VOL. 56 SUMMER 2005 No. 2 - nysaflt.org · Louise Terry and Judy Martialay 5 Making the Year of...

Language Association JournalNew York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers

VOL. 56 SUMMER 2005 No. 2

Language Association JournalA Publication of the

New York State Association of Foreign Language Teacherswww.nysaflt.orgFounded 1917

VOL. 56 SUMMER 2005 No. 2

ContentsDr. Janet Hiller 2 Fulbright Exchange Connects Language Learners Across

Continents In The Year of Languages

Louise Terry and Judy Martialay 5 Making the Year of Languages Last: Public Advocacy

Frank Marino 8 In the Year of Languages ‘Teaching Tips’ for My NYSAFLT Colleagues

Dr. John Rassias 10 The Legacy of Our Moat Mentality

TEACHER TO TEACHER

Dr. Janet Lisy Picataggio 12 The Year of Languages In Smithtown Schools

Katherine Meierjurgen 12 Extending The Year of Languages

Lori Langer de Ramirez, Ed.D. 12 The Proverbs Project: Validating School Cultures Through Quotes and Sayings in World Languages

Liliana Policano 13 Learning a Foreign Language is a Mind Altering Experience

Joseph A. Cussen, cfc 14 On the Occasion of The 400th Birthday of Don Quijote

Judith Mazziotti 15 Pulling Proficiency Out of a Hat...Magic Tricks Can Be Your Curtain-Opener

Jennifer Eddy 18 Without Words: Further study on the effect of music on language learning

Claire-Louise Meng 22 FLES Weather Instruction with Curriculum Integration What’s the weather like? = ¿Qué tiempo hace?

OFFICERSPresident: Linda Zusman

Gowana Middle SchoolPresident-Elect: Louis Baskinger

New Hartford High SchoolFirst Vice-President: Dr. Virginia B. Levine

SUNY CortlandSecond Vice-President: Paul Sabatino

West Hempstead High SchoolSecretary: Dr. Mary McBride

Mill Middle SchoolTreasurer: Frank Ricciardiello, retiredImmediate Past President: Patricia Ryan

Rye Middle School

DIRECTORSAna Aguiar-Mady, North Shore SchoolsSusan Barnes, Sodus High SchoolMarie Dzielak, Briarcliff Middle SchoolIrma Evangelista, NYC Instructional DivisionKathy Fagan, Schalmont High SchoolAna Gatta, Saugerties High SchoolLynn Gore, Saugerties Central SchoolToni Johnson, Penn Yan AcademyCindy Kennedy, Kenmore East HSJodi LaRock, Elizabethtown-Lewis Central SchoolMary Frances Lovelace, retiredLeslie Lowery, Eastchester High SchoolNunzia Manginelli, FLAGS High SchoolAlice Manning, Jamesville DeWitt High SchoolFrançoise Piron, South Jefferson Central SchoolRoseann Lorefice, Chittenango High SchoolDenise Stark, Bethlehem CentralBeverly Stevens, Corning Free AcademyJoseph Tursi, Jr., East Islip High SchoolAnita Vogely, Ph.D., Binghamton High School

EDITORDorothy Rissel, University at Buffalo,

[email protected]

EDITORIAL BOARDHarriet Barnett, ACTFLBill Heller, Perry Central High SchoolBob J. Johnson, Barger Middle School, West HenriettaAlfred Valentini, T.R. Proctor Sr. High School, UticaNancy Wallace, University at BuffaloJohn Webb, Princeton University

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORJohn Carlino, Kenmore West High School

ASSOCIATE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORJanice Strauss, retired

NEWSLETTER EDITORSusanne Hochmuth

Sackets Harbor Central Schools, Sackets Harbor

WEBMASTERKenneth Hughes

Lake George Central

ADVERTISING BUSINESS MANAGERJohn Carlino, Executive Director

2400 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14214

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1

To build international communication and connections, theEast Islip School District’s Timberpoint Elementary School appliedand was selected to participate in the Fulbright ExchangeProgram with administrators from two elementary schools inUruguay. This became an important focus of our celebration of theYear of Languages.

The objective of the Fulbright Uruguay Special Initiative is tohelp Uruguayan educators strengthen local school systems withparticular attention to language programs. For this reason onlyschools in the US who have elementary Spanish programs couldapply. The Uruguayan educators were expected to achieve theirgoal through input from teachers and administrators in the U.S.schools and through observation and study of the host district’s classes, school and community activities related to theschools, curriculum development, technology, and parentalinvolvement.

Our two guest administrators were from two full-time schools(Escuelas de tiempo completo), which were established in theearly 1990’s as the school day was increased from four to seven-and-a-half hours. These schools were established in less-advantaged socio-economic areas, and provide not only anextended school day, but also breakfast, lunch and a snack.There are 102 full-time schools in the country and approximately24,500 children from the ages of 7 to 12 attend these schools. Ofthese schools, 46 have an English Partial Immersion Programand in two provinces there is also a Portuguese/Spanish dualimmersion Program, which began in 2003. The FulbrightExchange Program has sponsored the participation of 62 of the102 schools.

Our two guests, María Graciela Beloqui from Escuela No. 139,and María Elena Vidal from Escuela No. 31 in Montevideo arrivedin East Islip on February 9th and stayed for three weeks. Duringthat time we got to share ideas, our cultures, and our commonlove for the children. They attended a reception given by representatives of the community, district cabinet meetings,department meetings, school improvement team meetings, a localRotary meeting, and a “Balanced Literacy Training Session.” Theymet with principals and directors from the various disciplines. They gathered materials including the N.Y. StateStandards and curriculum guides and our local curriculum forFLES and ESL, and the content areas. They shared their theoretical bases for their curriculum and were thrilled to hear thatthese were basically the same as ours.

They visited New York City and saw “The Gates” in CentralPark, Fifth Avenue, China Town, Little Italy, the MetropolitanMuseum and attended a performance of “Turandot” at theMetropolitan Opera. They also felt the need, and got to see“ground zero”, which apparently had a great impact on the peopleof Uruguay.

Most importantly they observed classes and met the childrenin the elementary schools and their teachers. The children lovedasking questions and hearing about the children in Uruguay. Ourstudents were fascinated by the Uruguayan children’s uniformsthat our visitors brought to show us. They also saw them on thevideos and photos from Uruguay. Our guests explained that the uniforms help establish the fact that all of the children are considered equal in school even though many of them come fromvery poor homes where there is not enough food. This is the main

reason for the food program for all of the children. They told usthat sometimes children miss school because they ruin theirshoes and the parents can’t afford to buy them new ones rightaway. The school often has to intervene. Interestingly, many of ourelementary students expressed an interest in wearing uniforms aswell to ameliorate peer pressure.

The FLES teachers met with our guests to decide on a projectthat would establish an ongoing connection between the schoolsin East Islip and in Uruguay. They wanted one that would addressthe curriculum of both countries. After much discussion, Ms. Vidalshared a project and curriculum on games that her school had ini-tiated. It included theory, objectives, guidelines and activities. Werealized that this tied into the East Islip Elementary-LevelCharacter Education Program that was of particular interest to ourUruguayan guests, and also into our National & NY StateStandards for LOTE.

We decided to initiate a project in which students would intro-duce themselves and then write about and exchange games andthe instructions for playing these games. The children in bothcountries would then play each other’s games applying the elements of character education that they had studied.Afterwards, they would report their experiences and reactions toeach other. Needless to say, we all agreed that this would be agreat learning experience for all concerned. Both Spanish andEnglish would be used for communication.

The following quotes are from the document developed by Ms.Vidal and her colleagues that she shared: “El Juego en las escue-las de Tiempo Completo” Escuela No. 31.

“El problema. Nuestra escuela posee características quehacen urgentes la planificación y puesta en marcha de un proyecto de actividades centrado en el juego que optimizandotiempos y espacios educativos contribuya al mejoramiento de losaprendizajes de nuestros alumnos y de la convivencia entretodos los actores..

Por su parte, el colectivo docente ha observado una cierta cultura de juego en la escuela que se caracteriza por: predominiode la actividad física sobre la intelectual, violencia durante las actividades lúdicas, pobreza de reglas, dificultad para comprender propuestas simples, atención lábil y por poco tiempo,bajo nivel de autocontrol, escasa tolerancia, se agrupan por sexomás que por edad, no se comprometen y algunos niños buscan,incesamente, entrar en los grupos, pero no se quedan enninguno..

La intervención: Nuestra propuesta de trabajo abarca tres uni-versos que contemplan a nuestro entender la diversidad de per-files biosicosocioculturales de nuestros alumnos, que son: losjuguetes, los juegos y los aparatos y que intentan con su intro-ducción optimizar el espacio, motivar la actividad física con elmínimo riesgo y promover los valores humanos de no violencia,tolerancia y paz..

El niño necesita relacionarse, expresarse, manipular, imaginar, crear, descargarse.. jugar por el jugar. El adulto debeproporcionarle herramientas para que éste, su deseo y necesidad se produzca, canalizando su energía por buenoscaminos sin restar su libertad, es decir, educar con los límitesnecesarios y las libertades suficientes.”

The importance of instilling the values of non-violence, tolerance and peace, and the need to stimulate positive peer

2 Language Association Journal

Fulbright Exchange Connects Language Learners Across ContinentsIn The Year of Languages

Dr. Janet Hiller Director, LOTE / ESL

East Islip SchoolsEast Islip, NY

interaction and the creativity of children are of course common toall educators. These goals are in line with the ongoing charactereducation program in the East Islip Elementary Schools, whichalso fosters, tolerance, honesty, responsibility and respect.

The document also includes the survey on games that wasadministered to the Uruguayan children, and the results of thesurvey. We decided to administer the same survey, which follows,to our elementary FLES students:

Encuesta:1) ¿Te gusta jugar? ¿Solo o acompañado?2) ¿A qué juegas?3) ¿Es necesario tener juguetes para jugar?4) Nombra los tres juguetes que te gustan más.5) Cuando no tienes acceso a juguetes, ¿con qué juegas?6) Mirar televisión para ti, ¿es un juego?7) ¿Cuáles son tus juegos preferidos?We administered the same survey to our students but elimi-

nated video and computer games because we wanted students totalk about the basic interactive games that they play with friendsand family, which were comparable to the games the Uruguayanchildren were describing. The results of the surveys showed thatball games such as soccer and basketball were popular in bothcountries as were versions of hide and seek and board games.Most of the children from both countries preferred playing withothers to playing alone.

The children in our district were very excited to initiate theexchange. They eagerly completed the survey, and wrote lettersin Spanish describing themselves and the games they play. Theyincluded pictures of themselves and the games, and rules forplaying their favorite games. Teachers also wrote letters to initiatethe exchange. A few examples follow:

Example 1: Student letter.“ Querido amigo,¡Hola! ¿Cómo estás? Estoy muy bien. Tengo una mamá,un papá y una hermana. Me llamo Joe. ¿Cómo te lla-mas? Me gustan béisbol, hockey, el baloncesto y losYankees. Juego los videojuegos. ¿Cuántos añostienes? Yo tengo nueve años. Soy alto y fuerte. Soy deEast Islip. Vivo en una casa grande y blanca. Adiós miamigo.

Tu amigo,Joe

Example 2: A favorite game- “Manhunt” played during recess andsent by fifth graders.

La caza por los hombres En este juego, hay dos equipos. Un equipo se esconde,y el otro equipo busca. Cuando encuentra a todos losmiembros del equipo escondido, el otro equipo seesconde. Hay muchas personas en un equipo, usual-mente seis u ocho. Jugamos este juego afuera.

Example 3: A letter in English sent by a third grader in East Islipalong with the game “Jenga”.

Querido amigo,,Hello. My name is Brianna. I really enjoy “Jenga”. Youshould too. To play you have to pull out one block andput it on top. Be careful when you pull it out! If it falls onyou, you lose! That´s how you play Jenga.

Tu amiga,Brianna

Example 4: A letter sent by the above student´s FLES teacherto María Elena Vidal in Uruguay.

Querida María Elena Hemos estado hablando de los juegos que les gustan

a los niños en tercer grado. (las edades son de 8 y 9)Esta clase está muy entusiasmada con el proyecto.

