1. Native Students in Foreign Language Teaching - A Special Resource on My Course Anna Bokedal, University of Aberdeen School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture
WHAT:
Erasmus and local students from Sweden were invited to conversation classes in Year 2 Beginners Swedish (level B1), SN2003 and SN2503; five classes per year.
Small group discussions with the option of using a prepared discussion sheet with simple as well as cognitively challenging questions based on topics, vocabulary and grammar encountered in the course book.
WHY:
Students requested more small-group oral practice.
Opportunity for learners to interact with Swedish same-age peers.
Opportunity for native students to be ”Swedish”.
EVALUATION:
Survey to course students (11 respondents, 14 invitees).
Survey to native students (8 respondents, 12 invitees).
Interviews (3 course students, 1 native student).
(Evaluation took place after teaching had finished.)
RESULTS (course students):
Increased confidence and oral skills (11/11).
Increased awareness of Swedish culture, dialects and mannerisms (11/11).
It was helpful to have a discussion sheet, which was still mainly used to start the conversations.
RESULTS (native students):
Added to the experience of studying abroad (7/8).
Increased appreciation of Sweden and of language learning.
Opportunity for Erasmus students to meet local students and for local Swedish students to speak Swedish.
ALL respondents enjoyed the classes. 7/8 native and 8/11 course students would have wanted more activities.
It was an important aspect for course students that the native students also enjoyed taking part.
May be a daunting experience. Initially ”just listening” is also a positive achievement.
SOME VOICES:
Some people were easier to talk to and made me feel confident, others - not so much.
It is fun to chat in Swedish with students keen to learn the language. The level of language skill reached is very impressive, meaning that genuine discussions often followed on from set topics.
I thought it was a good way to keep my Swedish language going, I don't have many Swedish friends that I can speak Swedish to here.
The discussion classes put everything you learned during the regular classes to the test.
Not only did I learn new phrases and expressions, but I also got to know more colloquial ways of speaking.
There was a large variety of people with different accents, including some people who spoke Swedish with a Finnish accent.
It was interesting since I study to become a teacher.
It gave me more appreciation of the country and everything in it that I didn’t know I had lost during my years away.
Some were a little bit shy with trying to use their Swedish, but overall it was quite easy.
We would ask them how to say a certain word in Swedish, but other than that, we tried to stay clear of English.
I learned a lot about Swedish culture, geography and some amazing recipes.
I was very scared before the first tutorial that was to be conducted in this way, but with time speaking got easier as I got more confident with the help of the native Swedish students.
I thought it was a very interesting experience, I made a few very good friends and enjoyed sharing my culture to others who showed genuine interest.
I found it super interesting to talk to Swedish people that are our age and have similar interests.
I had a really great time participating in these classes.
It was extremely useful.
You feel very comfortable speaking to other students.
FEATURES:
Timetabled classes, attended by all - also by less adventurous students. Semi-directed content, teacher support available for both learners and natives, but no interference. Relaxed atmosphere without assessment pressure.
Thus a novel concept and different from alternative approaches such as language cafés, tandem learning, older learner buddies, employed native language assistants, immersion learning in target country etc.