Teaching Foreign Languages in the Block

Deborah Blaz

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9781883001520
• eBook ISBN: 9781317920656
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Provides detailed instructional strategies, sample lesson plans, and sample assessments so that foreign language teachers can make the best use of the additional time.

1

MEETING NATIONAL STANDARDS: FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND THE BLOCK SCHEDULE

“Nothing will ever be attempted, if all possible objections must be first overcome.”

Dr. Johnson, Rasselas

Not long ago in the United States, learning a foreign language was considered to be merely a part of a good liberal education, or an intellectual exercise recommended for only the brightest students. It was automatically assumed that anyone studying a foreign language wanted to be either a teacher or an interpreter/translator. Fortunately, many business, political, and educational leaders are belatedly realizing that the whole world does not speak English, and a second language is now becoming a vital part of the basic preparation for an increasing number of careers. At a job interview, applicants are often asked what languages they speak, and even when a language is not a job requirement, applicants report that foreign language skills have improved their chances for promotion as well as enhanced job flexibility and mobility.

Finally, foreign languages are no longer regarded as a frivolous option. According to the authors of A Nation at Risk (1983), foreign language proficiency is vital to the national interest, in politics, the military, and business, as well as in education. As a result, foreign language instruction is being required to change its focus from teaching grammar and literature to an emphasis on language proficiency and communications skills.

The response from educators has been swift. National standards for foreign language instruction have been established, which have been translated into policy at the state level. Most often, these newly written or revised state policies take the form of proficiency-based curriculum guides. In addition, states such as Nebraska and Indiana have established special diplomas for students who take a more challenging academic load that requires three or four years of foreign language. States such as Texas require one or two years of study as a prerequisite for graduation. Schools, as a result, are offering more foreign language classes and to students of more varied ability levels than ever before.

THE NEED TO ADAPT

Our task has been to study, learn, and adapt to meet these new goals. Foreign language teachers know that oral experiences are critical to the development of proficiency; students need all the contact they can get. For decades, immersion (e.g., the famous Berlitz course) has been shown to be the best way to facilitate learning another language. In schools where immersion is not an option, but that wish to improve the atmosphere in which foreign language learning takes place, adaptations must occur that afford more teacher-student contact time. As we all know, expecting any teacher to teach for 5 or 6 hours per day in formal class settings and be responsible for 150 to 180 students per day is not conducive to high-quality teaching. The great problem seems to be the incessant interruption of the bell—the movement of students in and out of classrooms every hour; the feeling that the class is over just as learning has begun. For foreign language teachers, there is insufficient time to set up tapes, engage in extended conversation, or write anything longer than a paragraph. With more contact time as our goal, the block schedule is ideal for teaching foreign languages; in some cases it doubles the amount of time per day spent listening, speaking, reading, and writing the language.

Schools that only offer six or seven class periods per day usually find that very few students continue language studies beyond what is required because of scheduling conflicts or graduation requirements. Still, we all know that students will not be proficient enough for the business marketplace after only one or two years of foreign language. For foreign languages, this may be the most important contribution a block schedule can make: more students finding they have time to continue their language studies. Enrollment in the upper-level classes increases under a block schedule, with students able to take (theoretically) up to eight years of language in four years, or possibly even earn college credits in the language while still in high school. Due to its structure, the block provides more opportunities for taking elective courses, or for acceleration, than a six-or seven-period schedule can offer.

However, it is also true that the urgent need is not just more time, but better use of time. The need for new teaching strategies that minimize the old grammar-and-vocabulary emphasis and provide more interaction possibilities is also indisputable; it is mandated in the new national standards. Reflecting the modem emphasis on communication, a foreign language classroom must be dynamic; changes in curriculum also must be accompanied by changes in instruction and in assessment. By changing the role of the classroom teacher from “sage on the stage” to “guide on the side” via cooperative learning, for example, we can profoundly change the learning process in our classroom. While it is possible to try new things in any schedule, the block schedule obviously offers a longer period of time in which to try out new methods.

