This term opens up the whole can of worms AND ball of wax. See the definition of “achiever” for a sense of the sort of student who fit in well with the typical fl classroom. But for this term, we have only to read the many volumes of studies that show that all students can learn. How many times have I seen this declaration challenged on listservs of fl teachers? Too many to count. Those dirty little devils just won’t fit into my paradigm. How dare they? I – I was the good student who worked hard to learn German and did all the right things. If only they would do as I did and would get the right attitude, they could learn German, too. But they’re a bunch of little faulpelzer who have neither the intelligence nor the gumption to learn a high language like German.
Gee, I wonder where I got those comments from? I listened.