April 10, 2025 • 25 mins
Language teachers everywhere face the same challenge: how do we create units that actually lead to acquisition instead of just memorization? The answer lies in understanding how our brains naturally process and store language.
In this eye-opening episode, I break down the six-phase structure that every successful proficiency-based unit must follow. Starting with context-rich input (the "glue" that makes language stick in students' brains), we explore how declarative versus procedural knowledge explains why students can sometimes recite grammar rules perfectly but freeze during conversations.
You'll discover why rushing through the comprehension phase is a critical mistake that prevents true acquisition, and why many teachers unwittingly sabotage their students' progress by skipping essential steps in the acquisition process. I share practical, classroom-tested strategies for each phase - from input introduction through comprehension, gradual output release, authentic contexts, presentational practice, and finally to meaningful interpersonal communication.
Using comparisons as our example structure, I demonstrate how to adapt this framework for both brand-new concepts and reviewing previously introduced language. You'll learn how to determine appropriate timing for each phase based on your specific teaching context and student needs, rather than arbitrary pacing guides.
Whether you're teaching novice learners or advanced students, this structural framework provides the scaffold your proficiency-oriented units need. Stop wondering why your students struggle to use language they've "learned" and start designing units that follow the brain's natural pathways to language acquisition.
Have you tried structuring your units this way? Share your experiences in the comments or on social media using #PracticalProficiency. And if this episode helped you, please leave a review to help other teachers discover these strategies!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's up, keloke Et salut world language teachers.
Welcome to the PracticalProficiency Podcast, where we
make the transition toproficiency-oriented instruction
in your world language class ina way that works for you, your
unique context and teachingstyle, and doesn't sacrifice
(00:22):
your well-being along the way.
I'm your host, devin Gunning,the teacher author, conference
host, curriculum creator andconsultant behind La Libre
Language Learning.
This podcast is for thecreative world language teacher
like you who's ready to ditchthe overwhelming pressure of
switching to acquisition-driveninstruction and CI overnight.
(00:43):
You're ready to discover howusing more target language in
class can actually bring you andyour students more joy instead
of adding to your plate Withpractical, authentic and
down-to-earth strategies thatdon't require reinventing the
wheel or more training, we'llwork together towards the magic
(01:03):
of a community-based,target-language-rich classroom,
rooted in the power of communityand comprehensible input.
Let's go, hey.
Foreign language teachers, I betthat you have either wondered
or have been asked before.
(01:25):
So what does an actualproficiency-based unit look like
when you're thinking about howto plan for teaching a new
concept or introducing a newlinguistic chunk?
It's not really clear, becauseit's not something we talk about
often.
What should the pacing looklike?
(01:46):
Because, although there's tonsof ideas out there about a
specific model of like.
Let's do this first, thensecond, then middle, then last,
(02:11):
and I want to present to you theidea that world language can
actually be the same way whenyou're teaching for acquisition.
There's actually a structurethat every successful and
acquisition-based unit takes astudent through that follows
their brain's natural pathwaysto acquiring language, and then
(02:32):
language that sticks in theirheads.
That then, at the end of thatunit, they'll be able to either
work with, interpret stronger,depending on their proficiency
level or even produce, which isthe main goal of what we're
trying to get to.
So, without further ado, let'stalk about it.
Like, what is the structure ofevery good proficiency based new
(02:57):
topic, introduction or unit?
Let's get into it.
So first I will tell you thatthe idea for this came from an
office hours meeting with one ofmy practical proficiency
network members.
This person emailed me and saidhey, I'm excited to meet with
you on Friday, but I just haveno idea where to start when it
comes to, like, planning a unitbased on CI techniques.
(03:17):
Like, what are they supposed tolook like?
So that's where we're goingtoday and this is exactly what I
said to her, and I'm reallyexcited for you to jump in on
this knowledge too.
So for a unit it really doesn'tmatter.
We're just using the word unitto talk about, like any chunk or
topic that you need to get intowith your students.
You're looking for in here manydifferent ways to possibly
(03:41):
present this information andthen eventually ask students to
work with it, but every goodunit has the same structure.
Here's what it looks like.
First of all, it follows agradual release model.
So we are, if you're, if youhave a teaching background and a
teaching degree not everybodyin world language does, but if
you're going through this withthe, with the PACE program or
you might remember this fromyour university days that it's a
(04:04):
gradual release model.
We gradually releaseresponsibility of the input to
students.
So it starts off with themajority of teacher input and
teacher provided input.
So this is the first phase.
I call it phase one, the inputphase, and of course input is
going to drive the train theentire time.
(04:24):
But we're going to slowlyintroduce new things and new
skills based off of the input.
So let me give you an examplehere.
In the intro input phase, whatyou're looking for is a context
rich way to introduce yourstudents to this new functional
(04:46):
chunk.
So for the purpose of this, I'mgoing to talk about how to do
comparisons.
So let's say, comparisons isyour focus for the next three or
four weeks in your classroomand you're like, how do I do
this in a comprehensible, inputfocused way that will drive them
towards acquisition?
Comprehensible, input-focusedway that will drive them towards
(05:08):
acquisition?
So your context-drivenintroduction can be so many
different things.
That's why you see such avariation of how this works in
different classrooms withdifferent styles.
Literally, the world is open toyou for things that you could do
.
