Howdy all, apologies yet again for such a long break between blogging- I've been busy (haven't we all!).
One of the things that forever bugs me in MFL teachging is that the teacher invariably puts themself right at the heart of everything that happens. We impart all knowledge. In most other subjects learners are challenged to work out problems, to plan how to overcome issues and how to address the task in front of them. And yet in MFL we tend to tell our learners all new material and we then spend the rest of the lesson and any homework practising that new material. The traditional learning sequence of starter, intro, games, listening, speaking, reading then writing leads to a gradual transition during the course of the lesson towards learner "autonomy". I'm not sure that's enough.
I want my learners to be able to work things out, to use their skills as they would have to in the Target Language country when I'm not there. I also want to be able to circulate, to assess how groups and individuals are getting on, to be able to correct misconceptions and to individualise my approach for each learner. I do not want to be at the front asking for repetition- after all, if we've taught phonics then there's no real need for that anyway. Although year 7s might respond well to it, by the time their weekly diet of passive repetition has got them through to year 9 the same enthusiasm and willingness to buy-in to the approach is no longer there.
Which is why a while ago I begged my followers on twitter to help. I felt stale. I was out of ideas. And I wanted to learn from the great teaching out there. And this is now an appeal that I put out to you. Please contribute to, and learn from, a collaborative Google Doc of ideas of how to introduce new language and structures WITHOUT standing at the front. So please please click here and getting adding your ideas! And have a read- we all know how uplifting it is to find new ideas which work and are effective, especially in these dark November days!
