Theres more to it than speaking - Learner Independence through reading the language... Dr Lynn Erler Oxford University Department of Education

[seeking a pedagogy for reading within the CLT classroom]: Whats going on in your head when youre reading French? We dont read French. Its all muddled. Its not like what weve been saying in lesson. It doesn t look like what Miss tells us.

What they are saying – what they know! READING DECODING SPEAKING HEARING, LISTENING WRITING

4 When reading a word you might not know in French, do you: yes no sometimes a. skip the word …………………. b. try to sound out the word …………………. c. go back to the word when you think you might have an idea about its meaning ….. d. go back to a word and double-check that it makes sense ……………………. e. look at the word and guess what it means from familiar bits in it ……………………… f. guess the word from the pictures which are near it ….…………………. g. invent a meaning …………………….. h. ask a friend …………………….. i. ask the teacher …………………….. j. wait and see if the teacher says what it means k. look up the word in the dictionary or glossary... l. guess the meaning from words around it m. Something else? If so, what? _______________________________

When you see a French text of several sentences or a paragraph, do you: yes no sometimes a. wait for the teacher to explain……………. b. skip it …………………. c. try to sound out each word ………………… d. go back to a word or section and double-check that it makes sense ……………………. e. scan for words that look familiar, and try to guess the meaning of the text from them ….. f. scan for words that look like English and try to guess meaning of the text from them ……. g. guess from the pictures what it is all about …… h. invent a meaning …………………….. i. ask a friend what it means ……………………. j. ask the teacher what it means …………………….. k. wait and see if the teacher says what it means l. look up many words in the dictionary or glossary.. m. guess the meaning from words around it n. Something else? If so, what? ________________________________

359 Year 7s happy; not bothered puzzled, worried, angry, embarrassed reading aloud in French?45.3% 48.4% pronouncing French aloud?46.6% 48.0% How do you feel when: Results of the pen and paper rhyme tests: jour heure (silent decoding) pot beaux (1) 70% could not successfully identify more than a third of rhyming words correctly N = 359 (2) mean result = 50%; only 3% achieved better than chance results N = 1,735 Sounding out

Sounds of word - heard or said Printed word MEANING GPC Orthography Phonology Context and schemata knowledge

Printed word Sounds of word (based on Seidenberg & McClelland 1989) Teaching and learning words and phrases in the Foreign Language Classroom in England learners EL1 pre-literacy approaches, grain size, sequence changes, consonants vs vowels flexibility in phoneme manipulation, general mistrust of GPC consistency due to opaqueness of English slippery issues of feedforward – G to P transparency of French (cf English) and feedback opaqueness P to G of French. From: Ehri, Goswami, Ziegler L1 & L2 GPC

Assorted Vowels, silent letters, nasals The sounds and spellings in French © L.Erler 2010

Une chanson a comme quatre chats é comme mes frisés i comme oui Mimi u comme Lulu o comme beau dodo ou comme tous les jours e comme le cheveu è comme ma mère et oi comme moi © L.Erler 2010

a a à â Rounded lips, mouth quite open, tongue flat © L.Erler 2010

tata chat âge mama quatre cahiercahier ami lala © L.Erler 2010 a a à â

Papa va à la gare. a a à â © L.Erler 2010

o au eau ô very round mouth and a little open tongue hangs in mid air © L.Erler 2010

dodo dodo beau au faux chocolatcrocodile pianissimo hôpitalhôpital © L.Erler 2010 o au eau ô

Toto saute dans leau. o au eau ô © L.Erler 2010

es, er, ez, et, ai mouth hardly open, tongue quite high at back © L.Erler 2010 é é

fermé lesles sesses écoutez frisé jai étéété mesmes © L.Erler 20 é

sixsix LilyLily litlit oui midimidi MimiMimi ville livreJhabite © L.Erler 20 iyiy

tutu ruerue menumenu salutsalut LuluLulu une judojudo supersuper © L.Erler 2010 u

e eu, eur The sound of uhh with the mouth slightly open, lips a bit forward Its called a schwa. © L.Erler 2010

Je veux jouer le jeu à deux heures. e eu, eur © L.Erler 2010

mère faire père frère anniversaire paire lair © L.Erler 2010 è

Une chanson a comme quatre chats é comme mes frisés i comme oui Mimi u comme Lulu o comme beau dodo ou comme tous les jours e comme le cheveu è comme ma mère et oi comme moi © L.Erler 2010

Ma tortue ne marche pas vite. Elle aime manger de la salade. Elle est contente … mais tourjours très lente! © L.Erler 2010

Voici un bon lapin blanc! un on in an © L.Erler 2010

Scottish Curriculum for Excellence! READING decoding SPEAKING HEARING, LISTENING WRITING Coherence for teacher and learner across the learning Reflecting individual variables and variance Can be enjoyed collaboratively Is intensely personal Creates LEARNER INDEPENDENCE Cross-curricular links to English and to wider reading Creates a basis for progress and personal experience

Thank You! Words and Sounds – Supporting language learning through phonics Lynn Erler & Julie Prince ISBN CILT 2010