The only thing that is yourguiding light is that is this a
context-rich light?
(05:28):
Is that, is this a context rich, input based experience for
your students?
So what that looks like is youcould be having a simple
conversation with your studentsand you know we say conversation
loosely because you're justgoing to be asking them whether
they understand you or not atthis space.
It could also be a story orstory based teaching, or it
could be like doing a TPRS andpresenting theater style, or it
could be so many other ways thatyou do this.
(05:49):
Maybe you started with a videoor a slideshow presentation from
your chosen curriculum ortextbook, but it doesn't really
matter, as long as it'sinteresting to your students,
and it is completely input-based.
And you're checking forcomprehension constantly, but
you're not asking for any inputyet.
So, with comparisons, you'reshowing students tons of
(06:11):
examples of this, ideally withyou presenting all of those
examples, either saying them orsigning them.
Now you're going to be lookingat comprehension to be your
phase two, then we're going tobe looking at the phase three,
which is gradual release tooutput, and then the next stage
will be full release to outputand then we will finally be
(06:32):
getting into interpersonal work.
So let's back up for a secondand see where a lot of people
make this common mistake ofjumping too quickly between
stages or sometimes evenskipping them, of jumping too
quickly between stages orsometimes even skipping them.
So, with the input phase, mostworld language teachers are
accustomed to this style andthey do this every time.
But a huge mistake that comes upoften is well, it's not a huge
(06:56):
mistake, but it's a very commonmistake is that there's no
context in how they present thisnew language.
So they might be presentingcomparisons to students and you
know, maybe, if you're workingwith legacy methods right now
and you're doing that wholepresentational and then practice
model, which is where you'regoing to show students first.
This is how you do comparisonsin this language.
(07:17):
This is how you say more thanless, than better, than worse
than this is how you do that inthis language.
Now I want you guys to try thatrule and practice it on some
sort of fun practice mode, like,yeah, that's a very common way
to do things in world language.
We're trying to move away fromthat because what we found
through, you know, decades ofresearch, is that without the
(07:39):
context, it will get lost,because it will get programmed
into a different part of yourstudents' brains than what you
actually want them to, so theymight be able to produce that
rule for you later on.
If you talk a lot about how toform comparisons, they're smart,
they'll be able to explain backto you oh yeah, this is how you
form comparisons.
And then when you put them in aconversational setting and you
(08:03):
ask them to compare and contrastthings in their own life,
they're going to be like, oh,because it wasn't actually stuck
to that part of their brain.
You need to stick thisinformation to the communicative
part of their linguistic brain,which means you need the
context.
In this scenario, think ofcontext as the glue that holds
(08:25):
the language in your students'heads.
Without the context, it's goingto go into the wrong part of
their brain.
What I'm talking about right nowif you want the fancy term is
declarative versus proceduralknowledge.
So what we're going for withacquisition and one of the
reasons that makes it kind oftricky and fuzzy is that
acquisition is a subconsciousprocess.
It is not something that yourstudents are actively trying to
(08:47):
do.
So, if you're, which is why itfools a lot of teachers into
thinking that, like, my studentsgot this, because if you give
them some sort of test that says, hey, how do you form
comparisons in French, they'llbe able to tell you the rule.
If they paid attention, likethey'll be able to regurgitate
what you told them.
But then, of course, as wetalked about, when you put them
(09:09):
in the situation where they haveto use comparisons, it's not
actually the same thing beingable to describe how to form
comparisons and actually formingcomparisons.
It's not.
So we're trying to work withthe natural subconscious
processes here.
So that's why context is soimportant.
At the end of the day, contextis the glue that keeps the
language in your students' heads.
(09:39):
Now next, to make sure that thatglue sticks and gets really
solid and strong and doesn'tremain malleable.
We're going to go to thecomprehension phase.
This is phase two of anysuccessful proficiency oriented
new introduction or unit.
So let's go with the comparisonexample here.
With the comparison example forthe comprehension phase, what
you're asking students to do iswork more in depth with
comparisons without producinganything.
So you're asking them to dothings like hey, what does this
(10:02):
sentence mean?
What is this person saying?
Do you understand what I'msaying?
Can you answer this question?
Can you tell me which one isbigger or smaller?
Or things like that withcomparisons.
Again, there's so manydifferent ways that you can do
this, so many differentproficiency oriented activities
that would work well.
But at the end of the day,you're asking students to work
(10:23):
with the input, organize theinput, sort the input into
categories, because again, thatreally helps to solidify that
glue.
And you're also going to beasking for some simple responses
with familiar phrases fromprevious, things that they
already know how to do.
So if you're working withnovice mids, they might not have
(10:45):
a lot of things to say to youyet, but they would be able to
answer for you things like ifyou have already done a school
supply unit, for example, thenthey'll be able to tell you the
markers better than the crayonor something like that Not that
whole phrase, but they'll beable to say, like, if you ask
them which one's better markeror crayon they'll be able to
(11:05):
tell you you know marker.
So that's what you're lookingfor.
Is you're looking for usingpreviously acquired skills and
words to then talk about thesenewer acquired skills and words
that they're working with withyou?
This is also something thatpeople often skip is this
comprehension phase.
(11:26):
They do this for like 10minutes after the first input
and then they just move on tolike okay, let's start doing
production now.
