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Running head: COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT 1

Comprehensible Input: Which activities do students find most helpful?

Jillane Baros

Northwest Nazarene University

COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT 2

Abstract

As foreign language instruction methodologies transition from grammar-based to

Comprehensible Input-based strategies, teachers often struggle to incorporate these methods

into their classrooms. This study asked which strategies students found most helpful in

learning Spanish and investigated the use of Comprehensible Input activities in one Spanish

classroom. Students completed surveys evaluating how much previous week’s activities

helped them learn Spanish and what percentage of class time was spent in Spanish. The

results indicated that all of the activities were somewhat helpful, although students rated

focused review activities and music to be most helpful and the helpfulness of activities varied

between classes. The researcher found that the results were most influenced by classroom

management, however, and suggests that management strategies compatible with

Comprehensible Input would increase the effectiveness of instruction. She suggests further

research into these strategies as well as conducting similar studies in other classrooms would

shed further light on which strategies tend to be most helpful overall.


Comprehensible Input: Which activities do students find most helpful?

The methodologies and techniques used to teach foreign language are currently

undergoing a major pedagogical shift. “Traditional” foreign language instruction emphasizes

direct grammar instruction, earning these teachers the moniker “grammarians”. Grammar

rules and vocabulary lists are explicitly taught and drilled and students generally spend little

time engaging in organic and meaningful communication. In an effort to increase

communication skills, some teachers attempt to “immerse” their students in the foreign

language and require some or all of class to be conducted in the foreign language. These

teachers are often met with frustration as students fail to comprehend and communicate in the

language despite valiant efforts on both the teachers’ and students’ parts. However, current

research has led to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language (ACTFL)

recommendation of de-emphasizing grammar and, instead, teaching through comprehensible

input, a method of instruction in which students are exposed to the target language in such a

manner that students always understand the meaning. In their 2010 position statement,

ACTFL recommended that “language educators and their students use the target language as

exclusively as possible (90% plus) at all levels on instruction during instructional time and,

when feasible, beyond the classroom” (“Use of the target language,” 2010). Moreover,

ACTFL highlighted strategies for teachers to use when making communication

comprehensible and meaningful, including providing “comprehensible input that is directed

toward communicative goals” (“Use of the target language,” 2010). While grammar is

important, it must be taught within the context of Comprehensible Input (CI) and should not

be presented as a major focus of instruction (Crouse, 2012). More importantly, opportunities

for comprehensible input and communication should not be sacrificed for explicit

grammatical explanations and drills. In turn, student achievement should then be measured

based on proficiency levels rather than answering questions regarding isolated grammar


(Krashen, 2004). This shift represents a major change in the focus of foreign language

classroom instruction and assessment. Consequently, it is critical for teachers to understand

what qualifies as CI and how to maximize its use in the classroom so that their students may

effectively learn the target language.

The primary research question in this study is to identify which CI-based activities

students perceive to be most helpful in learning Spanish. This is a multi-faceted problem that

must be addressed by first determining what quality CI is and how it differs from traditional

foreign language instruction, including how and when to teach contextualized grammar.

Then, the types of activities that provide the most effective CI must be identified and

implemented. These activities are complimented by classroom management techniques that

are effective in keeping both students and the teacher using CI in the target language, thus

avoiding the temptation to use English unnecessarily (Crouse, 2004). This research is critical

as both new and veteran foreign language teachers struggle to meet the standards presented

by ACTFL in the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century (“Standards

for foreign language learning,” n.d.).

Background of the Problem

With this new shift in pedagogy, veteran and new foreign language teachers are often

unfamiliar with the philosophies, methodologies, and strategies proposed by ACTFL.

Teachers who have been trained in traditional methods must change the focus of their

instruction from grammar to actual use of the language in a manner that promotes CI.

