CfBT survey on Language Trends

http://www.cfbt.com/evidenceforeducation/pdf/Language%20Trends%20Report.pdf

This is the major annual report on trends on modern language teaching in England. The executive summary and conclusion may be worth reading if you don't have time to read all the data.

A number of things struck me:

• Ebacc is having a notable effect on take-up, as predicted
• A-level still on the slide because of harsh grading and lure of STEM subjects
• Severe grading at GCSE and A-level still an issue, including difficulty of reaching A* at A-level
• Lack of curriculum time at KS3 and KS4. Not enough "little and often" to embed learning
• Controlled assessments come under fire - too much time to prepare and too much memory learning
• GCSE too dull
• Continued dominance of independent sector in MFL - it's a subject area for posh kids
• German still suffering badly, Spanish less so
• Continuity with primary MFL proving a challenge

The "expert panel" on the national curriculum recommends that MFL become compulsory again. I remain, on balance, unconvinced about this. Even if the severe grading issue were dealt with (and it won't be), MFL remains fundamentally hard and apparently irrelevant for many children. EBacc may provide a useful correction to the recent trends, but to force the vast majority into modern languages up to 16 may just be counter-productive. We have the experience of pre-2003 to demonstrate this, a period when many children were "disapplied" in any case. I am not sure whether that era raised the status of MFL and I am sure that there are thousands of disillusioned pupils and teachers who would bear witness to the futility of the exercise.

What is this man on?

I had a good time with my Y9 class today using this video tweeted by Sylvia Duckworth. Good for teaching imperatives. It's to the tune: if you're happy and you know it clap your hands.We watched, did the actions, sang, then I got the class to make up their own silly instructions.

e.g. Si tu aimes parler français..... pose une bombe/saute dans l'air/ne fais rien etc. It was quite productive and encouraged, dare I say it, creativity.

Interesting that a video like this, which looks more suited to primary, may work better with older pupils as the language is arguably too demanding for the youngest students. I just played it to a Y11 class who joined in with the actions and found it amusing.

Reminds me of Borat for some reason. Here he is:

English by Yourself

 http://www.englishbyyourself.fr/index.html

Voici une superbe intitiative pour les apprentis d'anglais, proposée par le CNED (Centre national d'enseignement à distance). Selon le site:

"English by Yourself a été conçu pour vous permettre, quel que soit votre âge, d’améliorer votre pratique de l’anglais (écrit et oral) en mettant à portée de clics un ensemble de ressources anglophones soigneusement sélectionnées par une équipe pédagogique pour correspondre à vos attentes et, si vous souhaitez aller plus loin, un ensemble de propositions pour construire un parcours de formation en adéquation avec vos besoins repérés.

Les ressources en ligne sélectionnées par nos experts sont des articles de presse, des animations, des podcasts, des mini-jeux, des vidéos, des jeux éducatifs, des jeux sérieux, des applications, des émissions de radio ainsi que des modules de formation.

Toutes ces ressources vous sont proposées sous la forme de billets qui vous permettent de découvrir d’un seul coup d’œil les caractéristiques d’une ressource : niveau requis, temps nécessaire pour la consulter, thème abordé, origine (USA, Australie, GB…), intérêt pédagogique, etc."

Le site est optimisé pour les navigateurs les plus récents et fonctionne bien sur iPad et d'autres tablettes. L'inscription est facultative et réservée aux plus de treize ans. Ces derniers peuvent créer un espace perso qui vous permet de suivre l'actualité en anglais, de connaître votre niveau à tout moment et de "modeler le contenu du site" selon vos intérêts.

Les ressources que j'ai regardées étaient toutes gratuites, mais, semble-t-il, certaines ressources sont payantes. Il faudrait approfondir le site pour en savoir davantage.

Le site fonctionne avec le soutien du British Council et de France Télécom. Il mérite d'être suivi par un public nombreux. Dommage qu'il n'y ait pas un site semblable au Royaume Uni pour les étudiants du français.

frenchteacher.net updates

There have been some recent additions to the site: a couple of simple Y7 sheets on -er verbs, a help sheet for students preparing for the AQA A2 stimulus card, plus new oral/writing drills on the tenses in the Y8 and Y9 sections.

