Overview of Phase 1
Cycle 1 – Preparing to interview native Spanish speakers within the community
Cycle 2 – Practice recording mock interviews with classmates
Cycle 3 – Interviews with Padres Unidos, a group of Spanish Speaking parents in the school
Cycle 4 – Second interview with Padres Unidos to record and later transcribe audio
Cycle 1 Preparing for Interviews with Padres Unidos
In this cycle, I had my students first learn and practice the language skills used to conduct an interview with Padres Unidos, a group of Spanish speaking parents from our elementary, middle, and high school. They reviewed question words, present and past tense verb conjugation, and vocabulary related to exercise, sleep, and diet. They practiced with the formal usted in order to address their elders in the Padres Unidos group. I also had them practice and review ice-breaker type questions (Greetings, how are you, likes, etc.) to create a low stress atmosphere when conducting an actual interview. Through these activities, I aimed at helping students learn the necessary language skills and build confidence in speaking through practice and review.
Rationale
It is beneficial for students to see and hear examples of interviews in Spanish as a model before conducting their own. Viewing videos gives them exposure to commonly used vocabulary, some of which they understand and some that is just beyond their current level of comprehension. This is an echo of the hypothesis of comprehensible input by Krashen (1981).
Ice-breakers are good for both interviewer and interviewee. They were meant to lower tension for both parties and lead to better responses and follow-up questions during an interview. Krashen’s affective filter hypothesis suggests that when stress and tension (the affective filter) are high, we are less open to language learning (Krashen, 1981). They were also an important review from Spanish 1 class.
Dr. David Neilson is a former Spanish professor of mine whom I now consult as a content expert and a friend. He reminded me that ideally, students should be speaking Spanish in class 50% of the time, using that time for valuable guided practice that can't be done outside of class. To paraphrase a phone conversation, "Get students to talk. Don't worry about grammar at first. Worry about communication, building confidence, and participation." Dr. Neilson's input led me to implement the in-class “collective interview” activities I will describe in my action plan.
Confidence and greater self-efficacy can increase motivation. The expectancy-value theory suggests that motivation is greater when a student expects a certain level of success and places personal value in a learning task (Wigfield, Eccles, 2000).
Action Plan
Lesson 1
● Watch video example of actual interview in Spanish, to practice listening and taking notes on words they recognized and the use of icebreakers
● As a class, review and brainstorm icebreaker questions from Spanish 1
● Students complete “Collective Interview” worksheet where they choose 5 ice-breakers from the list we brainstormed. After choosing and writing the questions, they practice asking them to 5 different classmates and write their responses. Part of the worksheet is to try to guess what questions they will be asked. In normal communication, we are constantly predicting what the other party will say in order to more easily understand it. I also thought this strategy could create more engagement by adding points and competition to correct predictions.
● Practice general speech and pronunciation of Spanish through singing together as a class.
Lesson 2
● Watch another short video example of actual interview in Spanish with native and non-native speakers, listening and taking notes to discuss afterward.
● Students answer health related questions and practice conjugating verbs in the formal Usted with a worksheet I created.
● Students ask each other health related questions two at a time in front of the class after being randomly called on.
● Pass a beach ball, answering aloud random ice-breaker questions which are written all over it.
Lesson 3
● Students conduct another “collective interview” similar to the previous one with icebreakers, only this time with health-related questions. They either choose 5 different health-related questions from the previous worksheet I created, or form some on their own. While asking questions to their classmates, students are instructed to not use English and instead, repeat and act out questions first.
Assessment Plan
In order to assess students’ language gains and confidence level in forming interview questions for cycle 1, I would:
● Circulate and take notes about common mistakes in speech during in-class “collective interviews”
● Make a tally sheet to collect data during in-class “collective interviews” Categories on the sheet would assess student value and motivation by counting the number of students speaking, 1) On-task and correctly 2) On-task w/ mistakes 3) On-task w/ English 4) Off-task in English
● Collect health-related question worksheets as an exit slip to check for language gains in verb conjugation.
Cycle 1 – Preparing to interview native Spanish speakers within the community
Cycle 2 – Practice recording mock interviews with classmates
Cycle 3 – Interviews with Padres Unidos, a group of Spanish Speaking parents in the school
Cycle 4 – Second interview with Padres Unidos to record and later transcribe audio
Cycle 1 Preparing for Interviews with Padres Unidos
In this cycle, I had my students first learn and practice the language skills used to conduct an interview with Padres Unidos, a group of Spanish speaking parents from our elementary, middle, and high school. They reviewed question words, present and past tense verb conjugation, and vocabulary related to exercise, sleep, and diet. They practiced with the formal usted in order to address their elders in the Padres Unidos group. I also had them practice and review ice-breaker type questions (Greetings, how are you, likes, etc.) to create a low stress atmosphere when conducting an actual interview. Through these activities, I aimed at helping students learn the necessary language skills and build confidence in speaking through practice and review.
