Teaching Students to Read in Latin Word Order by Katharine Russell

Read Like a Roman: Teaching Students to Read in Latin Word Order by Katharine Russell

inner of the Roman Society PGCE today. And secondly, because it is a skill in New Zealand and Richard Hamilton in WResearch Prize 2017 (King’s which I, and others, believe to be the United States), I found that this had College London) teachable (Hansen, 1999; Markus & Ross, no difference in impact on the British 2004; Hoyos, 2006; McCaffrey, 2009). Not classroom experience. Most of the ‘We should read as the Romans did: in the only that, but whatever our starting point, research cited has been conducted Roman author’s word order. To skip around Wegenhart (2015) believes that by between the early 1990s and the present in a sentence only makes it harder to read the encouraging these reading skills early, we and is still very applicable today. Some of Latin’ (McCaffrey, 2009, p.65) can encourage our students to be ‘expert’ the research is rooted in modern readers who will be able to enjoy reading languages teaching; however, this makes For countless students of Latin (myself Latin long after they have been through no significant impact on findings as the included), prevailing memories of Latin their exams. expectations of what students are to instruction involve being taught to unpick extrapolate from these target language Latin sentences by racing towards the texts are very similar. verb and securing the meaning of the main clause before piecing together the Literature Review rest. However, this ‘hunt the verb’ approach, where one’s eyes are jumping In order to inform the planning of my What do we do when we read? back and forth in search of the resolution lessons I looked into what happens during of ambiguity, is not necessarily conducive the reading process itself before Reading is a complex process and one to fluent reading of Latin (Hoyos, 1993). uncovering how and why this research can which we find difficult to explain once it If, as so many textbooks and teachers be used to inform the teaching of Latin has become intuitive. The differences vouch, we are aiming to unlock Roman reading. I then explored why teachers between skilled readers and novices can authors for all students to read, then we have veered students away from the seem stark, although exactly what need to furnish them with the skills to be process of linear, left-right reading predicates these differences is difficult to able to read Latin fluently, automatically towards a more disjointed approach, outline. Hamilton (1991), using cognitive and with enjoyment, not engender in before explaining the benefits of reading reading research, breaks down the process them a process more akin to puzzle- Latin in order and practical ways of of reading into sub-tasks. He identifies breaking. I chose to experiment with teaching this process in the classroom. the stages of decoding, literal teaching students to read Latin in order, The inspiration for this sequence of comprehension, inferential firstly because, as Markus and Ross (2004) lessons arose from McCaffrey’s chapter in comprehension, and comprehension as point out, the Romans themselves must the US book When Dead Tongues Speak the necessary steps towards reading for necessarily have been able to understand (Gruber-Miller, 2006, pp. 113–133). understanding. He explains how students Latin in the order in which it was Further literature for this review was can vary in attainment at these different composed as so much of their sharing of located by following leads from this stages and furthermore, the same student literature happened orally. Indeed, as starting point supplemented by an can fluctuate between different levels of Kuhner (2016) and others who promote internet search engine. Although much of attainment from day to day and from task the continuation of spoken Latin have the most influential research stems from to task. He argues that, though many of argued, this is still a very real possibility countries other than the UK (Dexter Hoyos the circumstances surrounding the

