Finding and Creating Real and Meaningful Context

I was taught the importance of contextualized learning as a graduate student at UNC Chapel Hill. My professors felt that in traditional language classes there was too much focus on grammar and lexical structures. Teachers designed worksheets which had great examples of the structures being studied, but the sentences lacked meaning because they were not connected thematically.  These days, teaching language in context is more of a mainstream idea and most textbooks have paragraphs that provide students "real-life situations", but I feel that we can still do more.  Language teachers need to create contexts that are real and meaningful.  We can't just give students a prompt and expect that them to talk- we have to give them a reason to communicate.  It is a complex process since there is a diverse group of students, who are pursuing different majors, but it is not impossible. 

One of the easiest ways of creating meaningful context is using current issues, but it also means that course content will have to be revised frequently. I often use materials from BBCmundo http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/, el país (from Spain) http://elpais.com/, CNNespañol http://cnnespanol.cnn.com/ and Univision http://www.univision.com/ for U.S. and Latin American news. I choose stories which encourage students to express their opinions, practice new vocabulary and contain the grammar/structures we study. Of course, very often the news changes while I am teaching it.  In fact, a few weeks ago in class we were talking about Hugo Chavez’s illness in class and when we finished my student looked at her phone and said, “He’s dead”.  Beginners are sometimes slightly intimidated the first few times they encounter real life materials, but with guidance and practice they can understand them and they have the satisfaction that they are learning “real” Spanish.   When I finish my lessons I often have students tell me that discussed the same topic in their public policy, economics, or anthropology class and I have come to understand how much this interdisciplinary model increases learning.   

Of all the models we have seen the MOST method seems the most applicable to foreign language teaching, since it focuses on ¨natural learning¨. We try to mimic the ways in which students learn their first language in the classroom.   The description of the method reminded me of the basis for one of the most successful Spanish textbooks, which was called Destinos.  It was based on a series of videos and stories about people travelling in different Spanish-speaking countries and gave the student the feeling that they were watching a telenovela. The creators of the MOST methods would recognize its basic principles of promoting literacy and the text which was used in high schools across the U.S.    

Goal-based learning, the Star Legacy method, and Anchored Instruction also deserve a prominent place in the foreign language classroom, especially in the higher levels where students have enough communication skills to solve the problem in the target language.   These scenarios, which give the students a “mission”, “goal” or “challenge”, emphasize the idea that meaningful context improves retention and lets the student use their knowledge and practice their skills. 

Of course, none of these methods will be effective if are context is false or too complicated for the level we are teaching.  I realized this in a recent conversation with a friend whose daughter is in fifth grade.  He child was given a party scenario in order to practice fractions.  She was in charge of making a party mix which called for four fifths of cup of marshmallows and three twelfths of a cup of M&M’s. In the article written by Schank, Berman and MacPherson, they note that in goal-bases scenarios the mission “must be somewhat realistic” (163). Since no one measures or buys M&M’s or marshmallows in those amounts, the assignment lacked the realism necessary in to make it meaningful.  It was also lengthy and the steps were not described in a way that a fifth-grader could easily understand.

                Next semester, I will be teaching my service-learning course. The benefits of service-Learning for the students and the professor are numerous and the service activity provides a ready-made context for students.  My students will volunteer in ESL classes in Durham-public schools and in a student-run organization which helps English learners improve their skills.   We will discuss how race, gender and language issues form one’s identity and they will meet Latino/as in the community who are experiencing difficulties as they navigate these issues in North Carolina.  Duke supports Sakai as our learning environment and I will use it to organize course readings, blog entries, and discussion boards.  For next semester, I have applied for a grant to get Ipads for the students and hope to use livebinder http://www.livebinders.com/   so each of them can create a portfolio.