Instructional Plan on Teaching a Second Language for Institutions - Essay Example

Integrated Instructional Plan Introduction Either many teachers experienced or not, face preparation fears in teaching at sometimes such as when a new curriculum is put in place or the standards of teaching is changed since most of them are faced with accountability issues. That is the reason they need an effective plans of their lessons to develop a friendly learning environments for both teachers and students. This paper therefore, illustrates an instructional plan on teaching a second language for institutions, which will be based on the design elements to effective online instructions. The paper also helps most teachers how to identify the needs of students learning languages in order to introduce teaching resources and strategies that builds their strengths. Most of the students learning foreign languages face different challenges such as distance to the school offering the course, and school physical classes where they have no physical classrooms set in place due to their minorities. It is for this reason why the introduction of the online platforms, which can enhance the course to be, learnt many miles away from the location of schools offering it. Learning the course on online platforms can also enhance the mode of education through differentiated strategies for the students to pass even at their own time as they retrieve all the resources from the virtual class. The introduction of online based instructions framework also helps integrating foreign languages instructions. During the orientation of the online environment, the participants gets an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the technology such as video clips or other online tools, procedures of the expectations (Gardner, 1993). The participants must also have advance time in order to plan for their participation in the course before starting the session. However, online-based instruction is an approach of teaching foreign languages nowadays that integrates an effective language instruction with a framework in the areas of the content. In this method, foreign languages are used as the bridge for teaching subject contents, such as social studies, mathematics, from the curriculum in the regular classroom. This approach must receive much attention since it allows the combination of the goals of different learning institutions in the regular curriculum and the second language curriculum. This enhances the effectiveness of the learning the language as the vehicle for strengthening the general knowledge and skills. According to Mohan (1986), it is illustrated that language is not only a communication medium but also a medium of learning in the regular curriculum used in the schools. The main objective of integrating the learning environment is both learning the language and learning the content. The classrooms, which are content-based, are the places where students gains education as well as learning a second language. The introduction of classroom, which contains content-based language mostly, substitutes the regular curriculum used in classroom and becomes a school program entirely. The success of the teaching subjects in foreign languages has aroused interests for many institutions to use the content-based learning. Such institutions include the middle and elementary schools, which use foreign language programs and are thematically organized around vocabulary topics in a traditional framework. Therefore, incorporating the content of the subject in the traditional language programs makes the language more meaningful context, and larger by providing the situations where the real use of language is required. According to Genesee (1994), the traditional approaches of learning often disassociate the language learning from some students in areas such as academic, cognitive, and social development. However, introducing the content-based instruction establishes the approach, which bonds these domains into one platform. Many benefits of studying the languages through the content-based platform are evidently realized in the content and student’s language acquisition. Students become most proficient in the languages in content-based instructions because the most focused areas, which promote the learning, are its features such as language usage and the exchange of the important messages. Planning for Instructions The planning and organizing the curriculum around a central point originates in the school, classroom, the entire environment, as well as the targeted culture. The surrounding activities in teaching the language concepts within the content-based system are planned and interrelated. This is in order to make it fit within the adopted program designed for a given lesson or a given thematic unit. The integration of the approach occurs based on the fact that, the students engage themselves in meaningful activities of acquiring the languages including writing, and learn especially to talk. The curriculum area may be at the thematic center of a theme, words, or stories of the target language. The ideal ways to brainstorm the curriculum activities include the semantic maps or webs based on the defined themes. This is because the usage web shows how the target language and the associated activities are associated and interrelated in a graphical format. It is also indicated that skills and facts presented for the students need more rehearsal and practice in order to stick in the memories than presenting the information in the meaningful context (Caine & Caine, 1991). In addition, the mapping of the web defines the learning of the second language by combining the cultural learning and the subject content through the process of language integration. The webs can be organized into different way, which include by use of content discipline, free