The Journal of Classics Teaching 19 (37) p.17-29 © The Classical Association 2018. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits Downloaded non-commercialfrom https://www.cambridge.org/core re-use, distribution,. IP andaddress: reproduction 170.106.35.76 in any, on medium,01 Oct 2021 provided at 13:12:13 the, originalsubject to work the Cambridge is unaltered Core and terms is properly of use, available cited. The at written 17 https://www.cambridge.org/core/termspermission of Cambridge. https://doi.org/10.1017/S205863101800003X University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work. reading environment are beyond the I have built into my planning a number of been influential in the promulgation of control of the teacher, he or she is still opportunities for myself and the students this method. I agree with their assertions able to manipulate certain factors (such as to read Latin aloud as a stage in the and am interested to see whether reading the purpose of reading) to facilitate the understanding process. Latin in order can in fact increase best comprehension from students. reading speed and confidence. Wegenhart (2015), in a different approach to Hamilton, uses research How has reading Latin been taught based on learning to read English to Why should we teach students inform the teaching of Latin and Greek. in the past? He advocates the Reading Rope and to read in Latin word order? Cognitive Reading maps to help teachers Morgan (1997) points to the fact that in identify at which point students are being the Middle Ages people learnt Latin not The main reason that McCaffrey states held back in their reading comprehension by drills, but by reading, starting at the for reading Latin in order is that reading it and adapting their teaching accordingly. beginning of the Aeneid and learning each out of order is in fact harder than sticking He argues that the basis of phonic new word and construction as it came up. to the original text (2009, p.62). He adds recognition and manipulation must be He acknowledges that, as a method of that skipping over the bulk of the present before the recognition and recall learning to read Latin, this still exists in sentence ignores the careful literary of words and sentences can be expected. books such as Øberg’s lingua latina per se crafting of Latin prose and poetry, a This in itself is a reason to further illustrata, but recognises that this approach thought echoed by Hansen (1999, p.174). promote speaking Latin out loud as demands highly motivated students who Hoyos goes further, saying that it can discussed further below. By working back are already fluent readers in their own develop a view of the text as ‘a sea of to the very basics and mechanics of language. As a result of this, he is in chaotic harassments requiring careful reading, and not assuming that our Latin favour of the ‘horizontal’ method of decipherment’ (2006, p.24). classes are in fact full of fluent readers of reading Latin where, as exemplified by the McCaffrey arrived at his statement English, he argues that teachers are able Cambridge Latin Course, cases are through a systematic survey of popular to situate their instruction more introduced one at a time so that, for set texts (Ovid, Virgil, Cicero and appropriately to the needs of their example, students are confident using the Tacitus) where he analysed how many students and provide them with the tools nominative and accusative before the words it took for an ambiguous Latin to become expert readers. genitive is introduced. This is in direct word (for example naves which could be McCaffrey (2006) bases his analysis contrast to the ‘vertical’ method where either nominative or accusative plural) of different reading approaches students are exposed to all cases at once to be resolved by an adjective, verb or (skimming, scanning, extensive reading and, after learning them without context, preposition. He found that over 65% of and analytical reading) on the word-by- will later be introduced the significance the time the trigger word was already word decision-making process of reading of each. present, so the ambiguity could be as identified by von Berkum et al. (1999). The form of ‘hunting the verb’ resolved immediately and, in over 80% He explains how students need to be able reading which we are so familiar with, of cases, the trigger word would follow to construct meaning as the sentence then, seems to be a more recent, on directly from the ambiguous one evolves in order to read efficiently and in Anglo-centric phenomenon, where our (2009, p.65). Even before the order to do this they need a strong need for a subject-verb-object sentence numerically analytical research of grammatical grounding which is already structure overcomes our natural McCaffrey, Hoyos makes a case for well-developed in their native language. left-to-right reading habits. Hansen Latin authors being considerate of the In order to achieve this fluency, (1999), McFadden (2008) and Hoyos reader’s position and putting Wegenhart (2015) makes explicit how (2009) recognise that this tendency in information in chronological and logical important a large working vocabulary is to reading Latin is a result of our arrangement (1993). This is a point reading Latin. He identifies students’ impatience to resolve ambiguities. We which Markus and Ross emphasise, too, phonic awareness as an indicator of their rush to conclude the main clause before when they make clear that students need ability to recall vocabulary. As a result, he adding in any subordinate information. ‘important psychological reassurance’ advocates speaking words aloud (even as McCaffrey (2009) suggests that it may be that texts are not designed to surprise us simple as using imperatives) as a means of borne also out of a realistic appreciation at every turn (2004, p.86). vocabulary retention and recall. Hamilton of the fact that the verb contains a great Furthermore, they argue that (199, p.8) also cites phonemic awareness deal of information that can avoid single-word recognition is one of the as critical to students understanding Latin, erroneous, ungrammatical most overt indicators of reading ability suggesting that students should hear Latin understandings of earlier information. (2004, p.85). Rea (2006, p.3) and Hoyos before they ever try to read it; Dixon Rea (2006) admits, however, that often (2006, p.8) both highlight how, by reading (1993) also suggests reading aloud as a this jigsaw approach to Latin can be in order, the grammatical information means of helping students to read whole engendered by the ever-dwindling becomes not a hindrance (as it can phrases at a time. Rea (2006) proposes timetable hours allocated to Latin, sometimes appear to the intermediate reading Latin out loud as a means of indicating that perhaps the pressure put Latin student), but a help to reading. embedding the connections between on schools to get their students to a Similarly, Hamilton notes that teaching sounds and sight. It is for this reason that certain level in a short space of time has Latin word order from the beginning of

