World Language Classroom Joshua Cabral, French, Spanish and World Language Teaching Ideas

#145In this episode I’m taking on the question of leveling up. We often talk about proficiency levels and the output that goes along with each level. We’ll take a look at some concrete examples of language produced at each level and I’ll share some suggestions for how we can support students in leveling up their language.Topics In This Episode:The ACTFL Proficiency Levels (Interpersonal)Novice Low/Mid/High: single words, chunks, chunked phrases.Intermediate Low/Mid/High: discrete ...

#144What do you do with the information that you learn from the assessments that you give students? Even if we are talking about end–of-unit summative assessments we should look at the overall results and see if there are any changes we should make to instruction. This is our own consistent way of doing action research in our classrooms. In this episode, Wyatt Crane, a Spanish teacher in New York City, joins me to talk us through how he uses data from assessments (both formative a...

#143If you’re not a native speaker, how do you maintain your proficiency and confidence in speaking the language that you teach? Today’s episode is a Leveling Up episode, where I coach Stephanie, a middle school teacher in Maine. Maintaining and improving her personal confidence and proficiency is the area where she wants to level up.Suggestions:Set Realistic Expectations:Understand that language proficiency is a journey, and it's normal to have moments of self-doubt or insecurity, especially...

#142How do you address current events with your students? In this episode we take on the topic of current events in the language classroom with Ben Tinsley, a French teacher in Pennsylvania. This is Ben’s third time on the podcast and he is here again to share his practical insights for discussing current events in the target language and using these events as a tool for engaging students and providing compelling topics and input. Topics In This Episode:Ben's approach to incorporating cu...

#141What have you heard about language functions? I see this as the idea of using the target language to communicate or convey a message rather than only being able to describe the grammatical structures, patterns and vocabulary. In this episode we are going to take a look at this shift in focus, and sometimes mindset, from a primary focus on grammatical forms to language functions with examples and practical strategies.Topics In This Episode:3 aspects of communicative language teaching:1. go...

#140Have you heard of the term “Translanguaging?” In this episode, we are going to explore this emerging concept in language teaching with Dr. Uju Ayna, an Associate Professor of Second Language Acquisition at Carnegie Mellon University. She helps us to understand exactly what Translanguaging is and how beneficial it can be in the process of acquiring language.Topics include:what translanguaging is and how it is not synonymous with translation benefits of translanguaging for teache...