Teacher Action Research Project

Motivating French Level 4 Students to Speak French in Class

Mary Bea Bouchet

EDCI 560 - Methods of Teaching Foreign/World Languages

Professor: Dr. Marjorie Hall Haley

December 5, 2007

Motivating French Level 4 Students to Speak French in Class

I have taught French as a part-time teacher at Chantilly High School since

September 2005. I taught levels 1 and 2 my first year, levels 2 and 3 my second year and

this year I teach levels 1 and 4. My level 4 classes have 21 and 23 students in them. They

meet for first period (7:25 am) and ninth period (12:40 pm). There are more girls than

boys in my classes. The students are all juniors or seniors except one who is a

sophomore. Many know each other well and have been in French classes together for

several years now. Each class has a different tone or personality due to the time of day it

meets and the students in that class. My first period is all girls except four boys. Due to

the early hour they have difficulty starting the class with much enthusiasm. The ninth

period class meets for the last class period of the day and there are nine boys in this class.

Several tend to be agitated and like to joke around. While they can often give a fun

atmosphere to the class, things can easily spin out of control if I am not careful.

I have told the students that I expect them to speak French unless otherwise

specified in the class. I try to speak French almost always. Exceptions are when I am

explaining complicated grammar structures or when I am explaining an assignment and I

want to make sure students understand what is expected of them. My challenge is how to

motivate them to speak to one another in French instead of English in the class and to be

motivated to do well on the often assigned 2-3 minute paired discussion activities.

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Puzzlement

How can I motivate my students to want to speak only French when they walk

through the doors of my classroom? I feel that speaking French during the class is vital

to their making progress in the language. Other related challenges are how to help

students overcome self-consciousness about making mistakes when they speak, how to

continually come up with topics of interest to them and how to reward them in such a

way as to inspire real desire to speak the language and not just French conversation when

the teacher is nearby to hear.

Methodology and Data Collection

I conducted my research by first administering an information survey sheet to

students at the beginning of the year to determine their personal interests and the courses

they are currently taking at Chantilly. I also administered the Multiple Intelligences

Survey found at the end of Dr. Haley’s article “Learner Centered Instruction and The

Theory of Multiple Intelligences With Second Language Learners” distributed in class.

I kept a written log of what was done in class and what worked well and what didn’t. I

also spoke with a number of other teachers both in our EDCI 560 class on Wednesday

nights and other teachers at Chantilly about what they were doing or had tried in order to

motivate students to speak the language. Finally, I gave students a pulse check similar to

the one administered by Dr. Haley in our class to gather feedback from them.

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Data Analysis

The Student Information questionnaire (Appendix A) showed me, among other

things, which subjects they were are taking this year. Most are taking some form of

history and many are taking AP U.S. History. Many have also taken World History in the

past. This information was helpful for two reasons. First, it showed the possibilities for

how I could link the subject matter in my course to things they were already discussing in

English in other courses providing opportunities for more content-based lessons and,

secondly, it revealed to me that many of my students are taking 3-5 (and in one case, 6!!)

AP classes. So, they are almost all carrying a very heavy workload this year. This

explains the level of stress I feel from them most of the time. Since French is not an AP

course and an elective, it is the subject that receives the least attention when time is short.

They want to learn but they want it to be fun, interesting and not have the same pressures

they feel in their AP classes.

The second research tool was the Gardner Multiple Intelligences Survey

(Appendix C). The categories of intelligence found most often in my students are the

bodily/kinesthetic, musical/rhythmic and interpersonal/social. The one found least is the

naturalistic intelligence.

The third instrument I used was the Pulse Check (Appendix B). Results revealed

that the classes have different reactions to the books we are using. I also discovered that

the activities they enjoy most are not necessarily the ones they feel help them learn

French the best. Most were favorable to the partner work we do in class and many cited it

as the thing that helped them learn most. Surprisingly, to the statement “I think it is

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reasonable to expect students to speak French most of the time during the class”, 11 of

my 43 students responded either strongly disagree, disagree or no opinion. This was an

important finding considering my puzzlement. I will explore this further in the discussion

of “results” in this paper.

The logs I kept were useful for seeing that when topics related to subjects about

which students felt strongly were used as prompts for pair discussion, students were more

motivated to speak. Also, when I prepared students more with the vocabulary they could

use in the discussion, they felt more confident and responded better to the assignment.

