Correction of Errors

Errors are a natural, inevitable, and useful part of language learning. A general climate of friendship and encouragement in the classroom will help the students accept corrections not as a personal criticism, but as means to improving the accuracy of communication. In uncontrolled activities students have a choice of what they will say. Therefore, it is necessary only to correct those errors that hinder comprehension. The aim of these activities is to develop fluency and the ability to cope with real language. It is less important in those situations to be grammatically perfect than to try to get the meaning across.

In general, the more controlled the exercise, the more detailed the correction should be. If new vocabulary is being introduced, the pronunciation is important and should be corrected. If a verb form is being practised, the correct endings must be provided.

Corrections should be offered in a positive manner, by suggesting the correct form without such negative comments as, "No, not that way." "No, you're wrong." Students must understand that errors are a normal part of second language learning. Language use involves learning by trial and error with the help and guidance of the teacher. How the teacher reacts to errors will influence whether the students learn from them and are encouraged to keep experimenting, or whether they become discouraged, negative and afraid to try. It is important to provide many opportunities to hear and repeat the linguistic elements in songs, games, activities and stories. All efforts put forth by the student should be encouraged and positively reinforced in order to develop self-confidence.

Use of English

English can be used to establish classroom management, especially in the first few days. It will also be used whenever accurate communication is urgent and necessary. English will be used by the students, but the more the teacher speaks in French, the more the students will attempt to communicate in French. English will be used as necessary when it is not possible to demonstrate with objects, visuals, gestures, drawings or previously learned materials. With practice, however, French can soon be used to greet people, to attract the teacher's attention, to offer or request assistance, to thank someone, and to conduct most regular classroom business. The basic principle is that English should be used as little as possible because it deprives students of contact time with the second language.

Songs and Rhymes

Songs and rhymes are an integral part of language learning as are comptines which are counting-out rhymes. They can help the students to acquire the natural rhythmic flow of the language. They can aid the memory and reinforce learning by repetition. They provide a pleasant alternative to more formal activities as well as being an important source of culture, history and poetry. The following tips may serve as guidelines for choosing songs and rhymes, and give some ideas for their use in the classroom.

Choosing Songs and Rhymes

Begin with simple melodies and rhythms. It is easier to present a song if the students are already familiar with the melody. Choose songs or rhymes which can be accompanied by gestures and movements. Try to find songs which feature particular sounds of the language that pose problems for the students or that have lots of repetition. Find songs which can be personalized by inserting the child's name or some personal information. Choose songs and music which reflect the likes and dislikes of the students. Choose songs that would be known and sung by children of the same age in the French culture.

Teaching Songs and Rhymes

Sing or play a record or cassette of the whole song. Use visual cues to help the students understand the words. Recite the words with the same rhythm as the song, one sentence at a time and have the students repeat. Always follow the same pattern:

line 1
line 1 and 2
line 1, 2 and 3 etc.

Finally sing the whole song with the students. If it is very long, it should be divided into sections and each part mastered before going on to the next. Tap the beat lightly to keep the students singing in unison. You need not present all the gestures at once. They can be introduced gradually.

Follow-up to the song is important. The students may be asked to perform the song at an assembly, a concert, or another event, or use it as a starting point for a discussion on another topic such as culture, food, history or geography.

Other useful ideas could be to:

Ÿ	Have the students draw pictures describing or illustrating the song.
Ÿ	Mime or act out the words.
Ÿ	Present photos of the singer and /or the song writer if possible.
Ÿ	Have the students learn the names of some musical instruments, especially any that are particular to the culture, and then try to identify them while listening to recordings. This could provide teachers with an excellent opportunity to integrate the Music strand of Arts Education.

Writing Songs and Rhymes

If you cannot find a song to practise a particular structure or vocabulary, you may be able to write one. Choose a melody which is already known to the students and try to fit words to it. Try to keep the natural patterns of stress and intonation of the language as you fit the words to the music. If the first melody you try does not work, use another one.

Examples of activities students may enjoy could be:

Games

Games are a constant means of practice and reinforcement of the target language. They are important for motivation and for relaxation and enjoyment.

