In the last post we talked about using party tricks as something to talk about in a target language. In a classroom setting, students’ special skills, including party tricks, are a compelling, useful source of content. Just like with a picture, movie, or story, the teacher can use students’ non-linguistic skills either to target specific linguistic […]
Category Archives: Teaching
Spare No Tupperware: Erasmus on living in the language
Like most people, I read some Erasmus this morning. A friend had asked for a particular passage in Erasmus’s booklet De Ratione Studii (roughly, “On Study Habits”); after finding the passage, I was intrigued enough to read the book from the beginning. Several pages in, I found a delightful, Indwelling-Language-evoking passage in which Erasmus discusses internalizing […]
“Whatever” Works: Non-Targeted CI Lesson 4, “Frivolity Is the Mother Of Invention”
My second thought when I see this is “Think of all the classy waffles I could make.” This is the Pixel, a customizable waffle maker; you can create your own design by depressing any of the 81 squares. But my first thought is, “This is Non-Targeted CI gold.” That’s right, golden-brown on the breakfast table is straight gold an hour later. […]
“Whatever” Works: Non-Targeted CI Lesson 3, “Not Today”
Three of the following four things happened on this day (November 3) in history. Can you guess which one did not? “Not Today,” or “Not This Day In History,” is an easy-to-plan game of Non-Targeted Comprehensible Input, presented here as part of the Whatever Works series. Simply check a Today In History list on Wikipedia or […]
This Day In History: A quick, expandable source of language and culture
Yesterday’s #indwelli was about using a Today in History list in your target language to get bite-sized pieces of both language and culture. In this post we want to expand on the value and uses of Today in History for acquiring a language. As a language learner, you should always be on the lookout for input […]
What Makes “Whatever” Work – Essentials Of Any Language Program
We’re in the middle of a series whose basic point is that, when it comes to providing learners with material in the target language, “whatever works.” If you expected a catch, you expected right. Here it is: That anything works is true of content. It’s not true of teacher-learner relationships, learner-learner relationships, classroom culture, or fundamental approaches and […]
“Whatever” Works: Non-Targeted CI Lesson 2, “Thank You, Justin Bieber”
Justin Bieber has done at least one good thing for me: He provided the impetus and the core material for this lesson. It’s another “Whatever Works” lesson, delivering non-targeted Comprehensible Input. (See yesterday’s post for an introduction to non-targeted CI and another lesson plan.) Really, this is another Quirky Feature (again, see yesterday’s post), which I […]
“Whatever” Works: Non-Targeted CI Lesson 1, The Man Who Sells the Moon
I am often asked what works in language teaching and learning. One of my favorite answers is “Whatever.” When I evaluate a language teaching method or program, my basic principle is that teachers and learners should do whatever works, i.e., what is proven to be successful in achieving the goals of the program, which, for […]
On the Go, In the Language: Introducing #indwelli
You’re stuck in line at the DMV. (In other words, you’re at the DMV.) How do you you use the time? Maybe you check Facebook. That’s fine—probably better than checking it when you’ve got time to do something else. Maybe you make a shopping list. Maybe you don’t “use” the time at all; maybe you […]
Language: The School Subject That’s Not a School Subject
If you grow up on a desert island with at least one other person, you will not automatically know physics. You may know the effects of what is studied in physics—say, when the other person pushes you out of a tree—but you will not know the academic discipline called physics. You will be fluent in at […]