Hemos hablado de muchos tipos de juegos. Juegospara afuera, juegos en que todos en la familia puedenparticipar, juegos que se juegan cuando el tiempo noslos deja salir y juegos que a ellos les gustan durante elrecreo en la escuela. Además hemos hablado de lasdiferencias en cultura con los países hispanos, espe-cialmente, Uruguay. Y las ideas que ellos piensan quetenemos en común. La parte más interesante de estaconversación, es que los muchachos han hablado consus mismos padres para saber qué jugaban ellos cuan-do chicos. Los niños han regresado a mi clase con ideasy sentimientos que no sabían de sus padres. Hemosjugado en grupos en la clase - los niños han aprendidocomo se arreglan cuando hay problemas entre ellos sinayuda de un adulto. Ha sido una experiencia en comoellos se arreglan entre ellos mismos, como siguen lasreglas y como acaban el juego como amigos. Por correoaéreo, les pensamos mandar a la clase de MaríaJosefina, un juego que a mi clase ,les parece muyinteresante y chistoso. Es un juego simple. (no sé si enUruguay lo tienen?) Por favor déjame saber si enUruguay ya tienen este juego -- se llama "JENGA".Además del Juego, mi clase les escribió a la clase deMaría Josefina. Los niños escribieron sobre sus ideasde los juegos favoritos de ellos. Estas cartas están eninglés con las fotos de los niños. Tengo otra clase queno hablamos de juegos sino hablamos de como teneruna comunicación con la clase de Maria Josefina. Estascartas están en español.(con el español que ellos hanaprendido en mi clase) Le mando a Maria Josefina estascartas con la esperanza que nos puedan contestar antesdel terminado de la escuela aquí en East Islip. (Laescuela se acaba en finales de junio.) También lesmando una foto de la clase entera. Por favor déjalesaber a Maria Josefina de esta información y que pron-to espero que lleguen las cartas para la clase de ella.También, por favor, déjale saber que me encantó lagrabación de los niños de la clase de ella.

Me parecieron muy lindas sus voces y sus ideassobre el poema de Julio Vivas. (Para mi clase fue avan-zado lo que hablaban los niños , pero les fascinó elmodo en que ellos hablaban el español aunque noentendieron mucho, yo les traduje.)

Gracias por la idea de abrir la comunicación con ust-edes, esperamos oír pronto de este nuevo mundo queahora los niños de mi clase comienzan a conocer.

Con mucho entusiasmo y muy sinceramente,Linda Menger y sus nuevos amigos de East Islip en la

Escuela Elemental JFK.As this article goes to press, the first of our responses from

Uruguay has arrived. Somos los alumnos de 4º año C. Recibimos sus

cartas.Nos gusta estudiar, hacer trabajos de plástica e

informática.También, a la hora del descanso, nos encanta jugar

juegos de salón.Nuestra maestra se llama Ana Isabel y nos enseñó

uno que jugaban mucho sus alumnos del año anterior .Se lo mandamos:

El Rey del Silencio1) Un niño/a al frente usando una corona. Elige de aunos cinco compañeros, entre los que están más quietos y atentos a él. (Los elige con cierto suspenso).

3

2) De los cinco debe elegir a uno que lo sustituya.Para eso, sin emitir sonido, los va provocando uno auno (con gesticulaciones), a la risa o a alguna excla-mación.3) El elegido será el que permanezca mudo ante lasprovocaciones.4) Le pasa a él la corona y el elegido continúa eljuego desde el punto 1.4º año C Escuela Nº 31Maestra: Ana Couto

Although this exchange has just begun, it is obvious that weteachers and administrators and the children have so much incommon and also so much that is unique to each of our culturesand situations that we can share so that we can all grow throughknowledge, understanding and friendship. What better way to cel-ebrate the year of languages!


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EDITOR’S NOTE AND CALL FOR PAPERSIt was truly heartening to see the number of responses that I received to the call for papers issued on the NYSAFLT

Listserv. Thanks to all of you who replied and sent in valuable contributions to the Journal. Both the brief articles in “Teacherto Teacher” and those that offer more detail are the kinds of contributions that we need to make the Language AssociationJournal a substantial publication that serves the needs of classroom teachers of LOTE.

In the current issue, you will find the articles that specifically address the theme of “The Year of Languages”. After the section entitled “Teacher to Teacher”, you will find articles that treat topics of interest to our membership. Don’t miss them simply because of their placement in the Journal! They contain some very useful information.

FOR THE FALL ISSUE (Vol. 3) The theme will be “The NYS Regents Exams in LOTE”. The deadline for receiving submissions will be Sept. 15. Please try to get them to the editor earlier than that if possible. We are interested in articles dealing with any aspect of these exams. Some examples are: Do they help students meet proficiency goals? How do they affectinstruction? What is their effect on student learning and attitude? How do you prepare your students for them?

We need to hear from YOU!

How do we ensure that, long after the Year of Language hasended, foreign language study in New York State has beenstrengthened? This year, the NYSAFLT Public AdvocacyCommittee has been working diligently to achieve this goal. Wehave been making a special effort to create the momentum thatwill lead to improvement in LOTE study. We invite you to partici-pate in order to make this effort a success.

The LOTE BillNYSAFLT has written a draft for a bill which will provide

schools in high-need districts with funding to start FLES pro-grams. At present, a relatively small number of schools offerFLES, and these schools tend to be in the more affluent commu-nities. If the bill passes, NYSAFLT has committed to carefullymonitor these programs to ensure their success, so that, once thefunding from the bill has ended after two years, the community willfind the funding to ensure continuation of the programs. We alsohope that these programs will generate interest in the neighboringdistricts so that others will want to create FLES programs, thuscreating a grass-roots movement for early language study.

The other part of the bill provides funding for college studentswishing to become LOTE teachers. This would help to alleviatethe current shortage of LOTE teachers as well as encourage dis-tricts to increase the length of sequences of study as well as thevariety of languages offered.

Update: As of June 20, the bill was officially introduced byAssemblyman Paul Tonko (Schenectady) as Bill #A8882. Thisbill can be accessed by going to the New York State AssemblyWebsite, clicking on “bills” and typing in the number.

Successes So FarThanks to the help of Elizabeth Sheffer, Assistant in

Educational Services, New York State United Teachers (NYSUT),Linda Zusman, Jan Strauss and Nancy Ketz of the NYSUT LOTECommittee, a resolution supporting the bill passed the NYSUTDelegate Assembly in early April. According to legislators, NYSUTsupport is crucial for the success of this bill, since NYSUT is con-sidered to have the clout necessary to convince legislators to sup-port bills.

Originally the New York State School Boards Association stat-ed that they were opposed to this bill because it singled out LOTEas an area in need of teachers instead of including math and spe-cial education, other areas where there are teacher shortages.After a meeting at the New York State School Boards Association,David Little, Director of Governmental Relations, agreed to coop-erate with us on the bill in return for making a small change in thetext.

A bill must be introduced in both the New York State Assemblyand the Senate. One Senator and one Assemblymember mustsponsor the bill. In addition, co-sponsors may join. AssemblymanPaul Tonko (D. Amsterdam, Schenectady) has indicated that hewill sponsor the bill in the Assembly. Since January, members ofour Public Advocacy Committee have arranged meetings withSenators in their local district offices. Marie Campanaro, met withSen. Robach (R) in Rochester, who stated that he would be will-ing to sponsor the bill in the Senate. According to the opinions ofour advisors and other legislators, it is preferable that Sen.Saland, (R-Poughkeepsie), Chair of the Senate EducationCommittee, be our Sponsor. As of the writing of this article, we arewaiting to hear if Sen. Saland will sponsor our bill.

An unprecedented number of LOTE teacher volunteers partic-ipated in our annual LOTE Lobby Day in Albany, April 19. Manylegislators expressed support for the bill.

We visited the majority party (Republican in the Senate;Democrat in the Assembly) members of the Education and HigherEducation Committees. Another Senator, Sen. Marcellino (R-Oyster Bay) offered to sponsor the bill. Many legislators, espe-cially assemblymembers, offered to co-sponsor the bill.

What Can You Do?You can do everything! Legislators will respond best to their

own constituents in their local offices. We need all the support thatwe can get. Please help us out by arranging a visit with yourSenator or Assemblymember if he or she is a member of themajority party (Republican in the Senate and Democrat in theAssembly). A list of the majority members appears at the end ofthis article.

In Albany, we visited legislators who have strategic positionson committees other than Education and Higher Education, andwe need them all in order to pass this bill.

Lobbying 101Late June or July is an ideal time to call a legislator to set up a

meeting in the local office. However, any time is appropriate. Ifyou are willing to contact your legislator, e-mail Louise at [email protected] or Judy at [email protected]. We will sup-port you from beginning to end. We will mail you a NYSAFLT fold-er with materials to give to the legislator, and will give you advice.

It’s as easy as A-B-C!

A. Before the meetingCall the local office of your majority party Senator or

Assemblymember for an appointment. You may have to write aletter or send a fax. A sample is given below. During the legisla-tive session, legislators are in their home offices Thursdays andFridays. Find out who is the person in charge of appointments: thescheduler. You may have to call back a few times.

Once you have contacted the legislator, notify us, and we willsend you a list of NYSAFLT members living in the legislator’s dis-trict based on zip codes. You may know teachers who are willingto go to the meeting with you. They don’t have to be NYSAFLTmembers, but they must support the bill.

We will send you a letter that you can e-mail for the teacherswho are unable to attend the meeting to send to the legislator.

We will send you the folder which contains the bill and sup-porting materials, and talking points for the meeting. We will alsosend you an update on support for the bill.

B. During the meetingIntroduce yourselves. Discuss the need for the bill, and

ask the legislator to support and consider co-sponsoring the bill.Discuss the advantages of the bill for the local district, and shareany anecdotes that you know of on the effects of the shortage ofLOTE teachers in the local district.

If, during the meeting, a question comes up that you are unableto answer, offer to find out the answer for the legislator.

C. After the meetingIf you meet with the legislator him or herself, he or she

will probably express an opinion about the bill. If you meet with an

5

Making the Year of Languages Last: Public AdvocacyLouise Terry

Judy MartialayCo-Chairs,

NYSAFLT Public Advocacy Committee

assistant, you will probably have to follow up within a reasonabletime to find out what the position of the legislator is.

Send a brief thank-you note after the meeting. A sampleappears later in this article.

Sample materialsConvincing Americans, most of whom are monolingual, to

make foreign language education a priority is no walk in the park.It takes a major effort to change a mindset which has beenentrenched for decades. If you have read this article, you shareour conviction that every child should have the opportunity tobecome proficient in a LOTE.

Margaret Mead said: “Never doubt that a small group ofthoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it isthe only thing that ever has.”

With your participation, we can succeed at making foreign lan-guage study the priority that it should be. Please help us to makethe goals of the Year of Languages a reality.

Remember that educators are knowledgeable con-stituents and are held in high regard by legislators.

Sample letter requesting an appointment:Dear ____________,

I am writing to ask for an appointment to discuss a bill whichwould strengthen the study of Languages Other Than English(LOTE) in New York State.

The best time for a meeting is Friday afternoons at 4:00PM, sothat my colleagues and I can arrive after school. *

I look forward to meeting with you.Sincerely,

* (You can be more flexible during summer vacation)

Sample Thank-You Note:Dear _____________,

Thank you for meeting us on (date) to discuss the bill tostrengthen the study of Languages Other Than English (LOTE) inNew York State.

We appreciate very much your support of foreign languagestudy and hope to remain in contact with you.

Sincerely,

Current draft of Bill #S7422 (2004)

Suggested changes are underlined

Section #1This bill provides funding for high-need school districts wishing

to start programs of Foreign Language in the Elementary Schools(FLES). Participation in this program is voluntary. Funding foreach district will amount to up to $100,000 per year for two years.This funding will include the costs of teachers’ salaries, benefitsand materials. The commissioner of education is hereby directedto establish foreign language elementary school (FLES) programsin five elementary schools located in high-need districts that areconsistent with models provided by the Elementary ForeignLanguage Education Committee of the New York StateAssociation of Foreign Language Teachers. Such language ele-mentary school programs shall consist of at least three to five ses-sions per week, be in duration of at least twenty minutes per ses-sion for grades k-2, and thirty minutes in duration for grades 3-6,attempt to utilize FLES certified teachers and to require ongoingand age-appropriate assessments. The curriculum should be con-tent coordinated. There should be over all coordination through-

out the foreign language program. Funding for this program shalltake into consideration the need to hire FLES certified teachers,purchasing of instructional materials, and the need for incorporat-ing other forms of support to ensure that the program is sustain-able and successful.

