View Content #24011

From https://www.languagemagazine.com/2017/10/strengthening-oral-proficiency-rich/

Ligia Martinez writes about a strategy she uses to keep heritage speakers using the target language and “engaged in conversations rich in high academic vocabulary.” She proposes a RICH strategy: Reformatting Information into Communication at a High level:

“The premise is simple. First, authentic texts on a variety of subjects are found in the sections for extended reading in state-of-the-art Spanish textbooks. … Given an excerpt from a text, the instructor reformats the material and creates a guide for a conversation to be spoken by students in pairs. The information from the reading is placed alternatively in two columns, one for student A and one for student B. Directives are added, along with sentence frames, interjections, connecting phrases, and specific vocabulary, in order to ensure a free-flowing, logical conversation. … In essence, learners utilize the writings to produce oral discourse.

“Once the guide has been prepared and students have had an opportunity to read it, the instructor models. With student engagement, the teacher practices the activity while emphasizing the importance of attentive listening. Students then role play with the guide in hand and exchange roles once finished. Learners practice expressing both parts of the conversation while listening to key vocabulary. … It is also imperative to point out that students are not required to say their parts word for word; it is not a script. They may adapt the dialogue as long as they include the critical information.

“After about three practice runs, my experience has been that students learn the key vocabulary and use the terms without coaxing. Following active participation with this tool, students have suggested the opportunity to write their own guides for future interactions, instead of depending on the instructor. The guide is flexible and has the potential to meet a variety of language goals. Apart from the new expressions introduced, the RICH strategy may be used to simultaneously present grammar structures, for example. Thus, syntax objectives are introduced in context. The RICH strategy strengthens oral language proficiency by providing opportunities to converse about a variety of topics while using advanced-level expressions.”

Read the full article at https://www.languagemagazine.com/2017/10/strengthening-oral-proficiency-rich/