1. Ideas 1.
ALL June Event
Rachel Hawkes

2. Joined up! Integrating skills and blurring the boundaries in language learning
This session presents some tried and tested ideas for languages teaching that focus on developing confidence and spontaneity in communication. With one eye on Ofsted and one on the new national curriculum programmes of study for KS3, the tasks and approaches shared in the session involve the integration of different skills and motivate learners, promoting independence and creativity and encouraging learning within and beyond the classroom.
There are so many things we can join up in language learning, to make things more coherent, effective and enjoyable. Above all, we we should adopt the principle that the more explicit the joining up, the better. Relatively few people (adults or children) can join things up implicitly – make illuminating links between seemingly disconnected pieces of knowledge – but when those links are made explicit then we can fly. This is a principle we can apply to language learning at all levels.

3. Joined up!
KS2 + KS3
I am going to confine myself to 5 ‘joining up’ strands / ideas in this session. The first one is a biggie! The idea of joining up KS2 and KS3.

4. Listening
listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding
explore the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the spelling, sound and meaning of words
Speaking
engage in conversations; ask and answer questions; express opinions and respond to those of others; seek clarification and help*
speak in sentences, using familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic language structures
develop accurate pronunciation and intonation so that others understand when they are reading aloud or using familiar words and phrases*
present ideas and information orally to a range of audiences*
Reading
read carefully and show understanding of words, phrases and simple writing
appreciate stories, songs, poems and rhymes in the language
broaden their vocabulary and develop their ability to understand new words that are introduced into familiar written material, including through using a dictionary
Writing
write phrases from memory, and adapt these to create new sentences, to express ideas clearly
describe people, places, things and actions orally* and in writing
Grammar
understand basic grammar appropriate to the language being studied, such as (where relevant): feminine, masculine and neuter forms and the conjugation of high-frequency verbs; key features and patterns of the language; how to apply these, for instance, to build sentences; and how these differ from or are similar to English.
listen to a variety of forms of spoken language to obtain information and respond appropriately
transcribe words and short sentences that they hear with increasing accuracy
initiate and develop conversations, coping with unfamiliar language and unexpected responses, making use of important social conventions such as formal modes of address
express and develop ideas clearly and with increasing accuracy, both orally and in writing
speak coherently and confidently, with increasingly accurate pronunciation and intonation
read and show comprehension of original and adapted materials from a range of different sources, understanding the purpose, important ideas and details, and provide an accurate English translation of short, suitable material
read literary texts in the language, such as stories, songs, poems and letters, to stimulate ideas, develop creative expression and expand understanding of the language and culture
write prose using an increasingly wide range of grammar and vocabulary, write creatively to express their own ideas and opinions, and translate short written text accurately into the foreign language.
identify and use tenses or other structures which convey the present, past, and future as appropriate to the language being studied
use and manipulate a variety of key grammatical structures and patterns, including voices and moods, as appropriate
develop and use a wide-ranging and deepening vocabulary that goes beyond their immediate needs and interests, allowing them to give and justify opinions and take part in discussion about wider issues
use accurate grammar, spelling and punctuation.
KS2
KS3
KS2 on the left and KS3 on the right Adapted to show more clearly the continuity between KS2 and KS3 Joining up KS2 and KS3 – arguably the most important piece of work we will do in our careers over the next 5 x years. The level of responsibility for this will differ, Heads of languages in secondary schools will have an obligation to grapple with it – otherwise their learners will not reach the levels required at the end of KS4 (even though we have not see what those are, we can guess from Curriculum 14 that the standards will be tough). But classroom teachers have the responsibility similarly to respond to what the learners in front of them know – to build on it, to notice the words, skills they already have, and not to assume a ‘from zero’ approach in Y7. There are things we can do to make this explicit, too. Group learners strategically and give them the theme for the lesson and a piece of sugar paper to write down any TL words at all that they think they might be able to make use of in that topic area. Get them to share all of the words in the group – including teaching each other the words.
Welcome their previous knowledge, and make it clear that it all counts.
This new NC document may be minimal, but sometimes there is strength in that. I found that this has been the first document that I’ve been able to share with heads of primary schools to get the message across about the need for sharing a common 7-year purpose and framework. It really hasn’t been clear enough before now. For the first time, there is a sense of pulling together – and a championing of the languages cause in the same way that primary and secondary have come together over literacy and numeracy – in terms of transition – ie. recognising the need for regular meetings and for sharing practice. This all on one A4 page doc has been a helpful catalyst here.
Let’s just take the sound-spelling link statement at KS2.