Teachers who have utilized an immersion approach to language instruction must adapt their

language and methods to ensure that the input is, indeed, comprehensible. However, ACTFL

asserts that the 90% benchmark should be used as both a lens through which teachers can

become familiar with what is considered best practice as well as a yardstick against which to

measure their instruction (Crouse, 2012). Thus, there is an urgent need for teachers must


become familiar with and proficient in the CI methods that will best serve them in achieving

this goal.

Statement of the Problem

For a variety of reasons, teachers familiar the ACTFL standards often struggle and

become frustrated as they fall short of the ACTFLS standards. First, college methodology

courses generally fail to reflect the shift in pedagogy advocated by ACTFL and perpetuate the

use of the outdated traditional methods. Thus, both new and veteran teachers are

inadequately prepared to meet the ACTFL standards and newer proficiency-based state

standards set forth by states responding to updated ACTFL guidelines. Moreover, teachers

are generally unaware of the research-based techniques and resources available to them,

namely those emphasizing comprehensible input, or struggle to make their current curriculum

and instructional strategies work with these standards and methodologies. As a result,

teachers often misunderstand which instructional techniques provide true comprehensible

input and how to incorporate them into the classroom. Finally, teachers who have eagerly

researched and adopted CI methodologies are oftentimes met with obstacles in the form of

support from their department or administration, outdated district and state standards, and

mandated tests and assessments that reflect a focus on grammar rather than proficiency.

However, these last obstacles are already beginning to disappear as state standards, widely

recognized assessments such as the Advanced Placement exam, and individual schools and

districts shift their focus to proficiency over grammatical perfection (“AP Spanish literature,”

2012).

Research Questions

This study explored CI-based strategies and methods that students found most helpful

in foreign language classrooms. It identified which techniques were compatible with

comprehensible input and evaluated which of them were most effective in the classroom


based on student and teacher feedback and reflection. This included implementing activities

that exposed students to the target language in manner that was meaningful and

comprehensible to students. In addition, grammar instruction was provided in a

contextualized manner when appropriate and classroom management techniques that

promoted CI and the use of the target language were utilized. Both the effectiveness of

methods used in promoting CI and the amount of time spent in the target language were

examined.

Definition of Terms

In this study, target language (L2) is used to refer to the language in which the

students are being instructed, while native language (L1) is used to refer to the common

language used fluently by students regardless of the students’ actual first language. In the

case of this study, the target language was Spanish while the native language was English.

Input is defined as student comprehension of the language and generally refers to listening

and reading (though in some languages this definition is expanded, such as “reading” the

signs in American Sign Language). Output is defined as student production of the language,

generally referring to speaking and writing (though expanded to include production in other

languages, such as “signing” in ASL). Comprehensible Input (CI) refers to a methodology of

language instruction that emphasizes the use of the L2 in such a way that students

comprehend the message through input. This is differentiated from “immersion” in that

straight immersion does not take into account the ability of the student to comprehend the

message. Grammarian teaching methods are defined as those teaching methods that place an

emphasis on the explicit instruction and drilling of grammar rules and application.

Traditional language instruction refers to instructional techniques (particularly grammarian)

that have generally been used to teach foreign languages in the past and present but which are

being replaced by comprehensible-input methods.


Review of Literature

Introduction

A continually growing body of research developed over the last thirty years

demonstrates that the most effective foreign language instruction is grounded in

“comprehensible input”. Comprehensible Input (CI) involves exposing students to the

language in a manner that makes the message comprehensible. This is in contrast to the

traditional “grammarian” methods of foreign language instruction, which focus on direct and

explicit instruction of grammatical rules. Reflecting this research, the American Council on

the Teaching of Foreign Language (ACTFL) issued a position statement indicating that 90%

of class time should be spent in the target language (L2), emphasizing the use of

comprehensible input (“Use of the target language,” 2012). In order to meet these standards,

both novice and veteran teachers alike must adjust their view of the foreign language

classrooms and adopt strategies that promote the use of L2 in a manner comprehensible to

students.

