Scaffolding Interpersonal Speaking in the World Language Classroom - Getting Your Students to Speak in the Target Language

I was recently reading a conversation (lurking really) on Twitter about getting students to use the target language and not sneak in English in one of those activities where they have to interview their classmates.  Soon after I did a similar activity with my fifth graders (they had a bingo sheet with different activities and they had to interview each other to find people who liked to do those things) and I realized that I had very little problems with this.

I only had a few students who tried goofing off but the majority of the students happily spoke Spanish while trying to interview their friends and get bingo and earn a sticker.

So why do they use the target language instead of reverting to English?


I scaffold the speaking practice. Students switch to English when using the target language becomes too onerous. Giving them something to reference makes them less likely to make that switch.

We practice our interpersonal conversations each class as part of our warm-up that I call Hola. This year I laminated large blank pieces of white paper and wrote the questions and sentence frames for each grade level. I throw those up on the white board during our Hola time so that if I have any new students or students who struggle they can use that as a guide. Heritage speakers and kiddos who have been in Spanish class longer don't need it as much. Because I used vis a vis markers I can add and subtract to this scaffolding as the year progresses.

Anchor charts and language ladders are another of my favorite ways to help students use more of the target language. This chart for hobbies shows students what answers look like at each level and then based on their goal for the year they can self-differentiate. I color code everything in my room by the Novice sub levels. Yellow is low, green is mid, and blue is high. They get excited when they get to blue (and so do I!)

I color code everything for the proficiency levels. Yellow-NL, Green - NM and Blue - NH

This language ladder from a few years ago helps them build up from a novice mid answer to a more novice high.

The visuals also help ME to stay 90% Target Language as well

Before we do any activity where they will be doing interpersonal speaking, I like to activate their prior knowledge by having the class generate a list of words and phrases that they could use. This gets them in a Yes I can kind of attitude and it gives students who need extra support something they can reference if they need to rather than slipping into English. If I do hear English all I have to do is point to the board. You can ask for volunteers or better yet use Rally Robin or Turn and Talk to have everyone thinking and talking before you write anything down on the board.

Student generated lists help activate prior knowledge and get them prepped for an interpersonal task

Other factors:

I give them a reason to speak in the target language. See my post on I can statements here. Stickers are an added incentive as are Si, Se Puede bubbles.

It's part of our routine. We practice EVERY class period so they are accustomed to speaking in the target language. I get some push back at the beginning of every year from older students new to the school but once they get used to the routine and realize they can use the scaffolding provided any resistance dies down.

Kagan structures like Hand Up, Pair Up or Mix, Pair, Share makes it less scary and fun for kids to speak in the target language. Read more here.

They're elementary students and don't have the inhibitions older students have. Just another reason I love teaching the littles!