Like, let's start working withwriting sentences.
And I would encourage you tohold the breaks and let your
students have a full period ofinstruction, depending on how
new this concept is Like.
If your students have a fullperiod of instruction depending
on how new this concept is Likeif your students have never seen
(11:49):
comparisons before, you shouldallow them a full class period
or more.
If you have really short classperiods, like 45 minutes or less
, just straight up working withthe input before you ask them to
produce things.
Now, I'm not talking about likeif they're giving you a simple,
like one or two word answer withstuff they already know.
Fine, totally fine, of course.
(12:09):
But in the ideal world what I'mtalking about is, before you
ask them to write sentencesabout comparisons and form
comparisons on their own, it's agood idea to give them a nice
day or two of teaching for allthat glue to harden and solidify
, before you start asking theglue to hold more things in
there.
So we're going real hard onthis glue metaphor.
(12:33):
I hope you're into it, I'm intoit.
So the next thing that we'regoing to work on after you've
had some time with thecomprehension phase and of
course, there's tons ofactivities that make this really
easy it's all the stuff that'sin your normal teacher toolkit.
I'm talking like CFUs checkingfor comprehension questions,
things where you ask them tosort stuff, t-charts galore,
(12:54):
doing things like Pictionary andstuff.
Anything that helps them tosolidify and demonstrate that
they understand the vocab andthe new skills.
That's golden.
Now we're going to start movinginto phase three, which is where
you're going to start doingthis gradual release to output.
Now, output can be as simple asdoing those one word answers or
(13:18):
writing those one wordresponses like C or no, things
like that, but you're startingto move into output now, and
with this output, what you'reasking students to do is to
start dabbling a little bit withthe functional chunk that
you're asking them to do, likehey, let's look at some
comparisons and see if you cancopy what some of these
(13:38):
comparisons look like.
Like once your students areready, and they'll let you know
when they're ready.
When 70% of them or so canunderstand pretty well what
you're doing, then they're readyfor some output time.
So give them some ways to givesimple responses During this
phase two.
You'll notice that there's areally good opportunity here
(13:59):
that a lot of teachers also skip.
Like usually we go right to theoutput because that's the
easiest way for us as teachersto know whether our students are
acquiring quote, unquote thelanguage that we're talking
about or not, because we want tosee it in written form right.
Like well, do you know thisvocab word?
Use it in a sentence, so I knowthat you know it, which is
(14:19):
frankly, asking a lot whenyou've only used it a certain
amount of times yet.
So be looking for that goldennumber of doing lots and lots of
repetitions.
It's different for everystudent, but I mean, the
estimations can be as high as 50, and some of them I've even
heard 100 before, but you'relooking for lots and lots of
repetitions of a structurebefore you start asking students
(14:41):
to produce it.
The next thing that, again, alot of people skip is try the
same type of input, but in a newcontext.
So this is a perfect example inthis phase three that we're
talking about here, or phasefour, actually that we're
talking about here of same input.
New context is this is theperfect time to whip out your
(15:04):
favorite authentic video forthis, or to talk about an
authentic blog post or read anauthentic story or something
like that.
Like you want to do the sameinput, but with more quality
language around it, more naturalformations of language, more
native-like uses of thislanguage.
That allows the brain to fullyput this into a rich, robust
(15:26):
context.
So now would be the time whenyour students are ready to start
working with some authentictexts with this structure in
mind and do more advanced skillswith it.
Here is also of course, you'regoing to be asking for output at
some point.
As long as your students areready for that, that's going to
depend on the proficiency levelyou're working with, but you'll
(15:47):
have a lot to work with in thisstage, and same input new
context is a dream day for you,because if you're providing
alternative sources of targetlanguage, then it's a rest for
you and it's also really greatfor your students' brains.
The next thing that we're goingto be working with is phase six,
(16:10):
which is let's go topresentational mode.
So now your students have hadplenty of time to work with this
structure.
They've seen it in a lot ofdifferent ways, they've heard it
in a lot of different ways andthey're ready to start using it.
This is when you can startgetting down and dirty with
having them use these phrases,this new language, in a
(16:32):
meaningful context.
So this is the time where youcan ask them to write responses
to things, to do more elaborateresponses, to do presentational
speaking or writing, and I wouldsay give them activities where
they have plenty of time tothink about their thoughts,
(16:52):
organize their thoughts.
Lots and lots of writing atthis stage is great for this,
but again, you don't wantwriting to take over your entire
unit, because there's so manyother ways that you can help
that acquisition really stick.
But this is a good time to doit is allow activities.
What you're looking for isactivities that allow for that
(17:13):
space for students to play withlanguage a little bit.
How can they reorganize things?
How can they put words in thecorrect order, spell them right
All that stuff that you'relooking for, without an
overemphasis on accuracy.
You're looking for students toplay with language.
Again.
Y'all already know the tricksfor this.
There's so many presentationalthings that you could do.
(17:34):
Then, the very final stage,before you give you know, like
the big kahuna assessment aboutthis new functional chunk, like
comparisons, like we've beendoing, then you're really going
to move into the interpersonalsection.
Now I always like to do theinterpersonal stuff last,
because it's actually thehardest.
(17:54):
It's definitely the most brainconsuming and energy consuming
activity that we can do in theclassroom.
It's the hardest to plan for,but it's the most valuable, it's
the most communicative.
