Spanish Teachers Unite Newsletter: October 14, 2021

October 14, 2021

This week in STU:

  • A PhD in Second Language Acquisition and Teacher Education answers common questions by unpacking research articles.

  • Mar shares her tips for students that want to use music to learn pronunciation

  • Download Kaneesha’s music & pronunciation worksheet

TeachING Smarter

Meet Florencia Henshaw, a PhD in Second Language Acquisition and Teacher Education. Two months ago she started creating brief youtube videos that convert research articles into actionable insights. Drop by her youtube channel to find 26 interesting videos.

A few of our favorites

  • It’s easy for the language teacher to feel like they’re not giving students enough written feedback but how much impact does that feedback have on learning outcomes? Florencia breaks down the research in Episode 4: Written corrective feedback

  • In Episode 3: Grammar drills we found research backed responses to the questions: What’s a mechanical grammar drill? Are they effective in the language classroom?

  • Even though Florencia believes the research presented has limitations Episode 5: Target language vs. L1 use registered with us as a thought-provoking exploration of how much target language the 2nd language teacher should use during class.

LEARNING With music

Using music to improve pronunciation

Can music be used to help students improve pronunciation? How do you music with your class to improve pronunciation? 

Listening to the song and trying to identify some words by ear. Once the students pick a song they can start listening to it, without reading the lyrics first. In this step they get to focus on what they hear, and not what they understand; this way the students will get their ear used to hearing English sounds, even if they’re not too sure about the words. The idea is to avoid reading altogether, so that this does not interfere with the students’ understanding nor pronunciation development. In this step, it is also important to note down all of the words or expressions that they recognized, as this will be an indicator of their progress later on.

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Activity resource

Song Lyrics Worksheet