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A traditionalist blind alley for MFL?

We’ve just had the latest batch of A-Level results in England, Wales and NI. It’s the familiar tale of small cohorts and high results, the latter caused by the former. Results day often provokes reflection, so here is mine! It’s about acknowledgement of failure and accountability. I’m getting political! Over the last decade or so, modern foreign languages in England have been subjected to a succession of reviews, reports and curriculum initiatives. We have had the Teaching Schools Council report on MFL pedagogy (Bauckham, 2016), the work of NCELP, the emphasis on the so-called three pillars of phonics, vocabulary and grammar, and the ALCAB review of A-level. More recently, these ideas have been embedded in curriculum and examination reform, with a strong emphasis on carefully specified vocabulary, phonics and grammatical knowledge. Whatever one thinks of the thinking behind these reforms, it seems reasonable to ask a fairly basic question: H ave they worked? If one important aim was t...
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What is TPRS 2.0?

 I’ve seen references to this newer version of TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) from US teachers and was curious to find out more. I asked ChatGPT, which gave me the description below. Given its main sources, I would think the description makes sense, though no doubt TPRS-users would differ in their interpretations. After sharing the AI description, I’ll add a few thoughts about TPRS (both versions). I risk treading on one or two toes! ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… TPRS 2.0 is an updated version of Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling (TPRS) , developed and promoted by Blaine Ray and colleagues. Unlike the original TPRS, which emphasized comprehensible input through teacher-led storytelling and reading, TPRS 2.0 deliberately builds in more opportunities for learners to produce language, while still keeping input at the centre of the approach.  The main innovations are: A greater focus on “manageable chunks”. Instead ...
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Coming soon! Let's Get Them Talking!

What do we want our students to be able to do in class?  Maybe you think, like me, that it’s about understanding and communicating meanings. This involves listening to what other people say, responding appropriately, expressing ideas and opinions, asking questions and sustaining interaction at an appropriate level. Knowing grammar and vocabulary matters, but it is not the main goal. A student may know how to conjugate verbs or complete written exercises successfully yet still struggle to understand spoken French or take part in a simple conversation. Our lessons therefore need to do much more than teach students about French: they must give them regular experience of using French to communicate. The 50 lessons in my new book are founded on this communicative principle. They place speaking (with listening of course) at the centre of classroom activity and give students a reason to talk. The lessons may be about identifying information, playing a purposeful game, solving a problem o...
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A climate change lesson plan for GCSE

 This is a 5-part lesson I created with help from ChatGPT which provided the multi-choice questions, translation of the video transcript, ranking exercise and gap-fill task. I think it would work well with Higher Tier GCSE students, even though the video used as the source material is aimed at younger French children. The video is an introduction to climate and climate change. Captions are available but they are not very accurate. The transcript is available on the YouTube page, but I have copied it in below. I like the the fact that the lesson begins with listening comprehension with a short, clear video (I'd recommend two listenings, or some pauses chosen by the teacher). The MCQs could be done individually or guided one-by-one by the teacher. The gap-fill should be done individually or in pairs. The good /bad for the environment task can also be done individually or in pairs. The pair work vocab test gives a chance to recap vocab words and chunks before the final pair work quest...
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Tête-a-Tête.ai

 Nick Atkins shared this with me by email. Nick is a solo developer from Hertfordshire who designed this after trying to help his daughter prepare for her GCSE Speaking assessment and finding no simulator to help her. I haven’t road-tested it myself. “Tê te-à-Tête AI ( tete-a-tete.ai ) is a GCSE and IGCSE speaking-exam simulator for French and Spanish. Students sit timed practice or full mock exams following their board's format and get six scores — pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, fluency, interaction and confidence — plus an indicative predicted grade. The AI examiner responds to what the student actually says rather than working through a script, which is the part that took longest to get working properly with real learner French. Boards: AQA and Edexcel, covering role-play, reading aloud, photo card or picture task and general conversation, at Foundation and Higher. Cambridge IGCSE 0520 French and 0530 Spanish, which is role-play plus two topic conversations, as that exam re...
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How useful are mnemonics?

 A mnemonic is a memory aid — a hook, a technique, phrase, pattern, image, or acronym that helps you remember information more easily. Language teachers usually think of them as acronyms. Ones I learned at school were DOGWUF in German (to remember prepositions which take the accusative case) and MRS DAVENTRAMP (for remembering French verbs which use être as their auxiliary in the perfect gense). Here are some others you may know or like. Many of these were shared by teachers on Facebook when I was drafting our book about memory ( Memory: What Every Language Teacher Should Know ( Smith and Conti, 2021)). French French mnemonics What they refer to EN for engine Using en in repositional phrases for motorised means of transport, e.g. en voiture versus à pied A TV AND MRS PERM MR DRAPERS MT VAN MR VAM RRED PANTS DR PV MASTERMAN DR VEMS MANTRAP MR DREAMPANTS The verbs which take the auxiliary être in ...
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