“For your homework, you will write a story about whatever you want and share it with your friends,” said my Thai teacher at the end of the three-hour long Thai class. I only understood this because he said “talk, friend, and write” in the same sentence. I had no idea what the word “share” was, but I figured out what he meant using context.

My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. Ajaan (the Thai instructor) knows how uncomfortable I am speaking in front of my classmates, let alone making complex sentences to articulate a full story. To top it off, it was only my second day in Thai Five. I was previously in Thai Three, an introduction to reading and writing, for two days before I requested to move. Imagine writing and reciting -at, -ab, and -ad nonsense words for three hours straight.

This was essentially what we were doing in Thai Three. I know for a fact that this would keep a six-year old busy for 3 and a half minutes. It was brutal.

I’m stubborn. Very stubborn. There was no way I was going back to that Thai Three room with my tail between my legs. There were destructive thoughts of dropping out; forfeiting the course fee and disappearing out of embarrassment.

Then it hit me; why not apply some of the strategies I use with my students to my own language learning?

Strategy 1: Dictionary/Translating

I could not imagine being in this advanced Thai course without my dictionary app. To put it into perspective, I would go from 90% phone battery to about 30% in a matter of two hours. That’s how crucial a dictionary is to my learning. Simply knowing what one word was in a sentence dramatically changed my understanding and gave meaning to our discussions. Being able to freely utilize my dictionary at my own discretion helped me put together missing pieces of the Thai language puzzle.

Classroom application of translating

Learning how to strategically use the dictionary was just as important as having it. If I looked up every unknown word that I heard or read, it would prevent me from focusing on other important skills like listening and speaking. However, the teacher should also provide opportunities for students to make connections with vocabulary using a mixture of scaffolds such as photos or video. For instance, when studying about Thai culture, we were shown photos and videos of a famous Thai umbrella manufacturer. Ajaan was able to reference the pictures when describing specific content related vocabulary.

Strategy 2: Visuals

It felt like a breath of fresh air when my teacher connected the occasional slideshow or Youtube video to elaborate on the topic we were studying. It was a different version of input than the typical stand – and – lecture format. I was able to use photographs to ask questions, gain clarification or reference vocabulary words that I heard. During one particular lesson, we were discussing different words related to car accidents (very specific, right?). Some words were either difficult to translate into English or had no English translation at all.

On a particular group of words related to where exactly a car would hit another car in an accident. If a car hits you from behind, the side, the corner, or the front, different words were used. Ajaan used on the spot illustrations to support us in understanding the vocabulary. However, there were also days where most of the interactions I had with Thai were all done orally in lecture, and those days were exhausting.

Classroom application of visuals

Photos and videos are crucial to any classroom regardless of language. Having multiple sources of input decreases the cognitive burden of learning, well, anything! Relying on only one source of input (lectures, for instance) can be daunting for the language learner. Embedding videos and photos throughout classroom lessons can help break up the learning process.

Strategy 3: Student agency

“You will share your story with the other students on Monday”, Ajaan explained as he handed out a blank double-sided sheet of lined paper. I appreciated the open-ended format of the assignment, but a blank piece of lined paper simply did not inspire me to write. So, I asked myself, “What do I need to do this writing assignment?”, and decided to attach pictures of a recent trip to the lake with my husband to accompany my text. Not only did the photos help by providing me images to reference, but it gave me the agency to make connections to a personal experience.

Classroom application of agency

Connecting personal experiences to my learning helped support my thinking as a student. Some students in my class had the language to come up with a fictional narrative with characters and a developed plot. I, on the other hand, needed some visual support to help scaffold language use.

My particular story involved me and my husband going for a picnic along a lake, so I was able to articulate these ideas through my photographs rather than creating something from scratch. Providing students agency to tackle reading and writing assignments in ways that are meaningful to them (and supporting them when needed) can make a daunting language task much more manageable while still addressing curriculum and standards.

Strategy 4 Graphic Organizers and Home Language

When starting a complex writing assignment like the one I mentioned above, graphic organizers were a lifesaver. We weren’t provided organizers during class, so I went through my personal ELL toolbox to find my own. Organizing my thoughts in English first helped me understand the pieces I needed in Thai.

I wrote out all of the verbs, nouns, and grammatical structures that I needed in English, circled the ones I knew how to articulate in Thai, and did my best to translate the rest. Afterwards, I printed photos of our trip and organized them chronologically.

Once I mapped out the story, I started writing with the words I gathered beforehand as my “cheat sheet”. This helped me organize my thoughts as well as provide scaffolding to meet my language needs. It hit that “sweet spot” of difficulty level as well; I was able to use familiar language, and I learned new language in the process.

Classroom application of graphic organizers and home language

When addressing any standard, providing strategic access to graphic organizers is a way to make content more accessible to students. Incorporating students’ first language takes this a step further. Language learners are more than likely thinking in their first language, so educators can activate the knowledge they have of the topic in their first language to start developing the content in English. Students organizing their thoughts in their first language can help them literally translate their ideas in a second language.

Takeaway

Educators focus so much on content that it’s easy to forget the emotional energy required to learn another language. Scaffolding my own learning helped me realize how important it is in providing access to content, but also making language learning manageable and ENJOYABLE. When learning is enjoyable, students become more motivated and willing to take risks. During this Thai course, I became more much empathetic towards my students learning English as a foreign language. I encourage any classroom teacher to take a language course, whether it be online or in person, so they can share a similar experience.

Justin Garcia is an English Language Co-teacher in Chiang Mai International School in northern Thailand. He recently joined to Twitter and immediately found his tribe in the ELL community!