Teaching a foreign language and compulsory education in Catalonia.
I totally agree with David Riddell, and I have also experienced two different ways of learning a foreign language as a student: 1-. Learning English in Spanish and/or Catalan. 2-. Learning English in English. My conclusion was and still is that the second method is much more effective.
A) Teachers of foreign languages choose between what I call safe teaching or challenging teaching.
Safe teaching consists of sticking to the Grammar Book chosen by the School, as well as giving instructions and being spontaneous mostly in their mother tongue.
Challenging teaching, however, requires a teacher who can deal naturally with any given situation in that language in and out of the classroom; which means that that professional has an excellent command of the foreign language.
B) Some praxis in compulsory education has shown me the following:
Teaching English in English to students at the age of 17 may be rather complicated. Those students I am referring to had never had a single class in English before; therefore, at first, they were excited but later on they realized it implied a greater effort. So, in the end, they decided they wanted to go back to their regular classes of English.
Teaching English in English to students at the age of 12 may be rather positive. It is their first course at Secondary Education, so they are willing to learn with a positive attitude. Consequently, teaching English in English turns into something fun and especially worthy. It may be like a second chance for the learner, unlike the above group of students.
Teaching English in English to students at the age of 6 going on to 7 is totally rewarding. These kids are looking forward to learning as much as they can. Perfect age to start foreign language immersion.
C) Learning Process
Experiences are lived in a particular context. It is because of experiences that human beings have memories, increase their capability of reacting one way or another, and learn different ways of using their linguistic knowledge.
Learning through visualizing what students hear. This is possible with memories, with some experience and a shown context. We can understand anything if we have gone through it before or if we are given the tools to get to know it.
Thinking in that foreign language in a given context and/or recalling a context we are familiar with equals communicating in a foreign language.
D) Further study and research
To what extent is it effective to base foreign language learning on grammar? For good or bad that is precisely and mostly what is being done in Primary and Secondary education.
What should be the abilities of a teacher of a foreign language?
Children learn to speak and later on in their lives learn the grammar rules of the language they are using to communicate. They use experience, observation, memory, feelings, and emotions to acquire linguistic knowledge.
Teachers of a foreign language should help their young learners and adolescents deal with real context and language and vice versa in the classroom: teach them to think in English.
A colleague and I have very successfully worked on a four-session-class-immersion workshop with 12-year-old students; therefore, we count on some empirical data we would like to present to you. Topic based on the Color Wheel.
Immersion should be a must, shouldn’t it?