Section #2The sum of two million ($2,000,000) dollars, one million

($1,000,000) designated for FLES Programs; one million($1,000,000) for student incentives, or so much thereof as may benecessary, is hereby appropriated to the department of educationfrom any moneys in the state treasury in the general fund to thecredit of the state purposes account not otherwise appropriatedfor services and expenses of the department for the purposes ofcarrying out the provisions of this act. Such sum shall be payableon the audit and warrant of the state comptroller on vouchers cer-tified or approved in the manner provided by law. No expendituresshall be made from this appropriation until a certificate of approvalof availability shall have been issued by the director of the budgetand filed with the state comptroller and a copy filed with the chairof the senate finance committee and the chair of the assemblyways and means committee. Such certificate may be amendedfrom time to time by the director of the budget and a copy of eachsuch amendment shall be filed with the state comptroller, the chairof the Senate Finance Committee and the Chair of the AssemblyWays and Means Committee.

Section #3The Commissioner of Education is hereby directed to establish

an incentive program for attracting and retaining college studentswishing to become teachers of languages other than English.Such a program shall include an incentive award of up to $10,000per student upon the completion of courses fulfilling the require-ment for certification in LOTE teaching in New York State. Theseincentives should be used to pay for tuition in education courses,undergraduate or graduate, leading to certification in New YorkState. A provision of such tuition scholarships would be a com-mitment on the part of the prospective teacher to teach foreignlanguages in New York State for a minimum of three years aftergraduation.

Section #4This act is to be implemented in September, 2006.

MAJORITY PARTY LEGISLATORS FOLLOWED BY LOCAL OFFICETelephone numbers can be found in the blue pages of the phone book andon the Senate and Asssembly Websites. (http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/

and http://www.senate.state.ny.us/senatehomepage.nsf/senators?OpenForm)Members of the Education and Higher Education Committees

are indicated with an asterisk *.

Republican SenatorsJames Alesi*, FairportMicael Balboni*, Garden City ParkJohn Bonacic, New Paltz, DelhiJoseph Bruno, Saratoga Springs, Majority Leader:

meeting has been requestedJohn DeFrancisco, SyracuseHugh Farley, Johnstown, Amsterdam, Majority WhipJohn Flanagan*, Smithtown, meeting has taken placeCharles Fuschillo*, Jr. Freeport, meeting has been requestedMartin Golden*, Brooklyn, meeting taken placeKemp Hannon, Garden CityOwen Johnson, BabylonWilliam Larken, Jr. New WindsorKenneth LaValle, Chair, Higher Ed. Committee,

meeting taken place


Vincent Leibell III, BrewsterThomas Libous, BinghamtonElizabeth Little*, Glens Falls, PlattsburghSerphin Maltese*, GlendaleCarl Marcellino*, Oyster Bay, meeting taken placeJohn Marchi, Staten IslandGeorge Maziarz, Wheatfield, BrockportPaatricia McGee*, Olean, Jamestown deceased,

replaced by Sen. Catharine Young*Raymond Meier*, Utica, meeting requstedThomas Morahan*, NanuetMichael Nozzolio, Seneca FallsFrank Padavan, BelleroseMary Lou Rath*, Williamsville, meeting taken placeJoseph Robach*, Rochester, meeting taken placeStephen Saland, Poughkeepsie,

Chair, Education Committee, meeting taken placeJames Seward*, Oneonta, meeting requestedDean Skelos, Rockville CentreNicholas Spano*, YonkersCaesar Trunzo, HauppaugeDale Volker, DepewGeorge Winner, Elmira*James Wright, Watertown, Oswego

Democrat AssemblymembersPeter Abbate, Jr. BrooklynCarmen Arroyo*, BronxDaniel Aubertine*, WatertownJeffrion Aubry, Corona, QueensMichael Benedetto*, BronxMichael Benjamin, BronxJonathan Bing, ManhattanWilliam Boyland, Jr. BrooklynAdam Bradley, White PlainsJames Brennan*, BrooklynRichard Brodsky, ElmsfordKevin Cahill*, KingstonRonald Canestrari, Albany, Chair, Higher Ed. CommitteeAnn-Margaret Carrozza, BaysideJoan Christensen, SyracuseBarbara Clark*, Queens VillageAdele Cohen, BrooklynMichael Cohen, Forest HillsWilliam Colton, BrooklynVivian Cook, JamaicaMichael Cusick*, Staten IslandSteven Cymbrowitz, BrooklynFrancine Del Monte, Niagara FallsRoAnn Destito, UticaLuis Diaz*, BronxRuben Diaz, Jr.*, BronxThomas DiNapoli*, Great Neck, meeting taken placeJeffrey Dinowitz, BronxPatricia Eddington*, PatchogueSteven Englebright*, SetauketAdriano Espaillat, ManhattanHerman Farrell, Jr., ManhattanGinny Fields, SayvilleSandra Galef, OssiningDavid Gantt, RochesterMichael, Gianaris, AstoriaDeborah Glick*, ManhattanDiane Gordon, BrooklynRichard Gottfried*, ManhattanAlexander Grannis, Manhattan

Roger Green*, BrooklynAurelia Greene*, BronxAileen Gunther, MontecelloCarl Heastie, BronxDov Hikind, BrooklynEarlene Hooper*, HempsteadSam Hoyt, BuffaloVincent Ignizio, Richmond CountyRhoda Jacobs*, BrooklynSusan John*, RochesterRyan Karben, Pearl RiverDavid Koon, FairportIvan Lafayette, Jackson HeightsGeorge Latimer, MamaroneckJohn Lavelle*, Staten IslandCharles Lavine, PlainviewJoseph Lentol, BrooklynBarbara Lifton*, IthacaVito Lopez, BrooklynDonna Lupardo*, BinghamtonWilliam Magee*, OneidaWilliam Magnarelli*, SyracuseMargaret Markey, MaspethNettie Mayersohn, FlushingJohn McEneny, AlbanyBrian McLaughlin, FlushingJimmy Meng*, FlushingJoan Millman, BrooklynJoseph Morelle*, RochesterCatherine Nolan, Ridgewood, WoodsideClarence Norman, Jr., BrooklynDaniel O’Donnell, ManhattanFeliz Ortiz, BrooklynWilliam Parment*, JamestownAmy Paulin*, ScarsdaleCrystal Peoples, BuffaloJose Peralta, Jackson HeightsNick Perry, BrooklynAudry Pheffer*, Rockaway BeachAdam Clayton Powell IV, ManhattanJ. Gary Pretlow, Mount VernonPhilip Ramos*, BrentwoodRobert Reilly*, Albany, SaratogaJose Rivera, BronxNaomi Rivera, BronxPeter Rivera, BronxAnnette Robinson, BrooklynSteven Sanders, Manhattan, Chair, Education Committee,

meeting requestedWilliam Scarborough, St. AlbansRobin Schimminger, KenmoreMark Schroeder, BuffaloFrank Seddio, BrooklynAnthony Seminerio, Richmond HillSheldon Silver, Manhattan, SpeakerScott Stringer*, ManhattanRobert Sweeney*, LindenhurstMichele Titus, Far RockawayPaul Tokasz, BuffaloPaul Tonko*, Amsterdam, meeting taken place: sponsor of billDarryl Towns, BrooklynHelene Weinstein, BrooklynHarvey Weisenberg*, Long BeachMark Weprin, Little NeckKeith Wright, Manhattan

7

When you’ve been teaching since 1963, there’s a lot you’d liketo share when NYSAFLT puts out a call for items during the Yearof Languages. I began the Year of Languages still recuperatingfrom emergency surgery in July 2004 and retired in March; hencethe time to share some thoughts with you. Sharing is one of thegreat strengths of our profession. In what I’ve written there’s a lit-tle bit of a lot of people who shared with me over the years and towhom I will always be very grateful.

“How we teach impacts what we can teach” (source unknown)is a statement that I have found to be true over the years. In my40+ years of teaching, I have experienced many shifts of para-digm. In the light of recent developments in the field and of myyears of experience, I suggest that the following changes in howwe view ourselves and our roles as teachers would be beneficial.Hence, the notion that “I am a foreign language teacher” shouldbecome “I am a facilitator of students’ acquisition of a languageother than English”. “I’m a French teacher” should become “I facil-itate students’ acquisition of the language of French speakersaround the world”. “How we teach” should become “How we facil-itate” and “what we teach” should become “what we can makeavailable for students to acquire”.

We all discover in our classrooms that students are capable oflearning and doing much more than we might have ever thought.The sky is (for the moment) the limit when you set your instruc-tional goals. If you are a risk-taker, students will also take risks,and it is axiomatic that students’ acquisition of language is facili-tated and enhanced by trial (try) and error (risk). Consequently, itis very important to establish a classroom atmosphere where risk-taking is positive and errors are considered a normal part of thelearning process.

Given the above,— Use the target language for instruction with ALL students

(FLES, Checkpoint A and, indeed, Checkpoints B, C andbeyond). It is also axiomatic that the development of listen-ing skills is pivotal to four-skills communicative competency,so one needs to take advantage of as many classroom min-utes as possible to give students an opportunity to HEARand to PROCESS. Constant shifting from L2 to L1 is liketaking one step forward and two (if not more) backwards.The central role of listening should also be reflected inassessment and evaluation.

— Make use of your full capacity to communicate — withwords, gestures, pantomime, drawings (spontaneous aswell as prepared) — TPR, TPRS — actions DO speak louder than words to many learners.

— Use the target culture(s) as a framework wherever possible.

How do you do all this with your textbook? You don’t. You do ityourself. If the NYS syllabus isn’t enough (it SHOULD be), useyour text as a GUIDE to what YOU create as means (materi-als/methods) for student acquisition (learning). In a sense, ‘teach’the lesson in the text (or at least the GOALS of that lesson…asthey relate to the NYS syllabus) using your own resources beforethe students ever look at the lesson in the text. What’s a betterreaction for a student when he/she opens a text? (a) What’sTHIS?? I can’t do this! I don’t know what all these words mean! or(b) Oh yea … we did this already …

So what activities can be done with all of this in mind?— One can reinforce a bulk of the curriculum through the use

of the alphabet. That’s right.“Arbre” “Brique” “Cage”… “Abeja” “Barco” “Carro”.Gesticulate; use cognates. Be a tree. Be a bird in a cage.Make a ‘bee’ sound. Use the cognate “insecte”…with your fin-gers showing it crawl up your arm. Introduce “yellow” “black”“big” “small” (Oh…is that what they mean by teaching vocabu-lary in context?). Row a boat. Drive a car. By the time you’vereached “zebre” you’ve identified categories and within thosecategories you’ve included some ‘structural’ learning … with-out referring to it as such… “Animals” are great for teachingadjectives (size, color), verbs (walks, runs, flies, eats) andhabitats (land, water, farm, jungle).

— The non-English versions of “Beauty and the Beast” or “TheLion King” can also reinforce the curriculum. The kidsalready know the stories … no great mystery there. The stu-dents blew me away when I tried it (better to be blown awaythan blown off). The sky was definitely the limit when westarted “Oui” ou “Non” talking about the characters “Belleest belle” “Gaston est bon” “La Bête habite dans une petitemaison” “La tasse parle et danse” And, of course, it’s alldone in L2 (and aerobically). The Lion King? Family, friends,romance, animals, habitats, good, evil, - you name it, it’s inthere … and the kids can handle it in L2 with your guidance.

Let me end with a virtual “Q&A” session (as if this were aworkshop).

Q “What grade were your students in?”A They were in 6th grade. At the time they had all had a FLEX pro-

gram in Grade 5 where they had 13 weeks of French, 13 weeksof German and 13 weeks of Spanish after which they chose thelanguage they would take in grades 6 and beyond.

Q How many kids were in your classes?A Spanish, usually 29-30. French, usually 20-22.

Q How often did the classes meet?A Five times a week for 38 minutes.

Q Did you teach grammar?A Yes. The kids just didn’t know I was doing it.

Q Did the kids speak?A Yes. In the beginning I’d start a sentence and they’d finish it. A

lot of one word answers for a while but they were based ondemonstrated listening comprehension.

