Parallel texts as a self-learning tool
Plenty has been written about the benefits for motivated language learners of using parallel texts to help learn a language. (Do a quick google search and you’ll see.)
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They allow users to access texts beyond their level.
Readers can read an L2 text and have constant recourse to an L1 equivalent so that they can check that they are understanding what they are reading.
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They allow users to directly compare the L1 and the L2, which helps promote ‘noticing’.
The ability to compare the way vocab and structures are formed and combined in the L2 with reference to the L1 equivalent promotes this noticing of differences which may not happen if students only had access to the L2 text.
Parallel texts can indeed be a powerful tool, if used by motivated language learners who really are using the time with the texts to understand how the L2 works, forming hypotheses and checking and confirming that they understand correctly what is happening with the language.
I’ve come across stories written in 2 languages (one page per language) and they are really good if you are interested in seeing how different phrases etc. are expressed in each language (i.e. if you’re something of a language geek).
Unfortunately, the type of learner mentioned above is something of a rarity, especially in the typical secondary / high school languages classroom, with students who have varying levels of ability, motivation and enthusiasm.
The problem with parallel texts (for reading only) in class
Consider the following responses to the bullet points above:
- Unless the student is the sort of motivated language learner mentioned above, what incentive is there for them to engage with the L2 text if they can get all the meaning they need from the L1 text? To what extent can they really be said to be accessing the L2 text?
- Unless the student is the sort of motivated language learner mentioned above, how much noticing is going to happen? How can noticing happen without the need to engage with the L2 text?
Getting students to read parallel texts isn't enough by itself in the typical languages classroom. Something else is needed. And that something else, in my opinion, is some form of activity that requires the student to engage with the L2 version (i.e. the target language version) of the text.
Parallel texts + interactive language practice activities
A great way of getting students to engage with the meaning and structures of an L2 text is via text reconstruction activities, which can take a number of forms (e.g. gap-filling, reordering words, reordering chunks or sections of text, rebuilding the original text via typing / spelling, playing games with bits of text, etc.), and which are at the heart of the TextActivities platform.
Text reconstruction by itself (i.e. without a parallel text) requires students to use their understanding of the language in the text -- structural knowledge (grammatical awareness), context clues, etc. -- to rebuild the original text. These sorts of activities can be extremely valuable in their own right, and they can even be performed collaboratively, with students discussing how to put the text together, how to fill gaps, spelling choices, etc. They're a great way of getting students thinking about how the language works.
Add a parallel text, however, and you turn these activities into sort of scaffolded translation activities rather than pure reconstruction activities. The parallel texts are there to perform the following crucial roles:
- to provide structure: students know in what order the L2 text should appear
- to provide or reinforce meaning: students know what the L2 text means
- to promote noticing: the text reconstruction activities require the student to rebuild the L2 text (segment by segment, chunk by chunk, word by word, letter by letter, filling gaps, etc). This means they are constantly thinking about how the next bit of L2 text should look with reference to the L1 text. This constant comparison is what helps to promote noticing.
Parallel texts + text reconstruction with model L2 texts
In this blog post I discussed various text types often used in language teaching and explained how, when used with model texts, text reconstruction activities can be a great way to help develop students' productive skills.
By model texts I mean texts containing language most of which we would like to find its way into students' (productive) linguistic repertoire, language that students can internalise and use or adapt to create their own spoken or written "output".
Those who use a "parallel text knowledge organiser" approach to teaching languages will be familiar with the concept. Core vocab and structures are exemplified via a model L2 text broken down into sections and translated into the L1 so that students can see how different parts of the L1 and L2 texts relate to each other (see my references to noticing above).
Providing multiple language practice activities that get students engaging with a model L2 text with reference to the L1 (with all of the benefits mentioned above) not only provides students with tons of reading practice, via multiple repetitions and exposure to the same language in slightly different contexts (and listening too if you add text-to-speech audio to the mix), it also helps students to develop their productive skills. This is especially true of writing, since many activities require students to write out the model text with varying levels of scaffolding, but arguably you will be developing your students' ability to speak more accurately and with more confidence in the L2 too.
Some live example activities for you to try
Below you will find links to a selection of interactive text reconstruction activities based on a short text in French which practises some key daily routine vocab in the perfect tense (passé composé).
Game activites (e.g. Football, Invaders, 3 in a row) are not shown here as they work best without a parallel text. Bear in mind also that you have a whole range of vocab activities available in addition to the text reconstruction activities featured in this post.
