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Improving oral skills and confidence for Spanish GCSE in a fun way
Video clips
View some of the good practice described below in the case study.
Context
The Weald is a co-educational and mixed comprehensive school in West Sussex for students aged 11 to 18.
The students featured in the lesson are a mixed ability Year 10 GCSE group. They started Spanish in Year 8 with only three lessons a fortnight and went on studying it in Year 9 for four lessons a fortnight. Now in Year 10 they have five lessons a fortnight, rising to six lessons a fortnight in Year 11.
Key objectives
To improve oral skills and confidence for Spanish GCSE in a fun way.
'I really look forward to the lessons where I know I’m going to be out of my seat. I feel I learn more and remember more when I’m enjoying myself'. Year 10 student.
How the lesson was organised
The students featured in the lesson are a mixed ability Year 10 GCSE group. They started Spanish in Year 8 with only three lessons a fortnight and went on studying it in Year 9 for four lessons a fortnight. Now in Year 10 they are doing five lessons a fortnight and will do six lessons a fortnight in Year 11. The lesson in question related to the topic area of Leisure which is the topic they are preparing for their coursework and speaking test at GCSE.
- The class had been taught in a previous lesson how to request and provide personal information and talk about their leisure activities, giving their opinions using the mi pasatiempo presentation (ppt, 543KB).
- The topic of giving and providing personal information was revised using a drag and drop presentation (ppt, 59KB), with students coming to the front to match the questions and answers.
- The teacher introduced the focus of the lesson, which was to give and exchange personal information in a speed dating simulation. He had prepared a short video (wmv, 9.32MB) in which he was doing this, and he showed this to the class. A transcript is available (doc, 20KB).
- Students then completed a speed dating sheet (doc, 30KB) with information about themselves. Next, the classroom was set up as a speed dating room, and students had two minutes to exchange information with their peers before the teacher blew the whistle to indicate that each person must move to the next prospective date. Whilst interviewing prospective dates, students noted down their opinions of the person.
- Having interviewed several prospective dates, the students then had to give their opinions of the people they had interviewed saying whether or not they would want to date them and why. They used the sheet of reasons (doc, 57KB) supplied by the teacher to assist them.
Results/effect
Pupils are happy to come to class and they increasingly seem to be selecting courses that they enjoy for GCSE. All oral contributions are well received in class and encouraged. Pupils generally have the chance to practise in pairs and support each other before having to speak in front of the class. This means that the students are increasing in confidence at speaking Spanish.
'There’s no substitute for practising speaking. It helps your language skills but also lets confidence build. It really is a question of providing the correct environments for pupils' confidence to grow – it may be writing pieces and learning them, producing mini drama pieces in Spanish (where I often see the pupils almost forget they are acting in a different language and those watching simply appreciating the drama and absorbing the language), using online sites where speaking is modelled, or putting example questions for GCSE on our VLE for pupils to test themselves in private. Every pupil is individual so providing them with a wide range of possibilities is best.' Mike Lambert, teacher of Spanish
Future developments
An increasing amount of independent learning is expected as students progress in languages although there is a general feeling that they are not always equipped with those generic learning skills to be able to take this on. Nevertheless, as a school the concept of learning to learn is being developed and over time it is hoped that this improve the ability of students to learn independently. Homework is set regularly and the VLE is well maintained, with extension resources to push students further and support their independent learning.
Author: Mike Lambert, Teacher of Spanish, The Weald Community School and Sixth Form