I have also been checking for dead links and have discovered a few. I try to keep up to date, but with with such a large number of links I don't keep up with everything. What surprises me slightly is how few new, free resources become available online. The well-established sites like Languagesonline, MFL Sunderland, TES and others continue to be the main sources of reliable material. There are, of course, a growing number of subscription sites with a good reputation, such as Linguascope and Atantôt, but I have to say that I am not "blown away" by much of what I come across, and certainly not the resources coming out from the big publishers. I fond the Kerboodle resources from Nelson underwhelming. Maybe I need to look harder!

Meanwhile, the new-look frenchteacher.net site is taking shape and I intend to put it online in its complete form by the start of May. There will be a £20 annual subscription for the main resources pages which I am currently going through to check for copyright issues, but powerpoints, links and teacher help pages will remain free. When I retire in July my intention is for frenchteacher.net to be a sort of paid hobby to which I can devote a good deal of time. I have no idea how many teachers and departments will choose to subscribe, but I hope there will be enough to make it worth my while making new resources.

For a sneak preview of the evolving new site:

http://mercurywebservices.co.uk/frenchteacher/

Oh, and someone tweeted this fabulous site:

http://www.geoportail.fr

If you enjoy France and maps, you'll enjoy.

GCSE French revision links

GCSE French revision links

Listening

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/french/ (Foundation/Higher)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/ (Foundation/Higher)

http://www.ashcombe.surrey.sch.uk/Curriculum/modlang/french/index_fr_video.htm (Foundation/Higher)

http://www.lafrancebis.com/ (Higher)

Reading

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/french/(Foundation/Higher)

http://www.hellomylo.com/ (Foundation/Higher)

http://www.oup.com/uk/i-cafe/main/index/fr/issue_24/01/ (Higher)

http://platea.pntic.mec.es/~cvera/hotpot/exos/index.htm (Higher)

Vocabulary

http://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/languagesonline/french/french.htm (Foundation)

http://www.goethe-verlag.com/tests/EF/EF.HTM (Higher)

http://users.skynet.be/providence/vocabulaire/francais/menu.htm (Foundation/Higher)

AS French revision links

Grammar

http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/rgshiwyc/school/curric/HotPotatoes/index.htm

http://avosplumes.web.virginia.edu/teachers/grammar-exercises-intermediate/

http://www.frenchteacher.net/alevel/alevelindex.htm

Listening

http://www.lafrancebis.com/

http://ielanguages.com/frenchlistening.html

Reading

http://www.oup.com/uk/i-cafe/main/index/fr/issue_24/01/

http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/rgshiwyc/school/curric/HotPotatoes/index.htm

Vocabulary

http://www.frenchteacher.net/alevel/vocabbooklet.doc

Essays

http://www.frenchteacher.net/alevel/essaytips.doc

Speaking test

http://www.frenchteacher.net/alevel/Y12ASoral.doc

A2 French revision links

Here are some very usable links for A2 level French revision.

Grammar

http://www.ccdmd.qc.ca/fr/exercices_interactifs/?id=90

http://fran-lang.vaniercollege.qc.ca/prep/default.htm

http://www.class.uh.edu/mcl/fll/french/frexercises/chapitre5/index.htm

http://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/

Listening

http://www.tv5.org/TV5Site/enseigner-apprendre-francais/accueil_apprendre.php

http://www.curiosphere.tv/

http://www.rfi.fr/lffr/statiques/accueil_apprendre.asp

http://laguinguette.com/

http://www.bonjourdefrance.com/index/indexapp.htm

Reading

http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/rgshiwyc/school/curric/HotPotatoes/index.htm

http://web.cortland.edu/flteach/civ/

Essay writing

http://www.realfrench.net/pdf/essay.pdf

http://www.alevelfrench.com/home/mod/book/view.php?id=29&chapterid=13

http://www.frenchteacher.net/alevel/essaytips.doc

Comparatif des programmes éducation de Sarkozy et de Hollande.

