Tom Burton
Learning Article : 6 Ways To Incorporate “Comprehensible Input” Into Your Online Language Lessons

Discuss the Article : 6 Ways To Incorporate “Comprehensible Input” Into Your Online Language Lessons

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Theories of comprehensible input argue that it is the key to acquiring language. The emphasis is on subconscious acquisition, which contrasts with the theory that we learn language through conscious learning, skills building, and the drilling of grammar. Follow these steps to incorporate this technique into your language learning, thus optimising the process.

May 28, 2018 12:00 AM
Comments · 13
3
Well done Tom! I also use these ideas in my teaching which is aimed more at intermediate and advanced learners. It's these kinds of techniques that really lead to fluency, and produce the neural mapping required for it. Traditional grammar and methods, while useful in some contexts, are not really helpful for developing fluency because they rely too much on conscious memory and recall, and do not engage subconscious learning. 
June 3, 2018
3

I think you have great suggestions. I'm learning to do my beginner Spanish lessons this way. I'm a non-native speaker of Spanish who teaches it at the beginner level in public school. Once students "buy in" they can really learn a great deal, but it's tough to get some students on board. I think this guy is a fantastic example of how to do it: "Dreaming Spanish" on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCouyFdE9-Lrjo3M_2idKq1A/playlists

I like Martina Bex's materials as well. I have bought some of them from Teachers Pay Teachers. This is a great distance from how I learned Spanish, which is a VERY good thing, as I think it was very inefficient and boring, and I am probably the only person from those high school Spanish classes who continued on! I never want to be that teacher!!

May 29, 2018
2
This is a great article. I'm always happy to see people discussing comprehensible input, Krashen, the dangers of excessive reliance on translation, and encouraging tutors to go beyond "let's read an article and just talk about it." 
May 29, 2018
1
This should be required reading for all iTalki teachers. I'm a Spanish teacher, and I have been focusing on comprehensible input in my classroom for a decade, but I am having trouble finding a Chinese teacher on her that knows how to effectively provide it in a lesson.
January 27, 2019
1

Tom,

Spot on! Great job! I just left a local Spanish course because it was teacher and worksheet focused. I tried to incorporate some of these ideas into our classes but the teacher wasn't having it! Good on ya for using critical thinking and active research in your language teaching and learning.

December 11, 2018
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Tom Burton
Language Skills
Arabic (Levantine), Arabic (Modern Standard), English, French, German
Learning Language
Arabic (Levantine), Arabic (Modern Standard), French
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