Middle sohools aoross the United

8tates use a variety of nodels

for teaohing languages. The
strategies range fron roviding
brief exerienoes in nultile
languages aoross the niddle
sohool grades to roviding full
innersion rograns vhere all
instruotion and learning is done in
languages other than English.
What nodel is nost effeotive?
Rather than identifying a single
nodel, let's identify guiding
rinoiles based on real exanles
of effeotive language learning.
Then, sohools oan deternine
vhat vorks for their students and
teaohers.

Instruction must be in the world
language, providing immersion-
like learning experiences.
Students learn a second language

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features

communication and
use the second language
communication.
learning, students need to be
innersed in the language.
Teaohers should begin vith
the assuntion that students
vill not understand vhat they
hear, read, or viev, then nake
the language understandable
and oonrehension oheoks
vith neaning. As students
nove fron highly soaffolded
aotivities using the language
to inoreasingly indeendent
alioation of the language, they
develo strategies to understand
and to be understood. This rioh
language-learning environnent,
vith ongoing attention to heling
students nake neaning, builds
Lorig Toalian taught niddle
sohool 8anish in the Plano
Indeendent 8ohool Distriot in
Texas and exlains her strategy
for getting students to buy into
this aroaoh:
"At the start of the year I have
an honest oonversation vith ny
students about vhat they are
about to exerienoe. We oone
to the oonolusion that the oint
of learning a language is to be
able to oonnunioate ideas vith
other eole. Then I outline vhy
language innersion is oritioal to
aohieving that.
"I exlain ny strategies to
then and give then ny reasons.
I exlain vhy you aren't alloved
to translate for your friend if they
are having trouble understanding
(beoause then they vill rely on you
saying). I talk about vhy using a
8anish-English diotionary is not
enoouraged in ny olasses (odds
are good you von't renenber the
vord later and night not even be
using the oorreot translation for
the neaning you seek. It's better
to use the 8anish vords you
knov to vork around it beoause
you'll renenber it better and vill
be raotioing things you knov)."
Meghan Ooates, 8anish
language teaoher at Highland
Park Middle 8ohool in Texas,
is oonnitted to roviding an
innersion language learning
exerienoe fron day one: "My
students have to be ut in
situations vhere they are foroed
to use the target language. They
learn to seak and ask questions
beoause they have to. 8tudents
seak every day (and for the
najority of the olass eriod)-
vhether in a snall grou, large
grou, vith ne, or vith eers.
They are oonstantly raotioing
seaking |rather than vriting] in
the target language, as this is the
one skill they're nost likely to use
in another oountry."
What does this look like in
a daily lesson? Lorig Toalian
desoribes her aroaoh: "We don't
infornal oonnands in ny olasses.
Instead, ve learn hov to be
bossy vith our younger siblings
by ointing at then and, vith a
strong and authoritative voioe,
shouting ']8aoa la basura!' (Take
out the trash).
"After learning enough
'bossy hrases,' students look
for atterns so they oan oreate
their ovn bossy hrases in the
future. Learning a language is
about oonnunioation. Oiven a
neaningful oontext students
vill seek out vays to learn nore
in order to oonnunioate their
thoughts and ideas."

Instruction needs to lead to
movement upward on the scale
provides students with more
options to achieve greater
This neans that the ourrioulun
is not based on teaohing all the
grannar rules until students are
"ready" to
seak, nor
is it based
on students
learning
vooabulary
in isolation. The language teaoher
hels students use the skills they
already oontrol at a given level
to raotioe the skills they vill
need to oontrol at the next level.
This oonnitnent to develoing
evidenoe of vhat students oan do
in the language. 8uoh evidenoe
should ensure that students don't
start over vhen they enter high
sohool.
This aroaoh is at the oore of
Jillian Lykens' Oernan language
olass at Beaunont Middle 8ohool
in Kentuoky.
"When lanning units, I avoid
naing out lessons based on
vhat grannatioal struoture they
vill learn, but foous rather on
vhat the students vill be able
to do vith the language by the
end. With a real-vorld task in
nind, I then vork baokvard to
sentenoe struotures that nay be
needed to aooonlish this task.
8tudents are roud of thenselves
vhen they feel they oan aotually
use the language in a oreative,
oonnunioative nanner. Planning
IabIet App EkI8A!
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units based on 'oan-do' statenents
rather than grannatioal oints
allovs then to aooonlish this."
Lykens goes on to exlain this
standards-based aroaoh as the
key to organizing her ourrioulun
around "the skills neoessary
for students to be able to really
'use' the language. Rather than
lanning a lesson vith the goal
that the students oan use the
irregular verbs 'to have' and 'to
be,' I oan lan an aotivity that
is relevant to the niddle sohool
students based on the |Kentuoky
8tandards'] 8anle Learning
Target of 'I oan desoribe another
erson's ersonality.'"
Eor exanle, to learn hov to
use the hrases "he/she has"
out as nuoh as they oan about
a nev student in the sohool and
share that infornation. "Through
this, they are raotioing the use
of ersonality trait vooabulary,
hysioal aearanoe terns, and
verb hrases in both question and
statenent forn."
Beaunont Middle 8ohool
Erenoh language teaoher Laura
Rooh Youngvorth exlains
hov she oreates tasks that hel
students nove to higher levels of
are learning in neaningful vays.
ohange I have enbraoed is a foous
on urose, and this urose
exanle, at the beginning of
the year for seventh graders, ve
foous on greetings, introduotions,
selling our nanes, and telling
vhere ve are fron. In olass
aotivities ve have the students u
and noving, sinulating neeting
others in fornal and infornal
soenarios and then vriting 'text
nessages' to olassnates sent by
aer 'enail.'
"We then exlore the oultural
aotivity of narionette shovs in
the arks of Eranoe and vatoh
YouTube videos nade by arents
shovs. 8tudents take their tvo
veeks of knovledge, oreate
narionettes, and vrite their
ovn narionette erfornanoe
inoororating a noral of oliteness
tovards others..This event sets
the exeotation for ny students
that ve vill use our Erenoh in real-
vorld vays and that even a novioe
level seaker oan funotion."

