be nice to not have to purchase a book for some of the video program(mes), but, hey, they have to make money too.

Professional Development Websites

I liked all of the websites in the Dan's Office Passageway. I agree that the Blogstreams Salon looks like the best for what I'm interested in. The WiA looks interesting as well. I like the idea of language educators coming together to discuss and resolve technology. It's not quite the same when we talk to the school's tech person, who has no idea about language teaching. This is a great service, but in the few times I've been logged in on tappedin.com it seems like there are not very many people logged in. In any case it's there and we can certainly use to help and get help.

Website evaluation #3

This is a neat website (www.verbix.com) if you like to explore languages and find similarities between language families. The website says “This site contains verb conjugations for hundreds of languages, ranging from national and international languages to regional and even extinct languages.” You can put almost any verb from many languages and it will conjugate it for you. There’s even a language guesser. Just type or paste in any text and the program will guess the language. That’s not something I need every day but it has come in handy a few times.

This site could definitely have some excercises added to it. However, I think it is doing what they intend -- conjugating verbs. I don't think a lesson could be built around this site, but it could be used by the student to check parts of their work.

Website Evaluation #2

Destinos: An Introduction to Spanish http://www.learner.org/resources/series75.html is intended for high school and above audiences.

The intended purpose of this website is to assist learners of Spanish. There are 52 videos in telenovela (soap opera) style episodes which are presented free of charge. Other than purchasing the accompanying text and work books, there are no external documents offered. There are a few links to Spanish news organizations. I suppose these could also be considered external documents, however they are not tied in directly to any of the lessons. They can be effective in that they are authentic text.

This site could be interesting to the learner who wants to see and hear the language spoken in a controlled environment that allows the learner to know what concepts are being presented. Much like the "real" telenovelas, there is so much overacting it is difficult NOT to understand what is happening in the story. :)

There is no practice, assessment, or feedback offered on this website.

The site is easy to use if you don't mind viewing the episodes on a two-inch screen. Or, you can play it in MediaPlayer if you know how to get the URL and paste it in. That way you can watch it on full screen.

This website is good for what it is intended. Which is providing a platform for viewing the videos and increasing textbook sales. The videos are of excellent quality (even though they are somewhat dated now). If used in conjunction with the text, the site is excellent. But even without the text, a teacher or student could make good use of this site.

The site could be improved by having questions to be answered after each video. Or possibly having links to cultural websites of the different countries each episode takes the viewer to.

Egbert

I particularly liked the way Egbert breaks down the “conditions for optimal language learning environments” in his article. These eight conditions do not currently exist in my classroom, but they will. Without going into too much detail, at present, I am able to consistently provide my students with four of these conditions.

Seeing these conditions spelled out is going to help me bring better opportunities for my students to learn their target language. While I have been doing/providing some of these conditions, in some cases it was really just dumb luck that I was doing the right thing. For example, I have had students create their own restaurant menus when we were working on a food unit.

I also appreciate the acknowledgement that “it is not yet know for certain whether nature (cognition) or nurture (the classroom environment) is more important” (Egbert) in the ability to acquire a second language. I am often pleasantly surprised by one of my special education students who completely gets and understands a complex grammatical concept the first time I explain it. Then sometimes there is the straight-A student who cannot (at least not quickly) understand a simple grammatical concept, no matter how many different ways I explain or model it.

Egbert speaks to the fact that many educators complain that CALL research does not tell them which are the best CALL methods for teaching/learning. I agree with Egbert that there is probably not just one, or even a few, best method(s) for second language acquisition. Rather, there needs to be several methods available in order to reach all learners. I know I have seen in my classroom students who do better and learn more by acting out scenes in front of the class. Others do not do well with approach at all and would prefer to read about the material. I try to oblige both (or any) learning style that is not disruptive to my classroom.

Overall, I found the Egbert article very informative and I plan to begin implementation of the eight conditions immediately.

Software/Website Title: Studyspanish.com

Website URL: www.studyspanish.com

Grade/Age Level: Most appropriate for high school and up.

Language & Content: English (Spanish Grammar)

1) What is the intended purpose of the software or website?

To help students of Spanish with grammar and vocabulary.

2) What is the content of the software or website and how is it presented?
The content is mostly Spanish grammar (some vocabulary). It is in a list format. Very easy to use.

3) What external documents does the software or website include? Are they effective?
This site is self-contained. Many sites link to this one though.

4) In what ways is the software or website interesting to the target audience?
I'm making a big deal about this site even though I keep using that ugly word "grammar." And grammar isn't that interesting to most people. However, I tell my students that if I wasn't clear on something that they should try this website and some of the quizzes that go along with a particular grammar point. Those that take my advice usually come back the next class with both praise for the website and a better understanding of the topic at hand.

5) For what language goal(s) is this software or website useful/effective?
This website is most useful for grammar points.

6) Does this program or website offer practice? Assessment? Feedback? Of what kinds? (give examples) There are quizzes and tests with immediate feedback. There are multiple choice and fill in the blank questions.


7) Is this software or website easy to use? (i.e., navigation, layout, etc.) Very easy to use. It has a nice straight-forward layout with navigation links remaining on the left side. It's hard to get lost on this website.


8) What are the strengths of this software or website? It is without a doubt the most complete website I've seen for the study of Spanish grammar. And that's just on the free side of the site. I've never purchased a membership, but it appears that there is even more.


9) How can this software or website be improved? From a technical standpoint, I wouldn't change anything. I like that it's not too "glitzy." There are no distractions. And from a content standpoint, I think it is doing exactly what it is intended for - teaching Spanish grammar. I would be hard pressed to change much about it.