07.02.13 ~ Schwarzer - Article
This article was about the use of "dialogue journals," or notebooks where the student and teacher converse back and forth in the target language. One major feature of the article was to discuss the difference between translation and codeswitching, where translation refers to writing passages in both the target and native language, and codeswitching is just writing a word here or there (embedded within the text of the target language) in the native language. One great thing about this article was that the author stressed that foreign languages classes should not be an all-or-nothing approach. That is, teachers should have to expect students to translate all the time or only work in the target language all the time-- there should be a happy balance. I agree with this completely and I think using that happy balance in conjunction with dialogue journals is a great way to support students in language learning. The journal itself already lowers the affective filter (students can be creative, don't have to speak out) and if English can be used here or there as needed, it will lower the affective filter even more.
This article was about the use of "dialogue journals," or notebooks where the student and teacher converse back and forth in the target language. One major feature of the article was to discuss the difference between translation and codeswitching, where translation refers to writing passages in both the target and native language, and codeswitching is just writing a word here or there (embedded within the text of the target language) in the native language. One great thing about this article was that the author stressed that foreign languages classes should not be an all-or-nothing approach. That is, teachers should have to expect students to translate all the time or only work in the target language all the time-- there should be a happy balance. I agree with this completely and I think using that happy balance in conjunction with dialogue journals is a great way to support students in language learning. The journal itself already lowers the affective filter (students can be creative, don't have to speak out) and if English can be used here or there as needed, it will lower the affective filter even more.
In the end, I think what the student should come to understand is that the teacher wants to communicate with her/him and cares about what he/she thinks. Code switching as needed, aiming towards L2.
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