So plan for these interpersonalopportunities in your units.
What we're looking for here inthis final, final phase is where
(18:15):
are the opportunities formeaningful expression, where
students can use these newfunctional chunks in ways to
learn more about themselves orthe world around them?
So for comparisons, that's aneasy one.
You're just going to put themin pairs with students and have
them talk with some guides,maybe even a chat mat or
something like that, wherethey're having conversations
about, like, which class isbetter, which class is worse,
(18:37):
that kind of thing who's taller,who's shorter and showing them
pictures of people and they haveto do comparisons, and things
like that respond to each other,but you're putting them in
communicative contexts that ismeaningful and works with their
own life experiences for themost part.
Leave plenty of time for thisto happen too.
(18:57):
This is something that, sinceit's at the end, so guilty of
this Since it's at the end of aunit and usually the hardest
thing to do, a lot of teacherswill only give a little bit of
time for the most importanttasks.
So leave time and space forinterpersonal tasks.
There's a whole nother podcastepisode about that as well that
you can find on here.
(19:18):
The next thing that I wanted tomention to you is the big
question, which is okay.
So you've talked about thestructure of units and this
gradual release model oflanguage.
How long should you spend on anew piece of language with
students?
How long should you spend witha functional chunk, for example,
comparisons?
And the answer, of course, iswell, it depends.
(19:42):
It depends on is this the firsttime that they're seeing this
ever.
Is this a repeated concept or isthis an elaboration of a
concept that they've alreadyseen before and they've worked
with a little bit before?
So, for example, if you'redoing adjective agreement like
if your students have alreadybeen exposed to a lot of input
(20:03):
not at the beginning of yourSpanish one but if they've
already been exposed to a lot ofinput and you're re-emphasizing
the importance of adjectiveagreement and using in a lot of
different ways then yourstudents don't need to spend as
much time on that as they might.
Something like comparisons,which is kind of a tough skill
and will really push them fromnovice high to intermediate low.
(20:24):
So they're going to need a lotof practice with it and a lot of
input and scaffolding tosupport them with it.
But let's take a look at thesame concept again.
If you're doing comparisons andyou're revisiting this in level
three or maybe level four inorder to prepare them for better
writing skills, they've alreadyseen it before.
So you can zip on through a lotof the initial phases, like the
(20:48):
input, and then as long as thecontext is still there, and then
, when you go to thecomprehension phase, you can zip
through that one too and thenget right into the gradual
release for output to just checkwhere they're at and see where
their gaps are and provide themmore input as necessary,
depending on what they canalready do.
Level three is a beast becauseyou get all different kinds of
(21:13):
level variations in there withlanguage Right.
So that's what I would sayshould guide your timing.
For an example to give you withmy Spanish twos personally, and
with my French twos as well,when we did reflexives holy
beast.
That was a long unit with a lotof input, in which I only used
(21:37):
certain subject pronouns,because y'all out there who
teach reflexives know that it isreally, really difficult for
English speakers, however, whenit was time to start talking
about like personality traitsand physical and personality
traits that's new vocabularythat they just have to work with
the idea of like.
Oh, adjectives go in a newplace in the sentence not nearly
(21:59):
as much time as reflexives.
So instead, work with the ideaof like, oh, adjectives go in a
new place in the sentence, notnearly as much time as
reflexives.
So instead of following thatmodel of like, each new concept
takes the same amount of time.
Like we know.
That looks really nice on paperand in your color-coded Excel
spreadsheet, but it's not reallanguage.
When it comes time for yourstudents to s'exprime and to
express themselves with thedifferent comparisons, they are
(22:21):
going to need more time thanthey did for your adjectives
personality unit.
So keep that in mind.
And I would say, when you arethinking about this and I've
heard other teachers ask me thisbefore and think about this,
this, and I've heard otherteachers ask me this before and
think about this, this is thequestion that I have for you is
(22:42):
well, what exactly do you needstudents to be able to do at the
end of this unit?
Because it's it's different nomatter what textbook or
curriculum guide you're using.
Any of that like the tasks aredifferent.
So you might be just preparingstudents to use comparisons with
like a few speaking questions,or maybe you're preparing them
for a full paragraph lengthdiscourse that they have to do
(23:02):
on an IPA.
Then the timing answer will bedifferent.
So ask yourself first what doyou need students to be able to
do by the end of this unit andget really specific with that
skill, and that will guide youin the timing.
So, with all that in mind, let'sthink about all of the things
that we've talked about so farwith what the structure of a
(23:23):
proficiency oriented unit lookslike.
First you have this phase oneof this context rich input
introduction.
Next you have the comprehensionphase, where you're asking
students to work with input butnot yet produce anything.
Asking students to work withinput but not yet produce
anything.
Then you're going to thegradual release to output with
like very carefully selected andscaffolded opportunities so
(23:45):
they can mess around and becreative with the language for a
little bit.
Then you're going to use thesame input in new rich contexts
hopefully authentic if you canget them and then you'll move to
a full release of output andyou're expecting larger pieces
of presentational whether it bespeaking or writing, and giving
(24:05):
them time to really put all oftheir learning together,
consolidate it and show you whatthey're able to do.
Based off of that then, and howlong it takes for students to
start showing you mastery inthose areas.
