For a Foreign language classroom, there are some strategies that may work better than others, both with and without the use of technology. Each strategy is a tool designed to help students how to learn in addition to what to learn. The strategies used focus on the aspect of learning a language through active practice. While other subject matters can be learned through silently listening and taking notes, the learning of a foreign language requires much more active participation of students.
In order to achieve the level of participation desired for students, the instructional strategies must consider that in the same classroom, there will be students with different levels of existing knowledge of a language. Additionally, their personalities will play a role in how comfortable they are with the instructional strategies, since public speaking and presenting in front of the class will be commonplace for the foreign language instruction to succeed.
| Strategy | Description | Teacher | Learner |
| Active Listening | The learning of a foreign language is not obtained only through the acquisition of vocabulary and learning of grammar rules. It is important to practice and the listening strategy is an intentional way for students to be active listeners with specific tasks during a conversation in class. | The teacher’s role is to model the active listening. Thee is the temptation to make corrections when a student is practicing a foreign language, but it is important to be actively listening, without interruption. The teacher can also assign specific speaking tasks to each student based on their pre-assessed level of mastery. | The learners’ role is to listen actively to what the teacher is explaining, particularly when it comes to pronunciation of words and phrases in a foreign language. The teacher speaks and the students listen and write down key words and questions for follow-up. Listening is essential in second language acquisition. |
| Graphic Organizers | The use of graphic organizers is a strategy that not only assists students with the contents of the class but also provides them with a management tool for studying later. | The teacher’s role is to effectively create a variety of thinking maps, graphic organizers or conceptual charts that the student can connect to the learning of the lesson presented. | The learners’ role in graphic organizers is very important since they must utilize the resource given and properly follow the directions so that the graphic organizer is used as intended. The learners have the responsibility to fill and organize their ideas. |
| Partner strong speakers with novice learners | The level of comfort that a struggling student may have with a fellow classmate may be useful for them so they have the opportunity to listen to classmates and practice with them. | The teacher’s role is to assess the level of expertise that different students may have in speaking the language, and therefore finding pair where one student will be confident with their knowledge, and the other will benefit from listening and speaking to a peer who can tutor them during the lesson. | The learners' role is to develop the confidence to execute the verbal practice that the teacher has assigned. The strong speaker can benefit from offering correction and feedback, but also by learning to communicate in simpler terms to the novice speaker. The novice learner has the opportunity to practice in a more relaxed setting with only one student listening to them, not the whole class. |
| Think Pair Share | Very similar in setting to the partnering strategy, the think-pair-share strategy seeks to have students work out the learning and then communicate it to the rest of the class. So the goal is not to keep the talking between them, but to have the talking be a process the leads to an open sharing of their learning. | The teacher’s role is to assign partners that can work effectively together, and assess students level of confidence so that they will find the opportunity to present to the whole class what they have learned during their thinking and sharing time as a pair. | The learners’ role is to follow the instructions of the teacher and dialogue between them the possible responses that can be offered. Then, it is important that they confidently present their findings to the whole class so all can learn from each pair in the classroom. |
| Relate to prior knowledge | Also know as scaffolding or building on previous knowledge, it is a strategy to make connections to things that students already know, such as words or content from other areas that is familiar. | The teacher’s role is to prepare herself with an understanding of what are the students already familiar with, for example, in other subjects. Using information from English language arts, for example, the teacher may ask them to summarize a reading in Spanish, or create a dialogue, using techniques from ELA. | The learners' role is to be proactive in making connections with what he or she already has learned, whether in other content areas or previous years. Additionally, the learned can offer feedback, usually verbal, as to how the understanding process is being developed, so the teacher can adjust the instruction. |
Chamot, Anna Uhl, et al.Sailing the Five Cs with Learning Strategies. (ND).Retrieved from
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.469.1900&rep=rep1&type=pdf
