introducing: interpretive communication

I have never really considered the interpretive mode before coming in contact with this chapter. I know how to negotiate texts/media that require the use of the interpretive mode but I don’t think a teacher had ever used the term “interpretive mode” when we were doing such exercises. And honestly, I cannot say how much of my knowledge about using this mode is due to actual instruction or what I discovered from exposure.

http://policiasadolescentes.blogspot.com/2012_04_01_archive.html

Given my background with this mode, I think I will want to tell students what they are doing. I want them to know that they are, in fact, using the interpretive mode and working with texts where they cannot exchange information with the writer or speaker. Knowing the terminology of what you are doing can be very empowering.

The two things that were most poignant to me were: that the authentic text should not be edited and that understanding of input from L2 should be tested in the L1. I think many teachers would quickly assume that they need to edit the information they are giving to their students. They could do this by cutting the text given or by changing words within the text. Both of these actions are actually harmful to the student. I love the idea of editing the task, not the text. Additionally, why would you take the authentic words out of a text and replace them with your own? Much more can be gained by glossing the text and giving students a definition that they can understand in the L2.

With so much emphasis placed on using the L2 as much as possible in the classroom, I think most teachers assume that they should test understanding in the L2 as well. It makes sense to check understanding in the L1 because that is the negotiation that is going on in their head.  Often the test in the L2 gets in the way of showing what it is trying to measure. If the language in this test is too advanced, than it isn’t really testing what was comprehended but rather what it is saying. Likewise, the language can match too closely to the actual text that students will not read closely and just pick the sentences in the text surrounding the given phrase and assume that is the answer. By testing in the L1, higher level thinking is automatically required.