This will be the last post (sad face) in this riveting series about Spanish and how we as human beings learn other languages. I know that if you’ve made it this far, you must absolutely be enthralled by the amazing information that I have collected. I applaud and commend you for being such a dedicated reader. God bless you.
This last post outlines a study conducted in which students partook in “Orbital Experiences”, or quasi-socratic small groups where students research a topic and present in Spanish. The study looked into comfort levels and fluency of students who were able to learn about topics they so desired.
I bid you all adieu, for now.
When it comes to the classroom, there are a variety of different ways that a teacher may approach teaching a foreign language. As mentioned above, the Nebraska Frameworks provide guidelines for teachers and goals, but they do not say exactly how a teacher has to go about running their classroom. However, there appears to be something to a classroom procedure known as the “Orbital Experience”. For those who don’t know, the Orbital Experience is a methodology of teaching a foreign language, in this scientific study, it was a Spanish class (Gomez, et. al). The study was conducted in a Spanish class of 41 students, so that makes it a comparable class size to those at Lincoln Lutheran (around 25-30 students). The way an orbital experience works is like this: students break off into small groups, around five or six students. Each is allowed to research a topic they are interested in or passionate about and then presents to their small groups in Spanish.
The study itself outlines in particular the story of a baseball player at the high school where the Orbital Experiences take place. It details how he tells “in halting Spanish” shares the highlight of his baseball career: pitching a no hitter. Despite the impressiveness of this feat, he still seems “shy and sheepish” (Gomez, et. al). The study continues to outline how only one person at his group was aware of the feat, but that everyone congratulated him on his accomplishment and the student later went on to say how it made him feel good that other people took an interest in what he did.
In fact, that is one of the main goals of an Orbital Experience- to provide a sense of community and accomplishment (Gomez, et. al). A survey was presented to the students after the study was done to help with data analysis. Overwhelmingly, the students gave positive feedback about the experience. Several students noted how “many of their peers’ Spanish skills improved from the first to second round of Orbitals.” And many others noted how it was easy to continue talking in Spanish because it was a topic that they were passionate about (Gomez, et. al). Also, the data analysis at the end of the study found that the scope of topics increased from one round of Orbitals to the next, pointing to a growing sense of comfortableness and mastery of Spanish.
Now, this isn’t to say that Lincoln Lutheran needs to exactly copy the Orbital Experience step-by-step. But, it is what is at the heart of the Orbital Experience that is really important. The study proved that by giving students the ability to learn and present about what they wanted to, learning was increased as well as fluency. Going forward, this is something that could easily apply to all classes, because the study shows that the more say a student has in his or her learning, the more they will benefit.
All-in-all, SLA is no easy feat, nor is everyone meant to be bilingual or multilingual- much like how not everyone is meant to be a carpenter, an accountant, or any of the multitude of professions and hobbies available to people. But, the world is globalizing and becoming connected. The plane, Internet, and countless other inventions have brought the world closer together. It is because of this, providing strong SLA class environments and stressing the importance of SLA is a necessary task that must be undertook to help ensure the quality of the international and local community.
Gomez, Diane, Joan Gujarati, and Rick Heckendorn. “The Orbital Experience: Building Community Through Communication And Connections In High School Spanish Classes.” American Secondary Education 41.1 (2012): 96. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 9 Mar. 2016.
Nolan Schad 