5. At KS2 they need to begin to link sound and spelling
At KS2 they need to begin to link sound and spelling. At KS3 that is the foundation stone on which we will build transcription. What might this look like? Sharing phonics – Since a visit to Judgemeadow school earlier this year I have re-evaluated what was on our classroom walls. We used to pride ourselves on our classroom displays – 2004 it was commented on by Ofsted and other visitors – that there was no doubt what was being learnt in these classrooms and that the walls spoke! Over time plates stop spinning and sometimes fall off – this has been our experience with our classroom displays. So we have decided to display our phonics – also shared with primary – as a visual language of continuity between KS2 and 3. This is scaffolding for transcription – and when new words are taught or arise spontaneously, the teacher can prompt transcription, using the phonics displays, encouraging students to test out their hypothesis first and write the word as they think it is, and then checking.
araña

6. a
animal
This is the reverse – these are hanging in the classrooms.
I’m not saying that there is any one way to ‘join up’ KS2 and KS3, but I am saying that it is a priority – it won’t stop being a priority just because the government refuses to find any money for it either!
We will do what people always have to do – make choices and prioritise. If we make it the most important priority then we will see impact, money or no money.
Can do approach required!
más
cuatro

7. classroom talk & curriculum language
Joined up!
KS2 + KS3
classroom talk & curriculum language
The next thing that we need to give some thought to joining up – the everyday TL of the classroom and the curriculum language we teach.
If we’re not careful these can get a bit separated.

8. Listening
listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding
explore the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the spelling, sound and meaning of words
Speaking
engage in conversations; ask and answer questions; express opinions and respond to those of others; seek clarification and help*
speak in sentences, using familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic language structures
develop accurate pronunciation and intonation so that others understand when they are reading aloud or using familiar words and phrases*
present ideas and information orally to a range of audiences*
Reading
read carefully and show understanding of words, phrases and simple writing
appreciate stories, songs, poems and rhymes in the language
broaden their vocabulary and develop their ability to understand new words that are introduced into familiar written material, including through using a dictionary
Writing
write phrases from memory, and adapt these to create new sentences, to express ideas clearly
describe people, places, things and actions orally* and in writing
Grammar
understand basic grammar appropriate to the language being studied, such as (where relevant): feminine, masculine and neuter forms and the conjugation of high-frequency verbs; key features and patterns of the language; how to apply these, for instance, to build sentences; and how these differ from or are similar to English.
listen to a variety of forms of spoken language to obtain information and respond appropriately
transcribe words and short sentences that they hear with increasing accuracy
initiate and develop conversations, coping with unfamiliar language and unexpected responses, making use of important social conventions such as formal modes of address
express and develop ideas clearly and with increasing accuracy, both orally and in writing
speak coherently and confidently, with increasingly accurate pronunciation and intonation
read and show comprehension of original and adapted materials from a range of different sources, understanding the purpose, important ideas and details, and provide an accurate English translation of short, suitable material
read literary texts in the language, such as stories, songs, poems and letters, to stimulate ideas, develop creative expression and expand understanding of the language and culture
write prose using an increasingly wide range of grammar and vocabulary, write creatively to express their own ideas and opinions, and translate short written text accurately into the foreign language.
identify and use tenses or other structures which convey the present, past, and future as appropriate to the language being studied
use and manipulate a variety of key grammatical structures and patterns, including voices and moods, as appropriate
develop and use a wide-ranging and deepening vocabulary that goes beyond their immediate needs and interests, allowing them to give and justify opinions and take part in discussion about wider issues
use accurate grammar, spelling and punctuation.
KS2
KS3
At first glance, if you look at the KS2 statement it will make you think of Y7/8. Look at the KS3 one and it seems like GCSE! This is where I think it helps to think about the word ‘coversation’ in the context of the classroom. This starts small as a concept and must necessarily involve all of the routine classroom communication in the target language. There is no other way in which we can ensure that students can ask and answer questions or can seek clarification and help, or can use formal modes of address. We have to teach this language and then insist on its use, consistently over the 5 years of secondary. This is team work and must be joined up across the whole department. There is no point one teacher developing TL use with his/her class and then passing them on to another teacher who works differently and doesn’t use the TL for routine communication in the classroom.
This is by no means to claim that if teachers use TL then pupils will be able to use it and will go beyond the boundaries of what they have been taught to try to manipulate and use language spontaneously. That requires an attitude of mind from the teacher that this is natural and necessary and simply must and will happen. That means that the teacher is constantly looking out for opportunities to exploit the classroom talk and to elicit spontaneity from students. That is different. But, bottom line is, none of that could possibly happen unless there is consistency with the basics. Teaching TL for classroom communication and then insisting on it. Not radical, not new, but it just works. The DfE project on target language this year has proved to me, if I needed any convincing, that any teacher with any class can teach successfully (key word – successfully) in the TL – it is just a question of sticking to your guns. But clearly, it’s helpful if the whole dept is swimming in the same direction. Again, the Curriculum 14 doc is helpful in that respect.

