Seventh International Conference on Immersion and Dual Language Education

Plenary Session

All

All

How do three-year olds learn vocabulary and grammar without being motivated by points or grades? Authentic communication. If what they say doesn’t work to communicate something (often a desire), then they try something else. And they keep trying. And trying. The same is true with a college student studying abroad who falls for someone who speaks a different language. The student has a lot of motivation to communicate well and quickly improve his or her language. But language teaching in many schools has shoved communication aside in search of more neat and clean activities that break language down into many pieces. This happens even in immersion and bilingual settings. This session helps educators to further think about how to restructure language instruction and its assessment in ways that reduce “pseudo-communication” and strengthen authentic communication, with a special emphasis on conversational discourse. We will look at four features of authentic communication as we engage in sample activities and analyze classroom videos.