Downloaded18 from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.35.76Read Like a ,Roman: on 01 Oct Teaching 2021 at Students13:12:13, subjectto Read to in the Latin Cambridge Word Order Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S205863101800003X Latin instruction means that grammatical must, as far as possible, be able to this suggestion, arguing that, if we would information is seen as a vital part of the recognise automatically the various like students to approach and read comprehension process (1991, p.168). inflections of Latin words (Hansen, 1991; passages in a manner as similar as possible He adds that this is crucial in Latin as Frederickson, 1981; Hamilton, 1991; to that which they adopt in reading meaning is often withheld to the end of McCaffrey, 2006). There are a variety of English, then we should leave the Latin the sentence meaning more contextual strategies offered by research to begin uncluttered and free from notes (which clues are contained in the early parts of cultivating this skill. I will deal with each should at least be relegated to the other the sentence. in turn. side of the page). I will incorporate some Markus and Ross (2004) state that a pre-reading strategies into my planning in further reason for which we should an attempt to increase students’ reading advocate reading Latin words as they Latin Reading Rules comprehension speed as I have noticed in emerge in the sentence is that those with previous lessons that their reading speed lower skill levels in low-level processing is such that they easily lose the gist of the Hoyos (2006) and Markus and Ross (2004) (such as decoding and phoneme passage. advocate teaching students some of the recognition) are more likely to revert to basic principles of what to expect from relying on higher-level thinking (such as reading Latin (see Appendix 1 and 2) and contextual and background knowledge) asking them to learn these by heart. Since I Prediction Drills to understand texts. I would agree that, am not teaching the focus class from the for students who have internalised fewer beginning and only for a short period of Hansen (1999) and Markus and Ross words and grammar points, often this time, I will not expect that they learn these (2004) advocate prediction drills whereby hunt-the-verb phenomenon is a useful or, indeed, be given them all at once. I will, the teacher, whilst slowly revealing crutch as it enables them to identify the however, emphasise some of the more consecutive words or phrases of the most basic structure of the sentence. basic ones (to do with noun / verb and sentence, asks students for suggestions on They are then able to surmise more noun/adjective agreement). what the grammar implies will be coming easily what may be encoded in the next. They suggest that the teacher intervening words. This can often lead to encourages students to look backwards ungrammatical translations which ignore rather than skipping forwards for syntactical structures. Of course, at Pre-Reading and Annotation clarification. They promote these drills as times when the reader is struggling with useful for set texts, but, as the class I am a decontextualised piece of writing, this McFadden (2008) and Markus and Ross teaching have not started these yet, I will can be a useful process, but this does not (2004) both suggest that, instead of being perform similar exercises using the mean that as teachers we should asked to prepare texts by translating them textbook stories. encourage it for every instance. before class, students are asked to Hamilton, however, disagrees, saying annotate all grammatical features either that in the crucial ‘integration’ stage of on tablets or other non-permanent means the comprehension process, students so that they can be corrected in class. Summarising for meaning who are only granted the ‘patchy McFadden argues that, in this way, errors coverage’ of Roman civilisation during can be more easily learnt from once Markus and Ross (2004) and Rea (2006) language lessons are not sufficiently corrected. He also argues that this both suggest asking students to equipped to unlock Roman texts removes dependency on paralinguistic summarise what they have read at regular efficiently (1991, p.171). knowledge and other assumptions which intervals to ensure that, amidst the students often rely upon to translate. grammar, they have understood and are Markus and Ross (2004) suggest using able to visualise what is happening. They visual metaphors to inform these highlight how crucial it is that students are How should we teach reading in annotations and illustrate the structure of aware of the ramifications of texts in a Latin word order? complex sentences. They suggest images historical context, a process which is best such as beaded jewellery or buildings as facilitated through class discussion. As alluded to above, many scholars agree effective similes for the component parts Hansen goes further, and, in an effort to that reading in Latin word order of a long sentence. veer away from translating to thorough necessitates being able to store As aforementioned, Rea (2006) comprehension, recommends asking information about possible meanings of advocates pre-reading in diverse forms students to summarise what they have ambiguous words in a sentence whilst involving many different activities which read in a way which would be clear to waiting for clarifying ideas to emerge and engage students in active learning and someone who has no knowledge of Latin weighing these alongside their predictions encourage them to think about what they or the Romans at all (2000, p.78). (Hansen, 1999; Hamilton, 1991). It is are going to be doing before they actually Hamilton, too, suggests stepping back therefore this skill of juggling and then do it. She argues that by doing this, from the text and summarising as a means prioritising possible grammatical students are given a framework of the of monitoring comprehension (1991). As interpretations as they appear that the kinds of questions they should be asking this is something I do already, I will teacher ought to train his or her students themselves when approaching a text. continue to focus on this in my lesson to master. In order to do this, students Morgan (1997), however, veers away from sequence.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address:Read 170.106.35.76 Like a Roman:, on 01 Teaching Oct 2021 Students at 13:12:13 to, Readsubject in toLatin the Word Order Cambridge Core terms of use, available at 19 https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S205863101800003X several possible classroom techniques to selected to provide a spectrum of Prose composition and grammar engender this good practice in students, self-professed confidence levels at the manipulation drills many of which I will adapt in my planning. beginning of the sequence. However, what the research currently Though most of this research is Hoyos (2006) advises setting students lacks is an assessment of how successful based on reading Latin authors in the work which involves the manipulation of these practices are in encouraging students original, I conducted my lessons on the grammar (for example from direct to to read in order, and whether they will initial stories of Book IV of the Cambridge indirect speech and vice versa). He also naturally revert to finding the verb. It also Latin Course (CLC), revisiting stories from advocates grammatical annotation of does not analyse whether or not stylistic previous books when needed to passages, though, unlike McFadden features are in fact best appreciated when encourage fluency and boost confidence. (2009) and Rea (2006), thinks this should reading as opposed to being identified It is my view that the step up from Book best be done with easier passages. He and post-translation. My research questions, III to Book IV is significant enough to Morgan (1997) suggest asking questions therefore, will be i) how useful are these merit it being seen as a microcosm for the in Latin which are to be responded to in techniques for an intermediate GCSE step from textbook Latin to Roman Latin (for example, quis Romam ibat?) as Latin class? and ii) does reading like a authors themselves. this automatically doubles the amount of Roman improve students’ awareness of Latin language which students encounter grammar (and literary techniques)? I will Lesson 1 in the classroom and encourages them to assess their own confidence in reading by think carefully about their own written issuing an identical self-assessment Plan Latin word order. Markus and Ross (2004) questionnaire at the beginning and end of The first lesson of this sequence was also suggest converting complex the sequence. During the various designed as an introduction to the main sentences into simple ones, explaining prediction exercises I will assess individual objectives of how to read Latin more like a Latin using Latin synonyms and strengths by targeted questioning and Roman. I planned to begin by sowing seeds converting poetic language to prose. With circulating. As Black outlines, it is crucial of positivity towards grammar as a help to the new GCSE specification demanding to observe ‘the actions through which understanding rather than a hindrance either syntactical questions or simple pupils develop and display the state of (Markus & Ross, 2004). As part of a class English-to-Latin sentences, these their understanding’ (2001, p.7) and so I discussion, as well as their own post-it exercises which demand the production will ask the observer to listen to how the notes on how they read, I planned to ask of Latin look to be increasingly helpful. students evaluate their learning and I will them how and why certain passages were also ask them for written feedback on the easier to understand than others. I also process. During Parents’ Evening I will planned prediction exercises in both provide a mixture of task-focused, English and Latin using Book 1 stories Vocalising of reading process process-focused and self-regulation (Hansen, 1999; Markus & Ross, 2004). feedback as I ask them to reflect on their After having chosen volunteers to read the Markus and Ross (2004) suggest asking learning (Hattie & Temperley, 2007). As a Latin captions aloud and asking them to students to explain out loud how they are majority of the work undertaken in the translate them in groups, I planned to ask going about reading so as to make the sequence will be whole-class based, I will them to describe the Roman forum as if to teacher aware of their uncertainties and, try to reduce the factors which limit an alien as suggested in Wells (2000, p.178). as an additional benefit, to make it clear to students reaching for their own feedback students what strategies one can adopt to (losing face, lack of effort, confusion) to Evaluation extract meaning more efficiently from the maximise the opportunities they have to Students were able to generate interesting text. I will use this as a focus question in become more certain in their knowledge ideas regarding why exactly it was that one lesson and monitor how the students in an unthreatening environment (Hattie they understood the Book 1 passage when themselves verbalise their reading process & Temperley, 2000). Finally, I will set a I read it to them and it started them off across the sequence. written homework to assess how their on a positive note as they realised they accuracy of grammatical perception were able to understand Latin orally. matches up to their ability to translate. Students were concentrating hard, and everyone was able to get a general gist of Conclusion of the Literature Review the story. Three students (Phoebe, Ross and Rachel) from the focus group were The available literature offers a great Evaluation particularly vocal and thoughtful when I breadth of reasons why reading Latin in asked them to think about how to predict the order that it is written is more Context English and Latin sentences – it appeared beneficial than leaping about to stick to be an activity which they had never religiously to an Anglo-centric subject- The four 60-minute lessons were taught done before but which encouraged them verb-object word order. Reading as such, to a Year 10 class in a mixed to think actively about the reading scholars argue, is both an easier and richer comprehensive school outside of processes they engage in naturally. When experience as it alerts students to the London. Table 1 shows the sequence of Rachel and Joey from the focus group deliberate stylistic techniques Roman four lessons. There are six boys and six volunteered to read the captions out loud, writers used. The authors also include girls in the class. The focus group was it was interesting for me to hear how the

