STARTALK-Endorsed Principles for Effective Teaching & Learning
and Characteristics of Effective Language Lessons

• Implementing a Standards-Based and Thematically Organized Curriculum

  • Every lesson derives from a standards-based unit that culminates in students developing the ability to engage in spontaneous, unrehearsed communication for real-world purposes.
  • Each lesson has clearly stated cultural objectives that indicate what students will be able to do and what they need to know by lesson’s end.
  • Research and theory determine the instructional experiences and the order in which they take place to ensure that students can meet the lesson’s cultural and language performance objectives.
  • Grammar is not the focus of the course, unit, or lesson. The teacher teaches grammar as a tool for communication, avoiding meaningless rote drills and ensuring that all practice requires attention to meaning. Examples

• Facilitating a Learner-Centered Classroom

  • Students learn vocabulary from input (hearing or reading) and from using it in language-rich contexts such as stories, hands-on experiences, picture descriptions, or subject-matter content. Examples
  • The teacher provides frequent, varied classroom opportunities for students to interpret and express meaning for real-world purposes. Examples
  • In every class session, the teacher provides paired or small group activities that engage students in using the language for meaningful communication.

• Using the Target Language and Providing Comprehensible Input for Instruction

  • The teacher uses the target language at least 90 percent of the time. Examples
  • The teacher uses a variety of strategies to make language comprehensible, monitors student comprehension, and makes adjustments as necessary. Examples
  • The teacher avoids the use of translation by using verbal and non-verbal strategies and also avoids eliciting translation from students.

• Integrating Culture, Content, and Language in a World Language Classroom

  • Cultural instruction focuses on perspectives—not just products and practices.

• Adapting and Using Age-Appropriate Authentic Materials

  • The teacher uses authentic materials and designs tasks appropriate to the language proficiency and age level of the learners.
  • The teacher uses a range of authentic print and non-print materials in a variety of technological formats.

• Conducting Performance-Based Assessment

  • The teacher uses formative assessment of student performance during the course of the lesson to adjust instruction as needed.
  • The teacher and students use feedback about the quality of student performance relative to the lesson’s and unit’s instructional targets.

The bulleted lists of characteristics provide guidance for reflecting on observed lessons. They focus exclusively on world language-specific behaviors, and do not include critical but more generic characteristics of effective instruction (e.g., time management and engaging all learners). The complete list Starting With the End in Mind: Planning and Evaluating Highly Successful World Language Programs (R. Couet, G. Duncan, J. Eddy, M. Met, M. Smith, M. Still, & A. Tollefson, 2008). Available from http://www.pearsonschool.com/EndinMind.