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How to encourage students to use L2 outside the classroom?

How to encourage students to use L2 outside the classroom?. Odile Rollin, October 30, 2010 University of Calgary. Department of French, Italian and Spanish. 2 projects. University. High School. Challenges in French Classes. Number of students per class

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How to encourage students to use L2 outside the classroom?

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  1. How to encourage students to use L2 outside the classroom? Odile Rollin, October 30, 2010 University of Calgary Department of French, Italian and Spanish

  2. 2 projects University High School

  3. Challenges in French Classes • Number of students per class • Motivation & engagement of students • Resources available • Time to cover curriculum • Time for practice and provide feedback • Classroom : “artificial place”

  4. Community Resources Restaurants Bookstore Festivals Cafés Church Radio Local newspaper “Le Chinook” Television • Alliance Française ACFA Choir

  5. Time Students’ response… Apprehension Location Motivation

  6. Pilot Project University Passport

  7. “Passeport d’activités” University Passport - With the support of the French Centre- Since September 2009 Motivation Apprehension Location Time

  8. What is the French Centre? • Drop-in Centre (Craigie Hall C 301) • French Monitors • Magazines, newspapers, dictionaries, films, newsletter, music, TV, radio... • FLIP + French courses • Trip to Quebec • Scolarships • Repsit • Various activities from Sept till April: Café – croissant, immersion weekends, games, presentations, movies… mostly conversations and individual help

  9. University of Calgary: • FRENCH 209 (200 students/year) • FRENCH 211 (130 students/year) • FRENCH 213 (200 students/year) 3 courses with a final oral exam

  10. 1. Reading • Students choose and prepare one paragraph from any text. • Students meet with a monitor and read aloud.

  11. 2. Editing • When an assignment is graded and errors identified by the French Instructor, students make the necessary changes at home. • Then, they meet with a monitor to go over the changes they made.

  12. 3. Communication • Students choose 2 to 4 questions in a list of questions provided by the Instructor. • Students prepare the answers at home. • Students meet with a monitor to present their answers. FRENCH 209 :- Introduce your family - What do you study at the U of Calgary and what courses are you taking ?

  13. 4. Writing Students prepare their assignment at home and meet with a monitor to read their work aloud. • FRENCH 209 • “Acrostiche” based on their name FRENCH 211 Events of their weekend FRENCH 213 10 sentences using the subjunctive around a topic Example of acrostic for FRENCH 209: C courageuse Ooptimiste U université R réservée T timide N nationalitécanadienne E élégante Y yeux bleus

  14. 5. Oral Presentation • Students prepare an oral presentation for the Lab Instructor. • Students practice their presentation in front of a monitor. FR 209You meet a student from University Laval . Prepare a dialogue including greetings, questions on university courses and family members. FR 213 Prepare a presentation on a trip you went on.

  15. How to use the Passport? • Pick-up the passport at the French Centre • Sign up the sign up sheet for each activity • One activity per week • 11 weeks to finish 5 activities • 2% per activity • Activities done in any order • Hand in passport to Instructor one week before the end of classes

  16. EVALUATION Date

  17. Feedback from Beginner Students • “The passport was an overall good experience. To be honest, it was very scary going to the French Centre as a beginner, but it only encouraged me to speak French. It was intimidating trying to talk to someone much more fluent in the language, but all of the monitors were helpful whenever I struggled.  My favorite activity was the acrostic! All the different descriptive words available made it interesting, but also challenging to find the right ones! ”

  18. Feedback from Beginner Students (2) • “It was somewhat intimidating to go to the French Center as a beginner. It was not 'fun' per se, but I suppose it was helpful.” • “Some activities were more fun that others. For example, the “acrostiche” was fun, but the oral presentation with my partner was difficult to schedule”.

  19. Feedback from Intermediate Students • “I very much enjoyed going to the French Centre. I think it was a great way to get the students to practise their oral skills. I ended up spending quite a lot of time there.”

  20. Feedback from Intermediate Students • “I enjoyed the “Passeport d'activités”. It forces students to go to the French Centre and practice speaking. I think it was very worthwhile as after I had been to the French centre a few times, I felt comfortable to go back often. ” • “The “Passeport d’activités” gave me a specific purpose to go to the French Centre. Before, I was not sure what to do there.”