Downloaded20 from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.35.76Read Like a ,Roman: on 01 Oct Teaching 2021 at Students13:12:13, subjectto Read to in the Latin Cambridge Word Order Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S205863101800003X Table 1. | The lesson sequence. include a subject or a change from Lesson singular to plural or vice versa. Despite Number Learning Objective Activities finding these sentences difficult, students 1 • To view grammar as a help not a 1. Gather in articulations of the reading were able to incorporate the cultural hindrance. process from students to compare information on the forum Romanum that we • To become familiar with the idea of with examples at the end of the had studied in a previous lesson to inform the passive and how to recognise it sequence (retain to look at). in Latin. 2. Predicting Latin words from Bk II how they worked out the meaning of the • Improve prediction skills. story – see how well they are able to captions, thus using contextual clues to express grammatical predictions and comprehend unfamiliar language (Markus how aware they are of Latin sentence & Ross, 2004:85). structures and patterns (oral Though having to work quite hard, assessment). 3. Try understanding a Bk 1 story by students remained in high spirits and hearing it read aloud (group Monica, who rated herself lowest in the discussion and feedback). self-assessment, asked insightful 4. Ask students to read captions aloud questions about why they had not been of Stage 28 and see how much they introduced to the passive earlier, since it is understand. 5. Ask students to explain what they so commonly used. The students were have read in the Latin as if to an alien able to vocalise a whole spectrum of (oral assessment). pre-reading questions on texts, and many 2 • To understand ways in which we 1. Formalise grammar point, explain realised that these were strategies they can use pre-reading strategies passive again. knew about but frequently omitted when (approaches to a new passage, 2. Changing sentences from active to annotation skills) passive and vice versa in English faced with a new piece of Latin. I • To understand how the passive is (WBs) condensed these onto an A5 sheet for formed in Latin 3. Read nox I in groups – reading Latin them to refer to in future (Figure 1). out loud, generating pre-reading Leading on from this discussion, I questions. explained the annotation homework to 4. Set annotation homework for nox II. 3 • Using annotations for more fluent 1. Using pre-reading strategies to them (McFadden, 2008). This would have reading anticipate meaning of nox II been more effective had I been able to • To learn passive endings 2. Using HW annotations to annotate project the Latin onto the board and the passage as a class. model it for all to see. As it was, I only had 3. Quickfire quiz on passive endings. a few minutes to explain the task which 4 Summarising and language drills 1. Summarise previous story through left them reeling slightly. Overall, this for reading purposes storyboard/film description Concretise knowledge of the passive 2. Discussion of the barriers to our lesson was a little disorganised but understanding Latin texts. stimulating, and revealed a prevalent trend 3. Passives Bingo. for students to implement contextual 4. Passives quiz. knowledge to deduce meaning which, 5. Re-assessment of Latin reading though frequently helpful, when used as a strategies. last resort often led to linguistic oversights and inaccuracies (Markus & Ross, 2004). stronger of the two (Rachel) was also the and to introduce the idea of pre-reading more fluent reader of Latin, whilst Joey strategies and annotations. After Lesson 3 was much more hesitant. Joey was also the explanations of how the passive works in student who came lowest in both the English and Latin, I then planned to ask Plan written assessments. This confirmed to students to generate questions they The spine of this lesson centred around me Wegenhart’s theory about how should be asking themselves before using the class annotations prepared in phonemic confidence can often reveal a starting a new passage (Hamilton 1991, advance to read the text together without lot about students’ comprehension p.172). Then, I planned to put these into translating (see Figure 2). abilities as, if they are unable to sound out practice by starting to look at a new As outlined by McFadden (2008, p.4), words, they are less likely to be able to passage and go through how to annotate a this gives students a chance to correct recall them when they reoccur (2015, p.8). Latin passage for homework by drawing their thinking in a way which allows them Rachel and Phoebe, two of the higher- arches above phrases and subordinate to read it more fluently. It also, he argues, attaining part of the focus group were clauses to encapsulate complex sentences improves efficiency, as students are able to swift to recognise the –ur passive ending and linking words that agree in gender, make just a few marks of correction, and begin to translate it accurately. number and case (McFadden, 2008; rather than re-writing whole sentences. As Lindzey, 1999). well as having the text up on the board to Lesson 2 annotate, I also provided questions, below, Evaluation which I planned to let students discuss in Plan Students were quickly able to recognise groups, as a means of monitoring This lesson was designed to crystallise the passive in English and how often the comprehension as we went along. As embryonic thoughts about the passive language needed to be manipulated to Wegenhart argues, well-asked questions

