4
TOOLS TO BOOST LANGUAGE LEARNING IN THE CLASSROOM
last week, New York City School Chancellor Carmen
Fariña announced that the city will expand its dual language offerings, making
no less than 40 such programs available to K-12 students. According to the New
York Times, the programs will primarily aim to get students reading, writing,
and talking proficiently in both English and Spanish, with additional offerings
available in Japanese, Chinese, French, and Haitian-Creole.
Bans on bilingual education grew in part out of fear
that immigrant students would not learn English if given the option to continue
speaking in their native language — an argument shot down by Yale University
linguistic professor Claire Bowern, who recently penned an essay where she set
out to dispel that notion with evidence that children of immigrants become
fluent in a country's major language within a generation. Bowern additionally
argued that bilingual education is beneficial for all students, not just the
affluent.
Growing evidence also shows that learning more than
one language can be an asset to developmental growth and attention spans.
Researchers at York University in Toronto recently published a study finding
that learning to juggle two languages in your mind actually strengthens the
brain's functions and improves attention.
With states becoming more open to bilingual education,
how can schools easily adapt? Luckily, a number of online resources exist to
help boost language learning in the classroom.
Early
Lingo Total Immersion Bundle
This bundle of four apps teaching four languages
(French, English, Italian, and Spanish). Early Lingo introduces students to two
characters, Jojo and Lulu, as they go on adventures in the park and on the
farm. In these various locations, students are pushed to learn language through
interactive games.
Rosetta
Stone Arcade Academy
Popular among older language learners, Rosetta stone
has branched out to create a tool that is both informative and fun for the K-12
demographic. Arcade Academy specifically focuses on teaching students Spanish.
Minigames with a retro, 8-bit look set the stage as students learn a new
language and work to defeat an evil villain. The app, which is free, comes with
12 games that have 120 variations.
Duolingo
Another gamified option, Duolingo helps teach Spanish,
French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Irish, Danish, and Swedish. The key
to this program is it utilizes effective mini-lesson strategies that build on
our natural desire to learn. You earn points for correct answers and you race
against the clock — all techniques that children enjoy. The program is
available on iOS, Android and Windows Phone. The best part It's 100% free for
schools.
Mango
Languages
This language learning platform offers instruction in
over 60 languages — including Swahili! In this data-driven era, teachers and
administrators will appreciate the tool's tracking system, which allows
educators to check in and see which languages students are using the most.
Mango Languages focuses on four components of language learning: vocabulary,
pronunciation, grammar, and culture. The last one is particularly important
one, as students shouldn't just memorize a new language but also understand
where it's coming from.
No hay comentarios.:
Publicar un comentario