Simplifying French for Students - How pared-down language accelerates learning
[This month we’re excited to feature a story from Wendy on the blog. She’ll be talking about her experience and suggestions for using pared-down language teaching strategies to make teaching and learning languages easy.]
We often think that teaching using beautiful, complex language will help students learn French better. In my experience, this is far from the truth.
I’ve found more consistent results when teaching through the “less is more” policy to build a linguistic foundation. In language learning, this means using pared-down language.
In this blog post, I’m going to share my experiences studying and applying pared-down language in the French classroom.
Lessons in learning
Imagine building a house. It’s impossible to build the walls, roof, or inside of the home without a floor or foundation to build from. In language learning, it is the same - we need a foundation of language in order to build language proficiency.
I have spoken to many adults who have been learning a second language for 5 years (or more) but don’t feel confident enough to have a natural conversation in that language. This is a travesty! Imagine taking any other course for 5 years and not feeling that you've learned anything!!
Why does proficiency not develop in many language courses? It’s because students never build a foundation upon which to develop proficiency.
I realized this myself after teaching my students French through communicative and thematic approaches. After several years, my students couldn’t carry on a simple conversation.
I knew I had to find a better way to teach or stop teaching altogether. I chose the former.
Thematic approach vs AIM teaching strategies
Traditionally (and to this day) many educators teach second languages thematically. This is where a teacher picks a theme (like animals, clothing, or Halloween) and teaches the nouns and keywords related to that theme. While many students learn these nouns and phrases, they do not develop an ability to apply them in authentic conversations
I believe that the focus for beginning language learners should be on verbs so that they are able to express ‘the things that we do’. For French language learners, I further simplify verbs by focusing on the ‘regularized stem’ (veut, peut, doit, aime, sait, etc…) and by avoiding the ‘nous’ and ‘vous’ forms at first. This removes the complexity of learning to ‘conjugate’ initially.
My term for the vocabulary I use in AIM is ‘Pared-Down Language’ (PDL). It is a set of specially selected, high-frequency words that are essential for beginning language learners to master in order to build a strong foundation in the limited time we have in our French class.
I found my students were becoming more proficient and conversational in French than I’d seen before.
What is the Pared-Down Language?
Below is a summary of the seven main components of the PDL:
1. Emphasis on verbs
Verbs are the centre of linguistic competence. The core PDL for French includes over 200 verbs! The heart of the PDL contains verbs that are not traditionally taught in early second language acquisition as they are morphologically complex (such as faire, aller, devoir, pouvoir, prendre, mettre, savoir etc.).
This high emphasis on verbs runs contrary to thematic-based language teaching approaches but I’ve found that these verbs are essential to accelerating student language learning.
2. Cognates are included
Cognates (words that have a root or similar meaning in another language) are used in AIM’s PDL. These include words like:
- table/ table
- fantastique /fantastic
- crayon /crayon
3. Use of the regularized stem
AIM’s initial focus on the regularized verb stem parallels the first language learner's natural tendency to use a regularized stem in the beginning stages of communication. When speaking, students use this verb form for first-, second-, and third-person singular, and third-person plural.
Start with verbs where the verb form is orally identical (such as in ‘marche’). This helps teachers rapidly accelerate the acquisition of the regularized stem, so students can access over 100 verbs to begin their development of their language foundation.
We introduce reflexive verbs in the third person initially. Here, the reflexive form ‘se’ is used (e.g. se lève, s’assoit) .introduce double verb conjugations (je veux manger), passé composé (tu as parlé).
Vous and nous are introduced initially as object pronouns. The nous and vous forms are introduced once proficiency with the other forms is fully established.
4. The PDL includes all the essential irregular verbs
AIM’s PDL includes essential irregular verbs as they are used with high frequency in the French language. These verbs include:
- pouvoir
- vouloir
- devoir.
- savoir
- avoir
- être
- faire
- Aller
For beginners, AIM teachers will introduce the regularized third-person stem for these verbs, which orally, applies often to the first and second person as well! Finally, the third-person plural form is introduced.
5. Use “est-ce que” when questioning
During the first 100 hours, we use “est-ce que” when questioning (without inversions). This keeps the subject-verb-object order consistent in both affirmative and negative, making it easier for students to learn and remember.
This order also helps ensure that students are presented with native-speaker norms. Studies have shown that 99% of questions are asked through intonation or using ‘est-ce que’ (Lightbown and D’Anglejan, 1985).
6. One word per meaning
To simplify the learning process, we avoid teaching synonyms until greater proficiency has been established. This helps simplify learning so students can maximize their exposure to the selected vocabulary.
7. Limit context-specific high-frequency vocabulary
For beginner learners, limit the introduction of too many context-specific, specialized nouns. Introduce them as needed to fit with your lesson plans.
Other helpful teaching tools to accelerate language learning
In addition to focusing on PDL, here are four additional teaching tools I use in the classroom, that have become part of the AIM methodology of teaching languages:
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Gestures: I associate specific gestures with every high-frequency word to support comprehension and retention of those words.
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Context-driven learning: I provide a deeply context-embedded environment, through story, theatre, drama, music rhythm, rhyme, and movement
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Repetition: Repeating the PDL helps internalize these words so that students may use them authentically and in any context.
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Language manipulation activities: Students manipulate vocabulary through activities such as creating ‘silly sentences’ (phrases bizarres), responding to hundreds of questions in complete thoughts and writing story retellings and extensions …etc.
The PDL is just one component of many in the AIM, whose goal is to ensure rapid language acquisition. Learn more about how AIM can accelerate learning in your classroom and how AIM may transform your students’ language learning experience.
