Improving Language Ability In A Classroom: The Problems of Contextualizing Lessons

In our previous post, we explored how the lack of contextualisation is hurting language ability in Nigeria. Now, we will consider Vividly’s response to the problem.

We have agreed (more or less) that the solution to the lack of contextualization is simply to bring contextualisation to the classroom,

We will define contextualization as the process of creating lessons based on the real or imagined interests of students.

For instance, if you want to teach a student how to write letters, the lesson should be tied to something meaningful to them like a letter to a superhero. For students who want to become doctors, it could mean writing a letter to a patient detailing appointment times and schedules. Approaching lessons this way is key to getting the desired engagement and progress from students.

However, the process of contextualizing lessons is layered, and there are many challenges to consider. But we will consider just two challenges.

They are:

1. The Discrepancy in Interests and Experiences in A Classroom
2. The Lack of Exposure

The Discrepancy in Interests and Experience in A Classroom

Vividly is a non-profit organization working on adapting language curriculums to help students learn better. The goal is to adapt the curriculum to fit a classroom’s specific average needs and learner abilities.

Here’s a diagram of what that can mean. The diagram below shows the discrepancy in abilities and interests between the two classes.

Since classroom X’s abilities and interests differ from Y’s, the latter’s communicative tasks and contents would differ from the former.

Many educators generally agree that communicative tasks should be:

1. Based on the existing interests of the students (for example, camping trips and Christmas parties)
2. Based on new experiences the teacher wants them to learn about (for example, a North Pole expedition and a climb to Mount Everest)

Hence, the tasks given to students in both classes must be based on their individual interests, abilities and new experiences in order to enrich their learning — as long as said new experiences are not too remote.

However, with students having a diverse range of skills and interests in a classroom, a homogeneous approach to contextualization may backfire. A way to address this is to:

• Conduct a baseline assessment test to check for the literacy levels of the class and on an individual basis
• Collect a survey of interests from the students and then adapt lessons to reflect collated interests. Some interests will be shared by many others (out of a class of 50 students, ten may want to be doctors) so they will eventually be just a few groups of interests overall.

This way, the heterogeneous nature of the class is harnessed. If lessons are designed to reflect the interests of every student, it would mean that each student will learn new interests — but not just any interests — the interests of their peers.

It is basically a simulated and healthy peer pressure, or socialization, which is good as some psychologists believe that socialization is the main driver of language learning.

The Lack of Exposure

Less privileged kids in Nigeria have significantly limited interests than their rich/middle-class counterparts as many students from low-income backgrounds do not have the luxury of excursions, family trips, TVs, or books. This means they are deprived of the vast repertoire of knowledge these outlets can afford.

In short, apart from the natural world, the school is probably their predominant source of information.

The lack of exposure, however, means that the teacher actively has to teach students based on limited interests and can only maybe introduce new ones (cautiously).

This poses significant challenges to the teacher, such as time constraints and lack of resources. It is exhausting being the sole provider of education, after all.

Contextualizing lessons is already a difficult task to undergo, but it may become an even more difficult task due to the lack of learning opportunities outside the classroom. This problem actually requires an entirely different conversation on income levels.

Frankly, teachers are not paid enough to care about this. Therefore, in future articles, we will discuss ways to ease the process of contextualization, especially for a large group like a class of fifty students.

Recap

In this article, we explored the challenges of contextualization. We discussed challenges such as discrepancy in interests, lack of exposure, and time constraints. In the next article, we will carefully lay out our idea of the path to contextualization.

Kindly read the previous post by clicking on this link, and kindly follow us and sign up for newsletters!

See you in the next article next week Sunday.