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Basing their approach on Modern Language Aptitude Test competencies and principles of Universal Design of Learning, the authors model how the introductory French language classroom can be made both accessible, challenging, and rewarding for all students. The authors champion using alternative ways of displaying and presenting information, optimizing access to tools and assistive technology if it is needed, and employing strategies for setting up a clear classroom platform in which information is easy to find and navigate. The classroom platform should also allow for the student to easily and regularly self-monitor and manage progress and assignments. Secondly, the authors recommend efforts to create greater engagement to minimize anxiety and help students push through any perceived barriers to learning French. This would include fostering collaboration and community in the classroom, modeling metacognitive tools to help students strategize and become more independent learners, promoting positive expectations and beliefs in the students, and generally acknowledging that all students learn differently and that everyone can learn French. Finally, the essay discusses articulating clear goals, scaffolding lessons and semesters to reuse and recycle materials, teaching active noticing of patterns and critical features, and discussing how each small part fits in a greater whole and how to maximize and generalize from what the students already know. |
