Learning to Teach Modern Foreign Languages in the Secondary School: A Companion to School Experience (Learning to Teach Subjects in the Secondary School Series)

353 Pages·1997·2 MB·English

by  N. Pachler

Learning to Teach
Modern Foreign
Languages in the
Secondary School
‘This is an essential reference handbook for student teachers during the PGCE year,
but also an excellent reference guide during the first years of teaching’ (Mentoring and
Education).
Designed as a text to support trainee teachers on a course of initial teacher education,
this book focuses on essential aspects of modern foreign languages teaching. A theoretical
perspective underpins the practical focus, and account is taken of statutory requirements.
This book is a revised edition of the highly successful 1997 edition, which has
established itself as the reference guide for trainee teachers of modern foreign languages
in the UK. Recent changes in legislation and education policy are included and further
useful ideas and strategies have been included. ICT is dealt with in a separate chapter
as well as referred to throughout the book. The text will assist trainee teachers in
developing a personal approach to modern foreign languages teaching and in choosing
the most effective and appropriate methods to help pupils gain relevant knowledge,
skills and understanding. It also provides support for mentors and tutors working with
trainee teachers in modern foreign languages by offering an overview of the areas covered
during a course of initial teacher education.
Chapters cover a wide range of relevant topics including:
• communicative approaches to the teaching of modern foreign languages
• the teaching of grammar and cultural awareness
• assessment
• the use of the target language
• the use of ICT in modern foreign languages teaching and learning as well as for
continuing professional development
Examples are given in French, German and Spanish, but most are transferable to other
languages.
Norbert Pachler is Senior Lecturer in Languages in Education at the Institute of
Education, University of London. Kit Field is Principal Lecturer at Canterbury Christ
Church University College.
Related titles
Learning to Teach Subjects in the Secondary School Series
Series Editors
Susan Capel, Brunel University; Marilyn Leask, De Montfort University, Bedford;
and Tony Turner, Institute of Education, University of London.
Designed for all students learning to teach in secondary schools, as well as those on
school-based initial teacher training courses, the books in this series complement
Learning to Teach in the Secondary School and its companion, Starting to Teach in the Secondary
School. Each book in the series applies underpinning theory and addresses practical
issues to support students in school and in the training institution in learning how to
teach a particular subject.
Learning to Teach English in the Secondary School
Jon Davison and Jane Dowson
Learning to Teach Modern Foreign Languages in the Secondary School
Norbert Pachler and Kit Field
Learning to Teach History in the Secondary School
Terry Haydn, James Arthur and Martin Hunt
Learning to Teach Physical Education in the Secondary School
Edited by Susan Capel
Learning to Teach Science in the Secondary School
Tony Turner and Wendy DiMarco
Learning to Teach Mathematics in the Secondary School
Edited by Sue Johnston-Wilder, Peter Johnston-Wilder, David Pimm and John Westwell
Learning to Teach Religious Education in the Secondary School
Edited by Andrew Wright and Ann-Marie Brandon
Learning to Teach Art and Design in the Secondary School
Edited by Nicholas Addison and Lesley Burgess
Learning to Teach Geography in the Secondary School
David Lambert and David Balderstone
Learning to Teach Design and Technology in the Secondary School
Edited by Gwyneth Owen-Jackson
Learning to Teach Music in the Secondary School
Edited by Chris Philpott
Learning to Teach
Modern Foreign
Languages in the
Secondary School
A companion to school experience
Second edition
Norbert Pachler and Kit Field
London and New York
First published 2001
by RoutledgeFalmer
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by RoutledgeFalmer
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY10001
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002.
RoutledgeFalmer is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
 2001 Norbert Pachler and Kit Field
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Pachler, Norbert
Learning to teach modern foreign languages in the secondary school :
a companion to school experience / Norbert Pachler and Kit Field.–
2nd ed.
p. cm. – (Learning to teach subjects in the secondary school series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Languages, Modern–Study and teaching (Secondary) I. Field, Kit.
II. Series.
PB35 .P13 2001
418′.0071′2–dc21 00-051823
ISBN 0-415-24020-4(Print Edition)
ISBN 0-203-47019-2 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-77843-X (Adobe eReader Format)
Dedication
A la memoria de José Ramon Redondo Gallego (1916–1999), hijo de Montiel,
madrugador y amigo de la caza y de insaciable afán de saber, de deshacer agravios y de
enderezar entuertos.
Si no eres par, tampoco le has tenido;
Que par pudieras ser entre mil pares;
Ni puede haberle donde tú te hallares
Invicto vencedor, jamás vencido.
Orlando Furioso a D. Quijote

INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES VII
Contents
Introduction to the series viii
List of illustrations x
Contributors xvi
Acknowledgements xviii
List of abbreviations xix
Prologue xxi
1 Introduction 1
2 On becoming a modern foreign languages teacher 18
3 Teaching methods and learning strategies in modern
foreign languages 42
4 Observing, planning and evaluating modern foreign
languages lessons 62
5 Teaching in the target language: a critical appraisal 84
6 Teaching listening, speaking, reading and writing 102
7 Teaching and learning grammar 126
8 Developing cultural awareness inside and outside the
modern foreign languages classroom 147
9 Pupil differences and differentiation in modern foreign
languages teaching and learning 175
10 Assessing, marking, recording and reporting 202
11 Managing resources and learners in the modern foreign
languages classroom 225
12 The use of ICT in modern foreign languages teaching
and learning 250
13 The first appointment and professional development 276
Epilogue: modern foreign languages teaching and learning
at 16 to 19 295
Appendix 309
References 314
Index 324
viii INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES
Introduction to the series
This, the second edition of Learning to Teach Modern Foreign Languages in the Secondary
School, is one of a series of books entitled Learning to Teach Subjects in the Secondary
School covering most subjects in the secondary school curriculum. The books in this
series support and complement Learning to Teach in the Secondary School: A Companion to
School Experience (Capel, Leask and Turner, 1998, 2nd ed.), which addresses issues
relevant to all secondary teachers. These books are designed for student teachers learning
to teach on different types of initial teacher education courses and in different places.
However, it is hoped that they will be equally useful to tutors and mentors in their
work with student teachers. In 1997 a complementary book was published entitled
Starting to Teach in the Secondary School: A Companion for the Newly Qualified Teacher (Capel,
Leask and Turner, 1997). That second book was designed to support newly qualified
teachers in their first post and covered aspects of teaching which are likely to be of
concern in the first year of teaching.
The information in the subject books does not repeat that in Learning to Teach; rather
the content of that book is adapted and extended to address the needs of student teachers
learning to teach a specific subject. In each of the subject books, therefore, reference is
made to Learning to Teach, where appropriate. It is recommended that you have both
books so that you can cross-reference when needed.
The positive feedback on Learning to Teach, particularly the way it has supported the
learning of student teachers in their development into effective, reflective teachers, has
encouraged us to retain the main features of that book in the subject series. Thus, the
subject books are designed so that elements of appropriate theory introduce each behavi-
our or issue. Recent research into teaching and learning is incorporated into this. This
material is interwoven with tasks designed to help you identify key features of the
behaviour or issue and apply these to your own practice.
Although the basic content of each subject book is similar, each book is designed to
address the unique nature of each subject. In this book, for example, the unique contri-
bution of modern foreign languages to the linguistic, social and cultural development
of pupils is highlighted, as is the development of communicative competence on the
INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES IX
basis of linguistic awareness. The second edition takes account of changes to the National
Curriculum and to the way teachers are trained.
We, as editors, have found this project to be exciting. We hope that, whatever the
type of initial teacher education course you are following and wherever you may be
following that course, you find that this book is useful and supports your development
into an effective, reflective modern foreign languages teacher.
Susan Capel, Marilyn Leask and Tony Turner
October 2000