American students, unlike Europeans, are not prodded to learn foreign language, to incorporate it into their general knowledge and schooling. Therefore, at the time they do begin a formal study of it, it is a cumbersome and undesirable task.
Nevertheless, as I plunged into my new career as a teacher of foreign languages, I exhibited the all powerful signs of the total emotional involvement of the first year teacher. My students were going to be fluent in Spanish by the end of the year, they were going to remember every single word they were to be taught, and, of course, they were all going to love the language.
In retrospect, I wonder how many of my goals were even attainable. The curriculum for first year middle school students is dry and unexciting, “enhanced” by the use of surplus high school A-LM (audio-lingual method) textbooks which present material and vocabulary in dull and disorderly fashion. These textbooks are also used by
all
students: low achieving, high achieving and average alike. I gradually came to the conclusion that the curriculum is geared toward nobody and, therefore, many changes were in order.
I decided to supplement the curriculum myself (without consulting a supervisor; everytime I introduced something I thought would be helpful to my students, I was met with opposition on several fronts—“they have to learn what we gave you in the curriculum guide,” or “what are they going to do with that!?”).
One day, I began a discussion with my top group on literature. The discussion, very appropriately in a Spanish class, was eventually to lead to the subject of Don Quixote, the Man of La Mancha. We talked briefly about Cervantes and his times by studying general background information. I had intended to just tell my students about this “crazy guy” named Don Quixote, a fictional character of Cervantes’ who thought he was a knight errant and went around Spain being chivalrous, but I was surprised by what actually ensued.
The students wanted to know more, such as, “what things did he do?” and “how did he get crazy?” Also, they wanted to know how Cervantes managed to write about something like this back in a time that we think of as being full of literary lace and finery.
I hesitated a moment, thinking about the consequences of, once again, introducing something new and “uncalled for” into THE curriculum. At the same time, however, I was torn within at the thought of that promised “teacher wriggle room” which was supposed to be all my own space when that door was closed. So, I looked around at my students, people within whom I had sparked an interest, developed a rapport, and respected for their incredible wit, enthusiasm and general thirst for knowledge and asked, “How would you like me to get an English version of Don Quixote into our class and read some of it to you?” (There was no way I could order a set for the whole class, and besides, it was all supposed to be done in secret). My question was met with war whooping approval; that very afternoon I was up in our school library to check over the various editions and the translations it held, and to choose which one would best suit my students. (Usually, when
Don Quixote
is translated, the language either remains a very flowery kind of English or else it is simplified into a Golden Book prose.) I chose one (
The Adventures of Don Quixote
, translated by Dominick Daly, MacMillan Company, 1957) that I felt would be simple enough for me to edit as I went along, and interesting enough to retain some of Cervantes’ style.
One very important factor in my introducing this material was that it was going to be used for enjoyment—I was not so interested in having my students be familiar with all details of
Don Quixote
as I was in having them make its acquaintance. I felt that the middle school curriculum gave them very little to enjoy ( especially those students who had been put into a foreign language class but who could not in any way grasp the concept of something as basic to learning language as conjugating a verb).
Don Quixote
was going to be a versatile supplement in all levels of achievement:
-
1.
low achieving students
—These students were going to be given a break from the “drudgery” of grammar. They had poor speaking and writing patterns in English; I couldn’t possibly expect that foreign language would be something that would come easily and naturally to them. Everything they learned had to be reduced either to total overt relevance or fundamental forms in order to be absorbed. Many of them resented being placed in the class in the first place and were rebellious, refusing to see where foreign language would become incorporated into their life pattern. Quite honestly, I couldn’t argue with them. I had found that these students loved simple crossword puzzles and labeling pictures, and that, I decided, was how I would present this unit to them.
-
2.
average achieving students
—The attitude in this group was somewhat mixed; some were average students that tried hard, and others were average students who did the minimal of work in order to get by with a C average. Members of that second group also failed to see the significance in learning foreign language and were perfectly content to fail something that was superfluous to their usually familiar program of study. With these students, one can appeal to their egos by convincing them that with some effort, minimal even, they can acquire at least an appreciation for foreign language. This group had been able to comprehend most grammatical structure, so their study of
Don Quixote
would be one where they could use the verbs and nouns they would learn to make up simple sentences describing the characters in the story in terms of their physical appearance and character traits.
-
3.
high achieving students
—With this group I “showed no mercy”. I set high standards for them, since I had found their knowledge and abilities so superior as to present
me
with a challenge to teach. As I mentioned earlier, this group is the reason that I knew the curriculum needed supplementation—they were bored and wanted to know more, they wanted to know where the Spanish language ranked among the languages of the world—they were asking for exposure to something that would enhance their knowledge of foreign language study.
These are the students who will elect foreign language to study by choice in later schooling because they know that foreign language study enhances their vocabulary, knowledge, and general experience. They know that being bi-lingual makes it easier to obtain high positions in careers that they will choose.
High school Spanish includes learning about
Don Quixote
and Cervantes in some depth (a condensed version is read in Spanish). I feel it is an important thing for students to know about it sooner. (I had never heard about
Don Quixote
before I studied the Spanish version, and I feel that I missed a lot because it was dealt with purely as a story.) I can teach
Don Quixote
to the high achieving group as a sample of great literary work, a contribution to world literature, and I can touch upon its satirical significance.