Games may also be used to assess the progress of the students if the linguistic requirements of the game correspond to the learning objectives.

Use of Puppets

Most beginning Core French resource materials at the elementary level supply a puppet for classroom use. This puppet, or one of the teacher's own invention, can be very useful in presenting, using, and reinforcing the language elements of the Core French program. Students are much less inhibited when talking with a puppet, and their motivation is enhanced. With themes like clothing, colours, health, parts of the body etc., the puppet can be easily involved in the presentation or re-use of vocabulary. Teachers are reminded to keep the age and maturity level of their students in mind when making the decision of whether or not to use a puppet.

Stories, Tales and Legends

Folk tales and legends form part of the cultural heritage of every linguistic group. As such they will be an important part of any class which aims at teaching culture as well as language. They are especially useful for students because of their imaginative content and liberal use of fantasy.

Making up stories:

In addition to the traditional stories and tales, you will certainly want to use made-up stories of all kinds, especially for young children. You can base these stories on ones available in English or use stories written for children in French. You may have to adapt the language to suit the ability of the students, especially in the case of older students who are beginners in the language.

Choosing materials:

Whenever possible, use visual cues to illustrate the stories that are chosen. It is often easier to find visual cues and then to make up a story to go with them. As with all materials, try to see that the cues and the subject matter are appropriate for the age of the students.

Activities:

As with songs and films, there are many activities that can be done in the classroom to reinforce and practise the vocabulary and structures presented in stories. Have the students draw pictures to illustrate the story, especially if illustrations for the story are unavailable. Keep the best drawings (with the permission of the students) and use them when telling the story on other occasions.

Teaching the Skills

"Of all the time spent in communicative activities, adults devote 45% of their energies to listening, 30% to speaking, 16% to reading, and 9% to writing". (Wilga Rivers, A Practical Guide to the Teaching of French.)

When learning their first language, children spend a great deal of time listening before they begin to speak. They spend many hours of listening and speaking before attempting to read or write. Reading and writing are very abstract skills, and they require a knowledge for the spoken language.

In the early stages of their second language study, students spend most of their time listening and speaking, with reading and writing serving primarily to reinforce listening and speaking skills.

The language skills are presented in logical sequence: listening, speaking, reading and writing, in that order. As indicated in the quotation above, listening and speaking are the skills most often used for communication. Skills in listening and speaking must be developed before the skills of reading and writing can be mastered. For this reason, The K-5 curriculum emphasizes oral language development.

Listening Comprehension

In K-3, listening comprehension is the cornerstone. Oral comprehension must be recognized, evaluated, and valued as an important first step in the language acquisition process.

There needs to be a period of exposure, an incubation period. As Krashen states, "the silent period may be a time during which acquirers build up a competence by active listening via input" (Krashen, S., Terell, T. 1983,). During this incubation period, children listen to sounds, rhythm and the structure of the language. "In accordance with the hypothesis, speaking ability emerges after enough competence has been developed by listening and understanding" (Ibid).

In the beginning, global comprehension is the main goal. The more French the students hear, the better their comprehension skills will become. This means that the language of communication in the classroom should be French, as much as is possible. This provides an important listening activity for the students, and they will develop their comprehension strategies as required.

Many different resources are used to help teachers to get the meaning across: visuals, concrete objects, gestures, tone of voice and many others. Listening exercises should relate to the field of experience and should be presented in context. This will help the students to predict the message.

Listening activities are presented in three steps or phases:

The first phase, pre-listening, helps students to understand the context for the activity and helps them to anticipate what information will be presented. By leading a discussion around the field of experience being dealt with, the teacher motivates their interest in the topic, defines the purpose for the listening activity and helps the students to make their predictions.

During the listening phase, the students listen to the text at least twice. The first listen allows them to verify the accuracy of the prediction made in the pre-activity phase. The second and subsequent listenings help students to derive the information they need in order to complete the experiential task.

The third phase, post-listening, helps learners to examine and evaluate the strategies they used to comprehend, and to discuss how these strategies can serve them in other situations. The students also identify what language elements they learned, as well as what general information they acquired about the topic.

