Contextualized Learning in World Language Classes

The late ’80s and early ’90s saw a major shift in world language research all across the United States. Educators began to shift from grammar and rote learning to communicative language acquisition and proficiency. One of the most impactful aspects of communicative language from a pedagogical standpoint is that the focus shifts to the language needs of the learner. What would be something that a learner would want to be able to communicate in the target language? What would a typical first-year language learner want to be able to say?

What does contextualized learning look like?

For those of us who were ourselves taught in the grammar age, it can be difficult to let go of the more formal ways of teaching, but rest assured it is worth the effort. Teaching within a context gives the work purpose. Students ask the question, “Why are we doing this?” less and less.

When choosing unit themes and topics, we need to think from the perspective of our students. This improves engagement and enhances acquisition because they see value in the content. Taking that a step further, giving them a realistic setting or context for their learning not only keeps their interest, but also supports the path to acquisition.

For example, an activity that the students enjoy in our “School Life” unit is describing their teachers. I took candid photos of teachers, and then I had students both describe the staff member physically and tell me a little bit about the teacher’s personality.

While the students enjoyed this, it wasn’t contextualized: There was no purpose behind it. I added another layer to the activity. I told my students that we were asked to design the faculty portion of the school’s parent handbook for the Spanish-speaking families in our school community. This small extra addition to the instructions gave a realistic purpose and context. What was once an activity now became a task. This gave students a real-life example of when and how they would use the target language outside the classroom. It translated not just to engagement, but to a deeper purpose and motivation.

Design Considerations: Exercise, Activity, or Task?

When we are designing our daily classes, it’s worth asking: Is this an exercise, activity, or task? Exercises tend to be more rote learning, such as “Fill in the blank with the correct form of the verb” or “Write the time based on the clock face given.” Exercises focus on the mechanics and do not have a context.

Activities like asking students to describe their teachers are better than exercises because they ask students to communicate something with the language. However, tasks are the gold standard. Tasks are not just communicative: They have a purpose and a context. This allows the students to have a sense of how they will use the target language in the real world—like the difference between describing teachers and creating content for a parent handbook. It also gives students a goal beyond just finishing an assignment. They should be asked to go back and look at their work and ask the question, “Did I complete the task?” This brings higher-level critical thinking into the classroom as well.

How Does Context Connect to Proficiency?

To date, most states have adopted standards that focus on proficiency. We are no longer concerned with students having vocabulary memorized and knowing discrete grammar points. The focus now is on giving students the opportunity to show what they can do with the target language, ideally in the form of contextualized tasks. Proficiency is about doing something purposeful with the language.

As a student progresses through the various levels of their language learning journey, their proficiency grows and becomes more complex, and as their proficiency grows, the complexity and purpose of the real-world tasks grow with them. It’s less about what content they have memorized and more about what they can do with what they know. With this complexity also comes a better understanding of efficiency.

What does this look like in the classroom? Perhaps students keep a yearlong portfolio. At strategic points, you can ask students to go back and review earlier work to show their growth in proficiency. Another possibility is to set aside a writing piece or an assessment from earlier in the year and bring it back out again in February or March to ask students to reflect on their original work. Not only is it enlightening, but it can be entertaining as well.

how contextualized learning builds efficiency

Efficiency in the world language setting is the ability to grow in your understanding of the target language both linguistically, culturally, and contextually. In short, it is the ability to say more with less, to be succinct as well as understanding the nuances of the cultural context to make your intent clearly understood. As learners grow in their understanding of the complexities of the language, so does their proficiency and efficiency. For those of us who see the beauty in the process, it is exciting to watch it all come together for a learner, no matter if they’re a novice learner or advanced.

In the classroom, efficiency can be seen in taking those old assessment writing pieces from an earlier unit and giving the students the opportunity to rewrite them, taking into account all the new content they have learned. The beauty in this is that the student is given a personal opportunity to see their growth and the helical nature of world language learning.