Comprehensible Input vs. Grammarian Methods

Much of the body of research exploring and promoting comprehensible input can be

attributed to Stephen Krashen. At the heart of his research is the distinction made between

language learning and language acquisition. Language learning is the formal process by

which students study grammatical rules and apply them consciously in communication. This

is the form of instruction that has been and is most widely used in foreign language

classrooms. However, for students to be successful in applying grammatical rules to their

language, three conditions must be met: they must understand how to apply the rule, they

must be focused on using it correctly, and they must have time for application. In organic,

everyday communication, these conditions are rarely met. Instead, rather than fluency,

students experience anxiety and interrupted communication as they attempt to modify their


speech in order to achieve perfection. Many foreign language teachers have experienced

frustration with students who refuse to use the language to communicate for exactly these

reasons. Except for in the cases of a few exceptional students, learning a language almost

always fails to produce fluency (Krashen, 2004).

In contrast, Krashen theorizes that fluency is achieved through language acquisition,

which is the subconscious process by which students acquire a “feel” for what sounds right

through meaningful and comprehensible exposure to the language, similar to the process

undergone by young children learning a language for the first time. This results in production

of the language by what “sounds” and “feels” right rather than what is meticulously

calculated to be right through the application of grammar rules. Developing this “feel”

requires meaningful interaction in the language, which is the goal of CI methods. Rather than

explicitly teaching and drilling grammar rules, such as verb conjugation, students are exposed

to a limited amount of vocabulary and focus on the messages rather than the forms. The

primary goal of the instructor is to provide correct and comprehensible “input” (listening and

reading) through use of the language. The CI approach has been shown to be far superior to

the grammarian approach.

CI Curriculum and Instruction

If grammar rules are no longer a valid basis for the foreign language curriculum, then

what should take its place? Language is organic in nature and cannot be mastered by

memorizing facts or vocabulary. Instead, students must constantly manipulate the vocabulary

and language patterns to fit changing and unpredictable circumstances. Luckily, a command

of the entire language’s vocabulary and grammatical patterns is not necessary in order to be

proficient, or even fluent, in a language. Rather, students experience the most success by

focusing on the most common “structures” used in a language and manipulating them as

necessary. Luckily, languages generally utilize a limited number of these “high-frequency”


structures for the majority of everyday communication and resources are available which

catalog which structures are used most frequently in a given language (Ray, 2012). These

structures are contextualized and meaningful phrases that can easily be changed to

communicate a variety of ideas. For example, while a grammarian class may teach the

Spanish verb “querer” as “to want” and ask students to conjugate the verb with different

subjects and in different tenses (quiero = “I want”, quieres = “you want”, etc.), a CI class

teaches students to say “quiere un perro” (“she or he wants a dog”). Once students have

mastered “quiere un perro”, they can substitute any noun of their choice in the place of

“perro” to communicate a new idea, such as “quiere un elefante” (“she or he wants an

elephant”). Students can even add a subject before the verb to clarify who wants the object,

for example “Susana quiere un elefante” (Susan wants an elephant). Students are instantly

able to take the language into their own hands and manipulate it to fit an infinite number of

possibilities. As students achieve a higher level of mastery, they begin to acquire

grammatical patterns that enable them to communicate with increasing proficiency and

complexity, but the simple structures are at the heart of the curriculum. By teaching the most

common structures used in a language, even students new to the language are quickly able to

comprehend and communicate their everyday ideas and needs on a basic level.

In order to promote mastery, students must receive input that is comprehensible and

highly repetitious. This can be achieved a number of ways, but the critical factors for CI to

occur are that the message is meaningful and contextualized and students are engaged.

