{"id":31156,"date":"2019-03-25t09:07:29","date_gmt":"2019-03-25t14:07:29","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/?p=31156"},"modified":"2019-03-13t12:11:44","modified_gmt":"2019-03-13t17:11:44","slug":"teaching-in-the-l2-at-the-novice-level-guidelines-for-foreign-languages-teaching-assistants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/2019\/03\/teaching-in-the-l2-at-the-novice-level-guidelines-for-foreign-languages-teaching-assistants\/","title":{"rendered":"teaching in the l2 at the novice level: guidelines for foreign languages teaching assistants"},"content":{"rendered":"
by jos\u00e9 luis de ram\u00f3n ruiz, teaching affiliate<\/h5>\n

foreign languages departments are often keenly aware of the importance of maximizing classroom time to offer comprehensible input for their students. however, conducting an entire class in the l2 can be overwhelming for new instructors, especially for those teaching classes at the novice level. will my students be able to follow my lesson? how can i make the input more comprehensible? when is it appropriate to use the l1? during the foreign languages session at the 2018 teaching assistant orientation, we tried to answer these questions for the new teaching assistants in the french, german, and spanish departments.<\/p>\n

1) will my students be able to follow my lesson?<\/p>\n

having a routine will help you create a space where you can stay in the l2 without losing your students along the way. the content of each class will be different, but maintaining a similar structure will help the students follow the lesson. a great way to structure your class is around the experiential cycle<\/a>.[1]<\/a> in addition to the research behind the benefits of the cycle to promote learning, its four steps will give each class a foreseeable structure that will help your students stay on track.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

start your class with step 1 by offering your students an authentic experience. for instance, when teaching commands, i give my students a paper boat, a new sheet of paper, and the folding instructions for building the boat. then, i ask them to work in pairs and try to reproduce the boat by reading and following the directions. in doing so, they start using commands before we even start talking about them. in step 2, through a questionnaire, they reflect about the new grammatical mood they have been using. in step 3, they receive formal instruction on the grammar. and finally, in step 4, they get to use commands to teach their classmates something they know: how to get to the library, how to make a cake, how to draw something, etc. the experiential learning cycle provides a model that you can reproduce for every grammar class you teach.<\/p>\n

there are several ways in which you can structure your class. however, the main takeaway here is that having a specific structure in your class will help your students follow your lessons better when you teach only in the l2.<\/p>\n

2) how can i make the input more comprehensible?<\/p>\n

in addition to having a routine, successfully teaching a (novice) class in the l2 requires great amounts of comprehensible input. if the students cannot make sense of the l2, they will not process the input and language acquisition will not take place. however, making input comprehensible, especially at the novice level, can be quite challenging. here are some suggestions that may help you make the input more comprehensible:<\/p>\n