This post is written in response to a lesson plan developed by fellow colleagues Anna, Rebecca, Naomi, and Betsy—all Spanish teachers. This project was assigned as part of our EDUC 504 Teaching With Technology class, and as part of the assignment, we were directed to review a lesson plan pertaining to a different subject matter than we will personally be teaching in the future. This post is such a review.
This lesson plan was developed for an AP Spanish class in which the students would be debating on the use of technology in second language acquisitions—online dictionaries and web-based translators, for example. The objective of the assignment was for students to analytically construct arguments around an selected issue and be able to effectively communicate their reasonings to the class. The lesson plan was designed to span a day and a half, where the topic and assignment would be introduced on day one, associated homework would be given, and the debate would require the allotted time on day two.
Having taken Spanish as a minor in undergrad, I am well aware of the allure, fallacies, and frustrations that online dictionaries and translators present. Online translators can have a tendency to butcher anything longer than a few words, there is no recognition for cultural influences and slang, and if you utilize them verbatim for an assignment, you're teacher will not be pleased. On the flip-side however, they have served me well in the past as a resource for learning new words and comprehending short sayings.
Ha. It seems as though I'd have a thing or two to say in this debate, but I would have to freshen up on my Spanish before I could articulately communicate my thoughts in this language. And this is where I think this lesson plan has some serious merit: the debate.
Debates are difficult and stressful even in your native language, but for students learning to master Spanish, a debate could be equally stressful but no less rewarding. The use of debate to practice Spanish requires students to practice listening, thinking on their feet, and responding effectively, all of which, of course, in Spanish. Additionally, practicing debates in high school will likely serve them well in college, future jobs, and careers.
A final component of this lesson plan that I greatly appreciated was the integration of the class's derived social norms—a collaboratively written and agreed-upon set of norms that serve to support a rich and safe learning environment. Before the debate begins, the lesson plan states that students would be given time to write down an established classroom norm that may be helpful in the coming debate. I think it is great that the social norms could be brought into daily class activities, especially a debate which necessitates higher levels of student interaction. If I were to add to the planned closing/assessment, as described in the lesson plan, I would think about having students also discuss how the adherence or lack-there-of to the social norms aided or detracted from the process of the debate. This may provide an effective "book-end" to the lesson, one that again facilitates intention reflection on the social norms and potentially their application to future debates and interactions the students may have outside of class.
-Jesse
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the review of our lesson!
I completely agree with the love-hate relationship with online translators. When thinking about using one, I think it is important to find the right website. While google translate is ok, there is this awesome website called wordreference.com. On this website it gives a ton of different translations for one word, examples of how to use it, and sometimes the country that it is most commonly used.
I like your comment about ending class with a discussion on the adherence to the classroom norms. I think this would have been a great ending to the class, and also a great reminder to students to always stick to the norms!
I like the idea of having the students debate the use of online translation tools in the language class itself. I think it affords them not only a forum to voice their opinion on the topic, but also give you as a teacher the ability to peek inside their heads and see how exactly they think about things like online translation or other internet aids. I think when it comes to such tools we often fall victim to the approach of categorically banning them, when as you suggest, they have the potential to be extremely useful and educative. Nice post.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reviewing our lesson plan, Jesse! I'm glad you found it interesting.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to second what Anna says about the relative merit of different translators.
While GoogleTranslate can help you communicate with people who speak languages you have absolutely no familiarity with, it doesn't actually help you learn a language. And yes, we can tell when someone uses googletranslate. I'm glad you're good at typing in your native language, but that's not what I'm evaluating here.
Sites like WordReference and Leo.org are much better because they give you different options for a word, explaining which one is slang and which is formal, which is acceptable in Spain but vulgar in Argentina, etc. They also have forums, so you can get much more in-depth information about a word or expression. I remember asking a forum in leo.org about whether a certain expression could be applied to people of different genders, and the resulting conversation was pretty amusing because people interpreted my question differently. I can tell you, I will never forget how to use the expression for different genders now!
This brings us back to the idea of using a debate. You can't googletranslate your way through a debate because you don't know exactly what the other team will say. As you pointed out, the activity won't just be good for Spanish practice; it will also help them learn to be articulate and to think on their feet, like in a debate in their first language.
Thanks for the feedback about how we could improve the lesson plan. You're right that it's good to wrap things up with a reflection on how things went, and how things could go better, after a debate. That way, the end message is not just "BYOD, yes" or "BYOD, no", but "this is how a cooperative classroom works, and this is how we learn from, and teach, each other."