Annotated Bibliography

Haley Twaites
Anderson, B., Carr, W., Lewis, C., Salvatori, M., & Turnbull, M., (2008).
Effective literacy practices in FSL: Making connections, 18-24. Toronto:
Pearson.
This article states that it is very important to integrate a literacy focus to a
French as a Second Language class. Doing this is an effective way to ensure
that students are motivated and engaged while participating in the class
activities. Learning French as a second language can be difficult and
challenging, but knowing the students in the class will help to determine who
is a literate FSL student, and which role each student falls into. These four
roles are the text user, meaning maker, text analyzer and critic and the code
breaker and they all have a place in the classroom. The teacher should
facilitate the lessons and the activities while ensuring that acquisition is
happening with their students while learning a second language. Patience
and time is likely going to be needed for my students to acquire a new
language as the learning process can take some time to connect this new
language to their first language. Identifying the four roles of literate FSL
students in my classroom will be very helpful while teaching, because it will
help to assess what the best ways to approach my lessons are. It will also
help establish connections between the content I am teaching and the
experience each student brings with them into the classroom.
Cohen, A. D. (1991). The Contribution of SLA Theories and Research to
Teaching Language.
It is important to note that SLA research has led to a switch in focus from
how teachers teach a class to how and what students learn while being in
class. SLA research helps to give teachers ideas and answers when it comes
to pedagogical practices, but it does not directly translate to the classroom
setting. A focus on speech acts can pose a challenge for the students when
corrections are all they hear, but an awareness of different learning
strategies is important for the success of the students. Teachers should play
a more supportive role, and determine the needs of the students while they
learn a second language. SLA comes when students have the opportunity to
try out the language and different speech acts, while receiving feedback to
help them establish a connection to the content. Diversity can be a factor in
my classroom as the acquisition of a new language can come at different
speeds and different levels for each of my students, but so knowing this
ahead of time will aid in the effectiveness of my teaching, and the success of
their L2 learning.

Duff, P. A. (2007). Multilingualism in Canadian schools: Myths, realities and

possibilities. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics/Revue canadienne
de linguistique
applique, 10(2), 149-163.
Duff emphasizes that students are responsive to their local contexts, and
that the curriculum needs to be of interest to the students who are learning
it. FSL content needs to embrace the students prior knowledge, creativity
and problem-solving skills to increase their desire to learn and be engaged in
their communities. Learning a second language can add to the identity of a
person, but learning as an immigrant youth can be a struggle. The article
goes on to address the ways in which multilingualism can tap into the desire
for inclusion and integration. In a way having a multicultural classroom puts
everyone on the same page when it comes to learning an L2 language. All of
my students may not speak the same first language, but they can all learn
the same second language, and this could create an inclusive feeling inside
the classroom.
Kissau, S., & Turnbull, M. (2008). Boys and French as a second language: A
research agenda for
greater understanding. Canadian Journal of Applied
Linguistics/Revue canadienne de
linguistique applique, 11(3), 151-170.
Motivation is a key factor when it comes to teaching boys in an FSL
classroom as it was common to believe that learning a second language, or
learning French is a feminine and not masculine. A change in this believe can
only occur when everyone works together to recognize that boys are
responsible for their own success and failure when it comes to learning a new
subject whether it be a language or not. We should separate gender from
language, because the gender of the student should have nothing to do with
the acquisition of a new language. Learning is learning regardless of gender,
and the focus should be on what we can do to help influence the success of
students in FSL classrooms. Social perceptions can influence male students
ability to concentrate on learning a second language, but as teachers we
need to understand that male students deserve the same as female students
even if it takes a bit longer for them to become interested in the subject.
These male students have the capacity to learn another language, so they
should be given the same opportunity in the classroom. As a future teacher I
need to make sure that I am there for my students, and that I am giving
them the encouragement that they need to succeed in acquiring another
language by putting the focus on form, pronunciation, and communication
rather than on gender.
Rivers, W. (1989). Ten principles of interactive language teaching. Harvard
University. 1-24.

The student is the language learner and they are in control. Teaching is
shaped by students needs and objectives while authentically using the
language to interact with one another. Language knowledge and control
helps students create mental representations of the language in their heads
while structuring the learning to make the language useable for practice
inside and outside the classroom. Practice and repetition of the L2 language
will play a major role in the acquisition of learning a second language. In the
article Rivers writes that the content of relevance to the life, interests, and
future career of the student brings the language alive and sparks motivation
to use it actively, which makes absolute sense when applied to the
classroom. My students are not going to want to participate in an activity
that they are not interested in let alone be motivated to learn a form of
communication and pronunciation that they have never learned before.
Terrell, T. D. (1991). The role of grammar instruction in a communicative
approach. The Modern Language Journal, 75(1), 52-63.
Terrell states that the learner must be relaxed and have a low affective filter
so that they are able to focus on the meaning of a language rather than the
form of their speech. Frequency is another important aspect when it comes
to second language acquisition as repetition of the input content can add to
the communicative process. A focus on grammar instruction is helpful during
the acquisition phase of learning a language, because it can help the learner
make sense of the input, gather meaning, and monitor their own learning.
Emphasizing a meaning-form connection can aid the learner during the
acquisition phase, and can thus lead to more learning. As a teacher it is
important to keep this in mind, because helping the students find the
meaning in the work and the activities will likely lead to a more engaged
group of students in my classroom.