Richard-Amato: Chapter 13

Ways to Promote Literacy Development


Richard-Amato outlines four topics, starting with LEA, Language Experience Approach. In my Reading Development class, we talked about using this strategy with emerging readers. It is not surprising to find that it is also helpful to foreign language learners. Richard-Amato next discusses literature-based curriculum, which as we have seen repeatedly is a rich resource (Moeller for example). It is important to remember however that reading should be made as actively interactive as possible. In chapter 5, Richard-Amato discusses the way in which reading is an interactive activity (see chart for creating meaning with others, with other texts and experiences). In this chapter, journaling, prediction strategies among other types of reading guides are recommended.

Motivation and guidance are the two key components that run through this chapter. To motivate students, I think it can helpful to offer choices. For example, in the classroom I observe, the students partipate in a silent reading activity for ten minutes on Thursday and Friday. My teacher gives them the option of choosing what to read, and he offers a very, very wide selection from comics to classic texts, which allows the students to find what interests them and to see that it can all be done in French, too!

Richard-Amato: Chapter 5

Literacy Development and Skills Integration


Here Richard-Amato discusses the difference between bottom-up and top-down approaches to teaching literacy. The benefits of top-down approaches are that they emphasize a whole, real and natural approach. Similar to Elizabeth's presentation Monday on oral storytelling and literacy, this chapter suggests introducing meaningful language at its most simple forms which can start with a picture book from which the teacher can help a student write a story.

In terms of skills integration, we see again the role of story experience as a useful tool as it incorporates several different skills and can spark natural curiosity which then can motivate communication.

One great item to take away: "Error correction for developing writers should focus on meaning and go beyond a line-by-line, word-by-word analysis".

Moeller: Literature & Content-based Instruction

"Literature: A Rich Resource for Teaching Language and Culture in Context"

In this article, Moeller distinguishes traditional approaches to using literature in the language classroom to strategies based on more recent research that emphasizes the importance of student interaction with text. Whereas before literature meant "great classics", Moeller suggests it is more important to select and present text that "awakens interest and motivates the reader".

One point that I found relevant was the fact that the cognitive development of learners is much further developed than their ability to use the target language. In my observation class, I was speaking to a student who expressed just that--he felt that he could not react to a text he had read because he did not have the skills yet. Interestingly, this article explores cited theories in practice by presenting a concrete example, "The Bremen Town Musicians". Some of the activities suggested have the students using English (mostly in the pre-reading activities). I found this very relevant if we are to "awaken an interest", it might be necessary in the lower proficiency levels to engage the students with the text with some activities that are appropriate for their stage of cognitive development. Later and throughout the lesson, they can use the target language to practice targeted structures and vocabulary. In more advanced proficiency levels, the students will use more and more of the target language, and hopefully by this point, they will be motivated and feel confident approaching texts in the target language--great classics, newspapers and cartoons alike.

Curtain & Dahlberg (Chapter 11)

The Connections Standard

This chapter discusses content-related teaching. To understand this idea, it's important to understand the distinction between language learning and learning to learn.

This "C" is focused on using language to "extend and enrich" learning in all content area. More specifically, this standard supports language learning as a means to gain knowledge and insight that is only available through the target language--this is why language learning is essential!

Content-related instruction can be a good source of cognitively engaging activities as language can be used as a bridge to other content areas that might be interesting to students. Finally it pushes language learning beyond the classroom. I can see the students in my teacher's class interested when he and I engage in conversation in French--it shows them that we can use what they are learning to actually carry on a conversation.

Curtain & Dahlberg (Chapter 7)

Integrated Thematic Planning for Curriculum, Unit and Lesson Design

Meaning is necessary for effective language learning. This chapter talks about the way it which thematic planning and instruction fosters meaning-contingent learning which activates the pattern-making functions of the brain. Thematic instruction allows for narrative structure and task-based organization of content. This is effective in part because of the way in which the brain is structured: narratives are used to organize memory and to order task-based learning.

Relevance = motivation factor. This is clear as I observe my teacher at Monticello High School. It's amazing to see how much more motivated, on-task and generally attentive they are when their teacher relates something relevant to them.

Some things I'll take away from this reading:

• avoid isolated grammar structures
• narrative = important "cognitive tool" (natural way brain organizes our experiences and related to emotions!
  
• use prediction to focus attention
• work toward a performance or product (visual display, book...) to give PURPOSE to unit
• Kiergan Egan Frameworks: organizing "Story Form Framework"
• Story Form Frameworks: mythic layer (younger grades) and romantic layer (older grades)
• balance of routine and variety--each lesson should have a balance of active and quiet, large and small group, one- and two-way communication
  
• interactive homework
  

Richard-Amato (Participatory Language Teaching)

Chapter 4

In this chapter, Richard-Amato discusses how reading is integrated to develop different skills (including literacy and writing) within a whole language approach framework. He talks about how processes which are inherently "interactional"--reading and writing--from the many components of which meaning is created. He notes the role of other readers, other texts (written and oral) among others. This statement made me consider literature circles, something we talked about in EDIS571: Reading in the Content Area. To take a text that is read and add more aspects to it can help students attach more meaning to it. Further, revision in writing offers an opportunity to internalize correct forms if they are effectively modeled by the teacher or by indirect correction. As someone who dislikes taking my time with revisions, I do have to acknowledge their merit, especially in a foreign language classroom for writers at all levels.

"When are they going to say 'it' right?"

Brooks, Donato, McGlone


This study explored the role of metatalk, metacognition, use of English and whispering self in collaborative activities, specifically missing information tasks, like the jigsaw activities used in this study, from a sociocultural perspective. The implications of their findings suggest that collaborive activiteis require refelctions upon the task at hand, and language is involved in this problem-solving process. Moreover, English is sometimes necessary to sustain the activity (as the target language may not be well-developed enough to allow for the metacognitive strategies the student might need). Hearing English might be bothersome for a foreign language instructor, but these findings seem logical, and I am glad to read this study to remind me that at beginning levels of language, it can sometimes be necessary to rely on English at some points.

Another point to take away from this study is the fact that self-regulation in L2 can grow from regular exposure to collaborative problem-solving activities. Increased opportunities for these types of collaborative activities can lead to less metatalk, less English, less talk about task (metacognition) and for students to perform tasks in L2.