NYT Connections - Why Establishing Meaning is Important

As part of my daily morning routine, I do Wordle, Connections, and the Mini Crossword Puzzle on the NYT Games app. For me, it is a great way to start my day and helps me keep my mind honed rapier sharp. I would say that I am probably 90%-95% successful every day in completing each game. However, I was not very happy with yesterday's Connections! 

Connections is a game where there are 16 random words, and the goal is to create 4 groups of words, with each group of words having something in common. Also, each of the 4 groups differ in difficulty of commonality. Because it was April Fools Day yesterday, Connections had a different look to it - it used emojis.

While I do enjoy a challenge, I found myself getting frustrated, because I had difficulties interpreting the pictures: was the bread emoji communicating bread, loaf, or slice? Was the emoji of a brain expressing brain or mind? Was the sheep emoji signifying sheep, lamb, or ewe? In other words, WAY too much ambiguity for the meaning which each of the emojis was conveying! If you play Connections, you know how important it is to know the meaning of the words provided in the game! Because there were too many possibilities of meaning with the emojis, I ended up giving up after awhile.

In the same way, it is VITAL that we establish meaning of unknown L2 words to students. When the brain encounters unknown L2, immediately it will attempt to create meaning of some kind in L1; that L2 language for which the brain cannot create meaning, it will discard. While some students are meta and tenacious enough to keep at it in determining meaning of unknown L2, most students are not. Like me with trying to decode meaning of the emojis and experiencing frustration, that is how most students will react with unknown L2. The easiest way to establish meaning is by simply providing the target L2 word and its L1 meaning, referring back to it when needed, and moving on.

For the record, today's Connections was back to using words, and although it did require some thought, I formed all four groups!

Characteristics of Novice Level Readings

(This blog post is a continuation of a series on literacy in the language classroom)

As I began to research literacy, its effects on language learners, and how we as language teachers can support the continued development of L1 literacy levels in our students, I found it necessary to look at the characteristics of readings designed for novice level readers. I think that one of the biggest pitfalls for us language teachers is that we assume that since our students can "read" at X level in their L1, then that literacy level should automatically transfer to reading in their L2 (e.g., since my students can read at the 8th grade level in L1, they should easily be able to read at the 8th grade level in L2). However, it is much more complicated than that - we must remember that for our novice L2 students, they are babies/toddlers when it comes to their L2 knowledge. This is not wrong at all - it is reality!  

When we dive into L2 readings with our students which are way above their L2 literacy levels, then we are setting them up for failure. Reading becomes a "survival of the fittest" activity, and as Margarita Perez Garcia noted in her video on my previous blog post, reading can then create a huge divide in our classrooms of those "who can" and those "who cannot." The culpability then lies on us, because we have not chosen readings which are level-appropriate based on our students' L2 literacy (I am talking to you, textbook publishers!).

So what are characteristics of readings for novice-level L2 readers (traditionally levels 1 and 2 as defined by ACTFL proficiency standards)? Although much of the information which I found relates to novice-level L1 reading proficiency, the same can apply to our L2 students:

• Short, simple sentences, which increase in length and structures with a growth in L2 literacy
• Predictable sentence and grammatical patterns 
• Repetitive patterns of word chunks or grammatical structures
• Repetition of limited, focused vocabulary, with amount of vocabulary increasing as L2 literacy develops
• Cannot rely solely on student decoding and translating words/sentences for understanding 
• Familiar concepts
• Compelling subject matter
• Limited text per page, which increases with a development in literacy
• Large font
• Illustrations which can serve as additional input for text

In her video, Margarita Perez Garcia also references a reading grading scale produced by the Extensive Reading Foundation speciciallty for novellas and graded readers. This grading scale rates them based on individual unique/headword counts and categorizes those novellas/graded readers according to proficiency level. I had never heard of the Extensive Reading Foundation prior to Margarita's presentation, but wow, what a great resource!

I have specifically drawn attention to the Beginner/Elementary/Intermediate levels - look at the unique/headword count for Intermediate novellas/graded readers - 801-1500 words! This grading scale is EYE-OPENING to me! I have never before seen something like this which outlines and aligns unique/headword count with reading proficiency levels - this makes so much sense to me! So if you are currently incorporating novellas into your curriculum, consider using this grading scale to see where they line up and if they are considered level-appropriate.

