Why use Real Language right away? Part One : It will motivate your students to learn more.
-Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Since Denise and I have been using the conversational model
in our classrooms, we have seen a dramatic change in our students—especially in
terms of their confidence and motivation.
This change has spurred them on to reach new levels of language
competency, and it has increased overall student success.
We decided to take a step back and ask ourselves why these
changes have occurred. For this
post, (the first in a series of three) we will focus on the question of motivation. How has the Real Language right away program made our
students more confident and eager to learn? Here are a few reasons:
Students practice the
language in a low-stress atmosphere.
Students practice with a partner, and they become increasingly
comfortable using the language.
Everything they need to have a meaningful exchange is provided for
them—compelling graphics, English translations, and a dialogue. Students learn better when they are
having fun and feel relaxed.
After much practice,
students feel ownership of the language.
The situations are often funny and easily modified. Once students are comfortable with the
basic structures and expressions, they naturally begin to create and piece
together what they want to say. It doesn’t take long before we see them
adding bits of language to their everyday speaking-- it's beautiful to see them spontaneously use new expressions and vocabulary!
Expectations are
clear and reasonable; evaluations are focused.
The oral and written evaluations provided in the curriculum
give the students a sense of satisfaction. In Level I, the written evaluations focus on vocabulary
recognition. If the student can
match up the image to the word, they have succeeded. For a young elementary school student, there is no greater
satisfaction than seeing an A+ on his or her paper—and nearly all of our
students do. We believe that the
progression of the evaluations in our program mirror the process of learning a language,
starting with recognition and moving on to production, in both oral and written forms.
It has been a joy to see the students grow in their language
learning. The positive
reinforcement they receive builds in them a sense of accomplishment. As their confidence develops, they increasingly believe that they are capable of learning the language and want to learn more!
Here's a little evidence of confidence and motivation with my 6th graders :

Here's a little evidence of confidence and motivation with my 6th graders :