HOW STUDENTS GAIN
WORLD LANGUAGE EXPERIENCE
AT ST. ALBANS CITY SCHOOL
By Mitch Craib - Wellness and Stewardship Coordinator at St. Albans City School
“This is actually my second year taking the language program. I am taking it because I have a lot of family in Canada and where they live a lot of people speak French. It is really nice to have something here (at St. Albans City School) that will give kids an opportunity to learn a language.” Sydney Ward
In keeping with the school’s goal of embracing technology-assisted-learning, St. Albans City School (SACS) has been offering self-driven on-line language learning for the past five years. Students can work their way through the beginning stages of the Middlebury Interactive Language Program, a language learning system that was originally created by Middlebury College in association with K-12 Learning that has recently become independently owned and managed. Two staff members, Mrs. Wade and Mrs. Lamb administer the program at St. Albans City School and oversee various class sessions. This year three dozen 7th and 8th grade students are using the Middlebury Interactive world language software to learn Spanish, French, German, or Chinese. Half of these students are earning high school credit. Additionally, all first and fourth grade students are exposed to French using Middlebury software. Altogether, more than 10% of our school’s students are experiencing high quality foreign language programming each week.
There are three main goals for the language program at St. Albans City School. The first goal is to provide students with meaningful exposure to other cultures and their language(s). The second goal is to have students work towards completion of a year’s worth of high school foreign language instruction during 7th and 8th grades at SACS. The final goal is to have students discover that productive learning can be achieved through self-driven instructional experiences. For most of our language students, these goals are being achieved.
Before elaborating on this year’s students’ experiences, it is important to say that the Middlebury Interactive language program was not without its challenges in the early years of use at St. Albans City School. Various problems with the software, such as its initial inability to be used with iPads, its tendency to lock up during lessons, inconsistent content and unreliably for recording the oral part of lessons discouraged some students and irritated the staff overseeing the learning. Consequently, everyone was wary of continuing with the program. However, in recent years it seems that the majority of glitches have been ironed out, leading to happier students and administrators. Enthusiasm and enrollment is going up rapidly.
“It is definitely very fun being on your own and knowing that, sure, they (the teaching staff) will be checking on you once in awhile, but that it is your own drive that directs you. You can go at your own pace and it can be faster than a normal class. I would definitely suggest other 7th and 8th graders consider it.” Natasha Wagner shared about her experience learning Chinese. St. Albans City School plans to continue offering on-line language course work next year, and encouraging students to consider different ways of learning.
Gianna Gunter and Karah White working on their languages in the school library.
Laci Cain and Alanna Fiorini enjoying the learning process.
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The article was published in the weekend edition of the Messenger.
Additional Material...
Hailey Holliday “This is the first year I had the option to take French. It (speaking French) kind of runs in my family. My great grandmother was a French teacher. My grandmother is fluent in French. And, I am French Canadian. I also want to visit France one day. I like it (the Middlebury program). You can still interact with a teacher on line. You can message him or her (if you are seeking credit for the work). At the same time it can be kind of hard because when you have to do recordings they sometimes talk kind of fast. For me I am really good at staying caught up. I think it is really easy to use and I would definitely recommend Middlebury to others. I will definitely take French when I get to high school. This is going to give me a head start and I will get it more when I get there.”
Gianna Gunter “I am taking German. My dad knows German. I took it last year for high school credit and I am doing it this year as well. It is a little bit hard (not having a teacher on site). I think other kids like taking it although some find it hard to keep up. I am actually ahead on the program now. I work with the material daily and I don’t really have to worry about falling behind. I would recommend this program. It is very helpful to take a language, especially if you travel and visit other places.”
Sydney Ward “A lot of people have joined the language program, especially 7th graders. They wanted to see what taking a language was like and signed up to check it out. I enjoy it and lot of kids have enjoyed it. The Middlebury program has definitely worked out the glitches. There is some(what) of a struggle because the recordings are a little fast. (Also,) I don’t think I have as much of an accent as some of the other French speaking students who work with a language teacher but I have some accent because of the recordings.”
“Mrs. Wade does a good job of trying to assist us since she has experience with a number of languages. Also Ms. Martinson (an Art teacher) speaks French and she offers us help.” Note: Language teachers at Middlebury provide St. Albans City School Students with written and oral feedback for students taking languages for credit.
Natasha Wagner “I have some idols that don’t speak English. They speak Chinese. It kind of sparked my interest in a different language. I thought why not go outside the box and choose a different language than some of my relatives have learned. So when I heard Middlebury has Chinese, I thought why not because that suits me more. I started it last year and I managed to get through the exposure level very quickly. I am a very fast learner. I have actually slowed down a little this year because I have moved up a level and it is getting harder. My motivation for taking Chinese is (purely) curiosity”. Chinese is not offered at BFA and learning it at St. Albans City School will not give a student a head start with that language.
“It is definitely very fun being on your own and knowing that, sure, they (the teaching staff) will be checking on you once in a while, but that it is your own drive that directs you. You can go at your own pace and it can be faster than a normal class.” It is actually kind of fun knowing that it is your own drive leading you. We are allowed to mess around (socialize a bit in class) as long as we get the job done. I would definitely suggest other 7th and 8th graders consider it. Why not think about doing it while we have the option. It can prepare you for high school.”
St. Albans City School plans to continue offering on-line language course work next year.
