Language teachers often ask how to effectively introduce advanced tenses—for example, something like the future tense—without overwhelming students with a complex text that seeks to ‘practice using the tense’.
My Go-To Strategy
I introduce complex language during discussions of simple stories, videos, and pictures. I avoid introducing new language with ‘advanced texts’ written in a specific tense.
The idea is to reduce the cognitive load. Rather than giving them a reading that they’ll struggle with, a more effective way is to incorporate the tense into a Write & Discuss text after discussing a story or topic. “What will she do?”, I write in Spanish. Over the next week I try to remember to include such a question often. The first time I write ¿qué hará? , I point at the hace poster and remark in English that hará comes from the same verb as hace.
I’ll stick with the same verb for a few days, casually remarking “oh, by the way, hará comes from hace. ¿Qué hace? means what does she do? ¿Qué hará? What will she do?”
I wait until my students show that familiar, amused annoyance with the question—which comes quickly when you sneak the question in often enough. Then I might find a chance to ask ¿qué harán? and point out the meaning of the -n at the end of harán . If you really want to speed the process along, repeat the exact same question at least five times in one class period and ask students what it means in English each time. By the fifth time they’ll be screaming the answer, and it only took about thirty seconds altogether to get the structure deeply imprinted into their minds.
Implicit Grammar in Action
This method reminds me of an incredible lesson I once observed, where my mentor brought this concept to life with an advanced class reading a very simple novel. The level 4 class was reading Pobre Ana, one of the most basic books available (usually used with level 1). Imagine how satisfying it is to simply allow students to read, without vocab activities or comprehension questions. What made this lesson so spectacular was not the first read-through, done independently by her students because the text is extremely transparent for a level 4 student. The fireworks were ignited in the deep discussion that followed.
She announced in English: “IF”, and then continued in Spanish, “If you were Ana, would you make the same choices?”
Then she drew two boxes on the whiteboard: one labeled in Spanish “What Ana did”, and the other labeled “What I would do if I were Ana”. Saying ‘if’ in English was likely her way of preventing students from misunderstanding; ‘yes’ and ‘if’ sound the same in Spanish. But also, by giving the beginning of the if clause, she set up her students to process the if clause. She so expertly slipped in the advanced grammar that she wanted her students to acquire! They absorbed the question implicitly, with no grammar talk needed.
After receiving one response and writing it into the boxes, she then rewrote the question that they just answered. With her hands she drew their attention to the verbs in the question: Si fueras Ana, ¿qué harías?
“What”, she asked in Spanish, “is the question? Tell me in English”. Then the class chorally translated the question. The teacher remained in Spanish, but the students demonstrated that they understood precisely. She then wrote the English below the Spanish, but her voice remained in Spanish the entire time.
It was a perfect demonstration that if the context is well-established and the cognitive load is low, students can easily pull together the entire meaning of the question. Do it implicitly first and then check to make sure everyone understands 100%.
My Evolution as a Teacher
Early on, I struggled with how much English to use in class. I spent a lot of class time juggling between English and Spanish to make sure everyone understood everything precisely. We were spending so much time bouncing between English and Spanish that my students were deprived of deep stretches of comprehensible Spanish. Later, there was a time in my career when I would nail the implicit presentation of a new tense. We stayed in Spanish. 70% of my students would understand in the moment, but those last 30% did not quite get it and would not get it without the explicit translation.
Now, I do think that students need to ‘drink in’ lots and lots of language implicitly before they spontaneously produce the tenses in unrehearsed conversation or writing. But stepping in with a clear translation now and then can be valuable, too. It clarifies meaning.
Next time you’re tempted to reach for an advanced text to practice advanced grammar, try slipping the advanced grammar into your daily interactions instead—and see how your students rise to meet it.
Speaking of the future tense, I’d like to let you all know of some future happenings:
CI in the Mitten (April 4-5): This is the Spring conference that you’ll want to attend!! They call this a ‘regional conference’, but the truth is that people fly into Detroit from across the country for this fabulous event. I’ll be presenting in Portuguese on Friday evening and in Japanese on Saturday. There are also so many other great CI teachers presenting their best tips & tricks, including Annabelle Williamson ‘La Maestra Loca’ giving the keynote. Check out the entire schedule here and register here.
Summer Brazilian Portuguese Classes
Online (daily, June 30 – August 1, also recorded)
5 weeks delving deep into a beautiful language through CI instruction. Read about Gary DiBianca’s experience in our class last summer. A different participant recently wrote to tell me that the daily Portuguese class was the BEST part of her summer! Registration will be open soon (probably next week).
Read recent posts in this series about my return to the classroom:
Everything becomes very easy (March 16),
The Heritage Learner in my Level 1 Class (March 8th),
Students, front & Center (March 2nd),
Child Psychology (Feb 23rd),
Reading & Writing (Feb 15th),
Imagination Work (Feb 8th),
120 hours (Feb 1st).