Q What did kids usually do during the 38 minutes?A They would listen, speak, draw, sometimes write and move

around. They were constantly moving, gesticulating (usuallystanding by their seats) or drawing on the board (“Go to theboard and draw a castle” “Go…draw a horse” ---directionsgiven in L2). Once the drawings were on the board they’d beused as visuals to encourage conversation. Occasionally theywould write things in their notebooks, but only things theyalready knew. Once words were on the board they, too, wereused as ‘visuals’ to spark other activities.


In the Year of Languages ‘Teaching Tips’ for My NYSAFLT Colleages

Frank MarinoRetired*

Q What textbook did you use?A I created or found eclectic sources for all of the ‘materials’.

Q What assessments did you use?A Constant use of L2 in instruction provided a maximum of

listening comprehension ‘practice’ and opportunities for students to speak. In a communication based LOTE class, students demonstrate what they can do (performance evalua-tion) DAILY. Simply put, 40-30-20-10 was my roadmap forinstruction as well as for assessment (informal and formal). Oh.I tried something heretical … I never told the students whenthey would have a formal test…and they did BETTER!! It keptthem ‘primed’ and also helped make their learning habitual, not‘occasional’ for a ‘test’. Review/spiraling/reintroduction…call itwhat you will. Unless they were really fooling me, most of themknew what they were doing.

Q Any other favorite activities?A I guess ‘current events’. During the French presidential elec-

tions, we made up “Votez pour Jacques” posters. One of theweakest students in the class (remember, we teach all stu-dents) had the name “Jacques” and he was thrilled that theFrench president had the same name. We had a paradethrough the halls with Jacques seated in a rolling chair, sur-rounded by posters and cheering campaigners.

During the winter Olympics, we had a great time making flagsof the ‘top 10’ countries, whose rank we would determine by fol-lowing the daily scores and posting them as we learned countrynames, names of languages, and, of course, the sports vocab-ulary. The ‘pièce de résistance’ was our parade of nations. Thekids were very proud that French was the official language atthe Olympics.

Whenever I needed to use English (to explain the strategy foran activity, for example), I would run over to the corner of theroom where I became “Monsieur l’Anglais” (who was an Englishteacher in Paris). With a thick French accent I would explain(hopefully) what we were going to do…and often why we weregoing to do it.

Q Have you always taught like this?A No! In 1967 I must have been very boring. You know, the text-

book, the grammar, the writing, the ‘culture questions’, thewhole scene. I wish I could go back to some of those classes

and do an ‘extreme makeover”. Maybe I would have generatedmore parents who’d want their own kids (or grandchildren?!) tomaster another language.

Q Does everyone in your school do what you do?A No. And there are lots of things my colleagues do that I can’t do.

We all provide a variety of approaches and styles for a varietyof students and abilities. But, in our middle school, instruction inthe target language was a given, kind of a ‘once you’ve done ityou don’t go back’ thing.

Q Any more thoughts you’d like to share?A My wife, Joan, is one of the most talented language teachers

I’ve ever known. “The classroom is my laboratory where I canexperiment and discover”, “Kids taught me how they learn” and“Kids know when you care (and when you don’t)” are just someof the wonderful things she has said about what we all do.

Q Anything else?A Yes. I said something before about ‘sharing’. As LOTE teachers

we are singularly blessed to have NYSAFLT here for us. Forme, it has been like an extended family…always there for mewith help, encouragement, always a source of wisdom andgood advice. We’re also very fortunate to have active and help-ful professional organizations in our own regions throughout thestate and, indeed, nationally and in the Nnortheast. Not to beactive and supportive of all of these organizations is equivalentto being a member of a wonderful family and not knowing it.

Every year is the Year of Languages. Let’s continue to makethis one a special one.

__________*The author will always be indebted to his mentors at FraminghamSouth High School, Framingham, MA and his colleagues at NorthJunior High School, Brentwood, NY, Calhoun High School,Merrick, NY, Grand Avenue Junior High School, Bellmore, NY,and Hauppauge High School and Middle School, Hauppauge,NY.

9


On February 17, 2005, twelve U.S. senators successfullybrought a resolution to the floor designating 2005 as the "Year ofForeign Language Study," (S. Res. 28). Citing a 40-year history ofU.S. policy directives aimed at increasing the percentage ofAmericans who speak more than one language, the resolutionconcludes, "It is the sense of the Senate that foreign languagestudy makes important contributions to cognitive development,our national economy and our national security..."

Those of us who know the crucial role multilingual abilities playin international understanding are pleased that Congress hassounded the alarm one more time. But we have seen similarefforts in the past. They tend to recur in 20-year cycles and inresponse to international crises. Beginning in 1958 with the pas-sage of the National Defense Education Act it was the Cold War.In 1978, it was the hostage crisis in Iran. Now, we are respondingto the September 11 terrorist attacks and the war in Iraq.

It was back in 1978 that Representative Paul Simon (D-IL) discovered that the U. S. was in violation of the 1975 HelsinkiAccords that commit signatory states "to encourage the study oflanguages and civilizations as an important means of expandingcommunication among peoples."

Simon presented the case to President Jimmy Carter whoestablished a Commission to investigate the status of ForeignLanguages and International Studies in the U. S. I was privilegedto serve on this blue ribbon commission along with 24 other indi-viduals, including Simon; Leon Panetta, then a U.S.Representative; Fred Hechinger, President of The New YorkTimes Foundation; Edwin O. Reischauer, Ambassador to Japanand Father Timothy Healy, President of Georgetown University,among others. Chaired by James Perkins, who was the Chair ofthe International Council of Educational Development, theCommission issued a report, Strength through Wisdom: A Critiqueof U.S. Capability, in November 1979. Its recommendations wereurgently needed then and - given the mounting crises we facenow - are needed even more today. According to the report, ourincompetence in foreign languages was "nothing short of scan-dalous and ... becoming worse."

Our discoveries were appalling. We found that the lack of language and culture fluency in our elementary and secondaryschools resulted in broad ignorance. Forty percent of 12th graderscould not locate Egypt on a map and some 20 percent could notsituate France or China. Only 15 percent of American high schoolstudents studied a foreign language and even that number wasdeclining. Just eight percent of American colleges and universitiesrequired a foreign language for admission and only five percent ofprospective teachers at the time of our report had taken a coursein international studies. Boredom and unimaginative teachingwere cited as the chief factors responsible for the decline.

In 1978, fewer than one percent of the 11 million undergradu-ate and graduate students at our nation's colleges and universities were studying languages that were spoken by 80 per-cent of the world’s peoples. When the hostage crisis took place inIran, only six out of 60 Foreign Service officers could speak Farsi.

There are historic reasons for our poor performance in lan-guage acquisition. We have been raised to believe that proficien-cy in other languages is unnecessary, that others will speak to usin our language. We live under the erroneous assumption thatEnglish is spoken throughout the world. Combine these with the"melting pot” syndrome - still prevalent in 1978 - of assimilation atall costs, which discouraged pride in or knowledge of different eth-nicities and it’s not hard to account for the problems we found.

Money was not a factor, since it would have cost the federalgovernment a mere $180 million in new funds to create a programthen that could have prepared us to meet the problems of today.Those funds would have enabled us to improve foreign languagecompetency and cultural awareness at all levels, to educate ourchildren to meet the 21st century, to address needs in undergrad-uate and advanced studies, to advance international researchand teaching through academic and scholarly exchanges and tocreate an informed electorate through citizen education in inter-national affairs. It was the time to confront major disasters in threecrucial areas: education, to eliminate the moat mentality that sep-arates us from the rest of the world; commerce, to be able to con-duct business in the language of our clients; and diplomacy, toavoid dangerous misunderstandings through ignorance of lan-guage and culture.

So it was with a sense of déjà vu that I read the recent Reportof the 9/11 Commission. In 1978, we suggested that "...racial andethnic minorities...[could be] brought into the mainstream of educational and employment opportunities in the areas of foreignlanguage and international studies, where they will make rapid,new and valuable contributions to America's capacity to deal persuasively and effectively with the world outside its borders."Then, as now, the CIA was in the embarrassing position of beingunable to transcribe hours of accumulated taped information invarious Arabic dialects.

While this may be "The Year of Foreign Language Study," wedo not need to establish another Commission. I doubt its findingswould be any more heartening. Perhaps this year, though, we canstrive to do more than be motivated by terrorism and fear.Perhaps we can invigorate language learning for reasons ofhumanity. We need only wake up and join the human race bylearning its languages and absorbing its cultures, hear the alarmbells, smell death where there should be life, listen to the agonizing screams of children without a voice, taste the food thatmillions do not have and touch those who cannot reach out to us.With these principles as our priorities, it is not at all quixotic tospeculate that we may be able to tackle present problems andavoid future ones without resorting to shock and awe tactics.__________This article first appeared March 7, 2005 in ‘Vox of Dartmouth,’a newspaper for faculty and staff at Dartmouth College. It hasbeen reprinted with permission of the author. The editor thanks Dr.Mel Yoken for bringing the article to her attention.

The Legacy of Our Moat Mentality

Dr. John A. RassiasWilliam R. Kenan, Jr. Professor

Chair of the Department of French and ItalianDartmouth College

Hanover, NH

11

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The Year of Languages inSmithtown SchoolsDr. Janet Lisy Picataggio

Chairperson—LOTE DepartmentSmithtown Central School District • Smithtown, New York

Students in the Smithtown Central School District have alwaysbenefited from a full and active foreign language program. Thehighly qualified language staff brings a wealth of cultural and lin-guistic experiences in American Sign Language, French, German,Italian and Spanish on a daily basis. The members of the LanguageHonor Societies spearhead educational programs and culturalevents. Some of our Language Honor Society students makeweekly visits to the elementary schools to provide eight weeks ofintroductory language instruction; they teach the children simplevocabulary through songs, visuals and games. They have alsoorganized school and community social events. These have includ-ed: inventive Mardi Gras celebrations at Villa Lombardi Catererswhere entertainment is provided by student dramatic and musicalnumbers, as well as a local DJ; an elegant German Dinner Dancewhere students in evening wear dance traditional waltzes; springbocce tournaments where Italian students enjoy competition, pizzaand prizes; a World Cup Soccer Tournament where teams repre-senting the different honor societies competed to show their athlet-ic prowess. The American Sign Language Club at the High Schoolhas taken on community projects, such as sponsoring an area ofPlymouth Boulevard which they maintain regularly, as well as offer-ing a Silent Gathering, where 150 students from schools in Nassauand Suffolk Counties met at Smithtown High School to participatein ASL-centered activities. The creativity of the students and staff,which motivates many students to study one or more languagesthrough the college level, continues to make Smithtown’s languageprogram a model for districts across Long Island.

This year, the Smithtown LOTE (Languages Other ThanEnglish) Department is joining with schools across the UnitedStates to celebrate 2005 THE YEAR OF LANGUAGES.

The Smithtown Language Department is participating in thisyear-long occasion by preparing events that will celebrate theimportance of language proficiency in general, and the study of lan-guages at Smithtown in particular. Some highlights of the projectsalready being undertaken are: a fall international field day competi-tion which pitted language students against each other in friendlyrivalry; a spring international ball sponsored by all the High SchoolLanguage Honor Societies and the ASL Club; International Nightsat Great Hollow and Nesaquake Middle Schools, where studentsand their parents were invited to participate in dance lessons, sing-alongs and a skit based on an “I Love Lucy” multi-lingual adventurein Paris; a three-day multicultural “read aloud” at Smithtown MiddleSchool where ELA and Social Studies students gathered at thelibrary to hear stories from many countries; a joint Language-Business Departments International Career Day at the high schoolthat introduced students to the career benefits of linking businessstudies with fluency in one or more foreign languages. Along withthese events, teachers are involved in planning daily activities fortheir classes to focus student attention on this momentous year.

The Smithtown Language Department hopes that this year’sevents will focus community attention on the importance of makingall students proficient in at least one language other than English,as they reinforce our mission to bring quality language instructionto the students of Smithtown Schools.

Extending the Year of LanguagesKatherine Meierjurgen

Watkins Glen High SchoolWatkins Glen Central School District • Watkins Glenn, NY

A Year of Languages! What an exciting concept! Ideas floodedmy head, thoughts of Foreign Language fairs, international movienights, club activities, and creating websites. In despair, I thought,how will I ever get all of this accomplished in one year? And then, Idecided that I wouldn’t.

