Last Thursday we continued with our presentations on methods that have been used to teach/learn languages. It was the turn for Community Language Learning (CLL) and Total Physical Response (TPR), two of my favourite so far.
CLL, as originally designed, might be very tedious and too teacher focussed for my liking, bearing in mind that the teacher has to translate all that learners want to say. Still, I like the community bit, the idea that we learn through interaction, especially languages. The presentation was very good, but two things grabbed my attention: several of my classmates seemed to have difficulty believing that you could learn a language "just" by talking, without anything actually "being taught" to you. We didn't discuss on the issue, but I got the feeling that they thought some "proper teaching" was needed in order to learn a language. I wonder how they learned to lie, cheat, copy in exams etc; did their teachers and parents teach them how to? I guess that I am among those who believe that most of us learn despite those who try to "teach" us.
I also have the feeling that our primary education classmates are much more into an educare perspective than into the educere view, whereas those of us coming from the pre-school degree have the opposite view. It is just a feeling, since we haven't had the chance to discuss these issues seriously in class, but I see it in the activities they propose and their comments, as well as how "us", pre-primary education students, react to those comments and proposals.
The other issue that caught my attention is related to the same issue. In the CLL presentation, one of the presenters pointed out among the disadvantages of the method that giving too much freedom to learners could lead to problems (the leading role is meant to shift from teacher to learners as the latter improve their command of the language). Now, in my opinion, there is no such a thing as too much freedom. Of course, in some cases learners will need to be given more support when it comes to dealing with freedom, they will need resources, but limiting freedom is not the solution!
I guess this is one of those things that you learn when you are with a younger generation who has not experienced clear lack of freedom, as opposed to the subtle lack of freedom we are subjected to nowadays, and didn't have to bother thinking about it. To me, hearing those words in a twenty year-old is simply outrageous. I sense a disturbing wish/need to control children in some of my classmates, who will soon be teachers.
The second presentation, on TPR, was also very good. TPR is clearly a method which should be behind most pre-primary education activities, since it is very close to children and the way they learn naturally. It is also very suitable for creating a positive atmosphere in the classroom, and for community building. We all laughed a lot in that presentation, and laughing together brings people close (as long as it "laughing with" and not "laughing at"). It gives learners a sense of competence because it allows to communicate using your body, and it enables the teacher to integrate assessment in the learning activity itself, which I'd say is a big bonus. We haven't talked much on assessment yet, but I prefer integrating it into learning activities, rather than having a separate assessment activity, especially taking into account that time seems to be one of the limiting resources in our schools.
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