Blog

On May 31st, LangChat participants were asked, “What role does the L1 play in the L2 classroom?” L1 use in the classroom is a controversial subject among language teachers, so this topic made for a great debate! We heard opinions from all sides: from those who use L1 when necessary to those who feel that […]

On May 24th, our LangChat participants tackled an important topic: What pre-reading/listening strategies help students better comprehend authentic materials? Everyone had a lot to share! Setting the Stage Participants shared a variety of tools that they have found helpful in setting the stage for their students before tackling authentic materials. @CoLeeSensei tries to provide context […]

Welcome back! On May 17th, our participants were asked, “How do we maximize use of the target language in our classes?” Everyone shared a wealth of great ideas for keeping both their students and themselves on task and engaged in the target language. Target Language from Day 1? Staying in the target language can be […]

Hello again! As promised, here is the summary of a thought-provoking LangChat that took place back in May. Our moderators asked, How do you connect your students to target language speakers? Finding Target Language Speakers at Home Nothing can totally replace face-to-face human interaction, and participants had lots of great ideas for getting students interacting […]

As language educators, we know that language and culture are inseparable. During our recent #langchat twitter conversation, we explored what we can do to overcome resistance from students to learning about the culture of target language people groups. To start off the conversation, we all acknowledged that culture in the world language classroom is important. […]

Welcome back to #langchat everyone! Our last discussion on Thursday led us into an exciting chat about reading in novice language classes. With so much focus on listening and speaking, novice learners might feel overwhelmed when presented with a block of foreign text. How do we ease them into recognition and understanding? All of our […]

We had a fantastic and informative chat via Twitter this past Thursday as our educators discussed oral participation in language classrooms for novice students. More specifically, how much participation should we expect, and how do we assess oral capabilities? Thanks to all of our participants of the discussion, and a special thanks to Kristy Placido […]

Cultural items like food are just some of the ways that #langchat participants are using authentic resources in their classrooms. “Authentic resources can be anything from the target culture that exercises their senses, from visuals to food,” newcomer @weslotero explained during Thursday night’s #langchat. While many teachers know the value of using authentic audio and […]

Hello everyone and welcome back to #langchat! We had an enjoyable and fast-paced discussion this past Thursday via Twitter, and we’ve included the summary of the night’s discussion below for your convenience. Our topic for the night was how to develop your own curriculum for world-language classes. Thanks to all our participants for the night, […]

We had a phenomenal #langchat this past Thursday with lots of resources and some great debate. Our topic of the night was what visuals or manipulatives in class really get kids involved in learning. Thank you to all our participants, and a special thank you to our moderators of the night, Erica Fischer (@CalicoTeach) and […]