The Kate Languages Podcast - S2 Ep4 - Speaking and writing

Structuring an Outstanding MFL Lesson - Speaking and writing

This was the fourth episode of season two of The Kate Languages Podcast. This season, I discussed the fundamentals of lesson planning, starting with how to kick off your lessons effectively, followed by how to introduce vocab and grammar to your students, and then covering the "passive" skills of listening and reading. This episode was all about the "active" skills - speaking and writing.

I have since developed many of the ideas discussed in this season further, and have delivered online CPD workshops all about "exploiting one text". You can purchase the recording of my "exploiting one text" workshop here.

The Active Skills: Bringing Language to Life

Speaking and writing are what we call 'active skills' in MFL teaching. Unlike listening and reading, which involve passively absorbing the target language, speaking and writing require students to produce language themselves. This shift from passive to active use is crucial in language learning, and it's where the rubber really meets the road.

Both skills are essential, but it's worth noting that in real-world scenarios, speaking often takes precedence. As someone with degrees in French and German and an A-level in Spanish, I can't remember the last time I wrote in these languages outside of professional contexts. However, in terms of GCSE exams, speaking and writing are equally weighted, so we need to dedicate similar amounts of time to both in our lessons.

Building on Solid Foundations

The key to successful speaking and writing activities is proper scaffolding. By the time you introduce these tasks, you should have already laid the groundwork through vocabulary introduction, listening, and reading activities. This preparatory work provides students with the language tools they'll need to express themselves.

Ideally, you want students to produce language by the end of a lesson. However, depending on the complexity of the topic and the length of your lessons, this might span across two or even three sessions. The important thing is to maintain a logical flow: introduce vocabulary, practise through passive skills, and then move on to active production.

One effective approach is to use the text from your listening or reading activity as a model for speaking and writing tasks. This gives students a clear template to work from, allowing them to focus on manipulating the language rather than starting from scratch.

Bridging the Gap: From Passive to Active

To help students transition from passive understanding to active use, consider incorporating translation exercises. These should be closely based on the vocabulary and texts you've been working with. For instance, if your text includes the sentence "I have a cat", you might ask students to translate "I have a dog" into the target language. This small change allows students to practice adapting familiar structures to express new ideas.

For writing tasks, I'm a fan of the GCSE format, which provides bullet points outlining what students need to include. This structure gives clear guidance while still allowing for creativity. In terms of length, be mindful of your students' age and ability. For Key Stage 3, you might aim for 50-100 words, gradually building up to the higher tier GCSE requirement of 150 words.

Speaking activities can take many forms. Role-plays, photo descriptions, and timed talks are all excellent options that mirror GCSE exam tasks. You might also consider questionnaires or 'find someone who' activities, which get students moving around the classroom and interacting with multiple partners. Just remember to be vigilant about enforcing target language use!

Creating Beautiful Work: Beyond the Exercise Book

One concept I find particularly inspiring comes from Mary Myatt's book on curriculum design: the idea of creating 'beautiful work'. This approach encourages us to think beyond the confines of exercise books and consider how we can make language production more meaningful and engaging.

For writing, this might mean taking that scribbled paragraph and transforming it into something students can be proud of. Perhaps they type it up and print it out, or maybe it becomes part of a class magazine or a personal mini-book about themselves in the target language. For speaking, consider having students record videos or audio clips. Many students find this motivating, and it provides a tangible record of their progress.

The beauty of this approach is that it allows for ongoing development. Over the course of several lessons, students can build up a larger piece of work, refining and expanding their language use. This could even form the basis of an end-of-unit assessment, giving students a clear goal to work towards.

Practical Tips for Classroom Implementation

When it comes to writing tasks, I strongly recommend having students complete them in class. While it might feel like you as the teacher are just sitting around, students often have numerous questions as they write. This setup allows you to circulate, offering immediate feedback and catching errors before they become ingrained. It also reduces the temptation for students to rely on tools like Google Translate, which they often do when they are set a writing task for homework.

After the initial writing session, collect the work and mark it closely. Then, get students to redraft based on your feedback. This process helps students learn from their mistakes and results in a polished piece of work they can be proud of.

For speaking activities, partner work is invaluable. Students can take turns being the 'teacher', asking questions while their partner responds. This not only provides speaking practice but also helps students become more comfortable with the types of questions they might encounter in assessments.

Remember, the goal of these activities is to help students transition from understanding the language to using it confidently. By building on the vocabulary and structures you've introduced through listening and reading, and by providing clear guidance and opportunities for creativity, you can help your students become active and enthusiastic users of the target language.

If you'd like to dive into this topic in more depth, you can now purchase my online course "Structuring an Outstanding MFL Lesson". NB This course is included in the Buy Everything package (but not yearly resources subscriptions).