Essential Skills
These are fundamental skills that every teacher needs in their toolkit.
Before we start unpacking various strategies used for
proficiency-oriented language teaching, we must start with the
fundamental skills every proficiency-oriented language teacher needs in
their toolkit. These core skills are used in every strategy presented in this resource library. Every skill has been described, rehashed, theorized,
and eloquently presented by so many other educators. Click on the links provided to get the full understanding of each skill.
The skills themselves are simple in explanation. But
to execute them well, it takes a mindset shift, conscious practice, and
bravery to step away from the structure of a powerpoint or safety of
textbook drills to really embracing language as communication with your
students.
Essential Skills
Expand & Enrich your toolbox
1
Being Comprehensible
What does that mean? No strategy or activity will do language learners any good if they can't understand you. Teachers must practice being comprehensible speakers - scaffolding their language, sheltering vocabulary (but not grammar), giving lots of repetitions, checking for comprehension, etc.
Check out Sarah Breckley's hilarious and excellent video to learn
more. (Bonus! She also explains the rest of these essential skills
within her one video.) If you're more of a reader, Martina Bex also gives an excellent run down of this.
2
Pointing and Pausing
A simple act with mega power. Pausing after expressing a chunk of language and then pointing to that chunk either on the board where it's written or on a word chart somewhere around the room ensures that all students can understand what is being expressed, even those who have checked out for a moment. The role of this slow procedure is to get students to recognize and process the word quickly and in context.
Terry Waltz describes this and the Super 7 verbs. Martina Bex also describes the Super 7. Cécile Lainé talks about it.
Mike Peto expanded the Super 7 into Sweet 16.
3
Going Slow
It is so important to go slow to allow the language learner to process, slower than you probably think you need to be. This ensures the learners are given the space and time to comprehend what is being expressed. It may feel painfully slow to you, given that you are the bilingual person in the room. But the slower you go, the more you are able to ensure you are bringing all your learners along with you.
Justin Slocum Bailey is a master at this practice. Blair Richards gives a beautiful reflection on what going slow means. Carol Gaab demos this.
4
Comprehension Checks
When a teacher checks for comprehension, they are using the students' response to determine if it's time to move on to the next topic, or if it's necessary to spend more time on the current one. These quick comprehension checks help the teacher keep the pulse of the class. When all students are understanding the input they are getting, all students will further their language acquisition.
So how do we check for comprehension? Martina Bex details 5 guidelines and 4 ways to do this, including ideas for formative assessments. Thomas Sauer's infographic from the TELL project is also helpful.
5
Personalized Questions & Answers (PQA)
Ask your students questions but, instead of keeping them general for whole-class responses, PQA involves asking one student a question and then following up with another. Then involve the rest of the class by stating back to them what was said, with enthusiasm, as if this is the most interesting thing you've heard all day. Go back to that student and get another tidbit or two. Compare two student's answers. This skill centers the students as the content and can create magic for storybuilding together.
Martina Bex has a great post about it. Susan Gross gives a step-by-step. Alina Filipescu has a great demo. Bryce Hedstrom takes the whole idea further with Special Person Interviews
6
Shelter Vocabulary
Because language is not stored in lists or categorized by rules in our brains, we must use language naturally, in a sheltered manner that promotes comprehension, and allows students' brains to do the natural work of language acquisition. Focusing on high-frequency words and structures naturally promotes their acquisition since they are likely to come up over and over again.
Claudia Elliot explains this process clearly. See Martina Bex's post for more nuanced ideas. Krashen dives into non-targeted vs targeted structures. Tina Hargaden talks required word lists & grammar.
7
Grammar in Context
Teaching grammatical points explicitly does not lead to students using them proficiently to communicate. Instead, research shows that grammar is acquired in context. It is a slow process, yes, one that cannot be sped up through memorization. Knowledge about the language does not convert into acquired language. It stays as knowledge. For better understanding, Susan Gross describes the order of acquisition per Krashen.
Scott Benedict has several great ideas how to teach grammar in context. Tina Hargaden has shared sample lessons. Bill VanPatten talks Vocab & Grammar on ep. 58 and ep. 12 of Tea with BVP. Martina Bex talks Pop-up Grammar.
8
Use your body
We communicate with our voices but also with our bodies! Body language can be intentional and exaggerated to help connect meaning to verbal expressions. In fact, there exists an entire body of research devoted to showing just how powerful gestures can be in meaning-making. (Check out the Total Physical Response [TPR] strategy and James Asher.) Facial expressions, gestures, sound effects, illustrating, and acting out phrases has profound impact on students comprehension.
Martina Bex gives some tips for utilizing these tools as well as TPR.
9
Practice makes progress!
There are so many tools in our teacher toolkit. These 8 mentioned here are a big starting point. It can feel overwhelming. How do you know if you're doing it right? How do you know if you're using the right skill for the given job?
Practice. Trial and error. Modeling what it looks like not to give up if you fail once. You can't get better by thinking about getting better. It starts by trying one thing, working at it, maybe failing, then trying again.
Some tools you may already have in your tool kit. Others will come easily to you. And others will take a concerted effort to use and practice continuously. You got this!
Ready for more?
Strategies
Click on any box below to explore the strategies listed here for proficiency-oriented language instruction.