http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2012/03/04/education-les-programmes-des-candidats_1651644_823448.html

Le Monde a publié un comparatif des programmes éducation des candidats à la présidence. Ce qui frappe au premier abord c'est la proposition de Sarkozy d'offrir aux enseignants la possibilité de travailler plus d'heures pour un salaire plus élevé. François Hollande par contre propose de scolariser les enfants dès 2 ans et de revoir les rythmes scolaires en allongeant l'année pour alléger les journées de travail. Selon Le Monde:

"M. Hollande compte également arrêter le "un sur deux" dans l'éducation et embaucher 60 000 professionnels de l'enseignement – sans pour autant augmenter le nombre global de fonctionnaires. Il propose de revaloriser leur salaire et de restaurer l'année de formation pratique."

Il serait bien temps de modifier l'année scolaire pour les enfants et les profs. La journée scolaire est trop longue, les vacances le sont aussi. Quant à un salaire plus élevé plus un emploi du temps plus chargé, il est vrai que les comparaisons internationales (OCDE) révèlent que les enseignants français font moins d'heures de cours que la moyenne (au collège et au lycée, pas forcément dans le primaire)*. Ils sont moins bien rémunérés que leurs homologues britanniques et allemands, par exemple, mais le problème n'est pas que les Français font trop peu d'heures, c'est que les Anglais en font trop. Les profs français feraient bien de résister à toute tentation de travailler davantage. Je ne vois pas où François Hollande va trouver les fonds nécessaires pour créer davantage de postes, lui non plus, j'imagine.

*Si les comparaisons internationales vous intéresse:

http://www.oecd.org/document/55/0,3746,en_2649_37455_46349815_1_1_1_37455,00.html

A noter (chiffres OCDE de 2010):

Le salaire d'un prof débutant dans le secondaire en dollars:

France: 26123                   Angleterre: 30534

Et après 15 ans de service:

France: 34316                  Angleterre: 44630

Heures de cours annuelles dans le secondaire (collège):

France:  644                    Angleterre: 722

Beware -ation words

Blair's mantra was education, education, education - a worthy if not very original soundbite. As we witness the seemingly inexorable fragmentation, marketisation, corporisation, americanisation, privatisation of health services, education and even, it seems, the police, here is an amusing sketch in which Fry and Laurie foresaw the future. Unfortunately it isn't really a laughing matter. Enjoy anyway.

Code-breaking games

We've been using code-breaking vocab games for quite a while, especially with younger students at Key Stage 3. I have mixed feelings about them, since they are all about spelling detail and little to do with communication in the foreign language, but students enjoy doing them and it's revealing to see how they approach the task. First, here's an example based on the topic "en ville" (Year 7):

19, 22 1,22,2,14,11,24,1,11,20,14 = LE RESTAURANT

19, 11 6, 11, 1, 22 ___________________

19, 11 21, 10, 2, 18, 10, 20, 22 ___________________

19, 22 8, 11, 1, 18, 16, 22 ___________________

19 ‘ 23,7,7,10,18,22 5,22 14,23,24,1,10,2,8,22 ______________________

19, 22 21, 23, 1, 14 ___________________

19, 22 18, 10, 20, 22, 8, 11 ___________________

19, 22 21, 11, 1, 18 ___________________

19 22 18,22,20,14,1,22-4,10,19,19,22 __________________

24, 20 8, 24, 2, 22, 22 ___________________

19, 11 17, 11, 20, 25, 24, 22 ___________________

19, 22 21, 11, 1, 15, 10, 20, 6 ___________________

19, 11 21, 23, 2, 14, 22 ___________________

19’ 16, 23, 21, 10, 14, 11, 19 ___________________

19’16,23,14,22,19 5,22 4,10,19,19,22 ___________________


Now, what you find is that some students are extremely methodical and write out a list of letters and any numbers they can match up. They try to solve the code before putting in answers. Other students (often boys) use clues beyond the code, for example the length of the word, the number of words or the gender. They see things more globally and may get to the answer more quickly. Others look "globally" but are too impatient to solve the detail of the code. I have sometimes found that those who get to the answer quickest may not be the best linguists at all and this can give them a boost to the ego.

