The Need for Level-Appropriate Authentic Resources

(The following is my own opinion and does not necessarily reflect the views of the CI/ADI community at large)

Lately one of the major buzzwords in World Language has been authentic resources, i.e., resources which have been written "by native speakers for native speakers," and their importance to the world language classroom. I wholeheartedly agree with this, since I think that it is key for our students to interact with resources which can give them any cultural insights, views, and perspectives which cannot be properly delivered except from a native speaker in that target culture. Authentic resources can demonstrate real-world usage of the target language, as well as infusing a culturally-responsive framework into one's curriculum. HOWEVER, I will add my own qualifier: level-appropriate. These authentic resources need to be level appropriate.

Before I continue, I need to explain the lens through which I view second language teaching: as a CI/ADI facilitator, my first and foremost priority is the delivery of understandable messages to learners and for those messages to be properly comprehended. We acquire that language which we understand. When language is understandable for learners, this lowers their affective filters (stress levels) which allows for the acquisition process to operate. To me, all of these are non-negotiables.

Therefore, when it comes to authentic resources, I need for these resources to be level-appropriate and to be 100% understandable to my students. Our novice-level L2 students are roughly equivalent to native L1 toddlers in their reading proficiency considering how little interaction our own students actually have had with the target language, hence what we truly need are authentic resources which were created by native speakers for those native learners who possess that same proficiency in that target culture as our own students - those native students who are learning to read and speak in their L1! 

However, instead we get caught up in having novice students read authentic menus and bus schedules (much of this has been influenced by a misusage of the ACTFL Can-Do statements) or the authentic resource WAY EXCEEDS students' current L2 reading/listening level, which ends up then (as an experienced CI/ADI teacher said to me) students just scanning for recognizable text/vocabulary and inferring from pictures. In other words, not a true interaction with the authentic resource.

By no means am I saying that we should exclude authentic resources - di immortales! However, it does mean that as a teacher if I wish to use an authentic resource which is above my students' proficiency level, then the burden is on me to scaffold a lesson building up to it via previewing vocabulary and structures (even if it means through a silly story or a reading based on a Movie Talk) so that it is 100% comprehensible to them. But bigger picture - I want level-appropriate authentic resources so that I do not have to jump through the previous mentioned hoops! Personally I am not a fan of me adapting complex authentic resources and texts, because while I may be making the resource more understandable for students, am I unknowingly changing cultural meaning and authors' original intent in my simplifying of it with my own choice of words to use, thereby inserting a bias of which I am unaware?

While I was at CI Iowa, I attended Eric Herman's presentation "A Critical Review of ACTFL´s Pedagogy," where he addressed authentic resources and academic SLA research related to the subject. I leave you with this quote:

This [reading authentic resources] confuses the goal with the way to get there. When one starts to play the piano we do not start with Rachmaninoff’s Third, nor do native children start reading with Shakespeare, nor do we learn to drive in a Formula 1 car. (Nation & Waring, 2020, p. 25)

What are some level-appropriate authentic resources which you have found, i.e., authentic resources created by native speaker for those native speakers who are at the same development of language proficiency as our own students?

Comprehensible Iowa and "Dos Eric"

I have returned from this past weekend's Comprehensible Iowa conference, and wow, what a great experience I had! This local CI conference has been held in Iowa for the past 8 years, and over the years I had heard much about it. Twice in the past year, Eric Richards had mentioned to me that I should consider presenting there (since he had presented there last year, really enjoyed it, and would be presenting again this summer). I was very hesitant to submit a proposal, since I did not want to impose myself into this conference as a "southerner" if it was designed to be a local, Midwest gathering. However, I am so glad that I did (my proposal on Communicating Purposefully was accepted), because I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this conference! Here is what made it so great for me:

• Small in nature - CI Iowa is a grassroots, homegrown conference born from a desire among Iowa teachers to learn more and to grow in their development as CI/ADI facilitators. About 70-80 teachers attended this weekend which led to a very comfortable, welcoming, and relaxed setting - such a different feeling from state and national conferences. CI Iowa did not feel big at all. Everyone was so friendly and hospitable! 
• Time of the year - Because I have just started my summer break, I am still transitioning from a work frame of mind. Having a foot in both summer vacation and school modes allowed me a desire to still learn about how to become a better C/ADI teacher but also with the perspective that I was now on break!
• The people - I could not get over how inviting everyone was! Is it because I was in the Midwest lol? All of the conference organizers were so incredibly warmhearted and absolutely gracious. Speaking of the Midwest, this was my first trip to Iowa. When I stepped out of the Des Moines airport, there was a sudden dust storm. All I could think was, "Ok, this is pretty much confirming my stereotype of Iowa..." lol. 
• Workshops and presentations - There were so many great presentations and workshops offered to participants (I will address these later here)! Although CI Iowa was only 1.5 days, there were so many offerings. I always hate when there are other good presentations going on at the same time as mine, because I want to say to the participants who come to mine, "Hey, we are all going to go to _____________'s presentation right now, because I want to see it. I'll put my presentation in the Google folder for you to look at later." This is a good problem for a conference to have!

