From Dependence to Independence: Language Acquisition

How can I help my students move away from dependence and toward interdependence and independence?

That's the question I touched on in an earlier post. 

The adult immigrants I've worked with constantly talk up the American Dream: they came here to get a better life, better job, better future for their kids.  Now, we can quibble about how realistic that dream is.  But to help them move toward it means helping them feel more independent and have the skills to be more independent.

How do we do that in an adult ESOL classroom?  I see at least three areas: Language Acquisition, Classroom Culture, and Community-Building.  Today, I'll focus on language.

Stoking Independence in Language Acquisition: There's a concept called the "Atlas Complex," in which language teachers tend to prance around theatrically, make themselves the center of attention, and constantly treat students to a torrent of corrections and insider hints about the language to be learned.  There are definitely times when the teacher should explicitly model things and lead the class.  Indeed, I could write a long post on the essentials of teacher-directed task of comprehensible input.  I did some of that every day as an ESOL teacher.  But in general it's much more effective to move students toward talking and using the language themselves, once they're ready.  Some ideas on that front:

• Correct where it makes sense to correct.  Now, I'm generally a believer in Doug Lemov's concept of "Right is Right," but the limit of that approach in language acquisition is that overcorrecting students can actually impede language learning for speakers at certain levels.  More broadly it stifles students' sense that they are co-creators of the classroom experience, a key ingredient of a lively language class.  So be purposeful about when you provide correction.  I started every class with an active language warm-up (5-8 minutes), and never corrected, because I prioritized getting the juices flowing and didn't want to shut students down emotionally by jumping in.  In structured vocabulary and grammar lessons, I did correct, and early--I would rotate and monitor, take notes on trends, and provide feedback.  When we did activities like having students analyze a problem in their community, it was about content, not perfect language use.  There, I focused on building higher-order thinking skills and let incorrect usages slide.  There's a time for correctness, and a time for fluency.  Maximize opportunities for students to be comfortable and talking--the more they own the language, the more they're building skills to survive the real world.

• Correct in a "least restrictive" way.  The special-education concept of "least restrictive environment" is useful in ESOL, too.  Students will depend less on you and build their own interdependence and independence if given chances to find corrections themselves.  If a situation arises where students correctness matters, and a student says, Does she has a fever? consider moving through this taxonomy to help them find the correct statement:
•  Indirect correction: Say, Does she ... (drawing out the pause, making it obvious there's a correction needed) or say, Does she has?  This prompts the student to reconsider and try again.  If that fails, give her another chance, then try ...
• Peer correction: Say, Can you ask a classmate? or Can XX help you? or Can you check your book? If that fails, try ...
• Guided direct correction: Say, Does she has or Does she have?  That final one almost always does the trick.  It's also a form of comprehensible input.
• As an alternative in some activities, try delayed feedback.  If many students are making a mistake, put the options on the board, stop class, and go over them.  Nobody feels called out, everybody who needed help benefits, and you've made the error explicit.
• That said, You don't need to hover.  Often, students will correct each other--if you've created a culture of collaboration (more on that in a later post).  This builds interdependence beautifully.
• And pick your battles.  Even in an activity where correct speech is desirable, nobody wants constant correction.  Break down someone's emotional strength and you've broken down their ability to learn--and especially to learn a language.  Space out corrections.  Keep a pulse on who's receptive to what kind of correction.  Depends on the situation.

• Up the student talking time (STT).  Students learn more language when they work with each other, ask questions, negotiate speech.  Few things are as important to linking language learning in class to language use in the world as this step.  There are lots of ways to structure a class to do it.  Here's one simple technique I've found success with: Two Lines:
• Students stand up and form two lines, facing each other.
• They do whatever the speaking activity is with the person they're facing--model it first!
• The teacher moves alongside the line, listening.
• After a minute or two, student pairs perform.  Offer corrections if need be. the person at the end of one line goes to the other end, and everybody moves down a step, thus forming new partners.
• Students continue the task.
• What's good about this?  By changing partners, students hear a range of accents.  That's a life skill.  They're exposed to more speakers who produce more variety of language, which is good for learning new words.  Errors have a better shot at natural correction in a classmate pairing.  And it's movement, a break from desks.

Correcting when necessary, correcting purposefully, and upping student talking time are all great steps to getting students engaged in the very ins-and-outs of learning a language.  There's a lot more to moving students toward independence, but in a language classroom, these hints should help them take a big first step there.