Reflection - Luz - 1st Session

Our first session with Luz focused on the Competencias Claves.  I think I can speak for all us of when I say that over the course of our theoretical training on this topic, we’ve all struggled with working out just how to manage to include and assess these skills in the classroom.  In my time as a language teacher, the focus has almost entirely been on how to use certain activities for practising certain grammar points. It’s been a struggle to recalibrate my brain to use activities to practice competencies!    

When Luz arrived, the first thing she did was tell us to turn off our computers and move to the front of the room.  This really made us sit up in our chairs and a sign that these sessions are going to be decidedly different from the ones before.

We started with a warmer called Two Truths and a Lie.  After the task, Luz explained that these little activities, sometimes called ‘bell work’, are very important when starting a session.  Firstly, they should be connected to the topic and serve as a way of activating previous knowledge on a topic.  Secondly, it is very important to give clear instructions and to allow students to gather their thoughts before asking them to respond.  Finally, they also allow the teacher to quietly set up what they will need, turn on computers, take out notes etc. without the students getting bored waiting. 

This week, I was listening to BBC Radio 4 and one of my favourite programmes, The Incredible Truth, was back on.  It’s essentially three truths and a lie a lo grande! In the programme, there are four contestants, they are each given five unbelievable facts on a topic.  They write a ‘lecture’ on the topic, all of it false except for the five facts which they attempt to ‘smuggle’ past the others.  The others buzz in when they think they hear something that is true, they win a point if they’re right and lose a point if they mistake a lie for a truth. The speaker wins a point for every truth they manage to hide. This got me thinking about how this game could be used in the classroom.  The teacher could give students a topic, (relevant to the content of the course), they then look for three or five bizarre facts (depending on the level) and they have to write a short speech of 2 to 3 minutes.  Rather than buzzing in, the rest of the class should listen and note down what they think are the truths.  Then, in teams of three, they then have to decide together, justifying their decision.  Similar to the original, the teams win or lose points for their answers.  By having students wait until the end, this allows the speaker to continue without being interrupted, and also means that the others can have an chance to produce language to justify their opinions.  The lecture itself could be used by the teacher as an opportunity to assess speaking and presentation skills.  For a large class, the game could be carried on over a few sessions to give everyone a chance to deliver a speech, keeping the same teams and accumulating points over the course of the series of lectures. 

Going back to the competencias claves, we as language teachers really have it easier than a lot of other teachers, in that it is possible to include all the competencias given the wealth of topics we can use in class.  Practically everything is fair game in a language class!  Even the fact of writing the date on the board every day is working on their mathematical skills.  Luz took us through each skill and made it all look so easy!  One revelatory aspect for me was the difference between Competencia matemática y competencias básicas en ciencia y tecnología (CMCCT) and Competencia digital (CD).  It’s an important distinction, in the first ‘tecnología’ refers to the use of the device or apparatus; whereas the Competencia digital refers to being discerning when searching for information, distinguishing between reliable and unreliable sources.  In our world of ‘fake news’, this is an essential life skill. Two more of Luz’s suggestions really stuck with me. 

Firstly, Aprender a aprender (CAA). Students nowadays have a wealth of resources at their fingertips.  Unfortunately, traditional dictionary skills are often forgotten and students automatically go to Google Translate when they’re struggling.  Quite apart from the fact that it’s usually glaringly obvious to the teacher when they’ve used it, it means they don’t reflect properly on the process of translation and the problems that can arise.  Online dictionaries such as WordReference, still require students to think critically and know how to use them effectively.  When correcting students, whether it be their writing or speaking, it’s also important to make them reflect on the mistakes and give them a chance to correct themselves before the teacher does so.  Error correction in speech is something I’ve explored in a previous blog post but it’s important to note here that evidence suggests that ‘recasting’ errors made by students, that is, when the teacher immediately repeats what a students said with the correction, is not as effective as other forms of error correction.  Likewise, when correcting writing, it’s important to steer the students in the right direction, using correction codes or comments, rather than give them the answer.  All of this contributes to their skills in learning to learn.

Secondly, Sentido de la iniciativa y espíritu emprendedor. In this case, it is important to give students choice so that they can develop their sense of initiative, however, teachers must take into account the Paradox of Choice.  When given too much choice, we often become anxious about the choice, fail to choose effectively, choose the easiest option or feel unsure we made the right choice.  In the classroom, it’s important to give students choice, but within reason.  For example, students could choose how to present a topic, or they could be given a choice of subtopics within a broader topic.  Telling students to go forth and write ‘something’ about ‘something’ is counterproductive and moves the focus away from the task at hand. 

Luz recommended some videos for us to watch and I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation between Jeremy Harmer and Scott Thornbury.  A few things really stood out for me.  Firstly, Thornbury mentioned how we often see communicative tasks as something that comes at the end of a session, the class builds up towards the role-play or task.  However, these tasks can also be used effectively as a diagnostic test.  We can see at the point of use the gaps of knowledge that students have and teach in a reactive, rather than preemptive way.  Secondly, the relationship between form and meaning.  All too often, we spend a lot of energy drilling students on the correct form of a grammar point but fail to make the connection with the meaning.  We treat our students like Pavlov’s dog and are satisfied when they manage to repeat the form, but when we ask them to use the form in a meaningful way, they often revert back to default. It still shocks me when I see some of my students incanting ‘come, came, come’ (pronouncing it as ˈko.me, ‘ka.me, ‘ko.me) but having no idea what a past participle is, except that it’s in the third column.  Finally, Harmer mentioned Dell Hynes’ S-P-E-A-K-I-N-G model, for setting and scene, participants, ends, acts sequence, key, instrumentalities, norms, & genre.  Essentially, in order to use language effectively, it’s not enough to know the grammar and vocabulary, we must also consider the context the words are used in.  How someone speaks to their grandmother, to their friends or to the doctor changes completely, even if the ‘content’ is the same.  In that way, it’s incredible to think that every piece of language, in speech or writing, is inherently linked to competencias sociales y civicas.