9. Good / excellent teacher use of TL
Carefully planned imaginative activities guide and support pupils to communicate enthusiastically both orally and in writing in the target language and secure outstanding progress.
Pupils willingly participate in activities that require them to use the language to communicate orally and in writing.
But there is also powerful pressure from Ofsted to make this a reality.
Let’s look at these –which are good and which are outstanding? What’s the difference?
April 2012 Ofsted subject specific guidance (this is still in preparation for September 2012)
Two are Good and two are Outstanding. Is this enough detail? Do we know what we’re aiming at? Clear difference between good and outstanding is that with outstanding it’s all about the pupils. It is taken as read that the use of TL by the teacher has been skilful enough to generate the confidence and ability in learners such that they choose to communicate and communicate successfully. But it would be helpful to have more detail here, wouldn’t it?
Teachers routinely use the target language for classroom communication and generally insist on pupils responding in the language.
Pupils use the language with little prompting for routine classroom communication as well as for specific purposes.

10. Outstanding
(1)
The TL is the dominant means of communication in the lesson and teachers have high expectations of learners’ use at an appropriate level. As a result, learners seek to use the TL as the normal means of communication when talking to the teacher or informally to each other.
Teachers informally monitor and assess spontaneous TL use, keeping track of learners’ progress in order to ensure their expectations increase as they move through the school.
Teachers’ target language use is monitored by subject leaders and good practice is regularly shared across the department resulting in a high level of consistency.
Good
(2)
Teachers provide a consistently fluent and accurate model of the foreign language for learners to emulate. English is only used where appropriate.
Learners occasionally respond to the teacher spontaneously in the TL, but do not seek to use it to communicate with each other.
Learners are expected to use the TL with greater fluency as they move through the key stages.
Teachers ensure all pupils experience the need to react to unpredictable elements in conversations. Teachers praise and encourage spontaneous use by students when it occurs.
There is a high level of consistency in the quality and quantity of TL use across the department, supported by a unified departmental policy.
This is helpful additional detail.
Ofsted good practice website Guidance document only – produced by Elaine Taylor – Director of Languages at Ofsted / Lead HMI
How do we move a whole department towards this – there is a v big hint that consistency across a department is a big factor in leading to outstanding practice in this area?

11. vous donner nos cahiers?
parler?
travailler à deux?
écrire?
Il faut…
With 15 teachers in my dept from September, it’s been time to look again at consistency and to put on our walls things that we will exploit and expect students to exploit in lessons. The aim has been to set these up not as set phrases but building blocks that have infinite variations, only 6 of which are provided on the poster. it will then be down to the classteacher to spot the opportunities for development that arise during lessons. For each language, we have 7 of these TL hubs displayed.
They are designed to include formal modes of address Pouvez-vous, and the examples given are directly relevant to the classroom context. But the idea is that when new language from the curriculum has a useful tie-in with any language in the posters, the teacher makes the link explicitly. You can easily see how this happens, if you look at the c’etait and the j’ai slides.
This joining up is joining up the language of the classroom with the language of the curriculum more explicitly.
mémoriser?
coller?
vous donner nos cahiers?

12. Pouvez-vous… signer mon mérite? m’aider? lire ça?
parler plus lentement?
répéter?
donner un exemple?
Salut!
Salut!
Bonjour
ex: J’adore la musique!
Salut!
Ça va?
Pouvez-vous…
signer mon mérite?
m’aider?
lire ça?

13. C’était… pas mal facile très un peu difficile assez rigolo! affreux!
ennuyeux
Ha ha ha!

14. J’ai… faim/soif un chien un problème une idée tout bon! Geburtstag
einen Hund
mal à la tête
perdido

15. classroom talk & curriculum language
Joined up!
KS2 + KS3
classroom talk & curriculum language
The 3rd aspect of joining up language learning experience relates specifically to joining up the 4 skills as much as possible in the classroom. This is obviously a vast area, and I’m not yet half way through, so I need to limit myself to just one example! I’m going to use one which keeps coming up trumps and finding a fertile reception (mixing metaphors!) no matter who it’s shared with.
skills

