1 / 12

Teaching in the Target Language can be Done!

Teaching in the Target Language can be Done!. Khaled Huthaily, Ed.D. Assistant Professor of Arabic & Educational Linguistics Central and Southwest Asia Program The University of Montana. Brainstorming. What is this presentation about? What is the “problem”? Why is it a “problem”?.

rocco
Download Presentation

Teaching in the Target Language can be Done!

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Teaching in the Target Languagecan be Done! Khaled Huthaily, Ed.D. Assistant Professor of Arabic & Educational Linguistics Central and Southwest Asia Program The University of Montana

  2. Brainstorming • What is this presentation about? • What is the “problem”? • Why is it a “problem”?

  3. Research and Commonsense • Ellis, 1994; Gass, 1997; Turnbull, 2001; Mayfield, 2005; Peng & Zhang, 2009 • Exposing the students to the target language helps them develop their language skills • Amount of target language use was not more than 60% --not enough! • Why?

  4. What’s happening in the classroom? • Limited use of the target language in the classroom • Teachers’ lack of confidence in using the target language in the classroom • The use of “Arabic FusHa,” “Formal Spoken Arabic” or “Colloquial” • Students feel that the first language is used for “serious” talks and the target language is just for activities • Students ask other students in L1 about the meanings of words • What else?

  5. Fluency or Accuracy? • T: Where are you from? • S: I from Chongqing. • T: No. • S: (confused) Oh, I from China. • T: No, I AM from Chongqing. • S: I am from Chongqing. • T: Good, sit down. (Peng & Zhang, 2009)

  6. Minimize or Avoid L1? • Avoid L1 completely: • Teacher does not speak the student’s L1; or • Students have different L1’s • Minimize L1 • Less use of L1 • L1 = negative; L2 = positive

  7. How L1 can be useful • “the L1 may be used positively by teachers and students” (p. 403) • Teachers: • Convey meaning • Explain grammar • Organize the class • … • Students: • Collaborative learning • Individual strategy use • … (Vivian Cook, 2001)

  8. Why L2? • Input – Exposing Students to L2 • Samples • Motivation • Evidence of learning • Develop listening skills • Develop speaking skills • Later skills (reading and writing) depend on listening and speaking • Communication • Etc.

  9. Daily Questions • Initiation, Response, Feedback (IRF) • Time; Day; Date • Current or Recent Events • “How are you?” • “How is the weather?” • Problems with the above examples!

  10. What we can do on day 1 • Basic Common Phrases/Sentences from Day 1 • Yes; No • Present/Absent • Excuse me • Thank you • How do I say …? • What does … mean? • Why? • Where? Here/There • Can you repeat? • I (don’t) know.

  11. Some Examples • REALIA • Body Language • TA’s Help • Taking the register • How the weekend was spent • Counting students in the class • Basic phrases • Charts • Photos and Images • Authentic Materials

  12. Conclusion Don’t avoid L1, but maximize L2. Khaled Huthaily, Ed.D. Assistant Professor of Arabic & Educational Linguistics Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Central and Southwest Asia Program The University of Montana khaled.huthaily@umontana.edu

More Related