In this change, the role of the individual teacher is of paramount importance. Teachers need a strong sense of professionalism and a belief that they have the time and resources to be as effective as they are capable of being. This should be easier to accomplish with an environment where more time is available for planning. Now, with longer preparation time each day for the teacher and the generally decreased amount of paperwork, teachers on the block report that the pressure to develop excellence in the classroom via new activities becomes much more manageable and less stressful.

THE NEED TO INCORPORATE TECHNOLOGY

Technology is also playing a larger and larger role in foreign language education: language laboratories are new and improved and funding for purchasing them is becoming more available; televisions and VCRs enhance cultural presentations; and video cameras enable the students to produce more interesting reports and projects than ever before. In addition to supplementary videos, many new textbooks come with interactive software programs through which students can not only view video clips, but also hear foreign speakers, construct sentences, drill vocabulary, practice speaking, or create a skit/play with characters that move. They can even record their own voices for the dialogue of the play.

For foreign languages, the Internet opens myriad new possibilities. The Internet offers us current events as they are happening (for example, we watched part of the Mardi Gras live, as well as a bank fire in Paris), up-to-date information on cities and sights (how much an Eiffel Tower ticket costs, what hours the Prado is open, what events are planned for the Oktoberfest this year), keypals (penpals via computer) in the target language, and many opportunities for research on various topics, often in the target language.

Adding all this wonderful technology to a shorter class period is difficult. For example, time spent going to and from the computer room, setting up the links, explaining the project, and logging on to the network, often leaves students with very little time to accomplish anything, in a standard 45-or 50-minute class period. With the extended time offered by a block, however, it becomes not only feasible, but even fun, with many rewards in terms of learning. (The Internet is discussed more fully in Chapter 4.)

To summarize, the block offers foreign language teachers many opportunities to fulfill the requirements to adapt their curriculum, instructional methods, and assessments to meet the demands of students, parents, and society. This chapter explains what the block schedule looks like, discusses the benefits and difficulties each has for foreign language teachers, and refutes common criticisms and fears about block schedules. It also discusses the national standards and how the block can help schools achieve them.

Chapter 2 deals with curriculum and pacing issues, as well as with several other steps to be taken before going to a block schedule. Chapter 3 shows how to construct a good, solid, workable lesson plan (with samples to be found in Chapter 6). Chapter 4 deals with teaching strategies that work well in the block, with examples for French, Spanish, and German classrooms; and Chapter 5 talks about assessments in their many different forms. All are written specifically with a foreign language classroom, and its particular needs, firmly in mind.

WHAT IS A BLOCK SCHEDULE?

“In a progressive country, change is constant; change is inevitable.”

Benjamin Disraeli

The block schedule has been used for many years in different countries; I taught English in France on a modified block schedule over 25 years ago. In America, the block schedule has been used successfully at the university level for years; didn’t you have at least one Monday–Wednesday–Friday class that met for two hours, for example? The high school and middle school, however, have traditionally only taught summer school programs on the block; for instance, academically troubled students might have English for three or four hours a day, five days a week, for four or five weeks. Driver Education is also traditionally taught in blocks in the summer.

ALTERNATE-DAY

One form of block scheduling being used today is called an Alternate-Day schedule (Canady and Rettig, 1996, Chap. 2). In this schedule, rather than every class meeting daily, students and teachers meet every other day for a longer “block” period of time. Alternate-Day schedules also are called “A/B,” “Odd/Even,” “Day 1/Day 2,” or “Week 1/Week 2” schedules. There are several different variations of the Alternate-Day schedule, offering either six, seven, or eight courses. A typical six-course schedule offers three courses each day for approximately 120-minute blocks; seven-course schedules typically have three alternatin...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Foreword
• About the Author
• Acknowledgments
• 1. Meeting National Standards: Foreign Languages and the Block Schedule
• 2. Preparing for the Block Schedule: An Action Plan
• 3. Lesson Plans for Block Schedules
• 4. Quality and Quantity: Instructional Strategies That Work
• 5. Assessment, Grading, and Reporting
• 6. Sample Lesson Plans
• References