NCELP stands for the National Centre for Excellence for Language Pedagogy. You can find it at ncelp.org. You might recall that this is the DfE-funded initiative set up to raise standards in MFL teaching and learning in England. Based at York University, and with a number of ‘hub schools’ around the country, its aim is to disseminate best practice and resources.
More info in this blog https://frenchteachernet.blogspot.com/2019/01/national-centre-for-excellence-for.html
What is ‘best practice’ is open to debate, of course, but the remit of the NCELP is clear: to encourage teachers to put into practice the guidance provided by the TSC Review of MFL Pedagogy.
That TSC Review is not as well-known as it might be. At a recent CPD event I ran for MFL teachers, only a small minority had actually heard of it. It deserves to be read carefully and critically. You can find it at :
https://www.tscouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/MFL-Pedagogy-Review-Report-2.pdf
I have blogged about the review here:
https://frenchteachernet.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-teaching-schools-council-mfl.html
And more analytically here:
https://frenchteachernet.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-tsc-view-of-second-language.html
In essence, among other things, the review called for more phonics, explicit grammar teaching and a planned approach to vocabulary teaching, moving away from a topic-based approach. And this is what you can already see in the resources uploaded so far to the NCELP site. The main writers so far seem to be Rachel Hawkes and Emma Marsden. Emma was the main university academic on the TSC Review and its findings are broadly in line with her research leanings.
What are the resources like? Well, it’s early days, but the PowerPoints and pdfs I have looked at certainly showcase the phonics plus grammar view of things. I hope there is better to come, because so far they look pretty unexciting and lacking in originality. Teachers will find much better elsewhere, in my opinion. You find word lists based on frequency counts, verbs in infinitive and first/third person form with translations, visual references to phonics, spot the difference picture tasks and picture sequences. I have only looked through a selection, but that seems to be the pattern so far. (When you use the site, if you wish to download a resource you need to tick a box to record in what capacity you are using the resources.)
I was interested in a particular PowerPoint presentation to be used by trainers at school hub events. It offers reasonably detailed advice on how to teach grammar, along with presenter notes so that the essential messages get across. These messages include:
- teach grammar explicitly up front, but simply, avoiding full verb conjugations, for example
- be aware that pupils vary and may not be developmentally ready to learn some grammar patterns
- there is no fixed order in which to teach structures; consider your class’s particular needs
- focus on meaning as much as possible, not just form
- do lots of practice before free production; practice is more important than explanation
- during copious practice (and input) get pupils to make form-meaning associations; make them notice grammatical forms
- make grammar ‘task-essential’ by removing other clues from sentences, e.g. time phrases
- exploit all skills for deeper processing, but be aware that practising grammar through listening may have more impact on listening than written performance
- practise grammar with a wide range of known vocabulary
- provide ample opportunities to practise patterns in different contexts and through different activities
Note that all of this advice, and the other resources, come with research evidence from eminent scholars. However, as I have commented on before, some research scholars would find the choice of research evidence weighted in one direction, i.e. in the skill acquisition hypothesis associated most notably with Robert Dekeyser, and supported famously by the Norris and Ortega (2001) metastudy which gave support for explicit grammar teaching. It has been pointed out to me that a more recent metastudy (Kang et al, 2018)* has contradicted the Norris and Ortega research.
Overall, despite any possible research bias, the general advice on teaching grammar seems sound to me: keep explanations simple, do LOTS of input/practice tasks, mix up the skills and avoid whole verb conjugations which give a false impression of mastery. Put the focus on input, interaction and practice. Use scaffolded tasks, building from the simpler to the harder, from the more controlled to freer. Some writers will reject this view of acquisition, but in the time-poor context of MFL teaching in England it makes sense to me. My one quibble, despite the limited evidence presented. is the idea that grammar points should be taught explicitly right at the start. I think teachers can use their judgment on this, allowing pupils, especially more bale ones, to seek out patterns themselves before explanations are given.
In sum, do go and have a look at the site and see how it evolves. I hope that the quality of the teaching resources gets better.