The method they adopt tells you, as a teacher, something about the learning style of each pupil. That, in itself, is a useful piece of information.

Ultimately, I see these exercises as a pleasant change for you and the students, a chance to relax while they get on and an opportunity to reinforce vocabulary. Some would argue that this is a sound way of introducing new vocabulary. I'm not so sure. I still cling to the traditional notion that vocab is best introduced orally first, then reinforced later on paper.

See www.frenchteacher.net for more examples of code-breaking tasks, including a wingdings one!

Exploiting vocab lists - going beyond the vocab test

This is a version of a page from the frenchteacher.net site:

Thanks to colleagues who have suggested some of these ideas.

Many of us work with text books which contain lists of vocabulary. Vocab learning can be a pretty dull task to do and an uninspiring homework to set. Then you have to deal with the students who do not do their learning or who simply cannot set words to memory very easily. Doing a vocab test of the traditional kind has its uses, of course, but I find them dull to administer and they work best only with the brightest classes.

By the way, I used to doubt the whole value of vocab learning, believing that vocab was acquired by regular use rather than by rote learning. Without entering a debate on conscious versus unconscious learning in language learning, I now believe that learning by heart can have a place. Put simply, consciously learned vocab can make the crossover into one’s “acquired” competence (despite what Stephen Krashen would claim!). Needless to say, we need to revise vocab from one lesson to the next, otherwise most children will forget words.

So what can we do with lists of words apart from telling a class to go away and memorise them?

Jan Baker, Ann Pendray, Anne Jackson and Sue Chalmers and kindly sent me their ideas, to which I have added my own.

TO LEARN VOCABULARY EFFECTIVELY YOU NEED TO DO SOMETHING WITH IT

1. Think of it as a challenge not a chore – attitude is MOST important – you need to WANT to learn them.
2. Read the words in silence several times – then try & do a memory test – how many can you do without looking?
3. Cover the words and test yourself – or get someone to test you.
4. Use a word fan – make a fan (fold the paper several times) & write the English on one side/French on the other & so on.
5. Concentrate on the difficult words & link them to something you know eg. clay keys (the word for key is clé – pronounced clay).
6. Write the words out over and over – English with French and vice versa – do more and more from memory each time.
7. Make up a rhythm – tap out the words as you say them.
8. Record the words onto tape.
9. Listen to them over & over from the tape.
10. Try and spell out the words with the French alphabet.
11. Remember what you teacher tells you about them – think about what was said in the lesson – read your notes as well.
12. Try and make the words rhyme or make up a rap.
13. Read the words out loud – fast/slow/loud/quiet.
14. Break up the words – mus/ique prof/es/seur.
15. Invent a song/poem with the words in.
16. Sort them by gender/groups/patterns – fruit/vegetables/which adjective follows which rule or colour code them.
17. Group them alphabetically.
18. Jumble up the letters & try & rearrange them in the correct order & then give the English.
19. Draw the words & label.
20. Write out the words with letters missing – vowels? – then gap fill.

Demand written evidence of how the pupils tried to learn e.g. wordsearches, look cover sheets, cards, fans etc. Encourage them to set themselves a test and bring it in. Some pupils may put up lists on back of toilet door etc. Pupils who work really hard may improve their test marks by using a different method. You can test using mini whiteboards or through team games rather than giving individual marks. You can raise the status of vocab learning by talking about the processes involved with children.

How about listing games? For example, first group to list 5/10 fruits/sports/types of
house etc. Or you can have a competition where the winner is the first group to guess the same five fruits/sports etc which you have on your own list. It’s not particularly fair but can be fun and very competitive.