Then you're going to startworking with interpersonal
activities and do a lot ofinterpersonal activities,
because they are by far the bestthing that you can offer
(24:26):
students, even though they arepretty hard to organize.
I get you.
So that's what a good structurelooks like.
I hope that helps when you'relooking for new ideas for a unit
and when you're talking withyour department about how to
approach tough topics and thingslike that usually takes
students a long time for them toacquire.
It gives you some new ideas forhow to organize your ideas with
(24:48):
this.
So thanks so much for listening.
Be sure to give this podcast areview.
It's really good karma for youand it certainly helps to spread
the message to other folks whocould use some free pd training
to and from work.
And thank you again for being apart of this vibrant world
language community.
I'll see you in the nextepisode.
Bye for now.
What's up, keloke Et salut world language teachers.
Welcome to the PracticalProficiency Podcast, where we
make the transition toproficiency-oriented instruction
in your world language class ina way that works for you, your
unique context and teachingstyle, and doesn't sacrifice
(00:22):
your well-being along the way.
I'm your host, devin Gunning,the teacher author, conference
host, curriculum creator andconsultant behind La Libre
Language Learning.
This podcast is for thecreative world language teacher
like you who's ready to ditchthe overwhelming pressure of
switching to acquisition-driveninstruction and CI overnight.
(00:43):
You're ready to discover howusing more target language in
class can actually bring you andyour students more joy instead
of adding to your plate Withpractical, authentic and
down-to-earth strategies thatdon't require reinventing the
wheel or more training, we'llwork together towards the magic
(01:03):
of a community-based,target-language-rich classroom,
rooted in the power of communityand comprehensible input.
Let's go, hey.
Foreign language teachers, I betthat you have either wondered
or have been asked before.
(01:25):
So what does an actualproficiency-based unit look like
when you're thinking about howto plan for teaching a new
concept or introducing a newlinguistic chunk?
It's not really clear, becauseit's not something we talk about
often.
What should the pacing looklike?
(01:46):
Because, although there's tonsof ideas out there about a
specific model of like.
Let's do this first, thensecond, then middle, then last,
(02:11):
and I want to present to you theidea that world language can
actually be the same way whenyou're teaching for acquisition.
There's actually a structurethat every successful and
acquisition-based unit takes astudent through that follows
their brain's natural pathwaysto acquiring language, and then
(02:32):
language that sticks in theirheads.
That then, at the end of thatunit, they'll be able to either
work with, interpret stronger,depending on their proficiency
level or even produce, which isthe main goal of what we're
trying to get to.
So, without further ado, let'stalk about it.
Like, what is the structure ofevery good proficiency based new
(02:57):
topic, introduction or unit?
Let's get into it.
So first I will tell you thatthe idea for this came from an
office hours meeting with one ofmy practical proficiency
network members.
This person emailed me and saidhey, I'm excited to meet with
you on Friday, but I just haveno idea where to start when it
comes to, like, planning a unitbased on CI techniques.
(03:17):
Like, what are they supposed tolook like?
So that's where we're goingtoday and this is exactly what I
said to her, and I'm reallyexcited for you to jump in on
this knowledge too.
So for a unit it really doesn'tmatter.
We're just using the word unitto talk about, like any chunk or
topic that you need to get intowith your students.
You're looking for in here manydifferent ways to possibly
(03:41):
present this information andthen eventually ask students to
work with it, but every goodunit has the same structure.
Here's what it looks like.
First of all, it follows agradual release model.
So we are, if you're, if youhave a teaching background and a
teaching degree not everybodyin world language does, but if
you're going through this withthe, with the PACE program or
you might remember this fromyour university days that it's a
(04:04):
gradual release model.
We gradually releaseresponsibility of the input to
students.
So it starts off with themajority of teacher input and
teacher provided input.
So this is the first phase.
I call it phase one, the inputphase, and of course input is
going to drive the train theentire time.
(04:24):
But we're going to slowlyintroduce new things and new
skills based off of the input.
So let me give you an examplehere.
In the intro input phase, whatyou're looking for is a context
rich way to introduce yourstudents to this new functional
(04:46):
chunk.
So for the purpose of this, I'mgoing to talk about how to do
comparisons.
So let's say, comparisons isyour focus for the next three or
four weeks in your classroomand you're like, how do I do
this in a comprehensible, inputfocused way that will drive them
towards acquisition?
Comprehensible, input-focusedway that will drive them towards
(05:08):
acquisition?
So your context-drivenintroduction can be so many
different things.
That's why you see such avariation of how this works in
different classrooms withdifferent styles.
Literally, the world is open toyou for things that you could do
.
The only thing that is yourguiding light is that is this a
context-rich light?
(05:28):
Is that, is this a context rich, input based experience for
your students?
So what that looks like is youcould be having a simple
conversation with your studentsand you know we say conversation
loosely because you're justgoing to be asking them whether
they understand you or not atthis space.
It could also be a story orstory based teaching, or it
could be like doing a TPRS andpresenting theater style, or it
could be so many other ways thatyou do this.
(05:49):
Maybe you started with a videoor a slideshow presentation from
your chosen curriculum ortextbook, but it doesn't really
matter, as long as it'sinteresting to your students,
and it is completely input-based.
And you're checking forcomprehension constantly, but
you're not asking for any inputyet.
