High-Level Content with Low-Level Language Instructional Scaffolding and Comprehensible Input— Enabling Our Learners Dr. Tatyana Bystrova-McIntyre STARTALK Russian Academy Kent State University, OH

Today’s Agenda •  Overview of STARTALK FLA at Kent State University •  Content for novice learners—myth or fact? •  TBI, scaffolding, and comprehensible input •  Russian alphabet—time to practice (and learn some Russian!) •  Scaffolding throughout a program •  Sample unit plan on professions and educational background •  Time to practice some more! J

Russian Language Academy at KSU •  Started—2007 •  At first, Russian was sponsored by Ohio Board of Regents •  Sponsored by STARTALK as soon as Russian became a STARTALK language

•  Summer component (STARTALK): •  4-week immersion program •  Students live on campus •  Daily schedule: •  Lead instructor (more structured): 9 AM – 3 PM •  Russian only lunch and dinner (with staff) •  Culture instructors and RAs: 6 PM – 9 PM •  Study hall (self-study with staff): 9 PM – 11 PM

•  AY—Online component sponsored by school districts through PSEO (Post Secondary Enrollment Options) •  My journey—from RA to Lead Instructor

Better Than My Words http://fla-russian.ning.com/video/tzhu-final-project-wmv

Myth or Fact? Novice learners learn best with children’s activities, because children seem to have the least trouble learning a language •  Children’s stories •  Nursery rhymes •  Pat-a-cake-type games

Myth or Fact? •  May be true for children •  Caveat: Adult learners are not children •  Also consider this: Do you all know what dance Russian kids (and adults) do near a New Year’s tree (aka Christmas Tree)? Khorovod •  Adult learners may not have a sufficient cultural schemata (=background knowledge) for performing target-culture children’s tasks

Stephen Krashen Second language acquisition: - Meaningful interaction in TL - Concern with the message, not form What we need? - Comprehensible input - Low-anxiety environment (tasks, group-work, use of technology, guidance/scaffolding, learner-oriented error correction)

"Acquisition requires meaningful interaction in the target language - natural communication - in which speakers are concerned not with the form of their utterances but with the messages they are conveying and understanding.” Stephen Krashen http://www.sk.com.br/sk-krash.html

Adult Novice Learners: Scaffolding and Comprehensible Input •  Truth: We use higher-level content relevant to adults (or highschoolers, in our case) •  How to make authentic input comprehensible, especially to novices? •  Scaffolding, or guided learning •  Peregoy and Boyle (1997: 81): “temporary supports, provided by capable people, that permit learners to participate in the complex process before they are able to do so unassisted.” (cited in Celce-Murcia, 2001: 166)

Scaffolding (For Those Visual Learners in the Audience J)

http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.com/2010/06/ scaffolding-or-no-scaffolding.html

Best Learning Environments Task-based instruction (TBI): -  Resembles real world activities transferrable to real life -  e.g., filling out a visa application & reviewing visa applications; designing a university brochure

-  Ends in an outcome -  approved/denied/further review visa applications in TL; real-world audience commenting on a finished university brochure in TL

-  Uses authentic materials -  application or part; websites; samples of real-world university brochures in TL

-  Uses higher order thinking skills -  analysis, synthesis, evaluation http://collaboration.wikispaces.com/Lower+and+higher+order+thinking+skills

Components of a Task Pre-task -  Start of scaffolding (preparing students; activating background knowledge) -  Rule of thumb: If students need to learn a lot of new information (and in different areas— e.g., in terms of content, new linguistic items, cultural details)—modify the task or leave it for later Task -  Scaffolding is built into the design of the task -  Choice of materials that are authentic and comprehensible Follow-up/Post-task -  Doings something else with the newly acquired skills

Group Work: Choosing Authentic Materials What do you think authentic materials for novices should be like? Choose materials with: •  cognates •  repetitions •  graphs •  pictures •  helpful formatting •  gestures (if video) •  helpful intonation (if video or audio)

