I know why fl teaching progresses so slowly despite the fact we know that grammar instruction does not lead to proficiency. In reading Marzano’s book on assessment, I read over the examples of performance testing in a variety of disciplines: NOT ONE FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGE. In my own school, I was told to follow what the other first year Spanish teacher is doing and it is absolutely nothing but grammar with some culture embedded in religious practices (I work in a Catholic school). Yet the State (AZ) and diocesan standards mention nothing NOTHING about grammar; it’s all about performance or what we call proficiency. But the admins are going by their own miserable experience in learning nothing in their fl classes except that “you change something on the end” and so assume that’s what “learning” a fl is. Well, they’re right, given Krashen’s definition of “learning” a fl.
Pat’s Polemics
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