So, with comparisons, you'reshowing students tons of
(06:11):
examples of this, ideally withyou presenting all of those
examples, either saying them orsigning them.
Now you're going to be lookingat comprehension to be your
phase two, then we're going tobe looking at the phase three,
which is gradual release tooutput, and then the next stage
will be full release to outputand then we will finally be
(06:32):
getting into interpersonal work.
So let's back up for a secondand see where a lot of people
make this common mistake ofjumping too quickly between
stages or sometimes evenskipping them, of jumping too
quickly between stages orsometimes even skipping them.
So, with the input phase, mostworld language teachers are
accustomed to this style andthey do this every time.
But a huge mistake that comes upoften is well, it's not a huge
(06:56):
mistake, but it's a very commonmistake is that there's no
context in how they present thisnew language.
So they might be presentingcomparisons to students and you
know, maybe, if you're workingwith legacy methods right now
and you're doing that wholepresentational and then practice
model, which is where you'regoing to show students first.
This is how you do comparisonsin this language.
(07:17):
This is how you say more thanless, than better, than worse
than this is how you do that inthis language.
Now I want you guys to try thatrule and practice it on some
sort of fun practice mode, like,yeah, that's a very common way
to do things in world language.
We're trying to move away fromthat because what we found
through, you know, decades ofresearch, is that without the
(07:39):
context, it will get lost,because it will get programmed
into a different part of yourstudents' brains than what you
actually want them to, so theymight be able to produce that
rule for you later on.
If you talk a lot about how toform comparisons, they're smart,
they'll be able to explain backto you oh yeah, this is how you
form comparisons.
And then when you put them in aconversational setting and you
(08:03):
ask them to compare and contrastthings in their own life,
they're going to be like, oh,because it wasn't actually stuck
to that part of their brain.
You need to stick thisinformation to the communicative
part of their linguistic brain,which means you need the
context.
In this scenario, think ofcontext as the glue that holds
(08:25):
the language in your students'heads.
Without the context, it's goingto go into the wrong part of
their brain.
What I'm talking about right nowif you want the fancy term is
declarative versus proceduralknowledge.
So what we're going for withacquisition and one of the
reasons that makes it kind oftricky and fuzzy is that
acquisition is a subconsciousprocess.
It is not something that yourstudents are actively trying to
(08:47):
do.
So, if you're, which is why itfools a lot of teachers into
thinking that, like, my studentsgot this, because if you give
them some sort of test that says, hey, how do you form
comparisons in French, they'llbe able to tell you the rule.
If they paid attention, likethey'll be able to regurgitate
what you told them.
But then, of course, as wetalked about, when you put them
(09:09):
in the situation where they haveto use comparisons, it's not
actually the same thing beingable to describe how to form
comparisons and actually formingcomparisons.
It's not.
So we're trying to work withthe natural subconscious
processes here.
So that's why context is soimportant.
At the end of the day, contextis the glue that keeps the
language in your students' heads.
(09:39):
Now next, to make sure that thatglue sticks and gets really
solid and strong and doesn'tremain malleable.
We're going to go to thecomprehension phase.
This is phase two of anysuccessful proficiency oriented
new introduction or unit.
So let's go with the comparisonexample here.
With the comparison example forthe comprehension phase, what
you're asking students to do iswork more in depth with
comparisons without producinganything.
So you're asking them to dothings like hey, what does this
(10:02):
sentence mean?
What is this person saying?
Do you understand what I'msaying?
Can you answer this question?
Can you tell me which one isbigger or smaller?
Or things like that withcomparisons.
Again, there's so manydifferent ways that you can do
this, so many differentproficiency oriented activities
that would work well.
But at the end of the day,you're asking students to work
(10:23):
with the input, organize theinput, sort the input into
categories, because again, thatreally helps to solidify that
glue.
And you're also going to beasking for some simple responses
with familiar phrases fromprevious, things that they
already know how to do.
So if you're working withnovice mids, they might not have
(10:45):
a lot of things to say to youyet, but they would be able to
answer for you things like ifyou have already done a school
supply unit, for example, thenthey'll be able to tell you the
markers better than the crayonor something like that Not that
whole phrase, but they'll beable to say, like, if you ask
them which one's better markeror crayon they'll be able to
(11:05):
tell you you know marker.
So that's what you're lookingfor.
Is you're looking for usingpreviously acquired skills and
words to then talk about thesenewer acquired skills and words
that they're working with withyou?
This is also something thatpeople often skip is this
comprehension phase.
(11:26):
They do this for like 10minutes after the first input
and then they just move on tolike okay, let's start doing
production now.
Like, let's start working withwriting sentences.
And I would encourage you tohold the breaks and let your
students have a full period ofinstruction, depending on how
new this concept is Like.
If your students have a fullperiod of instruction depending
on how new this concept is Likeif your students have never seen
(11:49):
comparisons before, you shouldallow them a full class period
or more.
If you have really short classperiods, like 45 minutes or less
, just straight up working withthe input before you ask them to
produce things.
Now, I'm not talking about likeif they're giving you a simple,
like one or two word answer withstuff they already know.
Fine, totally fine, of course.
(12:09):
But in the ideal world what I'mtalking about is, before you
ask them to write sentencesabout comparisons and form
comparisons on their own, it's agood idea to give them a nice
day or two of teaching for allthat glue to harden and solidify
, before you start asking theglue to hold more things in
there.