Ultimately, we all want LOTE to be considered as a core subject.Confining the celebration of languages to one year doesn’t lendenough credence to that concept. So instead, I’ve designed athree-year curriculum project, created for the purpose of expandingthe curriculum to embrace national standards, reinventing theForeign Language Club, and beginning the process of developinga new program to work with student and pre-service teachers. Withthis project, I hope to firmly establish LOTE as an important coresubject in my community, not because students will need to take aRegents’ exam but rather because learning about other cultures isvital in today’s society. I hope to connect this tiny hamlet with therest of the world.

This project will officially begin with the start of the academicyear, 2005-2006. During this first year, I will be revising four units,seeking information from colleges about their requirements forincoming freshmen, and performing the data and item analysis ofstate assessment results necessary to chart our progress as adepartment. With the help of the members of the Foreign LanguageClub, we will be creating a culture corner in the media center, con-necting LOTE with the community through websites and newslet-ters, and building stronger ties with the foreign exchange studentsthat we are fortunate to host each year.

While the benefits to our curriculum will be myriad and manyimmeasurable, there is another benefit to consider. It is the same onewe receive after attending worthwhile conferences. When engaged insubstantial and creative work, one doesn’t merely effect positivechanges in the work environment, but also in oneself. And I look for-ward to bringing, and feeling, the breath of fresh air which will circu-late around our department, our district and our community.

The Proverbs Project: Validating SchoolCultures Through Quotes and Sayings

in World LanguagesLori Langer de Ramiz, Ed.D.

Chair, ESL and World Languages,Herricks Public Schools • Herricks NY

My school district, as many others on Long Island, has been wit-nessing an influx of immigrants from Asia, most notably from India,China and Korea. Recent statistics show that over 35% of studentsin Herricks Public Schools are of Asian background. During ForeignLanguage Month we conducted a district-wide survey regardinglanguage use for the district. The results showed that 62% of stu-dents speak a language other than English in their homes. In ourschools, students with ties to India speak Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi,Kutchi, Malayalam, Marathi, Memon, Panjabi, Tamil, Telugu, andUrdu. Students of Chinese heritage speak Cantonese, Fukinese,Mandarin, Shanghainese and Taiwanese. We also hear Korean,Farsi, Polish, Haitian Creole and Serbian in our hallways. In orderto celebrate this wealth of cultures and languages and in honor ofthe Year of Languages, we designed the Proverbs Project.

Teacher toTeacher

A memo describing the activity was distributed to studentsthrough their ESL and World Language classes. The memoexplained that we were interested in collecting proverbs from thestudents’ home cultures and in a variety of languages. These col-lected “words of wisdom” would then be framed and hung on thewalls in the hallway that housed our department offices and most ofour ESL and World Language classes. Since we were aiming forconsistency in the design of these framed quotes, students wereshown a sample proverb to use as a model (see Figure 1):

Figure 1

All quotes were to be typed (where possible) on white copypaper and presented in a horizontal format. Since the goal of thisproject was to bring languages into the school in a very visual way,we asked that students type the quote in the foreign language first.We wanted the language to be the focal point of this display andthus asked that this text take up the first half of the page. Since somany of our students speak languages that require a special font tobe installed in one’s computer, some of our quotes were hand-writ-ten. However, many of our students were able to type their quotesin languages like Tamil, Burmese and Russian using their homecomputers.

The second batch of text on these “mini-posters” was to beeither a translation or a gloss of the quote into English. Some stu-dents chose to translate their proverb literally, which gave readersmore of an opportunity to interpret the message. For example, oneChinese quote was translated as: “A frog in a well sees only a cir-cle revealing the sky, yet it believes this circle is the world”. Theglossed version of this quote read: “Have an open mind”. Finally,the name of the language was to be labeled on the lower right-handside.

We started with fifteen quotes that came in from students. Thesewere immediately framed and hung on our hallway walls. Sincethese proverbs appeared, students have become more and moreinterested in the project. We find students, teachers, parents andadministrators walking slowly through the hall in order to read thequotes and admire the beauty of Arabic script or Chinese charac-ters. Many students have come to the language office to ask whytheir home language was not represented. This provides us withthe perfect opportunity for enlisting the student’s help in submittinga proverb, thus perpetuating the project.

This simple idea – a wall of wisdom – has gone a long way toinclude, validate and honor the rich diversity of cultures and lan-guages that exists in our district. It has also helped us to celebratethe Year of Languages in a very public and special way in ourschools.

Great proverb websites:

Ité Proverbs Competition: A student competition with postings inSpanish, French, Italian, German, Japanese and Russian.http://www.ite.ie/proverbs/

African Proverbs, Sayings and Stories: Daily African proverbsand proverb calendars. Proverbs posted in a variety of African lan-guages, some in French.http://www.afriprov.org/

Wikipedia List of Proverbs: A meta-list of proverbs sites arrangedby language ranging from Afghan to Yoruba.http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/List_of_proverbs

Some quotes about education and language:➢ Even from a foe, you can learn words of wisdom. –Greek➢ What young John hasn’t learned, old John won’t know. – Polish➢ Minds and books are like parachutes; they are only useful when

opened. – Spanish➢ The more I learn, the more I know that there is more to learn. –

Portuguese➢ Studying is like rowing against the current. If you are not moving

forward, you are moving backward. – Chinese➢ Those who obtain education will reap its rewards. – Bangla➢ Learn while you are young for you will age quickly. – Japanese➢ Those who study will know, those who save will have. – Serbian➢ Knowledge leads to unity, and ignorance to differences. – Hindi➢ If you visit a country where people blink their eyes - blink back.

– Thai➢ More is to be got from one teacher than from two books. –

German

Learning a Foreign Language is aMind-Altering Experience

Liliana PolicanoDistrict Supervisor of ESL & LOTE

Oyster Bay-East NorwichThe ability one has to converse… to reach out…

and to connect with people of other nationshas to be one of the most intense feelings

a human being can experience…I had this unique experience growing up in Argentina, in a

bilingual household that supported the learning of foreign languages. I was raised listening to Spanish and Italian and wasencouraged to learn English as an after-school activity, while grow-ing up. In High School and College, I learned French. I realized howlucky I was to be able to understand the lyrics of beautiful songs inmany languages and how my world had suddenly expandedbeyond my southern borders.

In Oyster Bay-East Norwich School District, students begin theexploration of Spanish and French in 5th grade. At the end of 5thgrade, these students select their language of choice to continuewith in the 6th grade. Later, they begin a program of study at theMiddle School which can continue throughout their four years ofHigh School. (Please see course offerings). Our LOTE (LanguagesOther Than English) department teachers are extremely knowl-edgeable in Foreign Language pedagogy and keep current withprofessional development in their field of expertise. My staff and Iare strong believers that learning another language opens a window to the world and prepares students for the challenges of the21st century. Research has demonstrated that foreign languagestudies encourage cultural sensitivity, foster critical thinking andproblem solving skills and reinforce the curriculum content of othercore subjects. The learning process is enhanced by the use ofgames, songs, technology and visual aids. Students create andpresent projects that reinforce the listening, speaking, reading, writing and cultural requirements specified in the Standards forForeign Language Learning.

ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of ForeignLanguages) puts “language” at the core of human existence.Through language a human being can express his/her needs andwants, his/her hopes and dreams and understands and values theneeds and wants, the hopes and dreams of others around theworld. We live in a multicultural, global society in need of sensitivecultural beings with a desire to connect. As Oyster Bay-EastNorwich Foreign Language District Supervisor, I invite you to joinme in realizing this dream of inspiring, sharing and instilling in students, a unique passion for learning languages.

13

La pratica vale piú dellagrammatica.

Experience is the best teacher.

— Italian


THE INGENIOUS KNIGHT OF LA MANCHA

DON QUIXOTE: 400 YEARS OLD(1605-2005)

Born in 1605 from the creative genius of Miguel de Cervantes,the fictional hero, DON QUIXOTE, celebrates his 400 birthday in2005. No doubt SANCHO PANZA joins in the celebration of whathas been called the world’s first modern novel, the first best-sellerand, after the Bible, the book that has undergone the most transla-tions which include the Gaelic, Javanese and Tibetan languages.Surely this novel is also first in published editions which numbersome 2,500!

During 2005 Hispanic literature proudly commemorates the IVCentennial of the first edition of the acclaimed novel.

Rich in the wisdom of many proverbs here are 5 spoken by DonQuixote and 5 from his faithful squire, Sancho Panza.

Proverbs by Don Quixote:1. “One swallow does not a summer make.”2. “There is a remedy for all but death.”3. “Dress well, for a stick adorned does not appear to be stick.”4. “It’s not with whom you are born, but with whom you are bred.”5. “To sell me one thing instead of another.”

Proverbs said by Sancho Panza:1. “The one you can obtain now is better than two promised for

the future.”2. “He who lives well is the best preacher.”3. “Tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are.”4. “Make good people your friends and you’ll be like them.”5. “(In a dispute) Between two wisdom teeth (close relatives or

friends) you shouldn’t get involved.”

Across the many pages of the novel, Don Quixote, Sancho and oth-ers add many more proverbs and sayings to the above. Some ofthese are:

“Patience and shuffle the cards.”

“Hunger is the best sauce in the world.”

“A man prepared has the battle half fought.”

“The one who sings, scares his troubles away.”

“All will come out in the washing.”

“Fear has many eyes.”

“The foolish sayings of the rich pass for wise sayings in society.”

“All kinds of beauty do not inspire love; there is beauty which pleases the sight, but does not inspire affection.”

“The pen is the tongue of the mind.”

“Love is the great equalizer.”

EL INGENIOSO HIDALGO DON QUIJOTE DE LA MANCHA

EL QUIJOTE CUMPLE 400 AÑOS(1605-2005)

¡Don Quijote sigue cabalgando después de 400 años! Estehéroe prototipo del idealista y genial creación de la pluma de Miguelde Cervantes Saavedra nació en 1605, año de la primera publicación del Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha.

En el 2005 la literatura de España se pone de fiesta al conmem-orar el IV Centenario de su natalicio.

Esta novela caballeresca, se distingue por ser el libro más tra-ducido y con mayor venta después de la Santa Biblia.

A continuación, algunos refranes pronunciados por Don Quijotey otros por su fiel escudero, Sancho Panza.

Refranes dichos por Don Quijote:1. “Una golondrina sola no hace el verano”.2. Para todo hay remedio si no es para la muerte”.3. Vístete bien, que un palo compuesto no parece palo”. 4. “No quién naces, sino quién paces”. 5. “Venderme a mí gato por liebre”.

Refranes dichos por Sancho Panza:1. “Más vale un toma que dos te daré”.

2. “Bien predica quien vive bien”.3. “Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres”.4. “Júntate a los buenos y serás uno de ellos”.5. “Entre dos muelas cordiales nunca pongas tus pulgares”.

Celebramos el IV Centenario del Quijote con otros dichos y refranesde la ilustre novela.

“Paciencia y barajas”.

“La mejor salsa del mundo es el hambre”.

“Hombre apercibido medio combatido”.

“Quién canta, sus males espanta”.

“Todo saldrá en la colada”.

“El miedo tiene muchos ojos”.

“Las necedades del rico pasan por sentencia en el mundo”.

“No todas las hermosuras enamoran, que algunas alegran la vista,y no rinden voluntad”.

“La pluma es la lengua del alma”.

“El amor todas las cosas iguala”.

ON THE OCCASION OF THE 400TH BIRTHDAY OF DON QUIJOTE Joseph A. Cussen, cfc

Iona CollegeNew Rochelle, NY

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Like Houdini, you can make objects disappear and reappear,change color, and join together in unity. You can put one color inthe hat and take another one out; put in a question, pull out theanswer; put in dollars and pull out the euro equivalent; put in bro-ken pieces and pull out the repaired whole; put in ingredients andpull out a dessert; put in the reasons for a war and pull out theresults.

You can grow a tiny object into a medium-sized and then agiant one right before everyone’s eyes; make objects wiggle anddance; from an empty bag pull out a six foot colored garland, colorby color; make a scarf leap from left to right to center in order toteach directional prepositions; grow a flower in an empty pot; pourwater into a newspaper without wetting it, pour it out again anddrink it; make the sum of two class-selected numbers rise from adeck of cards; create an instant mini-snow storm in your class-room; make an invisible dog bark and run through the room... anddo just about anything else you can think of!

