The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
Issue link: https://thelinguist.uberflip.com/i/715470
thelinguist.uberflip.com AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016 The Linguist 19 FEATURES tables, examination results and performance in Ofsted inspections, began to have a significant effect on classroom practice. As success was measured in increasingly instrumental terms, so the exclusive use of the tried and tested textbook became a feature of many languages departments. Without wishing to caricature current professional practice – or to imply that all MFL teaching is textbook bound and formulaic – textbook teaching has the seal of approval of current policy-makers and has become the comfort blanket of many teachers. But what do they have to offer in our new digital world? They are generally well-organised with built-in progression and an accurate presentation of grammar. There are no surprises: everything is carefully spelled out and, for the time-pressed teacher, they make lesson planning less of a chore. For less experienced teachers and those who are not confident in their linguistic knowledge, they provide organised units of work presented in sequence and set in contexts (usually topic areas) – an important teaching support. The digital native So are the needs of the so-called 'digital native' being ignored? Well, yes… and no. Commercially produced online language learning resources abound, but many fall into the trap of reproducing, in digital form, all the predicable and pedestrian resources that textbooks offer. The initial novelty of the medium is soon lost, and can become as tedious as endless paper exercises unless used judiciously. Ironically, the huge developments in technology have been reduced in some classrooms to the formulaic use of PowerPoint, or even to scanned pages of textbooks projected onto a Smartboard, as the main teaching resource. Much of the potential for technology to enhance language learning is currently untapped. The cultural riches of the internet are not sufficiently drawn upon by many teachers. Authentic materials and realia are now in seemingly limitless supply on the internet. The very limited cultural content of textbooks cannot in any way match this amazing resource. Who would have dreamed, 30 years ago, of a virtual visit to the Louvre, or of the endless number of film clips on every topic under the sun available at a click of a button on YouTube? Accessibility may not be a problem, but the know-how to turn a short film, a work of art or a poem into an engaging and challenging lesson perhaps is. Teachers are over-burdened and do not always have the time to think creatively, to experiment and to prepare this sort of cultural resource for their students. However, the central problem is not one of pedagogy and learning resources but of subject and curriculum knowledge. The new Key Stage 3 (ages 11-14) curriculum opens up possibilities for teachers to break away from the now traditional topic- based curriculum, and there is a much greater emphasis on culture, particularly literature, than in the past. In this context, textbooks – even a new generation of them – are unlikely to fulfil either the needs of the teacher or the curriculum, or indeed the learner. There is pressure to re-think the curriculum and to break out of the 'tyranny of the topic'. We have arrived at a new era in foreign language teaching where teachers need to think more imaginatively about how a blend of materials gained from the internet can replace the tried and tested textbook. It may be more time-consuming to prepare these materials for the classroom, but the likelihood is that they will be more appealing, better tailored towards learners and more substantial in their cultural content. Time to tear up the textbook? Perhaps not, but certainly time to relegate them to just one of many teaching and learning resources in the MFL classroom. and use technology as the primary teaching resource instead IMAGES © SHUTTERSTOCK