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Teaching Foreign Languages K-12: A Library of Classroom Practices
View & Analyze the Video
As you reflect on these questions, write down your responses or discuss them as a group.
Before You Watch
Respond to the following questions:
- How can clearly defining your objectives in the form of Can-Do Statements help you plan before a lesson and during the lesson itself?
- What will help students focus on what is most important in the day’s lesson? How can you design group work to promote interpersonal communication?
- What makes technology central to instruction rather than supplemental?
Watch the Video
As you watch “Making Plans,” take notes on Mr. Joundeya’s instructional strategies, particularly how he varies group work to create new dynamics and to extend the task. Write down what you find interesting, surprising, or especially important about the teaching and learning in this lesson. Note what helps or supports student learning. How is each activity related to Mr. Joundeya’s objectives for the day?
Reflect on the Video
Review your notes, and then respond to the following questions:
- How does Mr. Joundeya sequence activities to extend the central task and provide different kinds of opportunities for practice? Specifically, what activities does Mr. Joundeya use to consciously move from teacher-controlled activities, to some teacher-directed guided practice, and eventually to learners’ independent practice?
- What does Mr. Joundeya do to create a positive, supportive environment and reduce student anxiety?
- What does Mr. Joundeya do to ensure that the tasks are authentic and reflect real-world activities?
- In what specific ways does Mr. Joundeya make his class “learner-centered”?
Take a Second Look
Watch the video again, but this time, focus on the following teaching practices: gradual release of responsibility and use of dialects.
Practice: Gradual Release of Responsibility
Mr. Joundeya models the gradual release of responsibility throughout the video.
- How does the teacher scaffold learning so the instruction moves from guided practice to independent practice?
- What activities did he do to ensure that students had sufficient practice to complete the communication tasks independently?
Practice: Use of Dialects
Students use cAammiyya, “Colloquial Arabic,” when discussing informal plans in the video, and Mr. Joundeya uses it when discussing everyday activities.
- How does Mr. Joundeya use both FuSHaa, “Standard Arabic,” and cAammiyya in his classroom?
- How does Mr. Joundeya support students’ understanding of these dialectical differences? How does adding these colloquial elements bring authenticity to the tasks themselves?