Stephen Krashen, one of the most influential language spe-cialists of the 20th century with 22,700 mentions on the internet asof this moment, insists on “pleasure from the beginning, on obtain-ing interesting, comprehensible input [in the foreign languageclassroom] right from the start ... The path of pleasure is the onlypath...”1. From these statements, it looks like Dr. Krashen mightapprove of magic tricks in the classroom, too!

Who Needs Magic Tricks? “The philosophical basis for the ... [NYS LanguagesOther Than English Curriculum] rests on the Board ofRegents recognition of the diversity of students in NewYork State, including students with disabilities, Englishlanguage learners, gifted students, and educationallydisadvantaged students, and has made a strong com-mitment to integrating the education of all students intothe total school program.

The standards apply to all students, regardless of theirexperiential background, capabilities, developmentaland learning differences, interests, or ambitions. A class-room typically includes students with a wide range ofabilities who may pursue multiple pathways to learneffectively, participate meaningfully, and work towardattaining higher levels of achievement.” 2.

Because of the heterogeneous nature of classrooms found inschools in New York state and all over the country, teachers must

find new avenues to reach their students. Magic tricks will now bemandated (just kidding!). Even if they’re not mandated, somemagic could certainly come in handy.

What the Magic GrewI started with a silk scarf atop a bag of props twenty-five years

ago and have added to it little by little over the years. The magicgrew my program - like Jack’s beanstalk. I began as a general ele-mentary classroom teacher, you know - social studies, math,English, science, etc.. But I began speaking Italian and doingmagic tricks every afternoon for my 25 mixed ethnicity secondgraders after their return from lunch. The ‘magic’ turned it into anItalian program encompassing all 600 PK-8 students in the entirebuilding. One third of them passed the New York State ItalianRegents Comprehensive Exam in the eighth grade (typically anexam given in the eleventh or twelfth grades). I was the onlyteacher for all 600, and I saw them just once or twice per six-daycycle.

Four years ago I won the school a half million dollar federalF.L.A.P. grant. The award was based on the rather extraordinarysuccess of my “lesser-taught” language program that the federalgovernment thought could be used as a model for others. Prettymagical, right?

Perfect? Not!Most seemed to love Italian and they could pass the tests. I

won many teaching honors over the years. Many students contin-ued on with Italian in college. I felt good about these things. Butstill nagging at me was the fact that the lower quarter or more ofthe sixth - eighth grade class (my oldest and the only ones whowere tested by the state) was very low and nearly impossible tomotivate beyond the few minutes of the magic.

During those years another engaging activity was to start a“phrase of the week” arrangement where students got a point forstarting a conversation using the established phrase anywhere inthe building any time they saw me. ‘Hall duty’ became an exten-sion of the classroom. Students would get a point for using thephrase and more points if they lingered and added anything more.The better students were able to compound the phrases intolonger conversations. But the others were not. The “phrase of theweek” and the occasional magic trick helped ... but not enough.

It Was Time to Open the Curtain For AllSo, there I was, up on the “stage” and the kids were in their

seats looking interested, but something was missing. I wanted

Pulling Proficiency Out of a Hat…Magic Tricks Can be Your Curtain-Opener

Judith MazziottiRitornello Italian Studio

Amherst, NY(Retired, Buffalo Public Schools)

“Uno, due, tre ... abracadabra - la classe dov’è?”(This is Italian for “1, 2, 3 ... ...hey, where’s your class?”)

Usually that’s what you’re wondering ... where are your precious students? “Screen-saver” expressions gradually masked their bright little faces? With magic you will know they are WITH you.... perched on the edge of their seats

— all eyes on YOU!!!

What could keep them away?


them all to be able to weave a paragraph after watching the scarftrick- not just the “stars.” Something had to change!

I’m fifty-nine years old and now retired and teaching smallgroups at home. But I’ve turned a corner and seemed to havetripped over the missing link- which one? Master TPRSer3 LaurieClarcq opened my eyes with this statement:

“Teaching without TPRS was like speaking to an audi-ence or presenting a play on stage - with the curtainclosed. All of our love, energy, and talent soaring outdaily to the audience - only to be blocked by this vast,closed, piece of cloth.

Teaching with TPRS opens up the curtain so that ouraudience is now PART of the production. They hear themessage, feel the energy, laugh with us, love with us.The energy they give back to us fills and energizes us,enabling us to love more and share more - with our“audience” and with each other.”

Laurie Clarcq, 2003

How Did I Get the Curtain to Open?I attended several TPRS workshops and purchased some

exciting DVDs over the years but felt the method wasn’t practicalfor me since none of the materials were in Italian. Still, I wasdrawn to learn more about TPRS. At my most recent workshopwith Blaine Ray (the originator of TPRS) this past fall, he solidifiedhis “circling”4 technique and convinced me to try it. That’s one ofthe greatest things about Blaine Ray, he never claims to be anexpert but always a learner, just looking for what works. All teach-ers ask students questions, but the circling technique brings thestudents to many, many more reps of a word or structure thanever before - hundreds, even. So I thought I’d try it.

There was yet one more facet missing to the “link” I needed so desperately. It was the facet called personalization - not quitethe same as individualization. The TPRS technique called “story-asking,” involving the entire ‘audience’ in a cooperativescriptwriting venture and in ‘performing,’ a simple walking throughthe script, as well. Personalization is central to Blaine Ray’s TPRSmethodology and the opposite of any text book or even any set-in-stone magic trick. The students become part of the story. Priorto TPRS, the story (or magic trick) was mine to perform and theirsto watch. What I had needed all along, was to bring the studentsINTO the story itself.

Invite Them Into the Story1. Make them comfortable enough to want to approach acqui-

sition. How? Through ample repetitions of target words dur-ing the magic trick, by writing new vocabulary on the boardwith translation, by integrating cognates and pre-learnedvocabulary, by using English whenever needed, by doingsome TPR and by always checking for comprehension.

2. Fish for details about students’ lives through personalizedtarget language questioning and with even more circling oftarget vocabulary. Your sincere interest in what they do anddon’t do, love and don’t love, eat and don’t eat, will bringthem closer to you. Continue checking for comprehension.

3. Flesh out the magic trick into a story, using the structures orvocabulary focused on in the trick but this time inviting theclass to invent and/or describe the characters and settings,providing details by way of names, numbers, color, size, etc.Encourage bizarre, exaggerated and personalized details.Those stick in the long-term memory best. And continuechecking for comprehension.

4. Toss in a celebrity everyone knows - yet one more tie to theirpersonal lives.

5. Think up a problem and a probable solution suggested bythe props in the trick and by the structures to be taught. If abetter solution is suggested by the class, go with it.

6. And most importantly, give a member of the class -withhis/her familiar name and characteristics, a pivotal role inthe story!

7. Then, delineate three physical locations within the class-room.

8. Get a couple of students out of their seats and into thosethree locations. Have them pantomime as you narratebecause memories link strongly to movement and to loca-tion

Speaking and Writing Come Nexta. Ask for volunteers to summarize and retell the class-gener-

ated story. All may also retell simultaneously to a partner.Speaking competency is generated without having practicedspeaking but student confidence grows.

b. Write up the story for individual or group reading the nextday, mentioning any grammar patterns as you read andtranslate into English.

c. Find other writings using the same three targeted struc-tures/words together with previously-learned vocabulary(TPRS mini-novels or text materials).

d. Students can be asked to do timed writings aiming to tell asmuch of the story as possible within a specified time limit, tonarrate a short series of cartoons, or to make changes inperson or tense.

A Sample Story Line Needing ResolutionSo, let’s take for example learning the directions - “to the right,”

“to the left,” and “in the middle.” Let’s use the magic trick about thescarf that jumps from right to left to middle to introduce thesestructures. We do the scarf trick using minimal new language,always checking for comprehension, making sure the three tar-geted structures and any unfamiliar words are on the board withtheir translations.

Then we ask some personalized questions: what hand do youwrite with? Do you like sitting on the right or left side of the room?Which side of the bed do you sleep on? When you go for a walk,which way do you like to turn first?

Gather details ... then start the story relating it to your “audi-ence,” like this one relating to mine... “There once was a teachernamed L25. Teacher (or, insert own name here). She wonderedwhich way to go through the woods (students can name thewoods). L2 turned left (students asked to name a direction) butthere was a large, (or whatever size is suggested by class) green(or whatever color class suggests) gorilla (or other animal - if nota cognate - teacher can insist or write word) wearing a Hawaiianshirt (or muscle shirt or Hawaiian skirt, etc.) and so she turnedright. There L2 saw a principal telling her to use a textbook ... (ora phone book, or whatever ).

So, L2 went straight to the very center of the forest. There sheconfronted the reality of students who were only partly engaged.

Which way to turn??? L2 had already tried the principal’s meth-ods and that had led her up a tree (or a flag pole, etc.)... Glancingto the left again - it looked scary ... change is never easy but thestatus quo (or, black hole or whatever) that was waiting for L2 inthe heart of the forest pushed her to venture closer to the greengorilla.

What was the gorilla saying? It was hard to hear the first nineor ten times (or 75.6 times) but after many repetitions the mes-sage grew louder and clearer ... “Share it! Share the magic! Shareit! Share the magic! Share it! Share the magic!”

So she did the banana (banana being a cognate) multiplicationtrick, gave the green gorilla both bananas and hightailed it back to

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L2RulesVille (or, insert own home town) to figure out how to sharethe stage with her babes in the woods.”

See how it works?

What About Curriculum?If you teach French, Spanish, or English it’s all ready for you.

The most common structures that are part of the curriculum havealready been paired with story ideas and questions by the TPRSwriters! Just match up the vocabulary you use in your magic trickswith your specific curricular goals.

If you teach a lesser-taught language like I do, take the Englishversion of the TPRS books and adapt it. Remember to inject thetarget culture. And that principal beckoning you with the textbook? If you must, extract the most frequently used structuresfrom each unit. Find a compatible magic trick as context for yourinitial presentation of each structure or vocabulary word. Followthrough in exactly the same way as above, personalizing, story-asking, circling and using text materials for extended readings.Then you’re home free.

Magic Tricks are Mini-Stories!Magic tricks are actual mini-stories - full of comprehensible

input. How is that? They have a beginning, middle and an end!They have a crisis ... and a resolution! The tricks are short andconcrete. They contain all the visuals and action you need tomake the target language comprehensible. They use few verbsand repeat them over and over while testing possible solutions tothe problem. And the children are part of it. The audience partici-pates in guessing the outcomes, wondering and predicting, theirheart rates elevated...

How to StartIf you’re already using TPRS, the addition of magic is a new

way to introduce vocabulary and structures in a comprehensiblestory context. If you’re not using TPRS, magic can be an exciting

addition to your classroom - especially if paired with TPRS’ cir-cling and personalized story-asking.

Where can you find out more about TPRS? Just do a websearch or go to http://www.blaineraytprs.com.

Where can you find out more about magic6.? Hundreds ofbooks, web sites and magic shops are available. How do youlearn a trick? Read the instructions…there are plenty of highlyeffective beginner tricks even a child could do. How do you actwhile doing the magic? You move very slowly and dramatically.Look amazed when a trick actually works. Practice in the mirrorletting your jaw drop open. When your students start speaking thetarget language without being asked and your jaw drops open ...you’ll know it worked! __________1 Stephen Krashen, “The Delayed Gratification Hypothesis,” The

Language Teacher, 28(7), 3-7. (2004). for more, seehttp://www.sdkrashen.com.

2 Languages Other Than English: Checkpoint A Resource Guide,New York State Education Department Office of Curriculum andInstruction, 2001, p. 11.

3 T.P.R.S. stands for Teaching Proficiency through Reading andStorytelling.

4 In TPRS “circling” means making a positive statement; asking apositive question (requiring a “yes” answer); asking an either/orquestion; asking a negative question (requiring a “no” answer);asking the same positive question again; restating the samepositive statement; asking questions using other varied ques-tion-words (what, who, where, when, etc.).

5 Second Language, also called LOTE (Languages Other ThanEnglish) or WL (World Language)

6 Google “magic supplies” and also check on ebay. This Octoberthe author will present a workshop demonstrating these tech-niques at the NYSAFLT Annual Meeting and elsewhere. Supportmaterials for teachers using magic in the classroom will be available this fall at www.ritornello.com.