Oral Production

"Speaking fluency is not taught directly, rather, speaking ability "emerges" after the acquirer has built up competence through comprehension input" (Krashen, 1983). Krashen points out that acquisition is made easier for the children if instructors restrict their talk to the "here and now", and to what is in the child's domain at the moment. To promote ultimate motivation in a second language classroom, the teacher is responsible in creating a happy, relaxed, and positive environment. The aim is to develop and maintain in the students the necessary desire and confidence for comfortable communication. In keeping with this accepting, non-threatening atmosphere, teachers are reminded that not all students will be ready for oral production at the same time. As in most other areas of education, students develop at varying intervals. Students will speak only when they are ready. Do not force a child to respond until he or she feels confident. Children who are forced to speak before being ready, may become frustrated, and this frustration could influence their whole attitude toward the language and its speakers. Children who are not ready to answer may continue to listen and absorb the sound of the target language. Very often these students who feel intimidated or maybe lack the confidence to speak on their own, may feel less inhibited in participating with the whole group or perhaps even small groups. Make sure opportunities are provided for participation in this manner as well.

By the same token, those who feel comfortable in expressing themselves in the target language are encouraged to do so. These students can act as "teacher's helpers". As leaders in the classroom they can help lower the "affective filter" (Krashen, 1983) and encourage their peers to join them in the new world of L2 (second language) learning!

In situations where the instructor and the child share the same L1 (first language), the child may respond using that L1. The instructor can reinforce the correctness of the response by providing the right word(s) in the L2. As confidence builds, the learner will eventually begin to use words in the L2; perhaps a mixture of the L1 and the L2 which eventually will lead to responses which are completely in the L2. The student's passive vocabulary is always going to be greater than the active vocabulary. It is important to remember then that what the student may be able to say may be much less (active vocabulary) than what he/she understands (passive vocabulary). It is important to remember that students learn to speak by speaking and they need the opportunity to express themselves freely in real life situations, whenever possible.

Pronunciation

It is perhaps important to note that as teachers we should be more concerned that we provide a good model for our students rather than attempting to achieve native-like pronunciation from them. It is of greater importance for our students to be able to communicate and be understood by speakers of the L2 than to have to strive to sound exactly like them. Pronunciation improves with experience. Tapes provided with commercial programs should be used to ensure that students hear a good model.

Reading and Writing

Reading is an important skill in second language study. It can expand cultural awareness, broaden comprehension of the language, give a feel for correct French structures and eventually improve the student's written production in the language. It is also an important reinforcement for visual and concrete learners.

In communicative/experiential teaching, reading provides an important source of input during the main activity phase, enabling the students to better complete the experiential goal. Writing activities follow when reading skills are acquired. They begin with direct and controlled activities and gradually become more creative.

However, because of the need to begin with the listening and speaking skills, reading and writing cannot be emphasized in a 20 minute per day program at the K-3 level. Students in Grade 2 or 3 may learn to read some words which they have seen and can use orally, but there should be no formal attempt to teach reading and writing at the K-3 level. Students should be able to correctly understand and say a word in French before they see it in print. If teachers supply the written words too soon, they run the risk of students using the word attack skills of their first language on the French words. When we speak of reading and writing at this level, perhaps it would be more accurate to refer to it as reading and writing readiness. Writing activities at this level are basically transcription activities. Writing, as reading, should not be a part of the second language program before the third grade. However, if students show an interest in trying to read what is around them or if they want to write some words they are familiar with orally, they should not be discouraged.

In Grades 4 and 5, reading and writing provide a new and interesting component in their study of French. However, teachers are urged to keep in mind that listening comprehension and oral production are still first and foremost in learning a new language. Without a solid oral foundation, reading and writing will not be as successful as they could be.

Some students may benefit from additional stimulation, in an informal way. Some ways of enhancing stimulation to read could be:

The Curriculum Guide provides an experiential teaching unit for the beginning of Grade 4 which provides teachers with suggestions for creating a French environment and for using French as the language of communication in the classroom.

A good resource for the teaching of the language skills in a multidimensional curriculum is provided in the modules which make up the series,