When learning is personalized, students will engage deeper with and have a better recall of the material. However, in world language classrooms, teachers often just take a list of vocabulary out of a chapter, introduce it to their students, have them memorize it, play some games and then quiz them. Most often, the vocabulary is from textbooks that are outdated and culturally one sided which means they will include items our students cannot relate to nor may even know about it. How are students supposed to be engaged when they can’t connect to the material? How do we expect to motivate them to use Spanish when both the language and vocabulary is foreign to them? To ensure students are engaged, we must provide them vocabulary related to their interest! We must listen to what they are talking about before class begins and what interest them so much they can’t stop talking to their neighbor in English. This is what they want to say, and are saying in English, so we need to capture that into the target language. If we want our classrooms to be 90% in the target language, then use the words they are using in English and that relates to their lives. There are several ways you can go about doing this.
Create a world wall
I have my bulletin board split up into five different columns, one per each class period. Each class gets their own set of vocab lists as the different groups of students and classroom dynamics create different vocabulary words. I write the word in Spanish and draw a little picture. I often have them help me with the picture or ask one of them to do it for me. I rarely use English as my goal is to help their mind process Spanish only and not an English to Spanish translation. Also, since students are not allowed to use English, I don’t allow them to use “How do you say _______ (English word) in Spanish?” (this would be said in Spanish). This only brings in English to the classroom, so instead I have them circumlocute the word and then, once they have given me a few details or actions, I then write the word on the board and a quick drawing. Once the board is full and we have recycled the vocab to where they understand a good portion of them, they are erased and I type up the list for them to put in their journal. They copy the list into their journal, I don’t provide them a printed version. Research shows that memory recall increases when students hand write notes. Finally, these words may be part of a unit we are covering or not. The point is, it is what they want to say, they won’t forget it and will use it.
Recycle, recycle, recycle the vocab
Once the word is on the board, it can’t just stay there! That vocab is as important, if not more, than anything from a textbook. It is the language they wanted to use and sought out. Therefore, I came up with several ways to ensure we are recycling it and they are practically using the vocab. Here are some examples of easy activities you can do:
I purchased large beach balls off of Amazon. Each time I erase a list of vocab words, I also make them into cards printed on copy paper (PowerPoint page with a 4x4 chart). I tape the words onto the ball and we can play several games with them. One activity we do is toss the ball around, and whoever has the ball when the music ends has to either act out a vocab word, use it in a sentence or ask someone in the class a question.
As mentioned above, I put the vocabulary into a PowerPoint chart which, once cut out, make nice paper cards. Each class has a different zip lock bag with their vocabulary cards and we can do several activities with them. For instance, each student gets one card, then, as music plays, they walk around and share their words in partners. Student A will teach the vocabulary word to student B by saying the word and doing an action. Student B repeats the word and action. Then Student B does the same thing, says their word with an action and Student A repeats it. They trade cards and go on to a new set of partners. This can last a whole three minute song length if needed. There are several things I do to follow up, such as I have the students now sit down with the card they ended up with and write it in a sentence. The music plays again, they share in partners and exchange cards. For a final step, they sit down again with the card they ended up with and draw a picture of the sentence. Sometimes I use this as an exit slip or have them get up again and now describe the picture in partners. This activity is successful in both Novice and Intermediate levels.
Another activity I do is hand out the vocabulary paper cards per student. They share the vocab in partners as I noted above, by saying the word with action, repeating and then exchanging cards. Because they do this for a few minutes, the majority will have been exposed to most of the vocabulary. Then, I tell them to get into groups of 2 or 3 and now create a sentence using the vocabulary. I give them a few minutes to do this and then they share their sentence to the class with an action to support comprehension of what they are saying.
The vocabulary can also be used to tell a story or write a short paragraph. Each class has a different bag of vocabulary cards and I will have a student, or a few students, pick out about 5-6 vocab cards. I put them into groups of 3-4 and have them write either a short or funny story by using all the vocabulary and then we share the written pieces to the class. It is fun to see how many different ways students can use 5-6 vocabulary words. I have also taken this a step further and had groups trade what they had written, read it and then draw a picture below. Then, they put the picture under the document camera, and without reading the paper, re-tell what the first group wrote through the image they drew. To ensure they aren’t reading, I have them cover up the sentences. You can also do this activity by having the students act out what is written on the paper instead of drawing it out.
Ask them
Before beginning a new topic, find a way to survey them of their interest, even if it is a quick exit slip in English and not the target language. For Spanish year 1, I wanted to talk about likes and dislikes, so I had them fill out a questionnaire of what they like. The next day in class, we practiced talking about why we do or do not like things and it was using vocab they gave me. For instance, some items included Jordans, the singer Drake and Taco Bell. They gladly participated as they were quite opinioned about Jordans over Sketchers or Drake over Justin Beiber.
Our task as teachers is to engage our students and make learning relevant. In the world language classroom, the only way to get students to truly use the target language spontaneously and show what they can do with the language is to first get them speaking it. This happens when we are attentive to what they want to learn and say in their own language so we can get them talking in the target language. I encourage you to step out of a list of vocabulary words from a textbook and instead, use those words only as a base for a topic and then build a list of words that are student driven. When students feel a connection to the learning environment, they feel part of the process and will be more engaged.