The good news about my Spanish class

For the past several weeks on this blog, I have been complaining about teaching methods used in a Spanish class I am taking. Just because the class does not meet my personal needs or expectations is no reason to be a Negative Nelly!

What I needed was a serious attitude adjustment.  I  decided to turn over a new leaf and describe some of the good practices that I have observed in my class.

First and most importantly, the class is conducted 99.9% in the Spanish language.  Using the target language is excellent methodology and very much in line with current findings about second language acquisition.

Listening to excellent, expressive Spanish spoken continuously by the instructor for an hour and a half is music to my ears. I can jot down words I want to remember and observe grammar usage without having to worry about producing language myself.

I remember high school and college classes in which the instructor would use English to teach us about Spanish or French but seldom actually spoke the new language. I hope no one is still making students suffer through that out-date model!  Here is a link to a balanced discussion of which language to use for teaching.

Article on Classroom Language Use - Stephen Krashen

Next, in my current class, many members do volunteer to read original paragraphs aloud. Their willingness shows they feel a certain level of comfort with the instructor.  When instructors are over-demanding, students tend to shut down and keep their language to themselves.

And, finally, there have been instances when I could feel the atmosphere of the class change palpably for the better.  Those instances occurred when the instructor appeared to be just chatting with students, asking non-threatening questions and responding as in a normal conversation. This, I thought to myself, is what language acquisition should be like,

The field of language acquisition in the classroom is an exciting one, marked by much controversy! What is the optimum way to teach foreign languages in the classroom?  I'm still searching for an answer to that question.  Here is a recommended Youtube video if you would like to jump into the controversy yourself!