Looking for ideas for the French classroom

BadAngel

Hello,

I have a Leaving Cert. ordinary level class at the moment, which I've been asked to do oral work with. They are completely dead when speaking English, never mind French. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I could have the class less teacher led but still getting the work done?

acequion

BadAngel wrote: »

Hello,

I have a Learning Cert. ordinary level class at the moment, which I've been asked to do oral work with. They are completely dead when speaking English, never mind French. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I could have the class less teacher led but still getting the work done?

This is where pair work can work very well,but provided they already have their answers prepared on the various questions.

What I do is have them get an oral notebook at the start of fifth year [both Pass and Hons] As we work through the course they write out all the answers, to be corrected by the teacher and by this stage of sixth year the oral course will be covered. I then have them practise their answers in pairs and I move around to give each one five minutes.This bit of one to one enables you to fine tune the more individual bits.I started doing this with my class [Hons] two days a week since xmas and after the mid term it will be pretty much every day.

I try to pair them up by ability,also whoever they feel most comfortable working with, and they stay in that pair all the time. I find that works best as they get used to each other and less inhibited. Granted there will be the ones doing nothing,especially in Pass,but you really can't control that and you'll find they will get more into it as the oral approaches. They really will need to have it pre prepared though and the copy in front of them as they practise.

Best of luck!

BadAngel

Thank you!

SpaceTime

You could try the approach that a lot of English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers tend to take : you organise your classroom into 'cafe style' seating with people in groups of 3 to 5 around tables.

Then throw them a topic and get them discussing it (in French).

Meanwhile you just hover around monitoring what's going on and making sure it's actually being done.

There are loads of conversational skills type games that you could adapt from the ESL world too. Loads of online resources!
An awful lot of it can simply be about building confidence and breaking the ice.

I'd also try to bring in some French pop culture if you can - some of the textbooks can be really dry.

acequion

SpaceTime wrote: »

You could try the approach that a lot of English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers tend to take : you organise your classroom into 'cafe style' seating with people in groups of 3 to 5 around tables.

Then throw them a topic and get them discussing it (in French).

Meanwhile you just hover around monitoring what's going on and making sure it's actually being done.

There are loads of conversational skills type games that you could adapt from the ESL world too. Loads of online resources!
An awful lot of it can simply be about building confidence and breaking the ice.

I'd also try to bring in some French pop culture if you can - some of the textbooks can be really dry.

There really is a massive difference between the EFL/ESL class,who are either there because they want to be,or are already in the country of the target language,and your average secondary school language class. So,basically,I couldn't see your ideas working, because most kids,even the Hons candidates would just freeze up in such a situation, and the Pass wouldn't have a hope in hell.As the OP said,his /her class aren't even forthcoming in English.

Irish kids just don't see conversing in a foreign language as "cool" and the whole thing has to be massively orchestrated by the teacher. Very sad, but true.:(

SpaceTime

That's a shame really. Seems to be a huge issue with lack of confidence with secondary kids here. It's very evident in 1st year in university when they're expected to present to groups etc. Hugely different in the states and some other countries where there's just a lot more emphasis on communication skills.

I think it must be something cultural within the school system here that seems to cause people to avoid any performance or presenting to groups.

There's constant talk at the government level about lack of fluency, but if that's how it is at classroom level, I can't see how that's likely to change without some kind of major shift in the whole system

Maybe the removal of exams at Junior Cycle level might mean more scope for all that stuff and allow people to develop communication skills and a bit of confidence and hard neck when it comes to getting up and talking. I think though it isn't something language teachers can deal with in the space of their 40 min slot. It's a much broader problem.

My only other suggestion that has worked for me in very shy groups:

Role playing exercises with a lot of scaffolding to support the students to produce the language in a conversational context. Basically provide them with scripts and vocabulary they can slot into it as needed.

You also need to create some kind of a situation where they can avoid having to perform in front of the whole class. The pairs suggestion above is really good!

The fear of humiliating themselves by making a mistake or being laughed at is a huge barrier too.
So if possible, smaller group things can work (if they're not a bunch of total messers who will just end up chatting in English instead).