Results and Discussion

My goal is to motivate students to speak French more in the classroom. Given the

already high level of stress that my students are under with their other classes, the first

thing I realized in thinking about how to reach my goal is that students need to feel “safe”

in the classroom environment. In other words, I must, as much as possible, limit any

feelings of embarrassment or discomfort students may feel as they try to understand and

speak French in class. A 1973 NECTFL Working Committee Report on Interaction in the

Foreign Language classroom points out that learning a foreign language is like going

back to grade school and that mistakes seem to be of a simple nature and are humiliating

to the learner. This creates fear which in turn may block comprehension. Additionally,

anxiety increases as students worry about understanding what is expected of them since

they may have not understood some instruction given in the foreign language. I cannot

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entirely eliminate the uneasiness students may feel at trying to speak and learn the

language but I can be as encouraging as possible and prepare students well for

assignments so that they feel as confident as possible in doing the work. This involves

making sure students possess the tools (vocabulary and grammar structures) necessary to

say what they need to in an oral assignment. The more they feel successful, the more they

will be motivated to speak.

Shrum and Glisan in their book Teacher’s Handbook write that research on

multiple intelligences implies that teachers need to tailor instructional activities to the

learning styles of students if we want them to more easily grasp language learning

concepts. I counted that any student who responded positively to at least four of the six

statements regarding any one of the intelligences possessed this intelligence to a highly

developed degree. Appendix D shows my findings with both classes combined. As stated

earlier, the three most highly developed intelligences among my students are

bodily/kinesthetic, musical/rhythmic and interpersonal/social. I currently use music in

my classes and there are numerous activities done in pairs. However, I need to have more

variety and I should include more kinesthetic types of activities. To be sure, the boys in

my 9th period class would be ecstatic about that! In addition, I need to be sure that the

paired discussion questions are motivating to students. I also need to spot check the

quality of their discussions by calling on different pairs to illustrate their discussions if I

feel some people are slacking off and not making the necessary effort to do the

assignment.

In analyzing the pulse check, another important finding was that many students

(25%) felt that requiring students to speak French in a level 4 class was not necessarily

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reasonable. This surprised me. However, it just showed that some students severely lack

confidence and, as discussed above, may simply be feeling embarrassed by their lack of

ability to converse meaningfully in the language at this level. Any student who takes a

level 4 language class, when it is not required, is motivated at some level at least to learn

the language. This group needs additional help and encouragement in my view. This lack

of desire to speak is an important finding for my puzzlement since it shows resistance at

the outset to speaking the language in class. I may need to find a way to further explore

the attitudes and feeling of this group of students in order to address the issue effectively.

It is important for students to feel that this is a reasonable expectation on my part in order

to be motivated to speak.

I have also begun giving students “tickets” when I hear them speaking French

either during an assignment or not. Every two weeks students tally up the number of

tickets they have and are given participation points for each one. In addition, we have a

drawing and two students receive a prize when their names are drawn from among the

tickets in the bowl. I have not been consistent enough with this and I am not sure it is

truly helping motivate students.

In this regard, I feel that I can overall improve my planning of class times. I have

many ideas but too often I start them and do not follow through with them on a consistent

basis in the classroom. I do them once or twice but then forget them or discard them

before giving them a chance to really impact learning. I may abandon them because I

sense students don’t like them or that they are not helping students really learn. In some

cases I think I may not have given the new ideas a fair chance by doing them over a more

sustained period of time. The pulse check was very useful because it showed me that

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some of these forgotten ideas were well liked by students and it is time to bring them

back or at least use them from time to time for variety’s sake. Another challenge I have is

planning too much for one class period. I feel I am still on a very steep learning curve

with the level 4 class. Fortunately I have a great teacher/mentor who is helping me with

this class. I think I need to be patient and forgiving with myself as I try to find the right

blend of activities involving difficult topics and fun.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I feel that this project was very helpful in getting me to know my

students more closely in ways that will help me tailor my instruction to their needs.

Motivating students to speak in the target language is a topic of discussion often agonized

over by foreign language teachers. No one has yet found the perfect solution. I sensed

that just by asking my students for their feedback about different things, they felt listened

to and respected. This in and of itself will only help them to be more favorable to the

class and make more effort. I shared the findings of the pulse check with them and talked

about one or two things we can do differently. I know they are watching me and by

making some concrete adjustments to the class which will ease their stress level and help

them to learn more effectively, this will help us to progress toward an atmosphere of

“safety” and hopefully produce more speaking in the classroom.

I have experimented with some more interesting topics for paired discussion and

have seen improvement in the quality of the speaking. Dr. Haley encouraged us in class

to use motivating topics to draw them out and this definitely works. I think it would be a

good idea to have them submit topics or questions they’d like to talk about. To make sure

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they hand in something serious, perhaps I could give them extra credit for the ones I

choose to use in class.

Most importantly, as a teacher I believe we need to care about the students and to

love teaching them. A good sense of humor is also vital in my opinion. There isn’t much

we can’t laugh about in the end. In addition, we must know the subject well that we are

teaching so that students respect us and are excited to learn from us. When there are

difficult days and things to not go as we had hoped (how many of those have we all had

as teachers??), we just need to chalk it up to a “learning day” ourselves and not lose

confidence. Good teachers are life-long learners themselves.

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References

Interaction in the foreign language classroom. (1973) NECTFL Reports of Working Committee, (James W. Dodge, ed.)

