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Spanish Writing Proficiency: Visual Enhancement of Letter- Writing Assignments

Barbara Snyder
Jane DeBoer, Normandy High School, Parma, Ohio, Worthington High School, Worthington, Ohio

Subject: Languages
Grade: 9- 12

"At a cost of less than a dollar per student, typical snapshots taken by typical students can enhance foreign language writing assignments, turning them into a real communicative experience and dramatically increasing proficiency."

Purpose and Description of Project

Barbara Snyder and Jane DeBoer, Spanish teachers at two high schools 130 miles apart, involved their nine Spanish II classes (about 220 students) in a monthly pen pal program. The students exchanged letters written in Spanish along with snapshots of students and school activities.

The two teachers selected letter-writing activities because these allowed students to draw on their own personal experiences and gave additional meaning as the letters were sent and answers received. The exchange of snapshots, which began with the second batch of letters, was intended to enhance and give focus to the writing activities.

The overall goal of this project was to develop the students' writing proficiency in Spanish through "real" experiences rather than classroom exercises.

Activities

The focal activity was, of course, the letter writing. Pen pals were assigned at random and then the pairs exchanged eight letters at the rate of one a month. These letters were sent as written with copies kept for grading purposes. The entire process of receiving and reading pen pals' letters and writing, rewriting, and sending answering letters took about a month.

The picture-taking activities were carried out over a two-week period as the students took photos of each other. Each student took at least one photo, and the content of the next letters reflected the content of the snapshots and the picture-taking activities.

Another major activity in each school was a Spanish mini-unit on photography. Students learned vocabulary and idiomatic expressions for photography and photographic activities. The teachers also presented "cultural capsules dealing with different cultural values in the American and Hispanic perception and use of photography. "

The final activity was an exchange of visits by the two schools' Spanish II students.

Materials, Resources, and Expenses

Administrators and teachers at both schools provided support and cooperation. A Worthington photography teacher and a Normandy art teacher provided Snyder and DeBoer and their students with picture-taking tips, and many others helped.

Normandy students borrowed five Kodak cameras. The students shot six rolls of 24-exposure KODACOLOR II Film. Worthington students primarily used a student-donated Canon AE-1 although several students volunteered cameras and film. These students used four rolls of 36-exposure Kodak 35 mm film.

Outcomes and Adaptability

The students' lack of Spanish writing proficiency limited communication in the early letters. But the letter/snapshot project did increase proficiency in the long run, according to Snyder and DeBoer, who compared length and content of early and later letters. Writing tests given to the participating students as well as to similar, nonparticipating students showed improved communicative and linguistic skills among the former group. Spanish I students were already asking when they could have pen pals.

Snyder and DeBoer suggest it would be easy to replicate this project because most of the language activities used are adapted from normal foreign-language activities. The substitution of photos and letters for textbook-related visuals and content requires no major curricular changes; yet it adds a sense of reality to the students' studies that proved to be very motivating.

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