One of the promotions this year was "Dos Eric," since both Eric Herman and Eric Richards were the featured Friday workshop presenters.

I can definitely say that Dos Eric did not disappoint at all. Here is my write up about their presentations:

• Eric Herman (3-hour workshop) - Acquisition Research and Implications for Syllabus, Assessment, and Classroom Activities: This was a tremendous workshop about SLA theory! Previous to this conference, I had never before met Eric Herman, but I had heard his name mentioned very often any time the topic of acquisition theory and research came up. Like many CI/ADI facilitators, my knowledge of input language acquisition theory has been solely limited to Krashen, but Eric discussed research related to "CI" which historically predated Krashen. For a newcomer to CI/ADI, this workshop may have felt like drinking from a firehose since so much was presented, but for me who possessed some knowledge of SLA theory (Krashen, theory of ordered development, Bill Van Patten), everything which Eric discussed reinforced what I already knew and greatly filled in the gaps of what I did not. Eric then showed how this ADI theory should be manifested in our syllabi, assessments, and activities (of which he demonstrated many). Eric presented this material in manageable, bite-size chunks, and I felt that 3 hours was just scratching the surface of what he could have discussed. If given another 3 hours, I still would have been attentively listening! On this topic, Eric is such a great presenter, because it would be easy to come across as a know-it-all, but Eric has such a humble and modest demeanor that one feels very comfortable discussing these topics with him in spite of him being the expert.
• Eric Herman (50-minute presentation) - A Critical Review of ACTFL´s Pedagogy: The best way to explain this presentation is Eric's program description: 

Have you ever questioned ACTFL’s position on grammar and authentic texts? Ever had second thoughts about the proficiency guidelines and Can-Do statements? If not, then you will after this session. I’ll reveal the sources of these practices and examine how they measure up to what we know about second language acquisition.

This was an EYE-OPENING presentation about ACTFL's pedagogy (proficiency guidelines, Can Do statements, authentic resources), on what "research" (note the quotation marks implying doubt) it is all based, and how it is being packaged/marketed as the authority for us world language teachers to follow. Eric did a wonderful job of documenting and citing the research! I walked away from this presentation with my mind totally blown away and my ACTFL foundation to a degree kicked out from under me - just how truly accurate are the ACTFL proficiency guidelines on which I have based my grading rubrics?? I am definitely going to be reviewing my notes on this presentation. If you ever get the chance to see Eric do this presentation, GO!! 

• Eric Richards (50-minute presentation) - Using the Target Language on Day One: In this presentation, Eric demo'd what Day One of his German 1 class is like - he made it very clear that he does not begin Day One with a discussion of rules, syllabus, expectations, etc. Instead, he dives right into German with his students using TPR gestures, sheltering vocabulary, whiteboards, personalized questions and answers (PQAs) and a short reading in German at the end. At the end of his presentation, I felt very successful with what German I had acquired in those 50 minutes! Even though I had seen Eric do this demo at the CI Summit last summer, I really wanted to see again how he does this, since I will be teaching Latin 1 this upcoming year for the first time in 8 years.  Plus, I always learn so much from observing CI/ADI labs in a language which I do not know. Eric is another master presenter - his incredibly positive, inviting attitude sets a very calm, fun, and comfortable classroom environment. I love how he begins his German 1 class on Day One, and I am going to see how I can model Day One of my Latin 1 class like his!

I got the chance to hang out with Dos Eric both at the conference and outside of it while in Iowa - they are great guys, and I definitely look forward to seeing them again!  

So next summer consider attending CI Iowa! Like I said, I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it. Although one can learn much at an in-person weeklong CI/ADI conference like the CI Summit or Fluency Matters Conference, there is something to be said for the smaller, more intimate conferences like CI Mitten and CI Iowa in that they offer intangibles which I do not find at the larger ones. I am already looking ahead to attending CI Iowa next summer - I hope to see you there!