forms and by multiple intelligences. Following the processes used by the Pesola (in progress), one can establish a planning procedures for integrating the language which is content based on a thematic unit. In the model, the dynamic relationship between the academic content, language, and the culture must interact. This enhances the all three elements to form a core system in the language lessons. The planning processes of a comprehensive framework include descriptions such as a thematic center, the outcomes for the usage of languages, culture, and the content. The framework also must have the assessment of strategies, activities, materials, and classroom setting. The fundamental basis of the model is balancing the three areas of content, language and the culture. An example of a content-based unit plan can be outlined be described below with a sample subject of architecture using the plan inventory. In language features, the planned structure must be able to ask, give, and describe the information from the users. The subject content such as architecture, weather, geography, seasons, and such must also be available in the content-based system. The doors and windows of the student’s hometown or the target country must be included in order to demonstrate their culture. The content-based system must also demonstrate the usage of the vocabularies such as shapes, sizes, colors, materials, and the geographical terms such as sun, clouds, snow, rain among others. The grammatical structures of the content-based curriculum also have the inclusion of verbs in present tense such as to see, to be, to paint, and to think. The verbs in command form such as touch, open, close, point to etc are also included. The essential materials used include the photographs from both the home and target cultures of geographical landmarks, seasons, and also doors and windows. Other materials which can be used in the architectural course include the map of the target country, paper, paints, markers, tape measures as well as the ruler am other necessary items. Activities include introduction of the vocabulary through the Total Physical Response sequence with photos of windows and doors of the classrooms. Sorting of the photos by target country or hometown, by doors or windows or by shape, size material or color can be performed. The windows and doors are then measured through the estimation of pairs in the classroom. The total physical response sequence is used of the map seasons, geography, and weather of the targeted hometown and country. The students should divide themselves into small groups and then paint the initial window with a target of the hometown or the target country. Then describe the window orally or in writing. By displaying the windows in the classroom, the students should then select the window of their best choice and give the reasons behind their choice. The assessment of the learning involves the student’s understanding, accuracy and their pronunciation after observing their participation. The teacher should also assess for the participation and use of target languages and accuracy. The assessment should also focus on the inclusion of presentations, elements, and participation of the students’ projects. The evaluation of the paragraph written for its meaning and accuracy should also be done in order to establish the students’ writing for interests, accuracy, and coherence. Suggestions for Planning Lessons When planning for the integrated language instruction, the considerations should mostly focus on the distinctive needs and characteristics of the young students of each academic level of educational and cognitive development. The research of second language acquisition shows the teaching value and strategies such as planning of listening activities, providing comprehensible inputs. This mode of learning also gives numerous opportunities to the students to use their language and negotiate the meaning. The following are suggestion, which the teachers should adopt in planning for lessons that integrate the content and language to the modern mode of teaching: One should be familiar with the regular classroom curriculum by talking to other teachers about the curriculum, know exactly what the students are studying and observing the school’s curriculum guide policies. Take to researching on what to plan for content integration. One can start wit one or two topics from the regular curriculum and then advance to other units with time. One must use curriculum format of planning or Use a web or which can promote the integration of language, content, or the culture. The activities designed should be friendly or interesting that uses the students prior personal experience and knowledge. The one, which asks the students to do their tasks in groups’ e.g. individually, the whole class, in pairs, or in small groups. The program should also use holistic strategies, which can integrate listening, reading, speaking, and writing and connect the language and content naturally. It should be able to challenge the students in order to think critically and also address the students too use different ways of learning. References Caine, R. N., and Caine, G. (1991). Making connections: Teaching and the human brain. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Gardner, H. (1993). Multiple intelligence: The theory in practice. New York: Basic Books Genesee, F. (1994). Integrating languages and contents: Lessons from immersion. Santa Cruz, CA and Washington, DC: National Center for Research on Cultural Diversity and Second Language Learning. Mohan, B. (1986). Language and content. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley. Pesola, C. A. (in progress). Background, design, and evaluation of a conceptual framework for FLES curriculum. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Read More