High Life: A WEEKLY FORUM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS : Where Dialogue Flows Fluently : Classroom: Mimicking the foreign language teacher is history. Students now are engaged in a conversational atmosphere.

In years past, a student could walk into a Spanish class, sit down and take notes for an hour and leave without having uttered a word. And this would have been acceptable to the instructor.

For students expecting that experience, a foray into Joan McGinnis’ Spanish class at Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton is a shock to the system.

The litany of conjugated verbs and adjectives en espanol can fairly knock them over. And students better pay attention; she asks questions.

Foreign language classes are not what they used to be.

Grammar and writing once provided the bulk of foreign language class curriculum. Then the focus shifted, and students began to vocalize by memorizing and regurgitating dialogues, but this attempt to increase students’ conversational abilities failed miserably.

“The students parroted what they heard, but they didn’t know what the individual words meant,” McGinnis said. “It became nonsensical.”

As a result, “we have a whole generation of adults who took foreign language in high school and can’t speak the language,” said Sunny Hills German teacher Rick Schuelke. “They can, however, repeat the dialogues they learned.”

Today, foreign language teachers’ primary goals have shifted from enabling students to write in perfect grammar to involving the students in a conversational classroom atmosphere and exposing them to a new culture.

“Writing is the last thing you should learn,” McGinnis said. “You have to hear it, say it and see it before you can produce it. That gives you four chances to learn it.”

Getting the students to a proficiency level where they can comfortably speak a new language challenges teachers.

“To learn a foreign language, you need a comprehensive input--you have to be able to understand what’s being said,” Schuelke said. “That means we have to use more visuals and tactile things. There are more emotions involved and more commands and demonstrations used.”

This approach includes singing songs, playing games such as Simon Says and using props.

The objective is to get the students’ attention and to allow them to have contact with the language in an informal, pressure-free atmosphere.

“Stagnation is probably the worst thing for a foreign language class,” Schuelke said.

Large class size poses an additional challenge for teachers trying to get all the students involved.

“Dividing the class into groups gives more students the chance to get involved,” McGinnis said. “The students become more active, but the teacher has to continually monitor and organize.”

Much of what is discussed in the classroom covers cultural lifestyles.

“One of the major reasons for learning a foreign language is to understand cultural differences,” said French teacher Lynn Johnson.

Celebrating holidays in their traditional fashions, cooking and tasting foods and requiring student projects on different aspects of the culture are ways teachers enhance student’s awareness and promote understanding of different cultures.

Teachers at Sunny Hills also encourage students to participate through field trips to see foreign shows and performances and lunchtime activities such as playing Pictionary, watching movies and eating foreign foods.

Foreign language camps and student exchange programs offer students further opportunities to improve both not only their speaking skills, but also their familiarity with a strange culture.

“I think (such programs) are fantastic,” Johnson said. “They put the language into a realistic situation.”

This relatively new focus on conversational abilities and cultural awareness is occasionally hampered, however, by the ultimate objective of the class.

“Because we’re teaching (Advanced Placement) classes, we have to prepare students for the AP tests. The emphasis shifts, and grammar becomes much more important,” Schuelke said.

“I’d love to spend a lot of time on culture, but we don’t have much time,” McGinnis said. “If the students are headed for a grammar-based exam, then we go very heavy on grammar. We try to do whatever is ultimately going to be the best for the student.”