Scaffolding: Motivation Can’t be over-emphasized Wake up students’ curiosity! Motivate the students with the end result and/or process of performing the task - Make business cards; use them to introduce yourself to a real Russian/ Ukrainian who works at the university - See if your predictions about the differences between Russian and American foreign politics are true (by skimming Russian newspapers for foreign country/city names) - Receive feedback from peers and native speakers (e.g., talk with native speakers via skype; have the students vote on the project using GoogleDocs or SurveyMonkey; use cognates for categories) - Win a game and get a small Russian prize - Try a traditional Russian dish

Scaffolding: Modeling Model your task, or a similar task, with an assistant or an extroverted student •  Speak slowly, use intonation and pausing, emphasize key words and steps, draw on board—be an actor (as usual J) •  If necessary, break the task into more manageable parts and model parts

Show an end product of a task (when applicable); e.g., a university brochure; a class newspaper

From Theory to Practice and Participation •  Introductory lesson about the Russian alphabet •  Presented on Day 2 at our Russian Language Academy •  Main mode of communication: Interpretive •  Task for you: Listen to the following presentation and pretend that you are beginning students of Russian

Русский алфавит Школа иностранных языков Кентский государственный университет 2012

Это – русский алфавит

История русского алфавита

Кирилл и Мефодий

Кирилл и Мефодий •  Кирилл и Мефодий создали русский алфавит

•  Русский алфавит называется Кириллица

Кирилл и Мефодий •  Кирилл и Мефодий – братья

•  Кирилл и Мефодий жили в 9-ом веке

•  Век = 100 лет

Кирилл и Мефодий из Македонии

Македония

Кирилл и Мефодий – монахи

Кирилл и Мефодий жили в монастыре

Русский алфавит •  Кирилл и Мефодий создали русский алфавит

•  А Б В Г Д Е Ё … = буквы

Русские буквы •  Многие русские буквы похожи на греческие буквы. Почему?

Русские (греческие) буквы •  Г - gamma •  Д - delta •  Л - lambda •  П – pi •  Р - rho •  Ф - phi •  Х - chi

Что мы узнали? Кто создал русский алфавит? 1. Карл и Клара 2. Борис и Наташа 3. Кирилл и Мефодий

1 – один 2 – два 3 – три

Что мы узнали? 1. Кирилл и Мефодий – монахи. 2. Кирилл и Мефодий создали русский алфавит. 3. Кирилл и Мефодий жили в 20-м веке.

Правда – ДА Неправда – НЕТ

Что мы узнали? Русские буквы похожи на:

1. На арабские буквы 2. На китайские буквы 3. На греческие буквы

1 – один 2 – два 3 – три

Греческие буквы

Что мы узнали? – So, what have we learned? •  Можно по-английски J •  Мы узнали, что: •  Кирилл и Мефодий создали русский алфавит. •  Кирилл и Мефодий жили в 9-ом веке. •  Русские буквы похожи на греческие буквы.

Group Work (3-5 minutes): What scaffolding strategies were used? 1.  Pictures 2.  Maps 3.  Cognates 4.  Repetition 5.  Gestures 6.  Formatting/layout 7.  Intonation 8.  Background knowledge (schemata)

Scaffolding As a “Unit +” Structure Scaffold students not only within the task, but throughout the entire lesson, module, and curriculum Technique: Spiraling Up STARTALK summer programs – a perfect medium for it

Lev Vygotsky Go one step above: - Develop new language knowledge within context - Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Zone_of_proximal_development.svg

Sample Lesson Plan: Let’s Play! Lesson plan on professions (Handouts) - Go over the sequence of activities Do some of the activities (in English): - Mini-conferences - Mini-presentations - Game: Guess a famous person

Group Work: Design Task Around Technology Website

КОНЕЦ Feel free to contact me with any questions! [email protected]