Evaluation From my point of view, when I asked students to explain what a sentence meant in English after we had annotated them as a class, it seemed as if their reading was a lot more accurate and sensible, rather than the frequent guessing I was accustomed to hearing from them. Even when the meaning of a sentence had not quite clicked with them, they were able to read from the annotations what the general structure should be and work from there. The observer also noted that Joey was asking astute questions about grammar which he may not have considered before, for example; ‘Do all command verbs take the dative?’ The summarising activity had to be Figure 1. | Pre-Reading Strategies. Information sheet for students. fitted into less time than I had planned but the students coped with this can also draw out student knowledge and Unfortunately, due to a last admirably and it was very effective to encourage students to approach sentences minute change of classroom, I was continue the forward momentum of the in different ways and think more deeply unable to do the annotations on the lesson and consolidate their about literary style (2015, p.12). interactive whiteboard and so the understanding to themselves and to me. I students had to demonstrate their gave them instructions to summarise the Evaluation markings using the editing features on story including any visuals they would use, It was during this lesson that the greatest PowerPoint as best they could. This as in a film. In a short space of time they improvements in the students’ reading significantly slowed things down, and came up with detailed storyboards of the could be seen. Monica, who had meant that the annotations could not passage (Figure 5). previously rated herself very low in be as clear and smooth as planned. I was impressed to hear Chandler confidence, was able to give a remarkably Despite this, when I circulated, I saw and Ross reminding themselves of the fluent translation of a tricky sentence. that everybody in the class was taking meaning of certain Latin sentences so The class maintained motivation despite comprehensive notes during the lesson that they could include them, admitting to me that they had found it of new grammar features and demonstrating their ability to read the hard. Chandler volunteered to show us his vocabulary as well as correcting their Latin afresh without having memorised a annotations on the board first, showing annotations. translation (Hamilton, 1991). that his confidence was increased in The class voted to play BINGO of performing a task which was not simply Lesson 4 passive endings and, after going over the straight translating. Giving the students meanings of each of the verbs in turn time to think about the comprehension Plan before we started, they enjoyed a relaxed and stylistic questions in groups before The final lesson in the sequence focused end to the lesson. By reading out the Latin asking for feedback from individuals on summarising the passage they had just for them, it is hoped that this helped them meant that interesting ideas were read together through visuals and their again to keep sounding out the Latin generated and I could hear them all own words (Markus & Ross, 2004) accurately in their heads to aid recall of contributing to the discussion. (see Figures 3 and 4). vocabulary.

Downloaded22 from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.35.76Read Like a ,Roman: on 01 Oct Teaching 2021 at Students13:12:13, subjectto Read to in the Latin Cambridge Word Order Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S205863101800003X Student feedback on the sequence

I asked the students to write a WIN (What went well, Improvements, Next steps) on the sequence of lessons, saying what they had enjoyed, had not enjoyed, and anything in particular that they had learnt (Donka & Ross, 2004, p.87). Students were well accustomed to writing this sort of WIN feedback about their own personal performance and so a few wrote about their own knowledge rather than the sequence of lessons. However, despite this, their revelations seem quite raw and honest with many offering erudite diagnoses of their own stage in Latin learning. The annotation lesson seems to have been a favourite of many, with one student, Phoebe, remarking:

I think I now know how to break apart sentences better and work out the subject and case … annotating nox II was helpful and proved everything I have to think about.

Monica said:

I also liked the Latin text we annotated which I found helpful to do in class because I struggled slightly at home with it. Figure 2. | Sample of student’s annotations of text. Monica was the one who gave a surprisingly confident translation of a complex sentence in class once we had annotated it together. As one of the weaker students in the class, this showed me that for her, knowing how the Latin fits together and correcting this before being asked to translate it, means that she was able to gain much more from the passage than had I asked her to translate it cold (Lindzey, 1999; McFadden, 2008). The annotations helped the Latin make sense to her so that she could read it fluently. She also noted, however, that ‘I feel like some of the interactive stuff put me on the spot, which I very much struggle with. I understand that it is part of teaching but I was worried by the idea of annotating text at the front of the class’. This was intended to be a collaborative activity with one student wielding the pen and the others offering suggestions for annotations. Figure 3. | Sample of student’s visualisation of the narrative. However, in just two lessons (one in

