Skip to main content

Light Bulb Languages

One of the very best free sites for modern language teachers is Light Bulb Languages, formerly known as MFL Sunderland.  It offers over 4000 practical and accurate resources for French, German, Spanish and Italian. It is curated by Clare Seccombe who used to work in the secondary sector, but who is now a primary languages consultant and teacher. The resources are written by Clare and a  range of contributors.

The French section is divided into pages by the English and Welsh Key Stage system, from beginners up to advanced level.There are also separate pages for games and puzzles, interactive games, display, Christmas, starters and plenaries, thinking skills and sound files. The bulk of the resources are aimed at younger and intermediate learners, the A-level resources being relatively limited in scope.

The primary section is a real strength of the site. It contains a practical scheme of work with resources, a separate section of resources, podcasts with transcripts which complement the scheme of work and which can be used by teachers wishing to improve their skills). There are some really practical hands-on activities for young learners, including "mini books", cards to make, boardgames and dominoes to play. The powerpoints are clear and practical. There is a separate section about transition which is a key issue in England as primary languages become compulsory from September 2014.  I can foresee this being further developed with the new National Curriculum in mind.

The Key Stage 3 (age 11-14) section is divided into grammar, texts, audio-visual and worksheets/OHTs. Within the grammar sections past, present and future worksheets can be found, alongside a range of other simple grammar areas. Resources are largely Word docs with clear and practical exercises which would work very well with a range of aptitudes, though perhaps least well the very able.

The worksheet section is comprehensive and includes handouts on school, clothes, weather, numbers, places in town, shopping and daily routine, as well as resources specifically for revision. the large range of printouts should mean there is something to please most teachers.

The sound files page has a lengthy list of MP3 files and transcriptions or accompanying powerpoint presentations. The Display section includes learning mats, a powerpoint countdown clock, verb conjugations and lots more.

The Key Stage 4 resources are divided into the same categories as those in KS3. The grammar and text resources are generally more limited in range, although the audio-visual page has a goodish range of Word docs and powerpoints, plus a couple of podcasts. The best page has a lengthy list of worksheets, including a good number which I know from my own experience are very useful for exam and coursework (controlled assessment) preparation. This, along with the primary section, is another strength of the site. Once again, although the range of abilities targeted is wide, teachers of very able pupils might find some resources too easy.

Just to highlight one or two other pages mentioned earlier: the Christmas page is super, especially for younger learners, with handy wordsearches, mini-books, calendars and much more. Have a look if you don't know what a mini-book is. There is a useful page of classroom display resources and a super page of puzzles and games.

If I tell you that the range of Spanish resources is nearly as extensive and that you'll also find plenty of German materials, plus a smaller selection of Italian resources (mainly KS3), you'll have an idea of what a treasure trove this site is.The accompanying blog is here.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What is the natural order hypothesis?

The natural order hypothesis states that all learners acquire the grammatical structures of a language in roughly the same order. This applies to both first and second language acquisition. This order is not dependent on the ease with which a particular language feature can be taught; in English, some features, such as third-person "-s" ("he runs") are easy to teach in a classroom setting, but are not typically fully acquired until the later stages of language acquisition. The hypothesis was based on morpheme studies by Heidi Dulay and Marina Burt, which found that certain morphemes were predictably learned before others during the course of second language acquisition. The hypothesis was picked up by Stephen Krashen who incorporated it in his very well known input model of second language learning. Furthermore, according to the natural order hypothesis, the order of acquisition remains the same regardless of the teacher's explicit instruction; in other words,

What is skill acquisition theory?

For this post, I am drawing on a section from the excellent book by Rod Ellis and Natsuko Shintani called Exploring Language Pedagogy through Second Language Acquisition Research (Routledge, 2014). Skill acquisition is one of several competing theories of how we learn new languages. It’s a theory based on the idea that skilled behaviour in any area can become routinised and even automatic under certain conditions through repeated pairing of stimuli and responses. When put like that, it looks a bit like the behaviourist view of stimulus-response learning which went out of fashion from the late 1950s. Skill acquisition draws on John Anderson’s ACT theory, which he called a cognitivist stimulus-response theory. ACT stands for Adaptive Control of Thought.  ACT theory distinguishes declarative knowledge (knowledge of facts and concepts, such as the fact that adjectives agree) from procedural knowledge (knowing how to do things in certain situations, such as understand and speak a language).

La retraite à 60 ans

Suite à mon post récent sur les acquis sociaux..... L'âge légal de la retraite est une chose. Je voudrais bien savoir à quel âge les gens prennent leur retraite en pratique - l'âge réel de la retraite, si vous voulez. J'ai entendu prétendre qu'il y a peu de différence à cet égard entre la France et le Royaume-Uni. Manifestation à Marseille en 2008 pour le maintien de la retraite à 60 ans © AFP/Michel Gangne Six Français sur dix sont d’accord avec le PS qui défend la retraite à 60 ans (BVA) Cécile Quéguiner Plus de la moitié des Français jugent que le gouvernement a " tort de vouloir aller vite dans la réforme " et estiment que le PS a " raison de défendre l’âge légal de départ en retraite à 60 ans ". Résultat d’un sondage BVA/Absoluce pour Les Échos et France Info , paru ce matin. Une majorité de Français (58%) estiment que la position du Parti socialiste , qui défend le maintien de l’âge légal de départ à la retraite à 60 ans,