Next post: Experiencing L3 Literacy Myself - My Reading Experiment 

Reading/Literacy - Voces Digital Spring Conference

Last week was the Voces Digital online Spring Conference, and there were many great presentations delivered. One session in particular which I attended touched on many points about which I had written in my last blog post regarding literacy in the world language classroom -  the presentation was "Teach Reading? Try This!" by Margarita Perez Garcia, who has written multiple novellas in Spanish (see video below).

Although much of what Margarita presents surrounds low-prep pre-reading and post-reading activities which teachers can implement in their classrooms, she begins by addressing the need for level-appropriate readers, especially elementary/basic readings. In the video, around the 3:21 mark, Margarita discusses that reading unfamiliar and unseen texts can be very hard for students, especially those with lower reading skills. Most importantly, reading can serve as a great divide in a classroom between those with stronger reading/faster processing skills and those who are slower processors/struggle with reading (I had never ever considered this before as an equity issue!). Margarita's focus in the presentation then addresses how we teachers can help students improve their L2 reading skills.

Take some time to watch the entire video (she has a lot of good ideas!), and consider getting some of her Spanish novellas!

Literacy & the Language Classroom

(This will be the first in a series)

I think that I can honestly say on behalf of all language teachers that the pandemic and the year of hybrid teaching definitely affected the literacy levels of our current students. I would not go so far to say that as a result we are in the midst of a literacy crisis per se (that remains to be seen in future years), but I can say with conviction that current student reading and writing abilities are not where they were pre-Covid. For so many students, losing a year of in-person schooling delayed their literacy development. NOTE - I am also not going to oversimplify in saying that Covid is the sole cause for this. 

Although there is huge debate regarding the definition of "literacy" in general, research has shown that there is a definite correlation between students' reading/writing levels in L2 and their pre-existing levels in their L1 - the higher these L1 levels which students bring into their L2 classes, the higher their levels will eventually be in L2, with the converse being true as well. As I began to research student literacy in general (and I will admit that I knew very little), I learned a few things:

1. Traditionally in American schools, grades pre-k to 3rd/4th are when the actual teaching of reading skills and fundamentals are targeted.
2. Following this, student classroom literacy skills are continually developed through the reading of level-appropriate content material in various academic subject areas.

Based on this model then: our post-4th grade L2 classrooms should be another avenue for students to develop, to reinforce, and to further their literacy skills through the reading of level-appropriate L2 content material. So a few questions then:

1. Why is reading so important in literacy and language development? I think Krashen says it best: 
• "Reading, especially free voluntary reading, is crucial for developing high levels of literacy and academic success, with research supporting its benefits, including improved comprehension and vocabulary, and it is easier for both students and teachers compared to traditional skill-building methods." - Krashen
• “Our reading ability, our ability to write in an acceptable writing style, our spelling ability, vocabulary knowledge, and our ability to handle complex syntax is the result of reading.”
• "You want to get better at a language? Listen and read, listen and read."
2. What effect does reading in L2 have on one's reading ability in L1? The answer is A LOT! A 2016 study was done involving Turkish students who were involved in an L2 reading course and were given an L1 reading test afterwards. These students' L1 reading skills were positively affected by their reading in L2, as they scored higher than those students who took the same test but were not involved in that L2 reading course. So, reading in L2 does have a positive effect on students reading ability in L1!
3. Why the need then for level-appropriate L2 content material? While reading in L2 plays a major role in both students' L2 language acqusition and in their continued reading ability development in L1, we as teachers must be very deliberate in ensuring that what our students read in L2 is level appropriate for their literacy levels in L2 (and not in L1!). We need to understand that while our students may be entering our L2 classrooms with an 8th grade or higher reading level in their L1, they are still novices when it comes to understanding what they are reading in L2.

I am not going to be so idealistic to think that reading in L2 will magically restore student L1 literacy levels to to where they were pre-Covid, but I will say that reading level-appropriate L2 material will definitely benefit and have a positive effect in students' L2 language acquisition and continued L1 literacy development.