Downloaded24 from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.35.76Read Like a ,Roman: on 01 Oct Teaching 2021 at Students13:12:13, subjectto Read to in the Latin Cambridge Word Order Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S205863101800003X features; however, there was a marked points, but that they were also more Students’ vocalisation of reading improvement in their appreciation of eagle-eyed when it came to knowing processes adjectives. This was an important step which words to associate. Inevitably, some forwards as it shows that they are now of this improvement can be related to At the beginning of the sequence, I asked able to use adjectival agreements to help their knowing what to expect from the students to write down how they read on with their reading. A number of factors assessment, though there were very few a post-it and compared this with how they impacted this result, namely that during instances where a student had verbalised their reading process in Latin at the course of the lessons, in moving on to remembered and researched specific the end of the sequence (Markus & Ross, Book IV, we were introduced to a new instances of vocabulary in order to 2004, p.84). At the beginning they focused linguistic feature, (the passive voice) and improve their response. The most on reading left to right, concentrating on so did not spend the time wholly on significant changes in their approach was reading letters to make sounds which then consolidating old material. I view the their looking for meaning from the form words. Many wrote about how they students’ seeming dip in confidence in passage, rather than simply trying to string sound aloud the letters to form words. their knowledge of certain linguistic disparate words together in the hope of Chandler noted how often only the first features as symptomatic of the fact that, gaining marks. All students wrote much and last letters are needed to recognise by reading complex texts, they were more fluent translations the second time words in English (which may explain his required to apply their knowledge of round, and had clearly been asking fairly slap-dash, hurried approach to them in more varied and difficult themselves some of the questions which Latin!). Only four students took the step contexts. It is hoped that this realisation we had been focusing on in lessons. Even back to include how the sentence should about the different levels of language in cases where the vocabulary was still a make sense and how we need to look at learning will stand them in good stead to hindrance, students made the effort to how the words relate to each other. secure their knowledge over the course of write in full sentences with a logical Interestingly, those who came near the the GCSE. A second factor which progression, putting the grammar they bottom of the self-assessment in terms influenced these self-assessment results did identify confidently into practice. of confidence (Monica and Phoebe) had was that I had since revealed to them their the most basic explanations of reading scores on the written assessment and processes, and those who rated discussed how this matched up to their themselves as being more confident self-assessment scores (Monica for Conclusion (Rachel and Ross) were able to vocalise example, rated herself very low on more sophisticated approaches to reading confidence but was situated near the This was an early step in what will be a before we began the sequence. middle of the class in the assessment long march towards Latin fluency, but the At the end of the sequence, everyone scores and thus seemed buoyed in outlook is promising. Even the simple was able to give fairly detailed accounts of confidence). notion of asking students to first vocalise their Latin reading processes. Though some The results of the two assessments their reading process proved to be a expressed how they try to ‘piece it together’ showed a marked improvement in hugely influential one in their and ‘put it together’, showing perhaps some students’ attainment, as can be seen in development as Latin readers, as it cast evidence of the jigsaw puzzle method, I Table 2. the spotlight on what had for many been a was impressed to see that they had this as At best, two students displayed an fairly random activity, quite detached the last stage in a progression from looking over 25 per cent improvement, with all from any of the finely honed reading at vocabulary and grammar, working out students but one improving their score by skills which they employ when reading the subject and the adjective pairings before at least five per cent. The greatest English. With a supportive reading finally stringing it together. Monica, who improvement in scores was across the framework in place, where the goal of the seemed to struggle most at the start, said grammar questions, showing that students reading is made explicit and the context that she now tries to ‘scan the sentence for had not only clarified certain grammar of the passage has been established with any vocab and endings I recognised, then try to fill in the gaps’ – pre-reading Table 2. | Year 10 Assessment Data comparing assessments 1 and 2. strategies have helped her greatly. Rachel, Gramma Qs Translation Total Difference the most confident reader said that her Monica 12 17 13 14 25 31 6 approach to reading Latin is to ‘go with the 18 20 20 20 38 40 2 flow’ – a wonderful description of reading Phoebe 14 19 15 19 29 38 9 the words as they come, showing how she is Rachel 19 20 18 19 37 39 2 able to appreciate the language as it unfolds. Chandler 12 12 11 8 23 20 −3 17 19 15 17 32 36 4 Ross 12 15 18 20 30 35 5 16 15 12 15 28 30 2 18 19 18 20 36 39 3 Evaluation of assessment data 16 19 10 19 26 38 12 13 17 18 19 31 36 5 There was no marked improvement Joey 10 15 7 12 17 27 10 overall in the students’ own assessment of 177 207 175 202 352 409 their confidence with certain linguistic Difference between 1 and 2 40 27 67