Gesticulation is widely used strategy for augmenting student comprehension of meaning,

both by simulating the gestures that students would likely experience when communicating

with a native speaker and creating gestures with the class that visually communicates the

meaning of a new word. Other techniques that teachers utilize in order to be understood

include other visual cues, linguistic adjustments, and conversational adjustments (Agulló,


n.d.). Songs are often utilized in CI classrooms due to their repetitious and engaging

qualities. Resources such as “SeñorWooly.com” provide songs that middle and high school

students (the ages that are generally found in a foreign language classroom) find interesting

and naturally want to sing along to. These songs also utilize high-frequency structures and

vocabulary that should be taught in Spanish CI classrooms. The students understand the

meaning of the words as they watch the music video and memorize the lyrics. Students can

further interact with the songs by completing packets, puzzles, and games. Learning the

contextualized vocabulary structures is effortless and engaging as students receive

comprehensible and repetitious input. Another example includes Teaching Proficiency

through Reading and Storytelling (TPRS). This is a comprehensive method that emphasizes

personalized questioning, creating stories with the classes in the target language, and reading

as means of comprehensible input. Students receive repetition through a questioning

technique called “circling”, during which students answer questions that require increasingly

higher-order thinking processes and proficiency skills that repeat the target structure in a

variety of ways. It is common for teachers proficient in the TPRS method to achieve over

fifty repetitions of a particular structure during a single class period (Ray, 2012). There are

many other methods of CI that teachers can successfully use in their classrooms, and what

each teacher finds effective is dependent on their own personalities and the unique

compositions of their classes. However, the elements that must be constant in order for

effective CI to occur are comprehensibility and repetition made possible through meaningful

and contextualized messages as well as student engagement.

When providing input, care must be taken to provide input that is not only

comprehensible but also lends itself to language acquisition and increase proficiency.

Krashen’s “Input” hypothesis (later renamed the “Comprehnsion” hypothesis) theorizes that

CI must occur at the level of “i + 1”. This is to say that if a student’s current language


proficiency level is “i”, then input must be provided that is one step beyond “i” in order for

the student to improve upon their current skills. This step above is called “i + 1” and it is

critical for teachers to ensure that they are providing instruction that ensures all students

receive input at the “i + 1” level (Krashen, 2004). Consequently, the teacher’s focus should

be on student mastery rather than coverage of the curriculum. New structures should not be

added until students have mastered the current structures, and a particular structure may be

repeated during multiple lessons while. Students demonstrate mastery by comprehending and

responding to input with confidence and accuracy and without hesitation. The teacher may

utilize questioning techniques, translation, or a variety of other strategies to determine student

mastery. Mastery turns slow language-processors, who must consciously stop to deduce the

meaning of the message before formulating a response, into fast language processors who

respond automatically and without effort.

The Role of Grammar in the CI Classroom

Generally speaking, the goal of foreign language instruction is to produce student

proficiency in all four modes of the language, namely listening, reading, speaking, and

writing. While grammar plays an important role in clarifying meaning, it comes secondary to

comprehensible communication. Communication does not need to be grammatically perfect

to be perfectly understandable. Therefore, the limited time spent within the foreign language

classroom should be dedicated to providing as much comprehensible input as possible and

grammar should not be taught at the expense of meaningful communication. Instead, ACTFL

recommends that grammar can, and should, be taught within a meaningful context. For

example, as students are reading a passage, the instructor might explain briefly (in thirty

seconds or less) why a certain verb form was used in order to clarify meaning. This is often

called “pop-up” grammar and does not take the focus away from the meaning of the entire

message. Occasionally, students will ask for more elaborate explanations, an indication that


they are ready for and need to understand the grammatical rule to enhance their

comprehension of the message. Still, the explanations should be kept short and meet the

students’ needs rather than diverting attention to a full grammar lesson (Krashen, 2004). The

little time available in class should be utilized to provide as much CI as possible and promote

meaningful communication in the target language. These opportunities for CI should not be

sacrificed for explicit grammar instruction, especially if it is incomprehensible or necessitates

the use of the native language.