Multi-choice
Available in 3 versions (1 in 3, 1 in 4, 1 in 6). Image above shows 1 in 4, without TTS (text to speech). Students click on the next correct block for each section until they have rebuilt the text.
>> 1 in 4 dictranslation (dictation / translation combined)
Jigsaw rebuild
Available in several versions (6, 8, 12, 18 or 24 tiles). Image above shows 12 tiles, with TTS. Students click on the blocks in the correct order to rebuild the text.
>> Jigsaw rebuild (12) translation
>> Jigsaw rebuild (12) dictranslation
Million
Available with or without TTS. Image shows version without. For each of the 15 sections, students click on the correct one of the 4 provided. They need to get all 15 correct without making any mistakes to complete the activity.
Word by word
Available in 3 versions: word by word, 2 by 2 words, 3 by 3 words. Image shows 2 by 2 words, without TTS. Students rebuild the text by clicking each time on the correct word(s).
Gap-fill
Generated automatically with a random selection of words, but you can additionally create a user-defined gap-fill based on your own selection of words. Image shows user-defined version, with TTS. Students fill the gaps in the text by clicking on the correct word from the word list. Students can click into the gaps to change the current gap. For assignments (for the random version), you can specify what percentage of the text is affected, which determines the total number of clicks required to complete the activity.
Find the gap
Available with or without TTS. Image shows version without TTS. For each section, students decide where there is a word missing, then they select one of the 4 options to fill the gap.
>> Find the gap dictranslation (since TTS attempts to play automatically when you load the page, you will be asked to OK the use of text-to-speech in your browser)
Space
Available with or without TTS. Image shows version with TTS. Students click into the text block to separate the words to recreate each section of the text. For assignments, you can specify what percentage of each section is affected, which determines the total number of clicks required to complete the activity.
>> Space dictranslation (since TTS attempts to play automatically when you load the page, you will be asked to OK the use of text-to-speech in your browser)
Jumbled words
Available with or without TTS. Image shows version without TTS. Students click on the words in the correct order to rebuild each section of the text.
>> Jumbled words dictranslation (since TTS attempts to play automatically when you load the page, you will be asked to OK the use of text-to-speech in your browser)
No vowels
Available with or without TTS. Image shows version with TTS. Students rebuild each section of the text by typing the missing vowels or clicking on the vowel buttons on the screen. For assignments, you can specify what percentage of each section is affected, which determines the total number of interactions required to complete the activity.
>> No vowels dictranslation (since TTS attempts to play automatically when you load the page, you will be asked to OK the use of text-to-speech in your browser)
No consonants
Available with or without TTS. Image shows version without TTS. Students rebuild each section of the text by typing the missing consonants. For assignments, you can specify what percentage of each section is affected, which determines the total number of interactions required to complete the activity.
>> No consonants dictranslation (since TTS attempts to play automatically when you load the page, you will be asked to OK the use of text-to-speech in your browser)
50:50
Available with or without TTS. Image shows version with TTS. Students rebuild each section of the text by typing the missing letters. For assignments, you can specify what percentage of each section is affected, which determines the total number of interactions required to complete the activity.
>> 50:50 dictranslation (since TTS attempts to play automatically when you load the page, you will be asked to OK the use of text-to-speech in your browser)
Initials
Available with or without TTS. Image shows version without TTS. Students rebuild each section of the text by typing the missing letters, using the inital letters to help them. For assignments, you can specify what percentage of each section is affected, which determines the total number of interactions required to complete the activity.
>> Initials dictranslation (since TTS attempts to play automatically when you load the page, you will be asked to OK the use of text-to-speech in your browser)
Word shapes
Available with or without TTS. Image shows version with TTS. Students rebuild each section of the text by typing the missing letters, using the word shapes to help them. For assignments, you can specify what percentage of each section is affected, which determines the total number of interactions required to complete the activity.
>> Word shapes dictranslation (since TTS attempts to play automatically when you load the page, you will be asked to OK the use of text-to-speech in your browser)
Anagrams
Available with or without TTS. Image shows version without TTS. Students rebuild each section of the text by clicking the letters of each word in the correct order. For assignments, you can specify what percentage of each section is affected, which determines the total number of interactions required to complete the activity.
>> Anagrams dictranslation (since TTS attempts to play automatically when you load the page, you will be asked to OK the use of text-to-speech in your browser)
Hope you find this useful :0)