16. Hotseating Joining up and integrating skills in the classroom
Using reading for speaking – the simplest ideas are sometimes the best.
Graz experience – you wonder how teachers of English from a very different tradition and school system are going to react to what were essentially my ideas just put into TEFL context.
One of the ideas that seemed to grab people immediately was Hotseating. I have had s since saying that they have tried it out successfully in the classroom, too!
One of the things we always say that students can’t do as well as we’d like is form questions.
What do we do about that?
Exploit every possible opportunity to get them to do that.
One source of material that is ideal is reading texts from the textbook.
Hotseating is for me one of the best ways to exploit some of the reading texts in any textbook. Here is one example of such a text from Studio 2. The idea is that the text, rather than being useful as reading comprehension – it is too straightforward for that really! – does provide some very useful language to be ‘harvested’ by students to help structure their own spoken responses. In this way it provides both the stimulus material for the class to generate questions and for one member of the class (or the group, if you can set this up as a group activity) to be ‘hotseated’ to answer the questions as if s/he were the author of the text. This particular text lends itself to 4 different ‘hotseats’ so that the role of answerer can be rotated around the group. The rest of the group have to generate questions on the content of the text. The idea is that the answers should ‘use up’ all of the information provided by the text.

17. Salut. Je m’appelle Clarisse et j’habite à Fonainebleau
Salut! Je m’appelle Clarisse et j’habite à Fonainebleau. Je suis drôle et intelligente et je suis fan de foot! Le foot, c’est ma passion. Mon équipe, c’est le PSG. Mon frère Rény est très sympa. En genéral on s’entend bien et normalement on regarde les matches de foot ensemble. Hier soir, j’ai regardé un match de foot international à la télé, J’ai mangé du popcorn, comme d’hab. Le weekend dernier, je suis allée au Parc des Princes où j’ai regardé le PSG contre Auxerre. J’ai aimé le match parce qu’il y a eu deux pénalties. Après le match, je suis allée au café où j’ai mangé un sandwich. ❶ ❷
Text taken from Studio 2 – Heinemann course. Module 3 unit 5. p.56 ❸ ❹

18. 1
Comment t’appelles tu? 2
Où habites-tu? 3
Tu es comment? 4
Tu es drôle? Tu es intelligent? 5
Quel est ton sport préféré? 6
Quelle est ta passion? 7
Quelle est ton équipe préférée? 8
Qui est Rény? 9
Tu as des frères ou des soeurs? 10
Comment s’appelle ton frère? 11
Ton frère, il est comment? 12
On se dispute? 13
Qu’est-ce qu’on fait ensemble? 14
Qu’est-ce que tu aimes faire avec ton frère?

19. 15
Qu’est-ce que tu fais normalement avec ton frère? 16
Qu’est-ce que tu as fait hier soir? 17
Tu as mangé quelquechose? 18
Qu’est-ce que tu as fait le weekend dernier? 19
Le PSG, c’est quoi? 20
C’était bien le match? Pourquoi? 21
Le PSG a gagné? 22
Qu’est-ce que tu as fait après le match?

20. classroom talk & curriculum language inside & outside the classroom
Joined up!
KS2 + KS3
classroom talk & curriculum language
Joining up inside and outside the classroom – Again, there are so many ways to do this, many of which I have spoken about ad nauseam, over a period of a decade or so! (this is fairly scary!)
Competition – Award Schemes – Exchange activities
So, again, to keep specific and give one example from this year – a particular highlight was last month’s German exchange.
inside & outside the classroom
skills

23. Joined up! KS2 + KS3 classroom talk & curriculum language
‘real’ + classroom - resources
There are so many other ways of ‘joining up’ language learning experience and practice. But I hope these few thoughts from my practice this year give will sow a few seeds of ideas with you.
inside & outside the classroom
skills

24. http://www. tripadvisor
As part of our DfE project work this year, we had a strand called Challenge and Choice. The aim was to develop and trial some approaches to using authentic resources with particular classes / year groups. Here is just one that proved really positive with and Y9 German class.
trip advisor website is brilliant for language lessons – holidays, restaurants etc.. in all languages.
Trip advisor website was used to explore new language in preparation for writing a review of a restaurant.
The language generated was then used to inform their answers for their first speaking assessment for which there were some lovely examples of where they had used the trip advisor language to comment more widely on “die Bedienung” for example and use lovely adjectives such as aufmerksam, schmackhaft und höflich.

25. Joined up! KS2 + KS3 classroom talk & curriculum language
‘real’ + classroom - resources
There are so many other ways of ‘joining up’ language learning experience and practice. But I hope these few thoughts from my practice this year give will sow a few seeds of ideas with you.
inside & outside the classroom
skills

26. www.rachelhawkes.com www.camteach.org.uk
This presentation is on my website. The various resources – including the classroom display materials for French, German and Spanish are on TES. The trip advisor lesson and 1st year outcomes from the DfE project are all on our teaching schools website.