IntroductionWorld language teachers understand the benefits of using

music in the classroom. Music chosen from the culture motivatesstudents, enhances creativity, and is interdisciplinary, engagingstudents with socio-cultural or political themes. Play music andsing, for that may be for some schools the only time students havemusic in their curriculum. More often than not when school bud-gets are cut, music programs suffer. Administrators may say thatthe arts are a frill and believe them expendable, at a time whenmusic in the curriculum is needed for so many beneficial reasons.There is growing interest in studying the relationship of music tolearning, whether it is by learning an instrument or merely listen-ing to music. There is evidence to support the claim that musicmay have a lasting benefit on learners (Jensen, 2001). However,because the benefits of music may be discovered long term andtherefore difficult to assess with standardized test scores, somepolicy-makers opt for a quick-fix or the latest buzz-word in peda-gogy. Through research we know that music has developmentalperiods, perceptual-motor, immune, and emotional systems in thebody are fine-tuned and enhanced, and memory is primed withimproved listening, attention, and recall (Shaw, 2000). Howevermore research needs to be done on the effects of music in a realclassroom atmosphere, not in a lab or stylized setting, but with theatmosphere, lessons and activities that are commonly found inmiddle and high school classrooms.

To review, the use of classical or instrumental music in secondlanguage learning was first introduced through the methodSuggestopedia by Georgi Lozanov (1978), a Bulgarian psy-chotherapist and physician. This method in its pure form was pop-ular in the late seventies and eighties and espoused a positiveatmosphere with comfortable seating, low lighting, and the play-ing of classical music concurrently with recited passages in orderto relax students and direct learning to both the left and righthemispheres of the brain. Although there is research to showstrong support for the effectiveness of music on learning, there isa dearth of study on actual language classroom practice to showits effectiveness on aural/oral/written language learning with vari-ous assessments. Much anecdotal evidence suggests that stu-dents perform better in the target language on both oral and writ-ten tasks, appear more alert and relaxed, and have greatervocabulary recall when this music is played during instruction.There is a lack of quantitative and qualitative study to this end aswell as a lack of research on the effect of music on assessment;few studies have been done to show the correlation of the samemusic played during testing.

This Spring, a project funded by PSC-CUNY through theResearch Foundation of the City University of New York, will studythe effect of baroque, classical, and other music on student per-formance in secondary school Spanish classes over the course of4 months. This project has received full approval by the New YorkCity Department of Education Division of Assessment andAccountability and the Queens College IRB under full review.Using an experiment and control group both following the perfor-mance standards of the New York State syllabus for LanguagesOther Than English (LOTE), studies will be performed to examinepotential increase in aural/oral and written proficiency, vocabularyrecall in context during classroom tasks, creative writing, andassessment for the students in the experiment group. Theresearch will include indirect interaction with data and analysis

collected by researchers in music education as well as interven-tion and interaction in order to prepare the classroom environmentand gather data from student performance in the experiment andcontrol group. Detailed analysis of the findings will show whetheror not there is a significant difference between the experimentgroup and a control group that did not use music during instruc-tion or testing.

BackgroundPrinciples and priorities in language teaching always change

due to a response to shifts in learning theory and SLA research.Krashen (1982) states that language acquisition, even with thebest materials and input, can only happen when the level of anx-iety is low and the student is relaxed and alert: the low affectivefilter hypothesis. Most recently, brain-based education, MultipleIntelligences, and other applications from neuropsychology haverenewed interest in the effect of music on learning. Significantstudies on the links of music to math education include causalconnections between music and enhanced spatial-temporal rea-soning (Shaw, 1993; Rauscher and Shaw, 1995; Grandin andPeterson, 1998), neural theory of higher brain function (Leng andShaw, 1991). With respect to music and language, Lozanov(1978) and later Kennerly (1994) determined that music with 60beats per minute or less is optimal for creating an alert, relaxedatmosphere for learning. This structure of music has also beenshown to increase the learning of verbal materials and enhancetheir retention. It is also probable that the regular, predictablerhythm and specific tempo of this music contributes to a greatersymmetry of function of the two hemispheres of the brain. Largoand adagio movements from baroque composers such as Vivaldi,Bach, Albinoni and Corelli, and modern compositions by StephenHalpern containing regular, structural elements and predictabilityshould be used.

With the advent of MRI scanning, researchers found that thereis an area in the right half of the brain known to interpret writtenmusical notes and passages of notes, that corresponds in locationto the left-half area of the brain known to interpret written lettersand words (Hodges, Parsons and Fox, 1998). The findings alsoshow that the structure of music and people's use of it are similarin key respects to language structure and use. The fact that theright-brain region for notes and musical passages corresponds tothe left-brain region for letters and words illustrates how a neuralmechanism that may be present in each of the two brain hemi-spheres becomes specially adapted for similar purposes but withdifferent information or contexts. Using neuroimaging data andcognitive theory, researchers propose a specific point of conver-gence between syntactic processing in language and music(Patel, 2003.) These studies lead to predictions that problems inBroca’s aphasia are not limited to language processing but alsomusic perception (Maess, 2001.) Magnetic resonance studies ofprofessional musicians show that they use their left brain morethan other people when listening to music (Onishi, 2001.)Empirical studies on human memory and binaural beat audio sig-nals have reported a decrease in student distractibility and anincrease in academic performance (Owens, 1984.) The US Armyhas also reported positive results in using this music to improveacquisition of a second language (Pawelek, & Larson, 1985).Research needs to properly address the question of whether ornot the music can facilitate learning as well as memory. The dif-

Without Words: Further Study on the Effect ofMusic on Language Learning

Dr. Jennifer EddyQueens College,

City University of New York

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ferentiation being that learning refers to "enduring effects of priorexperience" (Domjan, & Burkhard, 1982, p. 309) and memory andvocabulary recall may be a short lived effect of prior experience.Felix (1989) states that significant positive effects of music duringlearning were reported for vocabulary recall in a short study butmore research is needed using music with creative use of the lan-guage and during testing in a longer study, such as this projectattempts.

Relevance and benefit to the disciplineThis research is particularly relevant to World Language

Education due to the increased interest in related studies onbrain-based education (Jensen, 1998, 2000, 2001; Caine andCaine 1997), differentiated instruction, learning styles and affec-tive variables in language learning (Oxford,1990) and MultipleIntelligences (Gardner, 1983). Several research studies haveexamined the effects of music on the brain in mathematics edu-cation and on language, with the latter studies largely performedin non-controlled situations and not often with secondary schoolstudents (Persellin, 1993). World language educators would liketo have research findings to substantiate claims of this techniqueon a secondary school population, even though the large amountof anecdotal evidence is quite compelling.

SLA researchers and practitioners with students of differentabilities and learner challenges will be interested in the findings ofthis project. In brain-based learning literature, there are claimsthat using music in the classroom helps students with dyslexiaand ADHD perform better on certain tasks. Since these studentsare often placed in a Least Restrictive Environment, our teachersshould have a repertoire of techniques that will help all learnersperform optimally (Jensen, 2000).

Many teachers use music from the culture with lyrics for theclassroom. This project will incorporate this music as one possibleinteresting variable to be compared with results from ambient music;music without words. Teachers are also interested in using back-ground music in their classes, but lack the background on how touse the music and what pieces are the best for a given context(Jensen, 2001). When the use of ambient music is discussed, it israrely in depth or with substantive evidence because of the methodassociated with it. There are four possible reasons for this: One rea-son is the lack of research on the effects of music on language learn-ing in general. Secondly, use of classical music is associated with amethod that has been presented as an “all or nothing” package dealapproach, which albeit amazing to experience in its pure form, mostclassrooms cannot fulfill the other requirements of the method. Theisolation of music from Suggestopedia’s other demands, such ascomfortable seating, low lighting, small class size, frequent breaks,etc, can demonstrate how the music affects instruction, learning, andassessment under typical classroom conditions, which will be moreuseful to researchers and practitioners in this field. Thirdly, a poten-tial drawback to the original Suggestopedia from 1978 is that theclassroom material is almost exclusively pedagogically prepared(Omaggio, 2001.) Teacher prepared scripts read in concert with clas-sical music do not follow current trends in research and practice inthe field, which recommend authentic materials in its presentationaltexts for both reading and listening proficiency. This project willadhere to standards-based objectives, potentially demonstrating theeffect of music on performance tasks, assessments, and activitiesfound in a typical Spanish classroom. Finally, many teachers areunfamiliar with classical or period works, their composers, and char-acteristics of musical compositions for their appropriateness toclassroom use. For that reason, this project will yield new teachingmaterials, incorporating music into unit plans and lessons, themebased activities, assessments, and will also include context appro-priate guidelines for choosing music with, and without words.

Project DesignFor the first run of the project 4 teachers, one for each of the 4

schools, will have completed the CUNY Human SubjectsProtection Education Program before actual classroom involve-ment takes place. 250 students will participate in total. The onlycriteria for choosing the teachers is that each teacher must beresponsible for 2 sections of the same level of high schoolSpanish.

This study is a pre test-post test multi group quasi-experimen-tal design study. There will be 2 groups per school; the control andthe experimental or treatment group, comprised of Spanish stu-dents. These non-random groupings are as equivalent as possi-ble, but because they may not be and because there is no randomassignment, this study design is quasi experimental.

The Solomon 4 group design strategy will be used to aid inconcluding that the experimental manipulation and not other vari-ables or threats to internal validity caused the effect in the data.The Solomon 4 group design is a very tight experimental design,controlling well for both internal and external potential sources oferror or ambiguity.

The administration of a pretest before an experiment mayinterfere with the students' reactions to the treatment. Pretest sen-sitization cannot be detected in the typical two-group experimen-tal design: an experimental and a control group. The Solomonfour-group design provides the opportunity to detect the presenceof pretest sensitization. The key element in this design is that twogroups, one experimental and one control, receive no pretesting.

Two schools will comprise one set of the Solomon 4 group; theother two schools will comprise the other set. Four of the groupswill receive the treatment and four will not. Also, four of the groupswill receive a pretest and four will not. Within each treatment con-dition we have a group that is pretested and one that is not. Byincluding testing as a factor in the design, we are able to assessexperimentally whether a testing threat is operating or if the treat-ment actually worked.

Design Notation LegendN Non equivalent group. Typical classroom groups of

intermediate Spanish.O Observations or measures. In this case, pre or

posttests.X Treatment. In this case, playing of the described

music during class.

Time moves from left to right. Elements that are listed onthe left occur before elements that are listed on the right.

Schools A & B Schools C & DN O X O N O X ON O O N O ON X O N X ON O N O

Four groups of the eight will be measured on a pretest ofvocabulary recall. All eight groups will receive the posttest. Thepre and post vocabulary recall tests comprised of basic lexiconwill measure the normal sequence and subject matter of Spanishinstruction taught at the intermediate level as given in the NYSsyllabus.

The same teacher in each school will administer the pretest,instruction, assessments and posttest. Using the NYS standardsand LOTE syllabus for intermediate Spanish, unit lessons andassessments will be reviewed with the cooperating teachers for 2classes in each of the 4 high schools. The control group will haveregular class as outlined by the syllabus and standards andreceive instruction, activities, and assessments typical of an inter-


mediate Spanish class. The experimental group will have the reg-ular class, tasks and assessments and in addition the treatment,music from the baroque, classical, romantic, and contemporaryperiods played softly during their class and during testing. Itshould be mentioned here that the recordings of music for thisproject are in no way altered or superimposed and do not containsubliminal, hypnotic, or subconscious messages.

Activities will include not only tasks for vocabulary recall in con-text but also creative writing, listening comprehension, and oralproficiency items. The teachers will collect samples of studentwork every two weeks. Recall activities, comprehension and writ-ing skills assessments will be given to both classes and evaluat-ed with rubrics consistent with the NYS syllabus, as the teacherswould normally do for a typical Spanish class.

Teachers will continue to conduct routine activities and admin-ister standardized assessments as per the syllabus. Every twoweeks during the project, this data will be collected and analyzedcomparing the control and experimental groups for Schools ABand Schools CD. Data will be classified and analyzed by separateassignments as a cohort. All groups will receive a posttest ofvocabulary recall at the end of the study.

The design strategy will help determine whether the back-ground music has an impact. If it did we would expect the level ofperformance (indicated by a difference in means) or the pattern ofperformance (indicated by a difference in trend) before and afterthe treatment to be different, as will the control group and theexperiment group. Hopefully on the posttest, the treatment groupswill outscore the control groups. If there is 1) no significant differ-ence between the experimental groups even though 2 werepretested and 2 were not, and 2) the control groups tested aboutthe same at the end of the study, one could conclude that thepretest did not affect the outcome. Thus, there will have been amain effect for the treatment of music. At the end of the study, alldata, quantitative and qualitative will be analyzed. The posttestscores of the experimental groups and control groups will be ana-lyzed statistically. It will be determined whether or not a level ofstatistical significance between the means had been reached.