Next blog post: Characteristics of Novice-level Readings

Voces Digital Spring Conference 2024

I want to encourage you to register for Voces Digital virtual Spring Conference, which will be next week March 5-7, 2024. It will be held via Zoom and will run 5:15pm ET to around 7:00pm ET each evening, with a variety of sessions and speakers (many over whom I still fanboy!) each evening and is dedicated to "deepen(ing) your understanding of Comprehensible Input and Acquisition-Driven Instruction, learn(ing) new techniques and tools, and be(ing) inspired to engage your students in new ways." Best part - it is FREE!

I attended Voces Digital Spring Conference last year, but since I really did not know much about it, I did not have much in terms of expectations. I will definitely say that I got SO much from it, and I loved the fact that it was online so I could attend from my kitchen table! Here is my write up about last year's conference. 

This is the time of the year where we all need our CI/ADI cups refilled. All of us teachers and students are dragging along trying to get through - the name of the game right now is survival! Last year, after attending the Voces Digital Spring Conference I walked away with a renewed spirit which got me through Spring Break. Plus, so many of the presenters at that virtual conference were also at last summer's Voces Digital CI Summit, so it was a great preview!

Here is the link to information and registration for the Voces Digital Spring Conference - I hope that you will be joining me online!

Monsterbox - Movie Talk

While cleaning out my Google Docs files, I came across this Movie Talk which I had done YEARS ago and had completely forgotten about - I had facilitated this Movie Talk pre-Covid, and my sense of time and memories of that time are very fuzzy! The animated short is called Monsterbox and in looking over the script, I see that I was focusing on some very specific target words: craftsman, makes (various forms of the word), house, big, small, medium-sized (and it also looks like I was using future infinitives in indirect statements as part of prediction questions).

Latin script

English script

Observations

1. Like most animated shorts, there is a ton of repeated action which allows for continued exposure to the language. In this animated short, I like that with each repeated action, there is a slight difference. This allows for the repetition of language but also for the introduction of a new target word in that repeated context.
2. Honestly, I have little memory of doing this Movie Talk (blame the Covid years), but apparently, I centered a whole week's lesson plans around it lol. However, now that I have discovered this, I think that I will use it again.

Guided Written Translation

When it comes to our language classrooms, we tend to rush into the 90% target language usage "rule" (and I use that word "rule" loosely, because no one seems to be able to find anything official which states that it must be 90% or why 90% was even picked as the number). As a result, we think that L1 has no place in our language classrooms. I wholeheartedly disagree with this, because L1 translation does play a part in the language acquisition process:

1. Translation into L1 is a necessary part of the language acquisition process. When the brain is confronted with new L2, it will do everything it can to make some type of meaning into L1. That L2 which the brain understands, it latches onto and adds/creates to its existing mental representation of that L2. That L2 which the brain cannot understand, it throws out.
2. Translation into L1 in and of itself is not wrong, because it establishes meaning for learners. However, translation is at the lowest level of Bloom's taxonomy, so where the issue is when we stay there in L1, only focus on L1, and do not progress towards the eventual understanding and creation of new meaning in L2.

Choral reading/translation is one way to establish meaning into L1. Another way to help establish meaning is through a guided written translation. Students will receive a two-column worksheet with L2 in the first column, and their task is to translate it into L1 in the other column by filling in the blank with the correct meaning. I learned this from a Cambridge Latin Course workshop years ago, and I have found that this is a good tool to aid in translating an inflected language like Latin where the word order does not resemble English.

Example:

Observations

1. This can be done either on a Word document or a spreadsheet. It does involve creating tables or cells, so use the web app resource with which you are most familiar.
2. I would scaffold this very early in a unit lesson (possibly after a choral reading), since this focuses on establishing meaning into L1, i.e., by no means is this a culminating activity.
3. I like that this allows for the establishing of meaning in a different modality (writing), thus reinforcing the L1 meaning in a different way.
4. I do not do this too often, but when I do, it is to focus on meaning of words and not necessarily grammar per se, although I suppose it could be adapted to a specific focus on correct translation of tenses.