Likewise, grammar correction plays a minimal to non-existent role in the foreign

language classroom. Constant correction of grammar that is often incomprehensible to

students produces students who “monitor” their language (Krashen, 2004). Because

correcting grammar places the focus on form rather than meaning, these students plan, edit,

and correct their utterances, thereby interrupting their speech patterns and producing anxiety

over being correct rather than fluency that communicates a message. Instead of correcting

grammar, foreign language teachers should model correct usage. For example, the

grammatically correct phrase can be repeated back to the student or passage written by the

student can be re-written with correct grammar and provided for the student to read. In

higher-level classes where students are already proficient in the language and developing a

better sense of grammatical accuracy, the teacher may limit themselves to highlighting the

first five grammatical errors or only highlighting one type of grammatical error throughout

the paper for the student to edit.

Though direct grammar instruction is de-emphasized in the CI classroom, research

suggests that students taught using this method develop an ear for grammar and can perform

at the same level as their grammar-instructed peers, if not better, on grammar and

communicative assessments (Ponniah, 2008; Rodrigo, 2004). As students begin to acquire

the language through extensive and correct input, they begin to create their own “output”


(speaking and writing). Through extensive and correct CI exposure, students subconsciously

acquire vocabulary and grammar skills that enhance their own production of the language.

Increasing CI results in increasing language proficiency, including the use of correct

grammar (Krashen, 2004). This further demonstrates the need to spend as much time as

possible using the L2 through CI so that students can acquire the language and attain

proficiency in communication.

The Current State of the Foreign Language Classroom

Traditional methods are still widely used in foreign language classrooms and are

perpetuated by outdated district and state standards. Professional development within schools

rarely address elective subjects such as foreign languages and these teachers are tasked with

finding their own means for improving their instruction. Due to this, many teachers are

unaware of the ACTFL recommendations or struggle to understand their implications, or are

restricted by the outdated standards they are required to meet, and therefore fail to adjust their

teaching methods. As veteran teachers fail to implement comprehensible methods according

to the ACTFL standards, novice teachers are, in turn, unaware of the standards and strive to

perfect the outdated methods of their mentors. Therefore, the majority of teachers are

currently ill-prepared to implement best-practice methods and strategies in order to achieve

the ACTFL standards. That is, of course, if they are aware of these standards and

recommendations in the first place, and they are allowed flexibility by state and district

standards as well as administrators to strive to meet them within their classrooms.

Summary

As the world of teaching foreign language teaching shifts from grammar-based

approaches to Comprehensible Input, teachers must be adequately prepared to integrate CI-

based strategies into their classrooms. These strategies stress comprehension and

communication above accuracy and grammar drills. In order to be successful, teachers must


understand what CI truly is: a focus on student acquisition via listening and reading to

comprehend and then communicate in a comprehensible method. Then, they must

understand that the role of grammar in the CI-based classroom is to provide brief and

contextualized clarifications as to the structure of the language. Once teachers fully

understand CI-based instruction, they must then be equipped with the resources and training

necessary to integrate the methodology and strategies into their classroom.

Research Methods

Purpose

This study sought to determine student perception of how effective instructional

activities were using Comprehensible Input methods to learn Spanish. The researcher

established her goal to work toward the ACTFL recommendation of 90% of class time spent

in the target language using CI-based instruction as part of her instructional goals set during

administrative evaluations. Research was completed using existing data generated during the

regular teaching duties of the researcher, including the use of student surveys completed as

part of the students’ regular classroom activities. In addition, the researcher used her own

evaluations of lessons and classroom experiences to determine which activities resulted in

student learning. Through completion of this study, the instructional and classroom

management methods that were most successful and provided quality CI were identified.