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address:Read 170.106.35.76 Like a Roman:, on 01 Teaching Oct 2021 Students at 13:12:13 to, Readsubject in toLatin the Word Order Cambridge Core terms of use, available at 25 https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S205863101800003X relative certainty, a student is much more Donka M. (1999). Visual Codes for Teaching Markus, D.D. and Ross, D.P. (2004). Reading likely to appreciate the meaning of what Sentence-Structure in Latin. Classical Outlook, Proficiency in Latin through Expectations and they are reading (Field, 1993; Rea, 2006). 76.3 (p.89). Visualization. The Classical World 98.1 (p.79). Reading in this way also necessitates Field, K. (1999). Developing productive McCaffrey, D. (2006). Reading Latin learning grammar by heart, rather than language skills – speaking and writing. In N. Efficiently and the Need for Cognitive surviving through a scant knowledge of Pachler (Ed.) Teaching Modern Foreign Languages Strategies. In J. Gruber-Miller (Ed.) When Dead how main clauses fit together and piecing at Advanced Level. London and New York: Tongues Speak, Oxford University Press: New together the rest through inference. This Routledge. York (pp. 113–133). was one of the starkest findings of the students’ feedback on the sequence: that Fredericksen, J.R. (1981). Sources of Process McCaffrey, D. (2009). When Reading Latin, they were motivated to go away and learn Interactions in Reading, in: A. M Lesgold (Ed.) Read as the Romans Did. The Classical Outlook, the grammar that they had done so far Interactive Processes in Reading. Hillsdale, New Vol 86, No. 2 Winter (pp. 62–66). (Hamilton, 1991). Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Clearly this is not a magic formula for Mcfadden, P. (2008). Advanced Latin Without Gay, B. (2003). The theoretical underpinning Translations? Interactive Text-Marking as an Latin fluency, but in this case, in this school, of the main Latin courses. In J. Morwood Alternative Daily Preparation. Committee for the it seems to have been a highly productive (Ed.) The Teaching of Classics. Cambridge: Promotion of Latin 4.1 p.1-15. https://camws. means of reading Latin and one which will Cambridge University Press. org/cpl/cplonline/files/McFaddencplonline. only increase in utility as they graduate to pdf authentic Latin texts. It is also important to Hamilton, R. (1991). Reading Latin Authors. recognise that, as they progress, students The Classical Journal, 87, 2 (pp. 165–174). Morgan, G. (1997). TCA’s Journal Excerpts. may realise that they require fewer TCA Journal Excerpts (2). Texas Classics in annotations and so, they will, hopefully, Hansen, W.S. (1999). Teaching Latin Word Action, July. need to use them less and less. Reading in Order for Reading Competence. The Classical order shows up, however, in high relief, the Journal 95,2 (pp. 173–80). Morgan, C. and Cain, A. (2000). Foreign Language and Culture Learning from a need for a solid linguistic base from which Hattie, J and Timperley, H. (2007). The Power Dialogic Perspective. Modern Languages in to work. Hamilton’s (1991) suggestions of of Feedback. Review of Educational Research, Practice Series, 15. Buffalo: London. isolated word-recognition and matching 77,1 (pp. 81–112). activities rather than long sentences to Muccigrosso, J. and Ross, D.P. (1999). Critical translate would provide an excellent starting Hoyos, D. (1993) Reading, recognition, Thinking and Reflective Learning in the Latin base for this and I will continue to attempt comprehension: the trouble with Classroom. in M. A. Kassen (Ed). Language these in my teaching. understanding Latin. JACT Review 13 Learners of Tomorrow: Process and Promise I have been heartened by the very (pp. 11–6). Lincolnwood: Illinois (pp. 233–51). real progress which students seemed to Hoyos, D. (1993). Decoding or Sight-Reading? make based on their short introduction to Rea, J. (2006). Pre-Reading Strategies in Action: Problems with Understanding Latin. Classical A Teacher’s Guide to a Modern Foreign the strategies expounded from the Outlook, 70 (pp. 126–33). Language Teaching Technique. Committee for the literature. Like the process of reading Promotion of Latin 3.1 https://camws.org/cpl/ itself, as long as teachers are able to Hoyos, D. (2006). Translating: Facts, Illusions, cplonline/files/Reacplonline.pdf continually keep their students’ feet taking Alternatives. Committee for the Promotion of each word step by step in order and not Latin, 3.1, https://camws.org/cpl/cplonline/ Smith, F. (2004). Understanding Reading: A leaping ahead over the bridge, the task of files/Hoyoscplonline.pdf Psycholinguistic Analysis of Reading and Learning to reading Latin will, it is hoped, become Read. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Erlbaum. much more fluent and enjoyable. Hoyos, D. (2008). The Ten Basic Rules for Reading Latin. Latinteach Articles. http:// Sparks, L.R. and Wegenhart, T.A., (2011). Is latinteach.com/Site/ARTICLES/ learning to read Latin similar to learning to Katharine Russell is a newly- Entries/2008/10/15_Dexter_Hoyos_The_ read English? The Classical Outlook, 88 (2), qualified teacher Ten_Basic_Rules_for_Reading_Latin.html (pp. 40–47). [email protected] Kuhner, J. (2016). From the President’s Von Berkum, J., Brown, D. and Hagoort, P. Corner: Did the Romans Really Understand (1999). Early Referential Context Effects in Cicero? Live, in Real Time? SALVI. North Sentence Processing: Evidence from References American Institute of Living Latin Studies. http:// Event-Related Brain Potentials. Journal of latin.org/wordpress/from-the-presidents- Memory and Language 41 (pp. 147–82). Ahern, T. (1990). The Role of Linguistics in corner-did-the-romans-really-understand- Latin Instruction, The Classical World, 83 cicero-live-in-real-time/ Wegenhart, T.A. (2015). Better Reading (p.509). Through Science: Using Research-Based Lindzay, G. (2016). Fluent Latin. Texas Classics Models to Help Students Read Latin Better. Dixon, M. (1993). Reading Latin Aloud. JACT Association, Ginny Articles. http://www. Journal of Classics Teaching 31. The Classical Review 13 (pp. 4–8). txclassics.org/old/ginny_articles1.htm Association: Cambridge.

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Appendix 1

Menu of Basic Expectations A DIRECT OBJECT raises the expectation of an active verb and of a subject. A VERB raises the expectation of a subject and possibly a direct object. A SUBJECT raises the expectation of a verb and possibly a direct object. A COORDINATING CONJUNCTION raises the expectation of a second syntactic equivalent. A SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTION raises an expectation of a finite dependent clause in addition to the independent (main) clause. An INFINITIVE raises an expectation of a verb that governs it. An ADJECTIVE raises the expectation of a noun to modify in the same case, number, and gender. A GENITIVE noun raises the expectation of another noun to modify. A PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE or an ADVERB raises an expectation of a verb, adjective, or another adverb to modify. A NOUN in the ABLATIVE or DATIVE raises an expectation of a verb, adjective, or rarely an adverb to modify or pattern with. Markus, D., and Ross, D. (2004) Reading Proficiency in Latin through Expectations and Visualization. The Classical World 98.1, p.79.

