Letter to the Editor: LOTE courses World languages department chair Erin Kanner responds to an article criticizing LOTE classes at SPHS.

Dear Editorial Staff of Tiger:

First, I am very gratified to teach languages in a school where students are so excited to learn them, and to communicate in effective ways! In my own language classes, I am thrilled to see my students use the target language in new ways all of the time. In fact, it is an essential tenet of second language acquisition that students demonstrate mastery of both the productive and interpretive language skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening), in the target language.

Our language program is designed to meet the language standards of the State of California, which were updated in 2019. In these standards the expectations for communication emphasize that students at the novice (beginner) level converse and write using memorized phrases in predictable conversations. The standards are as follows:

WL.CM2.N: Participate in real-world, spoken, written, or signed conversations on very familiar topics. Use memorized words, phrases, and simple sentences, and questions in highly predictable common daily settings

As many students in our program are learning the language for the first time, we start with these goals in mind, and increase the breadth and depth of communication, in both writing and speaking each year. Furthermore, the standards have set a series of goals to measure student proficiency from one level to the next, and, according to these standards, students use language in:

• highly predictable common daily settings (Novice)

• transactional and some informal settings (Intermediate) most informal and formal settings (Advanced)

• informal, formal, and professional settings, and unfamiliar and problem situations (Superior), in their communities and in the globalized world.

Students recognize (Novice), participate in (Intermediate), initiate (Advanced), or sustain (Superior) language use opportunities outside the classroom.

Given these goals, my colleagues and I create opportunities to practice, and to use these skills in each lesson. Students are asked to use the language to perform a variety of tasks, from asking questions about likes and dislikes in level 1/2, students then synthesize class data about preferences to summarize their findings. In level 3/4 students move to developing their own questions on a given topic, and then using these questions and subsequent findings to expand on their knowledge of target language, and of themselves.

In fact, not only do students in LOTE classes use the target language to communicate with classmates, they also record themselves for assessment questions, and for feedback on pronunciation and content. These types of activities, which are done across languages and at levels of instruction, are to help students develop the skills they need to interact with target language speakers.

Per the statements in your editorial, we are doing the very activities you mentioned: interviews, role-playing, and problem solving, to help students access the target language on their own terms, and in their own way. For me personally, creating these opportunities to increase communication, and to share literature and resources from the target language, are two of my favorite things about teaching.

It is also important to mention that, without a command of the language syntax and structures, students cannot reach these communicative goals. As with communication in English, we teach these agreed upon rules and structures in LOTE classes so that students will readily understand, and be understood, when using the target language in the real world. These structures and rules do take practice, which is also a part of our teaching.

Additionally, in the advanced levels, students use target language sources to inform their opinions as they develop their own, and to debate them in spoken and written language. In fact, I contacted a few alumni and asked them about their experiences with LOTE beyond our classrooms, and have included some of their comments. Frances Lee, class of 2022, stated that she: “took French Literature my first semester of college, nervous at first that I would not be as advanced as other students in a class solely instructed in French. I was soon grateful to enter the class with a strong foundation in grammar as I found that many other students struggled to keep up with grammatical structures in their writing.... Although I’ve already met the language requirements for my school, I would love to continue taking French classes or partake in opportunities surrounding the French language/ culture to further grow my knowledge and proficiency!”

Rachel Serwin, class of 2021, also took a language at the University level, and said: “In my college level French courses, I felt prepared, and that I had the knowledge to succeed in a course with higher expectations. I honestly feel like I learned better and more in your class than I did in my college level courses; … I was genuinely impressed by how well I could speak and especially write.”

Parents, too, have recognized the benefits of our program, as is explained in these comments from an SPUSD Board Member: “...[student] was your student last year in Spanish 1 is now studying for a year in Scotland.... She has found, at least in Spanish, that she is quite advanced for the class she is in. I sincerely credit your class for giving her such a strong base for the language … She was delighted because she was able to use an assignment you gave from last year as the base of her presentation! Apparently, the teacher thought it was excellent!”

In regards to the Chinese program, the Ying family commented: “Our family is an English speaking only family because my husband is the third generation American Born Chinese and doesn’t speak Chinese at all... When [student] started the ninth grade at the high school...the Chinese classes motivated their interest to learn Chinese again! The classes were very vivid and interesting! The presentations were very hard for my [student], but they conquered the difficulties with the encouragement from Ms. Chiang... who teaches students with hearts in listening, speaking, and writing!”

I hope that this discussion will encourage students at SPHS to continue their language studies, as we in the LOTE Department work to help all students to meet, and to exceed, the CA State Standards, and to become proficient in a target language. Thank you for allowing me to share what we do each day, and for your thoughtful consideration.

Ms. Erin Kanner NBCT, LOTE Department Chair & The LOTE Department