Setting and Participants

This study examined data produced as part of the researcher’s normal classroom

responsibilities. The researcher was a second-year Spanish teacher at Somerset Academy

Sky Pointe, a charter school in Las Vegas, Nevada. The classes that participated in the study

included two Beginning Spanish courses totaling 39 students. Most of the students were in

seventh grade, although 3 were in sixth grade and 1 in eighth grade. Many of the students

had prior Spanish instruction as part of their elementary school “specials”, the weekly or bi-


weekly classes, such as Music or Physical Education, taught in addition to the core

curriculum, as well as an introductory class in sixth grade. There was one Spanish I class

consisting of 19 students in eight, ninth, and tenth grade. Many of these students were new to

the school and thus had limited prior Spanish experience. There were two Spanish II Honors

classes totaling 45 students in primarily eighth grade with some students in ninth and tenth

grade. The majority of these students had a similar elementary Spanish instruction as the

Beginning Spanish students as well as secondary classes. Most took Spanish I from the

researcher during the prior year. Finally there were 5 Spanish III Honors students that were

in ninth and tenth grade and had taken Spanish for at least two years prior to this course.

These students were mixed with one of the Spanish II sections. There were 108 students

between the ages of twelve and sixteen, with 52 girls and 56 boys. Ethnicities of the students

were primarily White but with a significant number of minorities that included Hispanic,

Black or African American, Asian, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and American

Indian or Alaskan Native.

Research Design

Prior to this study, the researcher identified during an administrative evaluation that

she would like to focus on reaching the ACTFL 90% standard in her Spanish classes using

Comprehensible Input methods. Subsequently, she made an intentional effort during the

2014-2015 school year to increase the amount of Spanish used in her classes and monitor the

effectiveness of her instructional techniques. Students completed feedback surveys on which

they indicated which activities were helpful, which were not, and why as well as the

percentage of class they felt was spent in Spanish (Appendix A). In addition, the researcher

reviewed her regular teacher reflections on lesson and activities. Quantitative data included

student ratings of classroom activities on a Likert scale from 1 (“didn’t help me at all”) to 5

(“helped me a lot”) and the percentage of class students felt was spent in Spanish.


Qualitative data included student explanations for their ratings as well as teacher reflections.

This information was used to inform and adjust instruction to meet student needs. The data

generated as a result of these efforts was analyzed for the purposes of this study.

The data generated from the regular classroom duties of the researcher was analyzed

to determine how helpful students found classroom activities for mastering the Spanish

language. Evaluated activities included Lecture (Direct teaching of terms), Discussion

(conversations in Spanish), Songs, Mnemonics, Reading Spanish as a class, Writing, Review

activities, Individual reading, Warm-up activities (writing responses to questions in Spanish),

Conducting class in Spanish, adding actions to vocabulary, worksheets, use of authentic

resources (reading and listening to native Spanish), and Verb Karate (direct teaching of

grammar). The researcher used descriptive statistics, including mean, median, and mode, to

evaluate the perceived helpfulness and amount of time spent in Spanish. Using qualitative

feedback, patterns were identified between teaching methods and the amount of Spanish used

as well as whether it was observed to be comprehensible and the researchers attempted to

explain why students found particular strategies to be helpful and others less helpful.

Strategies that maximized quality comprehensible input were identified. This data was used

to answer the primary research question as to which CI-based activities students found most

beneficial for learning Spanish.

Results of Analysis

Overall, students found almost all of the classroom activities to be at least somewhat

helpful with means, medians, and modes of 3 to 5 on the Likert scale. Students consistently

rated singing vocabulary-based songs as the most helpful activity, with average scores

ranging from 3.90 (SD = 1.22) to 4.32 (SD = 0.88). Unsurprisingly, focused review activities

immediately prior the test also received high ratings. These activities included writing

sentences using the target vocabulary (Test 1: M = 3.95, SD = 1.09; Test 2: M = 3.82, SD =


0.95); activity stations that included Pictionary, vocabulary matching, charades, and similar

activities (M = 4.28, SD = 0.78; Test 2: M = 4.13, SD = 0.96); reviewing the related songs (M

= 4, SD = 1.12); completing a study guide (M = 4.20, SD = 0.83); in-class free study time (M

