I did a very very simple experiment last week with my student Mustafa. Mustafa has taken three years of French in a traditional class (speaking “practice,” worksheets, projects, oral exams etc). He has done one year of French at my school but I am not sure where he has done his other two. He has taken two years of Spanish (with me), where all he gets is lots of comprehended input.
I asked Mustafa the same four questions in French, and then in Spanish. This is year 1 and year 2 vocab: high-frequency, and would be part of any beginning French or Spanish curriculum. These questions were unrehearsed, and the conversation was 100% spontaneous. Here is the video; comments follow.
What I noted was:
- Mustafa can spontaneously speak a TON of Spanish, and basically no French.
- He doesn’t understand at least two of the French questions.
- While there a few errors in his Spanish (eg me gusta comi galletas; hace nublado) it is fluent and 100% comprehensible. If he went to Mexico or Spain, he would have zero problems making himself understood.
- When he is speaking French– or trying to– you can see his eyes roll up. This shows he is consciously searching for words. He doesn’t do this in Spanish.
What I conclude is, first, C.I. works. By any standard, he’s crushing in Spanish and at best wobbly in French.
Second, C.I. is much more efficient than skill-building. He does three times as well in Spanish, having only had two-thirds of the instructional time.
Third, C.I. is a whole lot more fun than skill building. C.I. Spanish does not include
a. tedious “ask your partner the following five questions” (to which all kids already know the answers, and therefore chat in English) C.P.A.s
b. oral “exams” involving fake scenarios and role-play
c. worksheets (which don’t help people who can’t do them, and aren’t necessary for those who can)
d. writing revision, which is something that you need very advanced language to benefit from
e. self-reflection, goal-setting, portfolios or any other worthwhile things that become gimmicks in the language classroom
A parent once said to me that what she as a student wanted most from a class was a feeling of competence ie “I got this.” Mustafa’s got it.
t.p.r.s. q&a 
This is awesome!!!!! Are you sure you didn’t tell him not to answer in French! 😉😉🤣
It was totally unrehearsed. All i told him was, “I want to ask you four questions in French and then the same ones in SPanish.”
Is Mustafa taking Spanish now, and French was in the past? What’s the timeline? Is he currently taking French or only Spanish right now?
Hi Karte–
When this video was taken, he was just finishing his 2nd year of Spanish and his 3rd of French.