Rationale
It is beneficial for students to see and hear examples of interviews in Spanish as a model before conducting their own. Viewing videos gives them exposure to commonly used vocabulary, some of which they understand and some that is just beyond their current level of comprehension. This is an echo of the hypothesis of comprehensible input by Krashen (1981).
Ice-breakers are good for both interviewer and interviewee. They were meant to lower tension for both parties and lead to better responses and follow-up questions during an interview. Krashen’s affective filter hypothesis suggests that when stress and tension (the affective filter) are high, we are less open to language learning (Krashen, 1981). They were also an important review from Spanish 1 class.
Dr. David Neilson is a former Spanish professor of mine whom I now consult as a content expert and a friend. He reminded me that ideally, students should be speaking Spanish in class 50% of the time, using that time for valuable guided practice that can't be done outside of class. To paraphrase a phone conversation, "Get students to talk. Don't worry about grammar at first. Worry about communication, building confidence, and participation." Dr. Neilson's input led me to implement the in-class “collective interview” activities I will describe in my action plan.
Confidence and greater self-efficacy can increase motivation. The expectancy-value theory suggests that motivation is greater when a student expects a certain level of success and places personal value in a learning task (Wigfield, Eccles, 2000).
Action Plan
Lesson 1
● Watch video example of actual interview in Spanish, to practice listening and taking notes on words they recognized and the use of icebreakers
● As a class, review and brainstorm icebreaker questions from Spanish 1
● Students complete “Collective Interview” worksheet where they choose 5 ice-breakers from the list we brainstormed. After choosing and writing the questions, they practice asking them to 5 different classmates and write their responses. Part of the worksheet is to try to guess what questions they will be asked. In normal communication, we are constantly predicting what the other party will say in order to more easily understand it. I also thought this strategy could create more engagement by adding points and competition to correct predictions.
● Practice general speech and pronunciation of Spanish through singing together as a class.
Lesson 2
● Watch another short video example of actual interview in Spanish with native and non-native speakers, listening and taking notes to discuss afterward.
● Students answer health related questions and practice conjugating verbs in the formal Usted with a worksheet I created.
● Students ask each other health related questions two at a time in front of the class after being randomly called on.
● Pass a beach ball, answering aloud random ice-breaker questions which are written all over it.
Lesson 3
● Students conduct another “collective interview” similar to the previous one with icebreakers, only this time with health-related questions. They either choose 5 different health-related questions from the previous worksheet I created, or form some on their own. While asking questions to their classmates, students are instructed to not use English and instead, repeat and act out questions first.
Assessment Plan
In order to assess students’ language gains and confidence level in forming interview questions for cycle 1, I would:
● Circulate and take notes about common mistakes in speech during in-class “collective interviews”
● Make a tally sheet to collect data during in-class “collective interviews” Categories on the sheet would assess student value and motivation by counting the number of students speaking, 1) On-task and correctly 2) On-task w/ mistakes 3) On-task w/ English 4) Off-task in English
● Collect health-related question worksheets as an exit slip to check for language gains in verb conjugation.
Cycle 2 Conducting and Recording a Mock Interview
Based on the results of cycle 1, the students seemed ready to begin writing, saying, and recording practice interviews with each other about health and exercise in schools. That being said, they would still need to continue to practice speaking as much as possible to build confidence and fluency. In this cycle, I would assess the students' further language gains and motivation when it had a purpose of documenting and giving voice to an underrepresented population of the community.
Action Plan
Day 1
Based on the results of cycle 1, the students seemed ready to begin writing, saying, and recording practice interviews with each other about health and exercise in schools. That being said, they would still need to continue to practice speaking as much as possible to build confidence and fluency. In this cycle, I would assess the students' further language gains and motivation when it had a purpose of documenting and giving voice to an underrepresented population of the community.
Action Plan
Day 1
- Students are randomly grouped into pairs to create and record an interview with icebreakers and health/exercise related questions.
Day 2
- Students listen to classmates’ audio recordings and practice transcribing what they hear onto paper.