In some ways, French can present some specific challenges as it's very accented. So, people can struggle with the pronunciation and feel quite self-conscious about using it in front of a crowd. German's not as big a jump from English phonetics and Spanish is 100% phonetic and doesn't really use flouncy accenting - i.e. you can literally pronounce it if you can read it.

Just be thankful you're not trying to get them to speak Italian!

acequion

SpaceTime wrote: »

That's a shame really. Seems to be a huge issue with lack of confidence with secondary kids here. It's very evident in 1st year in university when they're expected to present to groups etc. Hugely different in the states and some other countries where there's just a lot more emphasis on communication skills.

I think it must be something cultural within the school system here that seems to cause people to avoid any performance or presenting to groups.

There's constant talk at the government level about lack of fluency, but if that's how it is at classroom level, I can't see how that's likely to change without some kind of major shift in the whole system

Maybe the removal of exams at Junior Cycle level might mean more scope for all that stuff and allow people to develop communication skills and a bit of confidence and hard neck when it comes to getting up and talking. I think though it isn't something language teachers can deal with in the space of their 40 min slot. It's a much broader problem.

My only other suggestion that has worked for me in very shy groups:

Role playing exercises with a lot of scaffolding to support the students to produce the language in a conversational context. Basically provide them with scripts and vocabulary they can slot into it as needed.

You also need to create some kind of a situation where they can avoid having to perform in front of the whole class. The pairs suggestion above is really good!

The fear of humiliating themselves by making a mistake or being laughed at is a huge barrier too.
So if possible, smaller group things can work (if they're not a bunch of total messers who will just end up chatting in English instead).

In some ways, French can present some specific challenges as it's very accented. So, people can struggle with the pronunciation and feel quite self-conscious about using it in front of a crowd. German's not as big a jump from English phonetics and Spanish is 100% phonetic and doesn't really use flouncy accenting - i.e. you can literally pronounce it if you can read it.

Just be thankful you're not trying to get them to speak Italian!

Yes it is indeed a shame SpaceTime, and all the talk at Government level is just the usual hot air. Removal of exams won't help either despite what Ruari Quinn and populist thinkers would have people believe.

What would help would be smaller class sizes and certainly a refreshed curriculum at junior level,with much less emphasis on grammar and writing,putting emphasis instead on oral skills and examining that at junior level. Exams are necessary as a motivator. Otherwise you'd get chaos.

Another problem is mixed ability classes.Where languages are concerned you just can't mix levels. I've had upwards of 25 kids in senior classes with not only mixed pass and hons,but varying levels within that.So basically everything from the A1 to the kid who hasn't a hope of passing the pass paper. Impossible to promote natural communicative skills in such a situation.

BadAngel

Thanks for the suggestions! I agree with the lack of confidence. In terms of language teaching, I think a lot of this is to do with the fact that the students are not speaking any French in class. If they started in first year and kept it up, then the oral exam in Leaving Cert. wouldn't be as daunting. Instead, I've to take over a class who have never spoken French, think "et" is pronounced "ett" and have never had the target language used in class! Grr!!!

unknowngirl!!

BadAngel wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestions! I agree with the lack of confidence. In terms of language teaching, I think a lot of this is to do with the fact that the students are not speaking any French in class. If they started in first year and kept it up, then the oral exam in Leaving Cert. wouldn't be as daunting. Instead, I've to take over a class who have never spoken French, think "et" is pronounced "ett" and have never had the target language used in class! Grr!!!

Well at this stage I think you need to build confidence and make it achievable..

I find the Eddie Izzard French sketches http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1sQkEfAdfY and the Flight of the Concords http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5hrUGFhsXo great for demonstrating how you can communicate without being the best French speaker! Weak students find this great and they feel less silly making mistakes. Plus, I find that this gives the messers great inspiration for trying authentic pronunciation.

If they are very weak you need to have realistic targets for them. They're not going to be able to have a great chat about conditional situations but they should be well able to talk about themselves, family and school even starting fresh at this point.

They need to want to speak, intrinsic motivation needs to be fostered.

Bonne chance...

spurious

One of the strengths of the much-maligned Leaving Cert. Applied is that it incorporates a lot of presentation delivery and interview practice. By the end of session four in 6th year they are well used to standing up in front of groups and/or strangers. It's a pity there appears to be no-one in the DES with a bit of vision.