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Visual Language: Using Color, Myth and Image to Present Grammar in the Spanish Language Classroom

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Visual Language: Using Color, Myth and Image to Present Grammar in the Spanish Language Classroom VISUAL LANGUAGE: USING COLOR, MYTH AND IMAGE TO PRESENT GRAMMAR IN THE SPANISH LANGUAGE CLASSROOM April Miller McMurtry B.A. University of California Santa Cruz 2000 Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts in Teaching Foreign Language at the School for International Training, Brattleboro, Vermont. Copyright March 2008 IPP Advisor: Bonnie Mennell This project by April Miller McMurtry is accepted in its present form. The author hereby grants to the School of International Training permission to reproduce either electronically or in print format this document in whole or in part for library archival purposes only. March 2008 Project Advisor Bonnie Mennell _____________________________________ Project Reader Sita Davis ______________________________________ ii Abstract Spanish grammar can be presented in a memorable way by using a system of color- coding and storytelling. This materials development project includes three stories written or adapted by the author to present the gender of nouns, noun/adjective agreement and verb inflection. Images of the sun and the moon, and the colors purple and orange are used to illustrate masculine and feminine gender of nouns. Chameleons and the color green exemplify adjectives. Additionally, patterns of verb conjugation charts are presented using color to show how verbs inflect to agree with the subject pronoun and tense. While learning Spanish grammar, these colors and images create an underlying framework that assists students to visually notice linguistic aspects of Spanish. As a way of exploring the theoretical basis of the materials this paper investigates topics of acquisition and learning, implicit and explicit instruction, positive and negative transfer. ERIC Descriptors Methodology/Classroom Practices Class Activities Creative Teaching Grammar Second Language Instruction Materials/Media/Technology Instructional Materials Teacher Developed Materials Visual Aid iii CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 Introduction........................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2 A Journey to the Sun and the Moon .......................................................... 3 CHAPTER 3 Ideas and Inspiration for Materials ..........................................................11 CHAPTER 4 Continuing the Journey: Finding a Middle Ground for Grammar ...................19 CHAPTER 5 A Discussion of Agreement: Spanish / English Contrasts.............................30 5.1 Number and Gender Agreement ..............................................................33 5.2 Nouns: Gender ......................................................................................36 5.3 Adjectives: Number and Gender ..............................................................40 5.4 Verb Inflection ......................................................................................45 CHAPTER 6 Conclusion and Future Directions ............................................................52 APPENDIX A Gender and Number: Myths and Images of la luna y el sol A.1 Myth: “Who will look after the night and day?” ..........................................57 A.2 Myth: “La luna y el sol” ..........................................................................60 A.3 “La luna y el sol” Madlib Version ..............................................................62 A.4 Images for “La luna y el sol” ...................................................................65 A.5 Images and Text for Wall Posters ............................................................74 APPENDIX B Spanish Adjectives as Chameleons B.1 Camaleón Poster ...................................................................................95 B.2 Bonit@ Poster .......................................................................................96 B.3 La luna y el sol Adjectives Worksheet.......................................................97 B.4 ¿Dónde va el camaleón?: Placement of Adjectives ....................................98 APPENDIX C Mapping the Morphology of Verbs with Color C.1 Myth: “The story of the kingdom of Aragón, prince Ernesto and his daughter Irene”..............................................................................100 C.2 Verb Endings Poster.............................................................................101 C.3 Color-coded Verb Charts.......................................................................102 C.4 Stem-changing Verbs...........................................................................113 BIBLIOGRAPHY .........................................................................................................116 iv CHAPTER 1 Introduction This independent professional project weaves together my personal experience with an approach I developed for teaching Spanish grammar that uses color, myth and image. During my first year teaching I questioned how much grammar to include in the curriculum and how to present concepts in a memorable way for students. I wondered how to balance the emphasis on language rules in textbooks with my desire to engage their imagination. By developing the materials presented in this paper and using them in the classroom, I successfully brought creativity to grammar instruction. I found that when a teacher feels connected to the materials she uses, students are more likely to develop their own connection to the subject matter. Inspiration for this paper flows from my interest in visual art, coursework at School for International Training, and my professional teaching experience. The paper is organized into six chapters and three appendices. Following the introduction, the second chapter explores my formative experiences learning Spanish and recounts aspects of the journey that led me to become a Spanish teacher. The third chapter details some of the key ideas that influenced the development of the materials presented in the appendices. The fourth chapter investigates multiple views in the field of Second Language Acquisition on the topics of acquisition and learning, and implicit and explicit instruction. It presents examples of students’ positive and negative transfer and looks at how storytelling and image can be used to synthesize the approach of implicit and explicit instruction, and demonstrates how color-coding can support the act of noticing and discovery in the classroom. The fifth chapter examines three linguistic contrasts that are a challenge for some Spanish language learners: the gender of nouns, noun/adjective agreement, and the highly 1 inflected verb. It demonstrates how some textbooks present this information, and offers an alternative way to incorporate this material in the curriculum. The final chapter contains reflections on lessons learned and ideas for future directions. The materials found in Appendix A, B and C are described and referenced throughout the paper. They focus on the linguistic feature known as agreement, or concordancia. I chose this grammatical aspect because it permeates the Spanish language and is often challenging for beginning students to grasp. Errors of agreement also reoccur for people who learned Spanish as a second language and have been speaking it for years. While there are no specific lesson plans presented in this paper, the ideas and approaches that support the materials are explained so that they can be understood and adapted to a variety of contexts. There are three myths: “Who will look after the night and day?” which addresses the origin of the gender of nouns, “El sol y la luna” illustrates noun/adjective agreement, and “The story of the kingdom of Aragon, prince Ernesto and his daughter Irene” presents three families of verbs. Images of the sun and moon, and the colors purple and orange are used to illustrate masculine and feminine gender of nouns. Chameleons and the color green exemplify adjectives. Storytelling connects color and image to create a framework for teaching these topics. While learning Spanish grammar, these colors and images visually assist students to notice linguistic aspects of Spanish. 2 CHAPTER 2 A Journey to the Sun and the Moon This chapter reflects on language learning as a personal experience and recounts aspects of the journey that led me to become a Spanish teacher. In addition to exploring memories from my seventh grade Spanish class and significant experiences abroad, it sets the stage for topics explored throughout the paper: acquisition and learning and implicit and explicit instruction. These topics are often viewed as occupying opposite ends of a spectrum, but in my experience they are integral parts of a whole process. The classroom materials developed for this project are informed by my beliefs about teaching and learning that originate from autobiographical events. As I developed my approach to teaching language, I became interested in how to expose students to grammatical features of Spanish in a way that is memorable but not memorized. Talavera tile from Guanajuato, México. Photo by author. My first formal experience learning the Spanish language was in Mr. McDonald’s class at Walnut Creek Intermediate School, a public suburban middle school in Walnut Creek, California in 1989. Since I now teach the same grade in 3 which I began learning Spanish, taking a trip down episodic memory lane1 to seventh grade has helped deepen my perspective on and understanding of my own language learning during those formative years. I primarily remember posters on the wall and people: what they looked like and how they treated
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