Different language levels interact
French 1, 4 participate in skit
January 9, 2016
Junior Alissa Jones said she remembers reading from a book in French 1 and being critiqued by higher-level French students, allowing her to improve her speaking.
According to French teacher Julie Conrad, students in two different levels of French participated in a skit Dec. 15 where French 4 students sold items to French 1 students.
“My French 1 students are learning how to ask how much something costs in French and so we’ve been working on skits in markets where one person sells,” Conrad said. “I wrote up scripts for my students and (Kyle Sweeney’s) students.”
Conrad said the skit intended to create interactions between older and younger students.
“I thought it would give one, a sense of community for the French students, and two, so they knew who else was studying French,” Conrad said. “(It helps) not only for community, but also for knowing who is doing the same thing, and they could ask the older kids then for help.”
Freshman Lara Garcia, a French 1 student, said she and her classmates learned because they interacted with students at a higher level. She said the conversation experience offered the chance to work on language skills.
“(Interacting with a higher-level French student) was cool because they know more French than us, so we learned from them,” Garcia said. “We got to actually use the language, and it turned out to be way harder than we expected.”
Conrad said the French 4 students benefitted from the activity by learning through teaching.
“As you teach, you actually learn. It reinforces new vocabulary or vocabulary that you haven’t used regularly, and when you help somebody learn something if they’re having trouble, then it reinforces it for you,” Conrad said.
Although Garcia said she enjoyed the opportunity to hone her French-speaking skills, she said she felt embarrassed in the process because of her pronunciation of words.
“At first, I wasn’t really nervous, but then when we had to actually pronounce the words it was a little embarrassing because my pronunciation was terrible,” Garcia said.
According to Conrad, the skit enabled the French 1 students to talk to those at a higher level.
“Instead of just talking to each other at the same level, they get to be with kids that are higher level, so it brings them up a level,” Conrad said.
Conrad said the skit also allowed the French 1 students to participate in a social interaction.
“It’s a social thing. They’re up and moving while they’re doing it, and that is always a different way of learning, and for some students, their favorite way to learn,” Conrad said.
Based off of her past experiences, Jones said the interaction between levels helps the French 1 students become better speakers.
“I remember when I was in French 1 and 2 we did the same thing and it was very helpful,” Jones said. “We got to read out of a book, and then the French 4 kids or French 3 kids would critique us a little bit. It did help me become a better speaker, and it will help them become a better speaker.”
Conrad said they plan to do a similar activity once a quarter, with fewer students in one room to decrease the amount of chaos.
“We had 60 kids in one room. We’re going to split 30-30,
but it won’t be them buying things. It might be reading, or I was thinking about having the classes perform skits for each other,” Conrad said.