Hall Haley, M., Learner centered instruction and the theory of multiple intelligences with second language learners. (Working paper handed out in EDCI 560 class).

Shrum, J. and Glisan, E. (2005), Teacher’s Handbook, (3rd ed.). Boston: Thomas Heinle.

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Appendix A

Student Information Sheet (2007-8) French 4

Name __________________________________________ Age _____ Grade_______ Last, first

Circle one : Male Female ID#________________ Birthday _______________

Counselor ____________________________ Sub school _________

Parent (s) /Guardian 1.______________________ 2. _________________________

Work Phone # 1._____________________ 2. _________________________

Home Phone # 1._____________________ 2. _________________________

Language(s) you speak at home other than English ___________________________

SCHEDULE

A Day

CLASS TEACHER / ROOM

1 ______________________________ ______________________________

7 ______________________________ ______________________________

9 ______________________________ ______________________________

B Day

2 ______________________________ ______________________________

4 ______________________________ ______________________________

6 ______________________________ ______________________________

8 ______________________________ ______________________________

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Appendix B

PULSE CHECK

Books and classroom instruction 1 2 3 4 5I find the Trésor textbook interesting and useful.I find the Amsco book exercises helpful.I think the tests are reasonable.I believe the quizzes are helpful for learning French.I like the pace of the class.I think it is reasonable to expect students to speak French most of the time during the class.(1 = strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=no opinion, 4=agree, 5=strongly agree)

The class activities I enjoy most are:

The activities I find the most useful for improving my French are:

The activities I find the least helpful are:

The topics I most enjoy discussing are:

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Topics I least like to discuss are:

Is there something you would like to see changed about the class?

What is working well for you so far?

As a student, I think I need to do better with…

Any additional comments?

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Appendix C

Multiple Intelligences Survey Instrument (Armstrong, 1993)Multiple Intelligences Research Project

“Your Seven Kinds of Smart” (+1)Adapted from Thomas Armstrong, PhD

Check (x) each statement that applies to you.

Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence Total = ______

___Books are very important to me.___I hear words in my head, before I read, speak, or write them down.___I am good at word games, like Scrabble or Password.___I enjoy entertaining others or myself with tongue twisters, rhymes, or puns.___English, social studies, and history are easier for me tha math and science.___I have recently written something that I am especially proud of.

Logical/Mathematical Intelligence Total = ______

___I can easily compute numbers in my head.___Math and /or science are among my favorite subjects in school___I enjoy brainteasers or games that require logical thinking.___My mind searches for patterns and regularities in things.___I am interested in new developments in science.___I believe that almost everything has a logical explanation.

Visual/Spacial Intelligence Total = ______

___I often see clear visual images when I close my eyes.___I am sensitive to color.___I enjoy doing jigsaw puzzles.___I like to draw or doodle.___I can easily imagine how something might look from a bird’s eye view.___I prefer looking at reading material with lots of illustrations

Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence Total = ______

___I participate in at least one sport or physical activity on a regular basis.___I like working with my hands on concrete activities.

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(like carpentry, weaving, model building, sewing)___I like to spend my free time outdoors.___I enjoy amusement rides and other thrilling experiences.___I would describe myself as well coordinated.___I need to practice a new skill, not just read about it or see a video about it.

Musical/Rhythmic Intelligence Total = ______

___I have a pleasant singing voice.___I play a musical instrument.___My life would not be so great without music.___I can easily keep time to music with a simple percussion instrument.___I know the tunes to many different songs and musical pieces.___If I hear a musical selection a couple of times, I can usually sing it fairly accurately.

Interpersonal Intelligence Total = ______

___I am the sort of person that others come to for advice.___I prefer group sports (like softball) rather than individual sports (like swimming)___I like group games like Monopoly better than individual entertainment.___I enjoy the challenge of teaching others how to do something.___I consider myself a leader, and others have called me a leader.___I like to get involved in social activities at my school, church, or community.

Intrapersonal Intelligence Total = ______

___I regularly spend time alone, reflecting or thinking about important questions.___I have opinions that set me apart from the crowd.___I have a special hobby or interest that I like to do alone.___I have some important goals for my life that I regularly think about.___I consider myself to be independent minded or strong willed.___I keep a personal diary or journal to write down my thoughts or feeling about life.

Naturalist Total = ______

___I have a garden and/or like to work outdoors.___I really like to go backpacking and hiking.___I enjoy having different animals around the house (in addition to a cat or dog).___I have a hobby that involves nature.___I like to visit zoos, nature centers, or places with displays about the natural world.

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___It’s easy for me to tell the difference between different kinds of plants and animals.

Areas of Strength (4 or more checks)

_____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

What I learned about myself that I did not know before…

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

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Appendix D

Results of Multiple Intelligences Survey

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10152025303540

Number of studentsresponding

Number respondingpositively to all sixstatements