Negotiating meaning in the mixedability language classroom Mara
Negotiating meaning in the mixed-ability language classroom María F. Muradás-Taylor University of York
Background on the mixed-level content class 2 nd year module - Ab-initio students join A-level students – different language skills and abilities. Module : “Historical memory in the Spanish speaking world” • Content: history based module in Spanish, focusing on human rights and social justice. • ü ü ü Challenges: creating effective learning environment for all maximising the learning experience bridging the language gap. Reflect on teaching
Bridging the gap in mixed-ability environment student learning needs at the front of curriculum design (Tomlinson, 1999) • student as primary focus of instruction • teacher becomes a facilitator CREATIVE (Woods and Jeffrey, 1996) FLEXIBLE (Berger, 1991) INTERACTIVE (Savignon , 1983) think outside the box allow for change Encourage communication
How… by promoting collaborative learning (Beckman, 1990; Chickering & Gamson, 1991) ü fosters learning and critical thinking by actively exchanging, debating and negotiating ideas within their groups and increases students’ interest in learning. by focusing on content based instruction (Brinton, D. M. , Snow, M. A. , & Wesche, M. B. 1989) ü promotes intrinsic motivation as learners are exposed to a considerable amount of language through stimulating content. by using authentic learning (Guariento & Morley, 2001) ü it helps bridge the gap between classroom knowledge and the real world
Input (Ellis, 1985): the exposure learners have to authentic language in use. It comes in the form of listening and reading Con t u com própi pañero re as educ ativo palabras sume, en ca , tu da pe el sistema s ríodo histó rico.
Interaction is of primary importance Negotiation of meaning: (Long, 1983, 1996) - is the process that learners go through in order to overcome difficulties in communication. ü It occurs through interaction • between teacher and students • amongst students • native speakers and students ü It helps bridge the language gap ü It promotes learning ü It encourages understanding beyond the students present level of competence (De la Fuente, 2002; Swain, 1990) Strategies for negotiation in language acquisition: Confirming Restating Rephrasing Code switching
Rethinking the purpose of individual, pair and group work Activities that elicit language interaction and collaborative work • • Information gap activities Jigsaw activities Information gathering activities Opinion sharing • • • Reasoning gap activity Group brainstorming Discussion sessions Dialogues and role plays Debates, ETC
Differentiated task authentic materials content based instruction Pair work Group work debate collaborative learning interactive
How can it be done in a beginner's classroom?
Negotiating meaning in a beginners class Information gap activities: • Jigsaw readings or listening • Group story building • Spot the differences • Communicative crosswords • Interactive learning games Communicative games Information gathering Information gap Role play
Eliciting meaning negotiation at the intermediate level define vocabulary conversation jigsaw reading TAREA: investiga sobre la música afrocubana y analiza las similaridades y diferencias con la música afro-peruana. information gathering reasoning opinion
Conclusion The importance of in-class interaction in order to promote and enhance language learning at ALL levels • Content based language • Collaborative work • Authentic materials GRACIAS
REFERENCES • • • Krashen, Stephen (1985). The input hypothesis. London: Longman Krashen, Stephen D. (1987). Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. English Language Teaching series. London: Prentice-Hall International (UK) Ltd. Long, M. H. (1983). Native speaker/non-native speaker conversation and the negotiation of comprehensible input. Applied Linguistics, 4, 126 -141 Long, M. H. (1996). The role of linguistic environment in second language acquisition. Pica, T (1987). Second Language acquisition, social interaction and the classroom. Applied Linguistics, 8, 3 -21 Pica, T. (1996). Do second language learners need negotiation? International Review of Applied Linguistics, 34, 1 -2 Swain, M. (1985). Communicative competence: Some roles of comprehensible input and comprehensible output in its development. In S. M. Gass & C. G. Madden (Eds). Input in second language acquisition. New York: Newbury House collaborative learning (Beckman, 1990; Chickering & Gamson, 1991) content based instruction (Brinton, D. M. , Snow, M. A. , & Wesche, M. B. 1989 authentic learning (Guariento & Morley, 2001) Aronson, Elliot, and Shelley Patnoe. The Jigsaw Classroom: Building Cooperation in the Classroom. 2 nd ed. New York: Longman, 1997. Task based learning (Ellis 2003; Skehan 2003)
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