- Class watches a student-made video of an interview with images, audio, and text transcriptions. This video serves as a model to what they will do with their audio from the interview.
- Students discuss ideas and concerns about Spanish component of teen health project.
Day 3
- _
- In groups of three, students create first drafts of interview questions and share with a Google doc.
- Students critique and peer review shared documents.
- Health related questions from the documents are practiced in small groups, then asked to the class during group presentations.
Assessment Plan
- To assess language gains and motivation in this cycle, I would listen to the audio and view the Google docs that students created and shared with me.
- The following day, while students were listening to and transcribing audio, I would assess their participation, progress and accuracy.
Rationale:
Since the interview audio was to be used in a final video for exhibition, I wanted students to have practice using a device to record and test the volume levels and other details. It would also give them a chance to hear themselves speak Spanish, and perhaps improve on their pronunciation.
On day 2, students were to practice listening skills as well as writing skills while transcribing some of day 1's recordings. Again, this would be preparing them for their task ahead of transcribing their future interviews.
I showed them the student-made video as a model for their final product. When discussing the ideas behind the project with the school director, he suggested a possible format by showing me the very same video. I was moved by it, and envisioned my students reacting to it, being inspired to create similar work. I hoped it would increase motivation to practice pronunciation in order to record quality audio for the project.
Since the interview audio was to be used in a final video for exhibition, I wanted students to have practice using a device to record and test the volume levels and other details. It would also give them a chance to hear themselves speak Spanish, and perhaps improve on their pronunciation.
On day 2, students were to practice listening skills as well as writing skills while transcribing some of day 1's recordings. Again, this would be preparing them for their task ahead of transcribing their future interviews.
I showed them the student-made video as a model for their final product. When discussing the ideas behind the project with the school director, he suggested a possible format by showing me the very same video. I was moved by it, and envisioned my students reacting to it, being inspired to create similar work. I hoped it would increase motivation to practice pronunciation in order to record quality audio for the project.
Cycle 3 Interviewing Spanish Speakers
After listening to students' recorded dialogues and approving interview questions shared in the Google docs from phase 2, I was confident that students were ready to meet with our native Spanish speakers and at least have a first opportunity to practice asking and answering questions. This would be an important cycle for students to put into action all of the language skills they had been practicing in the previous cycles. This would be their chance to make social and emotional connections by speaking Spanish. They would also be connecting to the adult world and community by addressing the issue of teen health and the school's role in providing physical activity for students.
Action Plan
Day 1
Assessment Plan
Rationale
As I mentioned above, this was the students' chance to interact with native Spanish speakers to address the issue of teen health and exercise in the community. I was hoping to see an increase in motivation and overall language gains since students would be experience a range of emotions together with Hispanic members of their community.
I wanted students to go through the "awkward moments" when communication isn't fluid or even present at all. I think this is a crucial and often overlooked factor in language learning. As social beings we strive to communicate. We need to experience those moments of tension when communication is lacking in order to push us to learn. This is possibly why many argue that full immersion is the most effective way to learn a language.
Students would journal about their experiences in order to reflect on this tension. Journals would also serve to document changes and differences in emotional connections after repeated visits with Padres Unidos.
After listening to students' recorded dialogues and approving interview questions shared in the Google docs from phase 2, I was confident that students were ready to meet with our native Spanish speakers and at least have a first opportunity to practice asking and answering questions. This would be an important cycle for students to put into action all of the language skills they had been practicing in the previous cycles. This would be their chance to make social and emotional connections by speaking Spanish. They would also be connecting to the adult world and community by addressing the issue of teen health and the school's role in providing physical activity for students.
Action Plan
Day 1
- Students spend the first half hour of class preparing and practicing their interview questions.
- Students meet with Padres Unidos, a group of Spanish speaking parents of the elementary, middle, and high schools.
- Instead of recording during the first meeting, students will write notes on interview responses.
- Students help Spanish speaking parents with the school website and checking digital portfolios of teachers and students.
- Students journal about the previous day's interactions with native speakers.
- Discuss previous day's interactions as a class.
Assessment Plan
- The main form of assessment for this cycle was the students' reflections I collected the day after our first meeting. The prompts for the student reflections were: 1) Highs, 2) Lows, 3)Areas to improve, 4) Strategies for improving
- I also checked students' notes taken during the interviews to assess their listening skills and see how well they could understand the native speakers' responses.
Rationale
As I mentioned above, this was the students' chance to interact with native Spanish speakers to address the issue of teen health and exercise in the community. I was hoping to see an increase in motivation and overall language gains since students would be experience a range of emotions together with Hispanic members of their community.