= 4.09, SD = 0.91), and a quiz game (M = 4.21, SD = 0.90). As a whole, none of the

activities received average ratings of less than 3. However, differences occurred when

broken down by class period. During Week 1, Fourth Period’s (Spanish II Honors) average

rating for singing songs was 2.95 (SD = 1.40). The average rating for songs increased for the

remainder of the weeks, although it was typically lower than other classes’ ratings as well as

the ratings for other activities. During week 5, this same class rated reading as a class as an

average of 2.64 (SD = 1.05), and then rated class discussion as an average of 2.90 (SD = 1.09)

during Week 6. Period 2 (Beginning Spanish) often rated Individual Reading lowest, with a

mode of 2 during Week 5 (M = 3, SD = 0.87), and an average of 2.91 during Week 7 (SD =

1.30).

The amount of Spanish used in class varied greatly depending on the types of

activities completed in class and teacher preparation for activities. According to student

feedback, the overall percentage of class spent in Spanish ranged from 61.85 (SD = 20.29) in

Week 1 to a peak of 86.68 (SD = 10.85) in Week 7 with a general increase in the usage of

Spanish over time. Students rated the amount of Spanish used during the latter half of the

study (Weeks 6-10) as an average of 78% or higher. When broken down by class period, the

same general trends appear although First and Fourth Periods (Spanish II and III Honors)

typically gave lower scores than the other class periods, with Fourth Period giving the lowest

average score for five out of the ten recorded weeks.

Teacher reflections primarily related to classroom management and preparation.

There was a distinct discrepancy between her own feelings about the percentage of class time

spent in Spanish and student ratings, with her ratings much lower than student feedback. She


struggled with classroom management and feeling adequately prepared to integrate new

activities smoothly into the classroom routine, including giving instructions and maintaining

expectations for student performance. Student comments on surveys further supported this as

they frequently complained about student disruptions and behavior while at the same time

praising the teacher and activities. Moreover, classroom management issues resulted in less

Comprehensible Input as the researcher resorted to using English to communicate

expectations and lost instructional time for the activities. She felt that more experience,

better classroom management, and an overall cohesive curriculum would have improved

lesson plans and increased student success with the same activities used.

Findings

Implications for Practice

Overall, student feedback indicated that the strategies used where generally helpful

and students were provided a significant amount of Comprehensible Input through a number

of activities. As indicated by varying scores, students responded differently to different

activities, indicating that different learning styles were catered to in order to ensure success

for all students. Music seemed to be universally helpful as long as managed correctly and it

connected directly to current student mastery goals. However, certain activities could be

adapted to particular classes. For instance, Second Period (Beginning Spanish) struggled

with independent activities and benefitted from peer and teacher interaction and assistance.

However, the researcher also observed a high need for structure and students struggled with

whole-class discussions, so activities with concrete objectives and tasks worked best.

The researcher was surprised at the percentage of class time students felt was spent in

Spanish, often double what she would have rated herself. This could be interpreted to mean

that students felt they were often exposed to Spanish in some form, even if class was being

conducted and instructions or assistance were given in English. Moreover, this could be


interpreted as the amount of effort students feel they expert in attempting to comprehend and

communicate in Spanish during the class time, in which case many students feel that they

spend the majority of, if not the entire, class period communicating in Spanish. In general,

students reported positive, although sometimes apprehensive, feelings about conducting class

in Spanish. They appreciated the exposure to Spanish and feeling that they were actually

utilizing the Spanish to complete activities and communicate with one another and the

instructor, putting the language to “real” use and learning as they did so.

