As a teacher of a foreign language (FL) there is drive to provide communication experiences and contact with native speakers. In my case, Japanese, I benefit from being in an area that is a popular working-holiday destination for Japanese people. But abundance doesn’t necessarily equal opportunity. So how do we offer up the chance for real-world contact? For me the goal is to have the students engage in purposeful communication. As a result, over the years my approach has evolved into “Authentic Not Necessarily Native”.
Peers: All of my units involve a ‘final’ task – modelled on a real-world situation. For example ‘daily routine’ becomes a “Murder Mystery”, food is a “Taste Test”. Travelling leads to a ‘Travel Fair’. For each of these students interact to provide information to each other – using the language authentically. As a class we have used Edmodo for ‘in class’ discussion on a topic. All communication is authentic and purposeful.
Peer Tutors: I regularly have senior students in my lower level classes. Many are earning ‘peer tutoring’ credits. We communicate only in Japanese and they, in turn, do so with students. It gives our students the opportunity to see that this is an actual ‘working’ language; and that they too will be able to sustain an interaction.
Technology: Although it may necessarily be one-way technology provides a myriad of ways to put ‘authentic language’ in front of students. YouTube commercials, dramas or telenovelas, songs, recorded messages at businesses etc are all examples of native speakers communicating a message.
International Education Programs: In our district we also have international education programs for foreign school groups. We volunteer an afternoon to host them – a unique peer to peer experience.
Perhaps the most important though is building communication skills. If I can’t always give my students the chance to speak with a ‘native’ I can give them the confidence to do so whenever that may occur. It is building that sense of a willingness to risk, modeling and practicing communication strategies that will hold them in good stead when they do. These include the ability to ‘rephrase’, to ask for clarification and to use visual clues to aid understanding.
Ultimately it is the students themselves who seek opportunities to interact. Whether they are doing that currently, or in the future, my goal is to give them the willingness to do so.
Colleen