Appendix 2

THE TEN BASIC READING RULES FOR LATIN. Hoyos, D. (2008) RULE 1 A new sentence or passage should be read through completely, several times if necessary, so as to see all its words in context. RULE 2 As you read, register mentally the ending of every word so as to recognise how the words in the sentence relate to one another. RULE 3 Recognise the way in which the sentence is structured: its Main Clause(s), subordinate clauses and phrases. Read them in sequence to achieve this recognition and re-read the sentence as often as necessary, without translating it. RULE 4 Now look up unfamiliar words in the dictionary; and once you know what all the words can mean, re-read the Latin to improve your grasp of the context and so clarify what the words in this sentence do mean. RULE 5 If translating, translate only when you have seen exactly how the sentence works and what it means. Do not translate in order to find out what the sentence means. Understand first, *then* translate. RULE 6 a. Once a subordinate clause or phrase is begun, it must be completed syntactically before the rest of the sentence can proceed. b. When one subordinate construction embraces another, the embraced one must be completed before the embracing one can proceed. c. A Main Clause must be completed before another Main Clause can start. RULE 7 Normally the words most emphasised by the author are placed at the beginning and end, and all the words in between contribute to the overall sense, including those forming an embraced or dependent word-group. RULE 8 The words within two or more word-groups are never mixed up together. RULE 9 All the actions in a narrative sentence are narrated in the order in which they occurred. RULE 10 Analytical sentences are written with phrases and clauses in the order that is most logical to the author. The sequence of thought is signposted by the placing of word-groups and key words. RULE 11 (advisory) Practise reading Latin regularly, and as often as possible, applying the Reading Rules throughout. [A Roman baker’s decem, obviously!] Hoyos, D., (2008) “The Ten Basic Rules for Reading Latin.” Latinteach Articles. N.p., 15 Oct. 2008.

Appendix 3

GUIDELINES FOR TRANSLATING Hoyos, D. (2008).

1 The Romans Didn’t Know English (this rule is pronounced TRiDiKEe). Since they didn’t know English, Latin is not ‘hidden English’ in form or vocabulary or grammar. Don’t treat Latin sentences as though they are in the same word order and layout as English. If they are now and then, it’s entirely accidental. See Point 2.

3 a Phrases, subordinate clauses, and main clauses are all WordGroups. This is a really important concept. Word-Groups are as crucial in a sentence as the individual words. No, they are more crucial. b The arrangement of word-groups in a sentence is crucial to the meaning. c The order of words within a Latin word-group obeys logical patterns. Always. d The order of word-groups in a sentence also obeys logical patterns. Always. e You can *train your eyes* to recognise all these patterns, which are fundamental to the meaning of the sentence. This is how Romans sight-read Latin. (It is also how we sight-read English.) f Read and re-read each sentence so as to understand its structure and its constructions, before you start to translate it.

4 a Each word in a sentence tells you about the grammar and sense of the words around it. Therefore each word is a *signpost* to other words. b The endings of the words are as important as the beginnings. The endings tell you the grammar of the sentence, i.e. how the words are related to one another. Motto: ‘T h e E n d i n g s C o m e F i r s t.’

5 How to recognise a subordinate clause word-group: - It has to start with a conjunction like cum, ut, postquam or the like, or with a relative word like qui. - It must contain at least 1 finite verb, i.e. a verb with a subject. (Sometimes the subject is implied, not given as a separate word—e.g. libros lego.) - It cannot form a sentence by itself, but is subordinate to a main clause. Sometimes the main clause is implied but not given: e.g. cur fles?—quia capitis dolorem habeo. (= [fleo] quia c.d.h.) - It obeys Point 7 a-d, like all word- groups.

6 How to recognise a phrase: a A phrase is a word-group that does not have a finite verb. A phrase

[i] may be governed by a preposition, e.g. ex urbe, ab urbe condita, propter gaudium, in Britanniam, ad urbem videndam, multa cum laude [ii] may consist of words describing a person, thing or event mentioned nearby, e.g. urbem ingressus, librum legentes, capillis longissimis, multis annis, maximae pulchritudinis (attached to puella, for example) [iii] may be an Ablative Absolute phrase, a gerundival phrase of purpose, or the like. e.g. Cicerone consule, senatu vocato, ad urbem pulcherrimam aedificandam, pacis petendae causa.

b You can easily recognise a phrase if it starts with a preposition, but to recognise other phrases you must practise Point 3 a—f.

7 a A word-group of any kind (main clause, subordinate clause, or phrase), once it has begun, has to be grammatically finished, before the writer can continue with the rest of the sentence whether this is short or long. [This statement is an example in English] For the same reason, a sentence must be grammatically completed before the next one can start. b The only exception to 7a is that one word-group can ‘embrace’ another one. e.g. Cicero, qui olim consul erat, nunc in senatum raro venit. But 7a still applies: the embraced word-group must be grammatically completed, before the writer can go back to the ‘embracing’ wordgroup. c Note carefully that 7a & 7b are unbreakable rules in Latin, for 7b is not really an exception to 7a: the content of an ‘embraced’ word-group is part of the Message of the embracing word-group. On Message, see Point 9. d A Latin phrase can ‘embrace’ a subordinate clause, and a subordinate clause can ‘embrace’ a phrase. e.g. urbe quae magna erat condita, and ut Romam multis post annis iterum videret. e If one main clause embraces a second, the second one has to be in brackets or between long dashes.

8 a In narrative Latin sentences, all the events are reported in the proper event order, even when the various events are stated in various types of word-groups. b In descriptive (non-narrative) Latin sentences, the various word groups are written in the order that seems most logical to the author.

9 In Latin, every sentence carries a Message. The Message is not always given by just the grammar and vocabulary of the sentence: it also depends on the context around the sentence, the choice of words in the sentence and the placing of them. The Message is as important as the grammar and vocabulary. Hoyos, D., (2008) The Ten Basic Rules for Reading Latin. Latinteach Articles. N.p., 15 Oct. 2008.

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End of term Year 10 assessment test.