A clear trend indicated that the classes where the instructor struggled with classroom

management the most, namely Fourth Period (Spanish II Honors) often reported the lowest

feedback scores. This could either be because classroom management affected learning or

that the learning expectations for students were above student ability. Researcher familiarity

with the students and comparisons with the First Period Spanish II Honors class lead her to

rule out student ability as a concern and instead assumed that classroom management was the

issue. Based on independent observations, student test scores, and her observations in

conjunction with the student feedback surveys, the researcher identified numerous classroom

management concerns that, in turn, affected the overall instruction effectiveness. Classroom

management improved throughout the study, which corresponds to a general increase in the

amount of Spanish used. Though not a part of this study, the researcher participated in

professional development after the data collection and felt that activities were more

successful and overall classroom environment and order improved along with the amount of

Comprehensible Input provided. Additional improvements, including incorporating routines

and teaching students key, repetitive words to communicate instructions and expectations

should allow the researcher to further increase the use of Spanish in the classroom.

Limitations of Study


There are a number of limitations to this study with regard to the researcher’s

background. First and foremost, the researcher was a second-year teacher that was still

struggling with basic teaching fundamentals. For example, the researcher suffered from a

lack of classroom management strategies that would allow her to implement her lesson plans

more effectively as well as increase the amount of Spanish. Second, the school did not have

a set Spanish curriculum and the researcher was required to plan lessons and activities with

minimal guidance, especially as she was the only foreign language teacher during the course

of this study. Adopting a set curriculum and increasing collaboration with other foreign

language teachers would likely improve continuity and effectiveness of lessons and activities.

Third, as the majority of the data was reported on student feedback surveys, it is likely

influenced by factors related to student perception such as feelings about the subject, course,

teacher, classmates, and mood. Thus, the findings are primarily useful in the teacher’s own

classroom and to guide future instruction and approaches. However, other foreign language

instructors may benefit from the data when deciding which activities to implement in their

classrooms and how to best approach them.

Recommendations for Future Study

Based on teacher reflections supported by the data, the primary factor that influenced

activity effectiveness was classroom management strategies. By definition, Comprehensible

Input requires students to be actively engaged in communication with one another and the

teacher. Constant comprehension checks are of critical importance. Thus, the classroom

management approaches that ensure successful CI-based instruction differ from those in a

traditional classroom based on lecture and independent work and can become quite complex.

The research suggests further research into classroom management systems and strategies

that are compatible with a CI-based classroom, particularly with regard to whole-class

discussion and cooperative learning strategies. Finally, as the research was limited to the


researcher’s own classroom, similar studies in other foreign language classrooms may reveal

important trends in student perception of activities. Teacher experience, both in years of

teaching as well as experience using CI methods, is likely to play an influential role on the

effectiveness of implementing these strategies.

Conclusion

As foreign language classroom and curriculum transition from grammar-based

instruction to Comprehensible Input, teachers must adequately understand the underlying

philosophy and the practical applications of the methodology. Integrating CI strategies into

foreign language classrooms is a difficult task, even for teachers familiar with the theories

and research behind the strategies. This study evaluated the effectiveness of strategies used

in one CI-based classroom and concluded that students received high levels of beneficial CI,

although classroom management issues limited how effective the strategies could be.

Nonetheless, students reported that music was highly effective for language acquisition when

connected to the vocabulary structures students needed to master. They also found that

focused review activities were helpful. Other strategies varied by student and classroom and

highlighted the need to reach students of all learning styles in order to ensure success.


References

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Crouse, D. (2012, December). Going for 90% plus: How to stay in the target language. The

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instruction. Iranian Journal of Language Studies, 2(2), 249-255.

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acquisition in school (6th ed.). Eagle Mountain, UT: Blaine Ray Workshops.

Rodrigo, V. (2004). The Effectiveness Of Two Comprehensible-input Approaches To

Foreign Language Instruction At The Intermediate Level. System, 32(1), 53-60.

Standards for foreign language learning. (n.d.) ACTFL. Retrieved April 2, 2014, from

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Use of the Target Language in the Classroom. (2010, May 22) ACTFL. Retrieved January

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langauge-the-classroom-0


Appendix A: Example of Student Feedback Survey


Appendix B: National Institutes of Health (NIH) Certificate

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