So we're going real hard onthis glue metaphor.
(12:33):
I hope you're into it, I'm intoit.
So the next thing that we'regoing to work on after you've
had some time with thecomprehension phase and of
course, there's tons ofactivities that make this really
easy it's all the stuff that'sin your normal teacher toolkit.
I'm talking like CFUs checkingfor comprehension questions,
things where you ask them tosort stuff, t-charts galore,
(12:54):
doing things like Pictionary andstuff.
Anything that helps them tosolidify and demonstrate that
they understand the vocab andthe new skills.
That's golden.
Now we're going to start movinginto phase three, which is where
you're going to start doingthis gradual release to output.
Now, output can be as simple asdoing those one word answers or
(13:18):
writing those one wordresponses like C or no, things
like that, but you're startingto move into output now, and
with this output, what you'reasking students to do is to
start dabbling a little bit withthe functional chunk that
you're asking them to do, likehey, let's look at some
comparisons and see if you cancopy what some of these
(13:38):
comparisons look like.
Like once your students areready, and they'll let you know
when they're ready.
When 70% of them or so canunderstand pretty well what
you're doing, then they're readyfor some output time.
So give them some ways to givesimple responses During this
phase two.
You'll notice that there's areally good opportunity here
(13:59):
that a lot of teachers also skip.
Like usually we go right to theoutput because that's the
easiest way for us as teachersto know whether our students are
acquiring quote, unquote thelanguage that we're talking
about or not, because we want tosee it in written form right.
Like well, do you know thisvocab word?
Use it in a sentence, so I knowthat you know it, which is
(14:19):
frankly, asking a lot whenyou've only used it a certain
amount of times yet.
So be looking for that goldennumber of doing lots and lots of
repetitions.
It's different for everystudent, but I mean, the
estimations can be as high as 50, and some of them I've even
heard 100 before, but you'relooking for lots and lots of
repetitions of a structurebefore you start asking students
(14:41):
to produce it.
The next thing that, again, alot of people skip is try the
same type of input, but in a newcontext.
So this is a perfect example inthis phase three that we're
talking about here, or phasefour, actually that we're
talking about here of same input.
New context is this is theperfect time to whip out your
(15:04):
favorite authentic video forthis, or to talk about an
authentic blog post or read anauthentic story or something
like that.
Like you want to do the sameinput, but with more quality
language around it, more naturalformations of language, more
native-like uses of thislanguage.
That allows the brain to fullyput this into a rich, robust
(15:26):
context.
So now would be the time whenyour students are ready to start
working with some authentictexts with this structure in
mind and do more advanced skillswith it.
Here is also of course, you'regoing to be asking for output at
some point.
As long as your students areready for that, that's going to
depend on the proficiency levelyou're working with, but you'll
(15:47):
have a lot to work with in thisstage, and same input new
context is a dream day for you,because if you're providing
alternative sources of targetlanguage, then it's a rest for
you and it's also really greatfor your students' brains.
The next thing that we're goingto be working with is phase six,
(16:10):
which is let's go topresentational mode.
So now your students have hadplenty of time to work with this
structure.
They've seen it in a lot ofdifferent ways, they've heard it
in a lot of different ways andthey're ready to start using it.
This is when you can startgetting down and dirty with
having them use these phrases,this new language, in a
(16:32):
meaningful context.
So this is the time where youcan ask them to write responses
to things, to do more elaborateresponses, to do presentational
speaking or writing, and I wouldsay give them activities where
they have plenty of time tothink about their thoughts,
(16:52):
organize their thoughts.
Lots and lots of writing atthis stage is great for this,
but again, you don't wantwriting to take over your entire
unit, because there's so manyother ways that you can help
that acquisition really stick.
But this is a good time to doit is allow activities.
What you're looking for isactivities that allow for that
(17:13):
space for students to play withlanguage a little bit.
How can they reorganize things?
How can they put words in thecorrect order, spell them right
All that stuff that you'relooking for, without an
overemphasis on accuracy.
You're looking for students toplay with language.
Again.
Y'all already know the tricksfor this.
There's so many presentationalthings that you could do.
(17:34):
Then, the very final stage,before you give you know, like
the big kahuna assessment aboutthis new functional chunk, like
comparisons, like we've beendoing, then you're really going
to move into the interpersonalsection.
Now I always like to do theinterpersonal stuff last,
because it's actually thehardest.
(17:54):
It's definitely the most brainconsuming and energy consuming
activity that we can do in theclassroom.
It's the hardest to plan for,but it's the most valuable, it's
the most communicative.
So plan for these interpersonalopportunities in your units.
What we're looking for here inthis final, final phase is where
(18:15):
are the opportunities formeaningful expression, where
students can use these newfunctional chunks in ways to
learn more about themselves orthe world around them?
So for comparisons, that's aneasy one.
You're just going to put themin pairs with students and have
them talk with some guides,maybe even a chat mat or
something like that, wherethey're having conversations
about, like, which class isbetter, which class is worse,
(18:37):
that kind of thing who's taller,who's shorter and showing them
pictures of people and they haveto do comparisons, and things
like that respond to each other,but you're putting them in
communicative contexts that ismeaningful and works with their
own life experiences for themost part.
