The English class last night was wonderful. It was actually a combination of three English classes together in the auditorium of the University. The first part of the class was in English and the second part in Spanish. There were about 25 Argentines in the class and the 12 three week program students as well as a few students who are studying at UCEL for the semester. In total, there were about 50 people in the auditorium.
Our first activity was to greet each other; introduce ourselves and tell a little about why we were studying the respective languages. English learners were to speak in English and Spanish learners, in Spanish. At first the English students seemed a bit hesitant. I suppose the native English speakers had already overcome some of the fear of actually speaking the second language. We were already in an immersed situation and forced to use our new skills. However, once the students began speaking, the ice really broke.
After introductions, we were split into new groups. Each group received a sheet perceived cultural beliefs about the culture whose language we were studying. The statements were true/false, and we were given a few minutes to individually complete our sheets. Then we got together as a group and those from the U.S. checked the responses from the Argentines and they checked ours. If there were errors, we were to discuss the misconceptions. I believe this activity might have been more difficult for the Argentines because both cultural sheets were written in English. The sheet that we received on Argentine culture was in English and not in Spanish. We found that we really did not have many misconceptions; that our respective study of language had given us greater cultural knowledge.
The final activity was a faux amis activity. Words that looked similar in both languages were listed. Native English speakers described the word in English and the Spanish speakers had to write the Spanish word that corresponded with the meaning. Then we reversed roles. This particular activity was challenging and quite fun. It forced each team to really think about meaning and how to explain it in words that the others would understand.
Throughout the evening, there was a variety of activity and movement, and lots of speaking! At the end of the class, which came, it seemed, rather quickly, we posed for a group picture. The U.S. students were invited to come to any English class we wanted during our stay to help in speaking activities and to observe.
After the class, I had the opportunity to speak to one of the instructors. I commented on the variety of activities and how all of the students seemed to be engaged. She confided in me that several of her very weak students were actively participating and proud of the fact that they were able to communicate in the target language. She said that the real life situation was quite motivating for her students and she was surprised by the amount of participation on their part.
We then discussed multimodal instruction in the classroom and she reiterated its importance. She said she tried to incorporate a wide variety of activities with varying skills required during each class session. We also talked about the idea of immersion study and we agreed that immersion with guidance really seemed to be the best way to acquire strong second language skills. She said that she believed language acquisition could occur without that guidance but that it would require a highly motivated student in an appropriate setting.
Today also ended our first week of classes. We are all making progress, but we're going to take a well deserved vacation. In honor of the bicentennial celebration here in Argentina, we do not have classes again until next Wednesday. Sunday we are off for a two day excursion to Buenos Aires.
Hasta luego!
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