Principles

You can download a copy of the Principles here.

Principle 1 ORAL INTERACTION

Target language input is essential for learning but it can be made more effective if learners are encouraged to check the understanding of it by asking questions of what the teacher is saying or asking the teacher to repeat.

Principle 2 ORAL INTERACTION

Learners need to be encouraged to speak spontaneously and to say things that they are not sure are correct

Principle 3 ORAL INTERACTION

Less spontaneous oral interaction should nevertheless be of high quality.  By high quality we mean including substantial student turns; adequate wait time; cognitive challenge [e.g. by requiring a verb phrase or subordinate clause]; appropriate teacher feedback; nominating students rather than waiting for volunteers.

Principle 4 ORAL INTERACTION

Students should be explicitly taught strategies to use when faced with communication difficulties. These should be used alongside techniques for developing their oral fluency, such as repetition of tasks and chunking of pre-learnt words into whole phrases.

Principle 5 READING AND LISTENING

Learners need to be taught how to access a greater range of more challenging spoken and written texts, through explicit instruction in comprehension strategies and in the relationship between the written and spoken forms.

Principle 6 FEEDBACK

Learners need to develop their self- confidence and see the link between the strategies they use and how successful they are on a task.

Principle 7 WRITING

Writing should be developed as a skill in its own right not just as a consolidation of other language skills. For this to happen students should frequently write using the language and strategies they already know rather than resources provided by the teacher (e.g. textbooks, writing frames, dictionaries, etc.  )

Principle 8 (underpins all other principles)

The principal focus of pedagogy should be on developing language skills and therefore the teaching of linguistic knowledge (knowledge of grammar and vocabulary) should act in the service of skill development not as an end in itself.

5 responses to “Principles

  1. Pingback: The Principles have made a difference to my teaching. Discuss! | PDC in MFL

  2. Nadine Chadier

    In order to implement Principle n3, I have taught my KS2 learners some set sentences that they can use in their response after having been given adequate wait time to answer. They are : j’ai oublié, je ne sais pas, je me souviens as well as the je comprends and je ne comprends pas. So every learner is empowered to answer in French even when they don’t know the answer. Despite seeing the classes only on a fortnightly basis, the implementation works.

  3. Pingback: Professional Development Clusters for MFL Teachers | PDC in MFL: research for language teaching

  4. пенсионный фонд России – накопительная пенсия, группа инвалидности

  5. Folajimi Andrew Oladele

    A pedagogical language to children involves all the language proficiency skills that include the LISTENING, READING,
    SPEAKING, and WRITING that must be put into consideration when planing to teach them at their various levels. Thus, the ” oral interactions” between the tutor and the learners at all levels play a vital role in the learners level of the language acquisition.
    The above 8 principles remind me of what to have in mind in my programme for better results and purpose accomplishments.

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