* Eun Yung Kang, Sarah Sok, Zhao Hong (2018) Thirty-five years of ISLA research on form-focused instruction: A meta-analysis. Language Teaching Research For a quite different view of the role of grammar teaching try this from Geoff Jordan
https://applingtesol.wordpress.com/2019/02/15/why-teach-grammar/
More info in this blog https://frenchteachernet.blogspot.com/2019/01/national-centre-for-excellence-for.html
What is ‘best practice’ is open to debate, of course, but the remit of the NCELP is clear: to encourage teachers to put into practice the guidance provided by the TSC Review of MFL Pedagogy.
That TSC Review is not as well-known as it might be. At a recent CPD event I ran for MFL teachers, only a small minority had actually heard of it. It deserves to be read carefully and critically. You can find it at :
https://www.tscouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/MFL-Pedagogy-Review-Report-2.pdf
I have blogged about the review here:
https://frenchteachernet.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-teaching-schools-council-mfl.html
And more analytically here:
https://frenchteachernet.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-tsc-view-of-second-language.html
In essence, among other things, the review called for more phonics, explicit grammar teaching and a planned approach to vocabulary teaching, moving away from a topic-based approach. And this is what you can already see in the resources uploaded so far to the NCELP site. The main writers so far seem to be Rachel Hawkes and Emma Marsden. Emma was the main university academic on the TSC Review and its findings are broadly in line with her research leanings.
What are the resources like? Well, it’s early days, but the PowerPoints and pdfs I have looked at certainly showcase the phonics plus grammar view of things. I hope there is better to come, because so far they look pretty unexciting and lacking in originality. Teachers will find much better elsewhere, in my opinion. You find word lists based on frequency counts, verbs in infinitive and first/third person form with translations, visual references to phonics, spot the difference picture tasks and picture sequences. I have only looked through a selection, but that seems to be the pattern so far. (When you use the site, if you wish to download a resource you need to tick a box to record in what capacity you are using the resources.)
I was interested in a particular PowerPoint presentation to be used by trainers at school hub events. It offers reasonably detailed advice on how to teach grammar, along with presenter notes so that the essential messages get across. These messages include:
- teach grammar explicitly up front, but simply, avoiding full verb conjugations, for example
- be aware that pupils vary and may not be developmentally ready to learn some grammar patterns
- there is no fixed order in which to teach structures; consider your class’s particular needs
- focus on meaning as much as possible, not just form
- do lots of practice before free production; practice is more important than explanation
- during copious practice (and input) get pupils to make form-meaning associations; make them notice grammatical forms
- make grammar ‘task-essential’ by removing other clues from sentences, e.g. time phrases
- exploit all skills for deeper processing, but be aware that practising grammar through listening may have more impact on listening than written performance
- practise grammar with a wide range of known vocabulary
- provide ample opportunities to practise patterns in different contexts and through different activities
Note that all of this advice, and the other resources, come with research evidence from eminent scholars. However, as I have commented on before, some research scholars would find the choice of research evidence weighted in one direction, i.e. in the skill acquisition hypothesis associated most notably with Robert Dekeyser, and supported famously by the Norris and Ortega (2001) metastudy which gave support for explicit grammar teaching. It has been pointed out to me that a more recent metastudy (Kang et al, 2018)* has contradicted the Norris and Ortega research.
Overall, despite any possible research bias, the general advice on teaching grammar seems sound to me: keep explanations simple, do LOTS of input/practice tasks, mix up the skills and avoid whole verb conjugations which give a false impression of mastery. Put the focus on input, interaction and practice. Use scaffolded tasks, building from the simpler to the harder, from the more controlled to freer. Some writers will reject this view of acquisition, but in the time-poor context of MFL teaching in England it makes sense to me. My one quibble, despite the limited evidence presented. is the idea that grammar points should be taught explicitly right at the start. I think teachers can use their judgment on this, allowing pupils, especially more bale ones, to seek out patterns themselves before explanations are given.
In sum, do go and have a look at the site and see how it evolves. I hope that the quality of the teaching resources gets better.
* Eun Yung Kang, Sarah Sok, Zhao Hong (2018) Thirty-five years of ISLA research on form-focused instruction: A meta-analysis. Language Teaching Research For a quite different view of the role of grammar teaching try this from Geoff Jordan
https://applingtesol.wordpress.com/2019/02/15/why-teach-grammar/
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