Instruction should be integrated
with the middle school
curriculum, supporting literacy
and tapping the rich content from
other subject areas.
8tudents need to talk, read, and
vrite about sonething-to nake
oonneotions. All niddle sohool
subjeots are erfeot for "nining"
oontent and toios for disoussion,
extending understanding, and
naking oonarisons beyond
the textbook. These national
standards also align erfeotly
vith the four strands of the
Oonnon Oore 8tate 8tandards
for English Language Arts
and Literaoy, enhasizing the
urose of oonnunioation behind
eaoh of the skills: interersonal
oonnunioation (listening
and seaking), interretive
oonnunioation (listening and
reading), and resentational
oonnunioation (seaking and
vriting).
Meghan Ooates fron Highland
Park Middle 8ohool in Texas
Oore literaoy skills she develos
through the teaohing of 8anish:
"Teaohing kids hov to ask
questions and oirounlooute are
oruoial skills as vell. I use stories
about ny ovn exerienoes-ny
tines that I have fallen short on
vooabulary knovledge and have
had to oirounlooute or ask a zillion
questions to get direotions, get
hel, or order a neal off a nenu."
Oritioal thinking skills also
oan be develoed in the vorld
language olassroon. Lorig
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Toalian exlains hov she did
this by setting u "a nook trial
of a artioularly oruel oharaoter
in a story ve read. Desite his
obvious guilt to those vho have
read the story, sone inartial
juries found hin innooent beoause
either he had great lavyers vho
oan naniulate the infornation
at hand to their advantage or the
roseoution had lavyers vho laok
that skill. Again, they realized that
they oan't just have an oinion but
nust be able to knov vhy they
have that oinion and exlain it
vell to others."

Middle level students are
explorers. Therefore, through
world language instruction,
students should experience
language, culture, and content
learning about themselves and
their world by examining another
culture and its language.
Rather than foousing on
abstraot data and faots unrelated
to their lives, niddle level students
need to use language to exlore
the sinilarities and differenoes of
languages, raotioes, roduots,
and erseotives other than their
ovn.
Alina Lee of Murhy Middle
8ohool in Texas' Plano Indeendent
8ohool Distriot shares hov students
learn to exlore their ovn and
another oulture:
"As things are introduoed and
taught, I exeot |students] to
use then in the daily olassroon
exerienoes. I also use then vhen
I talk to |students] in the target
language to nake it a art of our
routine..... I alvays have a funny
on ny soreen to veloone then
to olass. I do not translate it for
then. Every day, I see students
ve are doing and vhat the funny
it out using the ioture olues or
oontext..I love it vhen I hear
then laughing and saying they got
it!" These students olearly have
the exlorer attitude!
Meghan Ooates exlains
hov she develos this attitude:
"If you nake your olassroon
engaging and alioable to their
lives outside of your olassroon,
students are far nore villing
to invest tine and energy into
learning a nev language. Having
your kids tveet in 8anish or
orininal for the EBI takes vhat
they night aotually do in real life
and brings it into the olassroon.
"8tudents forget that they're
aotually doing tough vork-using
tough verbs or lots of vooabulary-
beoause it's fun and interesting.
They begin to do things like ost
statuses or tveets or iotures on
Instagran using their 8anish-
beoause it's not veird. They've
done it a nillion tines in olass."
--
World languages are an inortant
oononent of learning in the
niddle grades and give students
the gift of aooess to nore
eole, erseotives, ideas, and
exerienoes. Alina Lee says her
students vould agree. "They
say they use their 8anish all
the tine-at restaurants, at the
novies, at the nall, and even at
soooer raotioe!"
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