Timetable of Project• January-Begin teacher workshop with CUNY Human

Subjects Protection Education Program and training withmusic materials; design 20 item vocabulary recall test

• February-Begin project at 4 schools• Late May-End project at schools• June-Begin data analysis and record data• July 30-Complete written evaluation and prepare manuscript

of findings and teacher materials with practical applications,lesson planning, activities, etc.

Music playlistThe music playlist for this project has been compiled through

the years from the author’s successful experience with the musicin the language classroom and from several teachers who sendsuggestions from their personal music library. It is a continuedwork in progress as one always discovers new music that match-es the goals of the task or instills the atmosphere of relaxed alert-ness for the classroom. Below is a short list of music with head-ings to guide the teacher as to when to use the music. Teacherscan find many classical and baroque compilations ready made intheir music store, often titled “Greatest Hits of 1720” and the like.Recommended also are composers found in the New Age, envi-ronmental, or relaxation sections of the store.

Entrance MusicHandel Andante allegro from Harp concerto No. 6 in B-flat majorVivaldi Concerto No. 3 in F “Autumn” RV 293 The Four Seasons

While on task-relaxed energyHandel Menuet from Water Music Suite No. 3 in G MajorHandel Air from Water Music Suite No. 1 in FMozart Symphony no. 40 in G minor molto adagioMozart Sonata in D for two pianos allegro con spiritoMozart Piano concerto no. 17 in GMozart A little Night Music AllegroBrian Eno Music for AirportsWindham Hill-Peace of MindWindham Hill- Spirit of Life

Music for all times in the background, stimulating creativity and the mindStephen Halpern Music for Accelerated LearningStephen Halpern Rhythms of VisionBach Sonata for two flutesVivaldi The four seasons winter largoSatie Trois GymnopédiesBach Brandenburg Concerto 3 in G majorBach Brandenburg Concerto 5 affectuosoPachelbel Canon in DStephen Halpern Enhancing CreativityHandel Water Music suite Alla HornpipeMozart for the MindMozart for the Morning

For relaxation Windham Hill- RelaxationStephen Halpern Music for Accelerated LearningRavel Pavane for a Dead PrincessBach Siciliano from Concerto in D minor for Oboe and StringsPachelbel Canon in DManheim Steamroller Fresh Aire 7-- 7 Stars of the BigDipper Enya WatermarkWerner John -Cedar Song-Wood Flutes

For Guided ImageryGeorge Gershwin “An American in Paris”Barber’s AdagioMahler Symphony 5 2nd MovementMussorgsky Pictures at an ExhibitionMartin Denny Exotica

Invitation to ParticipateAll teachers are invited to participate in phase 2 of the study,

beginning in Fall 2005. The project will be expanded to any lan-guage you teach and can extend down to middle school; 6th, 7th,or 8th grade. The outcome of the first project may determine anyvariations or changes to the original project design. If you areinterested or have any questions, please contact Dr. JenniferEddy at [email protected].

__________ReferencesACTFL proficiency guidelines-Speaking. Yonkers, NY, American

Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, 1999.Caine, G., and Caine, R. (1999) Mindshifts: A Brain-Based

Process for Restructuring Schools and Renewing Education,2nd edition. Tucson, AZ: Zephyr Press.

Cook, T.D. & Campbell, D.T. (1979) Quasi-Experimentation, RandMcNally, Chicago.

Felix, U (1991). A survey of research findings on SuggestopediaAnnual conference of the Australian Association for Researchin Education, University of Adelaide

21

Gardner, H. (1993) Frames of Mind:The Theory of MultipleIntelligences, 10th ed. Basic Books

Grandin, T., Peterson, M., Shaw, G. L. Spatial-temporal versuslanguage-analytic reasoning: the role of music training. ArtsEducation Policy Review, July-August 1998

Hodges, D., Parsons L., and Fox P., (1998) Correlation betweenLanguage and Music Mechanisms. Paper presented at theSociety for Neuroscience, Los Angeles.

Jensen, E. (1998) Teaching with the Brain in Mind. Alexandria, VA:ASCD--Association for Supervision and CurriculumDevelopment. Press, New York.

Jensen, E (2000). Music with the Brain in Mind. Alexandria, VA:ASCD.

Jensen, E (2001). Arts with the Brain in Mind. Alexandria, VA:ASCD.

Kennerly, R. C. (1994). An empirical investigation into the effect ofbeta frequency binaural beat audio signals on four measuresof human memory. (Department of Psychology, West GeorgiaCollege, Carrolton, Georgia).

Krashen S.D. (1982) Principles and Practice in SecondLanguage Acquisition, Pergamon Press.

Lozanov, G.(1978) Suggestology and Outlines of Suggestopedy,Gordon and Breach, New York.

Maess, B., Musical syntax is processed in Broca's area: an MEGstudy. Nat. Neurosci. 4, 540-545, (2001).

New York State Syllabus for Languages Other ThanEnglish:Syllabus and Standardshttp://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/pub/publote.html

Ohnishi, T. et al. Functional anatomy of musical perception inmusicians, Cerebral Cortex,11, 754 - 760, (2001).

Omaggio, A. (2001) Teaching Language in Context, Heinle andHeinle, Boston, MA.

Oxford, R. (1990) Language Learning Strategies: What everyteacher should know, Rowley, MA: Newbury House.

Persellin, D. (1993, June). Effects of learning modalities onmelodic and rhythmic retention on vocal pitch-matching by pre-school children. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 78(3), 1231-1234.

Patel, A.D. Processing syntactic relations in language and music:An event-related potential study. J. Cogn. Neurosci. 10, 717-733 (2003)

Pawelek, Y., & Larson, J. (1985). Hemispheric Synchronizationand Second Language Acquisition. US Army EducationalServices Division, Fort Lewis, WA.

Rauscher F., and Shaw, G. Listening to Mozart enhances tempo-ral-spatial reasoning. Neurosci. Lett. 185, 44-47 (1995)

Shaw, G. (2000). Keeping Mozart in Mind. Academic Press. SanDiego:CA

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The 3rd grade core-curriculum sets important goals for all sub-ject matters. As a core subject, foreign language can complimentthese curricular goals. How can students learn to speak about theweather in a second language, retain this knowledge and apply itto build and create new understandings while facilitating a com-municative exchange in a Foreign Language Early Start program?I believe that first the lessons have to allow students to acquirethe language for weather so they can communicate with under-standing in comfort. Then the students are ready for lessonswhich support the world history and geography curriculum. I willexplain the lessons, activities, process, and assessments. (Thesethird grade students had received over two consecutive years ofFLES Spanish instruction twice a week; I taught them in this thirdyear; thirty minutes twice a week.)

Learning ContextStudents comprehend language consisting of a simple ques-

tion and answers using weather vocabulary as they followedinstructions, through Total Physical Response with core vocabu-lary, using picture cards, modeling, repetition, movement, games,songs, dialogue, note taking, illustrating and sharing.

Day 1 and 2 Vocabulary LessonI taught the students the new weather vocabulary by showing

them five pictures of various weather conditions and placed themone at a time on the board as I named each one. Students repeat-ed choral style what I said in Spanish and copied the movementwhich indicated the weather picture. Students were asked to closetheir eyes while I removed two of five pictures. When they openedtheir eyes, I asked the students what was missing, they replied inSpanish. The game continued until all five pictures were removed.The game was played on Day 2 with an additional five vocabularyweather pictures.

At the conclusion of the lesson, students sang a weather songwhich included the ten weather conditions of the lessons. I heldup a weather picture for students to identify.

Day 1 and 2 Vocabulary¿Qué tiempo hace hoy? Hace frío. Hace calor. Hace sol. Está

nublado. Está lloviendo. Está nevando. Hace viento. Hace fresco.Hace buen tiempo. Hace mal tiempo.

Cierra los ojos. Abre los ojos. ¿Qué falta?

Since music helps the learning process I sang a “¿Qué tiempohace1?” song with a repetitious modified melody of “You are mysunshine, my only sunshine”. These phrases sung during everylesson with accompanying movements helped students learn thevocabulary.

¿Qué tiempo hace?Hace buen tiempo. Hace mal tiempo.Hace calor. Está lloviendo. Está nublado. Está nevando. Hace frío. Hace sol. Hace viento. Hace fresco.

(You may prefer to use a weather song “El tiempo y las esta-ciones – Weather” on the cassette tape/CD Spanish In MotionPart A by Isadora Arzu (http://www.languagesinmotion.com)

Day 3 Vocabulary LessonWarm-up with the songs: ”¿Qué tiempo hace”? “El tiempo y lasestaciones ”

Concentration Picture and Number GameI played two games of picture concentration with the weather

vocabulary by showing five pictures for each game of variousweather conditions and placed them one at a time on the sen-tence strip display holder as I named each one. Students repeat-ed choral style what I said in Spanish and copied the movementwhich indicated the weather picture.

There were two rows of pictures and each picture had a matchin the other row. The blank side faced the students. Next to eachpicture I placed numbers 50 – 59 with which the students werefamiliar. Students who were selected had to pick a number fromeach row to try to match the weather pictures. When individualstudents flipped a matching pair and named the weather picturecorrectly, they could come to the board and play the role of theteacher asking the questions and flipping the picture cards.Successful students then received congratulations from everyonechanting “Paul el ganador ” o “Cristina la ganadora.” “¡Excelente!”Thus the student was internally rewarded for success .

Day 3 Vocabulary for the concentration gameTeacher asked: “¿Qué necesitas?” Student replied: “Yo necesito cincuenta.” (from one row)

y “Yo necesito cincuenta y ocho.” (from the otherrow)

Teacher asked: “¿Qué tiempo hace?”Student replied: “Hace frío. Hace calor.” Etc.Teacher asked; “¿Ellos son iguales?”Student replied: “Sí.” O “No.”el ganador - la ganadora - “¡Excelente!”

Day 4 LessonWarm-up with the songs:”¿Qué tiempo hace?” y “El tiempo y lasestaciones”

Students received a ¿Qué tiempo hace? sheet with foursquares and were given time to illustrate the weather for eachseason. They wrote the weather description under the picturethey drew. Once they were finished they shared what they drewand wrote with the class.

World History and Geography ConnectionThird grade students studied how groups survive in biomes

around the world. My students took a make believe trip to Mexicoand needed to think about the clothing they would pack for thistrip. I showed them pictures which helped them think and talkabout the climate there. Some pictures came from the internet.The weather page of Hoy the Spanish newspaper (WWW.HOLA-HOY.COM) provided a colorful resource for researching theweather in Spanish-speaking countries. I used FamilyPictures/Cuadros de familia by Carmen Lomas Garza, a MexicanAmerican painter who illustrates her story as a child growing up in

FLES Weather Instruction with Curriculum IntegrationWhat’s the weather like? =¿Qué tiempo hace?

Claire-Louise MengFLES District WideUniondale UFSD

Uniondale NY

23

a traditional Hispanic community in South Texas. Students wereable to learn about Mexico as they gathered information from thepaintings in this book. During our study of Mexico, studentsviewed pictures of the Yucatán and the Sonora Desert and theanimals which live there. Students received a comparison sheetto illustrate and fill in weather information about the Yucatán andthe Sonora Desert. I read a Zapotec Indian Myth about how therainbow was born, then students illustrated the myth and labeledweather elements of nature: clouds, sun, water, rain, hail, wind,lightening god, and rainbow, in Spanish. More opportunity forSpanish communication was possible with these lessons oncetheir drawings were completed then shared with the class.

Reflection/ObservationI noticed that students quickly learned to dialogue about the

weather after playing the games and singing the songs. They

spoke about the weather in their environment frequently. Thuswhen we talked about the climate in novice situations later in theyear, as we traveled through Mexico, they were able to transferwhat they knew into new conversations, find similarities and dif-ferences about the seasons, months, Mexico and Long Island.Students listened, sang, spoke, read, drew, and wrote throughthese communicative lessons developing confidence as eachlearned a language other than English. The process and the prod-ucts were the developing assessments throughout the year.Similar lessons can be created and adapted to facilitate learninga variety of topics at different levels of second language learning.


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27

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