As a French teacher, there are two things I aspire to teach my students—to understand the cultures of the Francophone world and to be able to communicate with those people. The National Education Association defines communication as being able to communicate clearly, through oral, written, and non-verbal communications skills for a range of purposes while using multiple media and technologies in diverse environments (including multilingual and multicultural) and through listening effectively to decipher meaning, including knowledge, values, attitudes, and intentions (p.15). To prepare my students to be able to perform well in these various tasks, I must teach them how to communicate. Rivers identifies “deep listening” as the first challenge in communication (2015). As an educator, I must model active listening by “listening to understand rather than reply” (Watanabe-Crockette 2017). Students must also be given the chance to communicate meaningfully with one another. Watanabe-Crockett lists eight avenues to improve communication skills, including watching films, using technology, asking open ended questions, and giving the students the opportunity to self-reflect (2017). A teacher can model effective listening strategies and present practical activities for communication, but there is not likely to be student engagement without an authentic audience. According to Miller, an authentic audience has a transformative effect on the learning process (2013). Authentic audiences range from displaying the student work in the school building to publishing blogs and video chatting with native speakers around the world (Miller, 2013).
In my classroom, I strive to put these methods into practice. After a semester of learning to communicate with each other through structured conversations and interviews, the first-year language-learners received letters from middle school students in France this week. Then they wrote letters to introduce themselves and those letters will be sent back to France. The second-year language-learners created skits about chores and published their videos to Flipgrid (https://flipgrid.com/ef94e8). The link to the videos was posted on social media with a survey, which the students helped develop, that allows the audience to choose what awards each skit should earn. The level of enthusiasm that I observe this past week was uplifting! I will continue to pursue more meaningful and authentic audiences with whom my students can communicate, while striving to improve their ability and understanding of clear communication.
Miller, M. (June 16, 2013) Authentic Audiences. Retrieved from http://thegoldfishbowl.edublogs.org/2013/06/16/authentic-audiences/
National Education Association. (n.d.). An Educator’s Guide to the “Four Cs.” Preparing for 21st Century Students for a Global Society. Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/A-Guide-to-Four-Cs.pdf
Rivers, D. (2015) Communication Skills for Success at Home & Work. Retrieved from http://www.newconversations.net/
Watanabe-Crockette, L. (Feb 22, 2017). 8 Methods for Effectively Improving Student Communication Skills. Retrieved from https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/8-methods-improving-student-communication-skills
In my classroom, I strive to put these methods into practice. After a semester of learning to communicate with each other through structured conversations and interviews, the first-year language-learners received letters from middle school students in France this week. Then they wrote letters to introduce themselves and those letters will be sent back to France. The second-year language-learners created skits about chores and published their videos to Flipgrid (https://flipgrid.com/ef94e8). The link to the videos was posted on social media with a survey, which the students helped develop, that allows the audience to choose what awards each skit should earn. The level of enthusiasm that I observe this past week was uplifting! I will continue to pursue more meaningful and authentic audiences with whom my students can communicate, while striving to improve their ability and understanding of clear communication.
Miller, M. (June 16, 2013) Authentic Audiences. Retrieved from http://thegoldfishbowl.edublogs.org/2013/06/16/authentic-audiences/
National Education Association. (n.d.). An Educator’s Guide to the “Four Cs.” Preparing for 21st Century Students for a Global Society. Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/A-Guide-to-Four-Cs.pdf
Rivers, D. (2015) Communication Skills for Success at Home & Work. Retrieved from http://www.newconversations.net/
Watanabe-Crockette, L. (Feb 22, 2017). 8 Methods for Effectively Improving Student Communication Skills. Retrieved from https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/8-methods-improving-student-communication-skills