“Running reporter”: a vocab list is put somewhere far away (e.g. back of class). In teams of two, one student runs to the list and tries to memorise as many and as accurately as they can and then run back to report to the team mate who then writes it down. The runner is not aloud to write! They then swap and the other student runs to the list to do the same. First pair to finish list all correct win.

From Elsa Carnoy:

A nice way to pair test vocabulary is to ask each student to write ten words in english from the list they had to learn (they can use their list so it makes them revise). Past the list to partner and each translate their partner’s list. Then they check their partner’s translation with the book again. They enjoy it and can be quite mean at giving difficult words to their partner!

My own ideas for the classroom

Read aloud vocab list to class. Students repeat. It seems obvious, but speaking aloud words can help fix them in pupils’ minds. You can make this fun (and improve pupils’ pronunciation) by whispering, raising the voice, creating a rhythm or even singing. Pull faces, get the class to watch your lips.

After an initial run through, pupils can try to quickly memorise as many words as possible. Most pupils are good at short term memory tasks and see them as a challenge. Use translation both ways.

Then get them to cover up the target language words. You then supply the first syllable or sound of a word and they have to complete it with the rest of the word. This can be amusing. Pupils can produce their rsponses orally or in writing.

Then do the same, but supplying the last sound or syllable of the word. Maybe save this to the next lesson.

For lists of concrete items pupils can use mime or gesture in pairs. One pupil mimes while the other guesses the word. Pupils enjoy this.

Give oral definitions of words. Students write down the answers. This is harder, but provided good listening practice.

Play word association. (This can lead off into all sorts of directions, but works well with large fields of similar vocab e.g. food and drink.)

Make up anagrams of words. Alternatively, pupils make up anagrams to test their partners.

Make up a code-breaking task for the class. There are examples on this site.

Get students to make up a simple crossword or acrostich.

In pairs each person has to give a word from the list. The first person who cannot think of a word loses.

Aural anagrams: spell out words in the wrong order, pupils have to work out the word. Gets competitive.

Makevoneoenormouscwordafrombtheulistlyouahaveisetrtheeclass. Place added letters between the words. the added letters could spell out another word.

So, if a class is not good at learning vocab at home, cut your losses and focus on learning in the classroom.

TV5 Monde - Apprendre.tv

http://www.tv5.org/TV5Site/enseigner-apprendre-francais/accueil_apprendre.php

For some reason I have neglected this fantastic site for too long. TV5 Monde have made available an enormous number of exercises suitable for advanced level students. There are video reports, comprehension tasks and even grammar exercises, on a vast range of subjects, most of which would suit students in their final year of French at high school.

Just to give you a flavour: have a look at the “Cités du Monde” section where you select a city and then choose from a menu of activities, including listening comprehension, reading comprehension and grammar. The activities are graded by difficulty level, but don’t be fooled, even the ones labelled “élémentaire” are really of advanced level as the recordings are authentic interviews. With each recording there are interactive activities, usually multi-choice, but with detailed feedback when you get an answer right or wrong. Lots of good work has gone into this material.

Within the “Actualité: Infos d’Europe” section there are activities on economics, the environment, health, France and the EU, education, air transport, security and justice. Open up the health topic and you’ll find two reports, one on anti-tobacco laws and one on obesity.

If you try the “Gastronomie” section you’ll see a menu of countries. When you open Brazil, for example, you are offered three video clips, two on specific dishes, one an interview with a Parisian chef.the latter includes exercises at three levels, the first being multi-choice, the second gap fill and the third higher level multi-choice.

In the “Vie quotidienne: un jour en Europe” section  you’ll find the same format – three reports with differentiated exercises.

There’s plenty more too. The site has its own very good dictionary, there's an iphone app and quizzes.

When I tried the site out the other day with an AS group they found the level of the recorded material acceptable and were fully engaged for thirty minutes. On our school connection the quality of video and sound was very good, though there was a slight delay with responses and feedback to the interactive tasks. You would also have to say that some of the topics are rather esoteric, but it doesn’t do any harm to get away from the usual A-level specification topics. We teachers tend to be too slavish to the specification.