Why C.I.? This is the question I used to ask before I ever decided to go full Comprehensible Input. I mean, I had always learned from grammar lessons and long vocabulary lists, so what was good for me was good for my students, right? Most people are not grammar and language nerds like me, and they are not excited at new ways to look at a preposition or make funny acronyms like Dr. & Mrs. Vandertrampp. I could see their eyes glaze over at the thought of conjugating one more verb. I knew I had to do something. My failure rate was getting bigger by the year and I would hear kids say things like, “I hate this class.”
So, I started to look into Comprehensible Input. It seemed really intimidating at first. Then, when I started looking at lesson plans that were out there, in particular, Martina Bex’s Nous Sommes curriculum, I instantly knew in my spirit that this was going to work. I knew that kids would get into it. I couldn’t have any worse results than what I was already doing. The only thing that concerned me was that there was another French teacher and if I abandoned grammar-based instruction, would it clash with what she was doing? Luckily, I didn’t have that problem, because she too knew that there had to be a better way to teach and was on board right off the bat. This was very good because we dug in together and learned about it as a team and shared ideas. Then, the whole department jumped on it and we became a C.I. World Languages department. How exciting!
My department co-lead and I went to C.I. Liftoff with Tina Hargaden. That was a life changer. If you have met Tina, you will know what I mean. I really learned a lot over two days. Then, our district brought in Bertha Delgadillo (twice!) from Savannah to train us. She taught a lot about theory, brain breaks, and practical activities. The other French teacher went to a Krashen seminar with a Spanish teacher from our department and brought back some new information for us. Now, we are digging in, building our in-class libraries and getting on the free voluntary reading that will help drive acquisition.
Let me finish by telling you what changed most of all – the students’ attitudes and grades. I went from having a high failure rate and very few high grades to an overwhelming amount of wonderful grades, and this year, I had no failing students at all for the first time in my 25 year teaching career. Students tell me regularly that French is their favorite class. Students give me shout-outs as their favorite teacher on their graduation profiles. They are smiling and laughing and paying attention. The best part of all is that they are producing language – good, quality language. They are not afraid of writing. Some students write over 200 words in 10 minutes and I can’t believe it! Even students who have learning disabilities can reach production benchmarks.
I am so happy that I chose to do Comprehensible Input. I wonder where I would be in my language acquistion if I had been taught that way. I will never go back to a strict grammar-based instruction. This year will be the third year of C.I. and as we navigate the obstacles of Covid, it will be more useful than ever.