FA French Major and Minor for Secondary Certification (printable version)
FLAN 411:Theory and Methods of Modern Language Instruction, consists of two parts: 1) a set of five one-hour recitation/laboratory sections which each meet for one hour each week and 2) a weekly large-group 1.75 hour lecture. All class sessions are taught by the methods professor. FLAN 411 is the primary vehicle through which students learn methodology. Instructors in all courses in the major provide diverse models of pedagogy, as well as opportunities to discuss their pedagogical philosophy.
All students enrolled in FLAN 411 meet in a large-group session from 6:30 until 8:15 p.m. once each week. This portion of the course is taught by the methods professor and includes presentations on language acquisition theory, the national standards, and lesson design. Each week, the methods professor lectures on a particular standard and related research, then presents a demonstration lesson that focuses on teaching methods and strategies relevant to these issues, i.e. the role of context and cultural practices, products and perspectives (week 1), comprehensible input and use of the target language (week 2), establishing and verifying comprehension (week 3), making connections to other disciplines (week 4). During the evening sessions, students participate in a variety of large-group, small-group, paired, and individual oral and written discussion and demonstration activities. Refer to the course syllabus for additional information about this portion of the course.
Each student enrolled in FLAN 411 must also register for and attend one of five 1-hour recitation/laboratory sections each week. Prior to each recitation session, students plan and prepare an original lesson in the target language that illustrates the teaching methods and strategies relevant to the particular standard(s) and theory(ies) under consideration. During each of the five recitation sections, groups of four to five students meet with the methods professor to present, critique, and reflect on each student’s five to nine minute teaching demonstration. Refer to the course syllabus for additional information about this portion of the course.
Assignments
As outlined in Section 3-c, (Pedagogy and 1998 Entry-level Standards for Michigan), in addition to a number of smaller written assignments and required one-on-one office-hour meetings with the professor, students in FLAN 411: Theory and Practice of Modern Language Instruction complete the following major assignments:
plan, prepare and teach 13 (weekly) micro-teaching demonstrations
coach their peers and reflect in writing on their own weekly demonstrations
plan and prepare five consecutive days of lessons plans
teach and reflect on one of the lessons from their five-day plans
plan and prepare a learning scenario (five to ten consecutive days of plans, a multi-skill, standards-based culminating assessment project, and assessment rubrics),
teach and reflect on one lesson from the learning scenario
present and defend to peers, faculty and in-service teachers their culminating assessment project and rubrics
prepare and peer-edit several versions of their philosophy of teaching.
In all assignments, students are expected to address the national standards for foreign language learning, show knowledge of and connections to other content areas, use technology, and offer age-appropriate activities and adaptations to meet the needs and learning styles of all learners. The methods instructor has aligned assignments and assessments in the methods course with the Entry-level Standards for Michigan Teachers as shown in Section 4 (c ), above.
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