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.

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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.

First Language Learning Experience

In my school district all students took exploratory foreign language classes in 7^th and 8^th grade. Latin and Spanish were taken in 7^thgrade for a few weeks and then in 8^th grade we took German and French. I believe we spent a little more time in the languages in 8^thgrade. I was very excited about the opportunity to learn about these different languages.

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As a child I had always fantasized about speaking another language. I had thought it very “romantic.” In my mind I would speak French because it was such an elegant and sophisticated language. When it came time to middle school I did very well in all four languages. Around the time of 7^th grade I began spending a good amount of time on the computer using a CD about French. It was interactive and had a lot of vocabulary targeted at travel.

When it came time to take French in 8^th grade I had some vocabulary under my sleeve and my pronunciation was decent. My French teacher complimented me on my success and encouraged me to continue studying French. That had fully been my intention until the day came to sign up for high school classes.

I have many fond memories when it comes to the French class. There was a film that we watched and one line from it really sticks out. The boy is supposed to be introducing himself in French by saying “Je m'appelle Pierre” but instead of saying it with French pronunciation he said, “JA MAPPLE PEE-AIR.” It was absolutely hilarious to our class. By making fun of speaking French with an American accent it made us aware of how to correctly go about pronouncing the words we were about to learn.

The only thing I didn’t like about the language classes in middle school was how short they were. I wanted to spend more time in the foreign language classroom. I was ready to devout myself to these classes. I think I was destined to continue language learning. I decided to go on and study Spanish because I enjoyed the language and there are so many people who speak the language globally. I have not regretted it for one moment. 

government/school reform

Public schools are held responsible by the government. And the government has many different areas in which they have to administer. It is very easy to set a goal or standard. These goals are “good” and everyone can agree that it would be great if every student graduated or if more students were learning a second language. But it is quite another thing to actually complete these goals. One reason for this is the bureaucracy that is involved in government.  There are so many channels to go through to get policies implemented. However, the major issue, I believe, is money.

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As we can see right now during this current presidential election, there is much is so much drama that surrounds money when it comes to politics. Major questions include: Who should pay how much when it comes to taxes, and then once the government has the money, how should it be spent? The money received during campaigning also plays a major role in the polities of the elected official. Even though every citizen has the right to vote, in actuality, those with more money have more of a say in what happens within our government.

This being said, I truly believe that the super-wealthy dictate much of what is going on in government. These individuals do not have the same concerns about public schools as the average American citizen. Whether or not public schools are successful does not matter to them because they have the money to send their children to the elite private schools. As long as policy makers remain indebted to those who contribute to their campaign funds, then change in schools will be slow moving. The super-rich are more interested in the finances that involve big business, oil, military spending, and the like.

As we saw here in Ohio, the state government cut money to public schools. As they give less money to these institutions they continue to expect more and more out of them.   This results in a heavy burden on the local governments and landowners.  (This also helps us to understand why there is so much discrepancy between schools.)

So – what is the solution???

School reform. Government reform. These both seem like huge hurdles but I believe they are both necessary for the sake of our future. (And the future of our children.)

Sorry to get pretty political on here.

But I do believe that teachers need to be politically engaged. They need to do so as an advocate for themselves and especially for their students. 

the brain vs. the setting

In the first chapter of Teacher’s Handbook: Contextualized Language Instruction many different theories, hypotheses, and approaches to language learning are discussed. I can find merit in many of these different methodologies. For me, it may be a little difficult to just choose one. The first step is to decide which camp to join; the brain camp or the social-cultural camp.

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I completely agree that humans are designed with language in mind. There is something innate about us that allows for us to communicate and at a higher level than other animals do. But I also understand that language acquisition does not take place in a vacuum, but rather in social and cultural space. This is where it gets tricky. Which direction do we choose to put the emphasis on? 

For now, what I think I may have settled on is the idea that Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory holds weight. One of the reasons I have arrived in this camp is due to the individual variability that occurs with language learning. The entire Spanish III class receives the exact same instruction (or input) from the teacher. They all read the same text and listen to the same recording of native speakers and yet their results or performance are wide-ranging. If the answer to the question of how do we learn language was simply “the brain” wouldn’t that lend itself to more uniform results.

Even with all this in mind I am not quite comfortable enough to go “all in” with Vygotsky. I feel as if there is more to know and understand about both camps before I can make a confident claim. But for now, this is my leaning.