  21. Feedback from Intermediate Students • “Overall I thought that the “Passeport d’activités” was useful and encouraged us to practice speaking French outside of the classroom. I don't think I would have visited the French Center if the activity hadn't required us to do so. After having been to the FC, I visited the center more (especially in preparation for the final exam).” • “I enjoyed the "Passeport d’activités", I found the monitors very relaxed and extremely helpful. The activities were enough work to learn something but they were not too much to be difficult to finish in a reasonable amount of time.”

  22. Feedback from monitors • Passport built ties and friendship between students and monitors • Students participated more in activities offered by the French Centre (Immersion weekends...) • Monitors gained knowledge of curriculum taught in each course • Monitors developed strategies to help students in specific areas • Attendance in the French Centre was higher ... BUT...

  23. Feedback from monitors • Shorter activities (200 students x 5 activities= 1000 visitors for 6 monitors) • Immersion weekend counts for 2 activities (Communication and Oral presentation) • Activity date stamped • No make-up activities for lost passports or late students • No drop-in, sign-up sheet only

  24. Feedback from the Instructors • Excellent preparation for the final oral exam • Regular contacts with native speakers improve comprehension • Individualized support from specialists • Confidence building in L2 • Easy to mark (0%, 1% or 2% : total = 10%) • Use of target language outside the classroom

  25. Feedback from the French Centre • The French Centre is now known from most students enrolled in French courses • Recurring visitors to the French Centre (6 visits) • Higher attendance in the French Centre • Affordable document (7 cents / passport) • Hiring of 2 extra monitors

  26. Any questions?

  27. “Passeport francophile” Designed and put in place by Nathalie Dunn at William Aberhart High School (Calgary Board of Education) in 2007. • 16 pages • Attractive • 9 categories • 8 stamps/page

  28. « Passeport francophile » Rationale: - to integrate culture in L2 learning - to encourage the use of L2 in class and outside the classroom - to put students in authentic L2 situations

  29. Motivation ? • Oral participation mark • Citizenship Award • Prizes at the end of the year • Scholarship (Trip to Quebec)

  30. How does the “Passeport francophile” work ? • One passport per student per year • Stamped and dated by all immersion teachers • Completed pages entered for the draw • Passports handed in for oral participation mark

  31. Categories included in “Passeport francophile” • In class use of L2 • Films, book club, and guest speakers • Trips, exchanges, and special events • Participation in “Immersion in Action” • Music and community events attendance Each activity is stamped and dated

  32. Feedback on the “Passeport francophile” • Good motivator for most students • Difficult to complete some pages • Easy to use for teachers • Costly document • Sponsors to contact • Support from the school / staff

  33. Any questions?

  34. Repsit • Web site designed for teachers and students of French • Started in 1997 • Designed by 2 French instructors • 4000 sites • 10 categories • Civilization • Dictionaries • Exercises (on-line) • Newspapers and Medias • Libraries and Bookstores • Literature • Youth literature • Music • Pedagogy

  35. Caracteristics of Repsit Wide variety of sites User friendly Excellent quality of sites Excellent quality of language No advertisement Stable site since 1997 Regular updates Instructors’ emails

  36. Definitions Dictionaries (75) Translation Synonyms Thematic (Music, Food, Stainglass …) Illustrated Vocabulary Other (Etymology, Quotes, Proverbs, Acronyms…)

  37. Interactive Exercises Selfcorrecting 1200 exercises 3 sections Comprehension, Culture, Phonetics Grammar Vocabulary

  38. Statistics

  39. Statistics

  40. Statistics • 84,000 visits per year • Visitors from 170 countries • Proper connection over the year : 96% • Direct traffic: 22% • Referring sites: 52% • Search engines: 24%

  41. Odile’s Bookmarks • To teach French  • http://www.ucalgary.ca/repsit/ • 2. To listen to the French news   • http://jt.france2.fr/20h/ • 3. To translate a word           • http://wordreference.com/ • 4. To prepare self-correcting exercises         • http://hotpot.uvic.ca/ • 5. To read the French newspaper from Calgary • http://www.lechinook.com/ • 6. To send students to a great programme in French • http://www.francophoniedesameriques.com/forum2010

  42. Any questions?

  43. Odile Rollin rollin@ucalgary.ca Eileen Lohka elohka@ucalgary.ca

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