Leave plenty of time for thisto happen too.
(18:57):
This is something that, sinceit's at the end, so guilty of
this Since it's at the end of aunit and usually the hardest
thing to do, a lot of teacherswill only give a little bit of
time for the most importanttasks.
So leave time and space forinterpersonal tasks.
There's a whole nother podcastepisode about that as well that
you can find on here.
(19:18):
The next thing that I wanted tomention to you is the big
question, which is okay.
So you've talked about thestructure of units and this
gradual release model oflanguage.
How long should you spend on anew piece of language with
students?
How long should you spend witha functional chunk, for example,
comparisons?
And the answer, of course, iswell, it depends.
(19:42):
It depends on is this the firsttime that they're seeing this
ever.
Is this a repeated concept or isthis an elaboration of a
concept that they've alreadyseen before and they've worked
with a little bit before?
So, for example, if you'redoing adjective agreement like
if your students have alreadybeen exposed to a lot of input
(20:03):
not at the beginning of yourSpanish one but if they've
already been exposed to a lot ofinput and you're re-emphasizing
the importance of adjectiveagreement and using in a lot of
different ways then yourstudents don't need to spend as
much time on that as they might.
Something like comparisons,which is kind of a tough skill
and will really push them fromnovice high to intermediate low.
(20:24):
So they're going to need a lotof practice with it and a lot of
input and scaffolding tosupport them with it.
But let's take a look at thesame concept again.
If you're doing comparisons andyou're revisiting this in level
three or maybe level four inorder to prepare them for better
writing skills, they've alreadyseen it before.
So you can zip on through a lotof the initial phases, like the
(20:48):
input, and then as long as thecontext is still there, and then
, when you go to thecomprehension phase, you can zip
through that one too and thenget right into the gradual
release for output to just checkwhere they're at and see where
their gaps are and provide themmore input as necessary,
depending on what they canalready do.
Level three is a beast becauseyou get all different kinds of
(21:13):
level variations in there withlanguage Right.
So that's what I would sayshould guide your timing.
For an example to give you withmy Spanish twos personally, and
with my French twos as well,when we did reflexives holy
beast.
That was a long unit with a lotof input, in which I only used
(21:37):
certain subject pronouns,because y'all out there who
teach reflexives know that it isreally, really difficult for
English speakers, however, whenit was time to start talking
about like personality traitsand physical and personality
traits that's new vocabularythat they just have to work with
the idea of like.
Oh, adjectives go in a newplace in the sentence not nearly
(21:59):
as much time as reflexives.
So instead, work with the ideaof like, oh, adjectives go in a
new place in the sentence, notnearly as much time as
reflexives.
So instead of following thatmodel of like, each new concept
takes the same amount of time.
Like we know.
That looks really nice on paperand in your color-coded Excel
spreadsheet, but it's not reallanguage.
When it comes time for yourstudents to s'exprime and to
express themselves with thedifferent comparisons, they are
(22:21):
going to need more time thanthey did for your adjectives
personality unit.
So keep that in mind.
And I would say, when you arethinking about this and I've
heard other teachers ask me thisbefore and think about this,
this, and I've heard otherteachers ask me this before and
think about this, this is thequestion that I have for you is
(22:42):
well, what exactly do you needstudents to be able to do at the
end of this unit?
Because it's it's different nomatter what textbook or
curriculum guide you're using.
Any of that like the tasks aredifferent.
So you might be just preparingstudents to use comparisons with
like a few speaking questions,or maybe you're preparing them
for a full paragraph lengthdiscourse that they have to do
(23:02):
on an IPA.
Then the timing answer will bedifferent.
So ask yourself first what doyou need students to be able to
do by the end of this unit andget really specific with that
skill, and that will guide youin the timing.
So, with all that in mind, let'sthink about all of the things
that we've talked about so farwith what the structure of a
(23:23):
proficiency oriented unit lookslike.
First you have this phase oneof this context rich input
introduction.
Next you have the comprehensionphase, where you're asking
students to work with input butnot yet produce anything.
Asking students to work withinput but not yet produce
anything.
Then you're going to thegradual release to output with
like very carefully selected andscaffolded opportunities so
(23:45):
they can mess around and becreative with the language for a
little bit.
Then you're going to use thesame input in new rich contexts
hopefully authentic if you canget them and then you'll move to
a full release of output andyou're expecting larger pieces
of presentational whether it bespeaking or writing, and giving
(24:05):
them time to really put all oftheir learning together,
consolidate it and show you whatthey're able to do.
Based off of that then, and howlong it takes for students to
start showing you mastery inthose areas.
Then you're going to startworking with interpersonal
activities and do a lot ofinterpersonal activities,
because they are by far the bestthing that you can offer
(24:26):
students, even though they arepretty hard to organize.
I get you.
So that's what a good structurelooks like.
I hope that helps when you'relooking for new ideas for a unit
and when you're talking withyour department about how to
approach tough topics and thingslike that usually takes
students a long time for them toacquire.
It gives you some new ideas forhow to organize your ideas with
(24:48):
this.
So thanks so much for listening.
Be sure to give this podcast areview.
It's really good karma for youand it certainly helps to spread
the message to other folks whocould use some free pd training
to and from work.
And thank you again for being apart of this vibrant world
language community.
I'll see you in the nextepisode.
Bye for now.
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