I wanted students to go through the "awkward moments" when communication isn't fluid or even present at all. I think this is a crucial and often overlooked factor in language learning. As social beings we strive to communicate. We need to experience those moments of tension when communication is lacking in order to push us to learn. This is possibly why many argue that full immersion is the most effective way to learn a language.
Students would journal about their experiences in order to reflect on this tension. Journals would also serve to document changes and differences in emotional connections after repeated visits with Padres Unidos.
Cycle 4 A Second Meeting with Padres Unidos
After implementing and assessing the previous cycle, it was clear that students would benefit from another meeting with Padres Unidos. Many commented in their reflections that the interviews had awkward silences and lacked a natural conversational flow. The students and I both realized that we never prepared any follow up questions or comments to support more of a two-way communication. I wanted to give them a chance to improve language skills with continued practice as well as become more comfortable and connected with the Spanish speaking community members.
After implementing and assessing the previous cycle, it was clear that students would benefit from another meeting with Padres Unidos. Many commented in their reflections that the interviews had awkward silences and lacked a natural conversational flow. The students and I both realized that we never prepared any follow up questions or comments to support more of a two-way communication. I wanted to give them a chance to improve language skills with continued practice as well as become more comfortable and connected with the Spanish speaking community members.
Day 1
- Students complete written activity on follow-up questions based on reflections from the first meeting with Padres Unidos.
- Students practice speaking in small groups with follow-up questions.
- Students present mini-dialogues to the class.
- Class sings traditional songs together to build community and identity while practicing pronunciation
Day 2
Day 3
Assessment Plan:
Rationale
For this cycle, I had to give students a bit more scaffolding to support their conversations with follow-up questions. I allowed students first to practice with the grammar by seeing and writing questions. They would then practice speaking in small groups to maintain a low affective filter and build confidence. After speaking in small groups, the students would present a dialogue to the class to experience the tension that can come with on the spot communication and performing. The activity would also give other classmates exposure to hearing more vocabulary and different ideas.
When assessing, I wanted to leave the writing prompts somewhat open with the highs and lows in order to avoid leading questions. With the prompts, I wanted to gain insight to what kind of social and emotional connections the students were making during the interviews. I wanted to also find what they saw as areas of improvement.
- Again, students prepare and practice their interview questions with follow-ups for the first half hour of class.
- This time students will begin the meeting with Padre Unidos by performing two of the three songs we've been practicing in class.
- Students help parents with emails and digital portfolios.
- Students were to record this time. (As I will explain in the implementation section, we decided to wait until a future meeting to record.)
Day 3
- Students reflect in writing on the previous day's interactions.
- Class discusses previous meeting as well as what it means to "live a language."
Assessment Plan:
- During this cycle, I would assess the second meeting by collecting written reflections. The prompts were slightly different than the first reflection: 1)Highs, 2)Lows, 3)Differences from last meeting, 4)Ways to improve, 5)What does it mean to live a language?
- I was planning to have students record their interviews in order to further assess their language gains. As I will explain in the implementation section, I opted out of this during the meeting.
Rationale
For this cycle, I had to give students a bit more scaffolding to support their conversations with follow-up questions. I allowed students first to practice with the grammar by seeing and writing questions. They would then practice speaking in small groups to maintain a low affective filter and build confidence. After speaking in small groups, the students would present a dialogue to the class to experience the tension that can come with on the spot communication and performing. The activity would also give other classmates exposure to hearing more vocabulary and different ideas.
When assessing, I wanted to leave the writing prompts somewhat open with the highs and lows in order to avoid leading questions. With the prompts, I wanted to gain insight to what kind of social and emotional connections the students were making during the interviews. I wanted to also find what they saw as areas of improvement.
Cycle 5 Transcribing Audio
My plan for this cycle was to assess students' motivation and language gains in regards to listening and writing skills. Students would have played back the audio from their interviews and transcribed the dialogue onto a word document. They would then combine the audio and written transcriptions with images to create a video for exhibition. As I will explain in the implementation section, I ran out of time to have my students do this in a quality fashion in order to present for exhibition.
My plan for this cycle was to assess students' motivation and language gains in regards to listening and writing skills. Students would have played back the audio from their interviews and transcribed the dialogue onto a word document. They would then combine the audio and written transcriptions with images to create a video for exhibition. As I will explain in the implementation section, I ran out of time to have my students do this in a quality fashion in order to present for exhibition.