As a teacher who transitioned from using long, decontextualized vocabulary lists to incorporating Comprehensible Input (CI), I’ve seen firsthand how essential CI is for effective language teaching. While its effectiveness is well-established, many myths still persist about how to use it and how well it works. Let’s clear up some of those misconceptions!
You Have to Be Silly to Teach With CI
Teaching with CI doesn’t require over-the-top theatrics, funny costumes, or constant humor to keep students engaged. While these strategies work for some educators, they are not essential for CI. The real power of CI lies in making language understandable and meaningful. You can use stories, visuals, and real-world connections in a calm, professional manner and still engages your students.
CI Is “Unstructured” or Lacks Rigor
There is a misconception that CI lacks the structure and rigor of traditional grammar-based instruction. However, CI is supported by solid research in second-language acquisition and can be as structured as you design it to be. The difference lies in how students acquire grammar: naturally over time through meaningful exposure, rather than isolated drills. Clear objectives and assessments can still be integrated while using CI.
CI Is Only for Teaching Basic or “Fun” Topics
Another common misconception is that CI is only effective for teaching simple vocabulary like colors, animals, or food. In reality, CI can be used to teach complex and meaningful topics. Students can explore history, geography, cultural traditions, and even science through CI methods. CI doesn’t limit what students learn; it expands their ability to engage with important topics in the target language.
CI Is All About Speaking Slowly
While slowing down your speech is a part of making input comprehensible, it’s not the whole picture. CI also involves using gestures, visuals, repetition, and context to ensure students understand. The goal isn’t just to simplify; it’s to make the language rich and engaging while still being accessible to your students.
You Need a Deskless Classroom for CI to Work
Nope! You can absolutely use CI with desks or tables.While moving around and engaging students is important, your classroom setup doesn’t have to be desk-free. What matters most is that your teaching is interactive and engaging—whether students are sitting at desks, or beanbags.
CI Takes Too Much Time to Plan
While incorporating CI might feel effortful at first, it becomes second nature with practice. Stories, visuals, and realia often work across multiple lessons, reducing the need for constant reinvention. Additionally, the deep engagement from students often leads to more efficient learning, saving time in the long run.
CI Doesn’t Promote Speaking Skills
Some worry that focusing on input neglects output, particularly speaking. However, research shows that listening and reading comprehension precede speaking ability. When students are ready, they begin producing language naturally, often with more accuracy and confidence due to the strong foundation built through CI.
CI Promotes the Use of English in the Classroom
This myth assumes CI relies on English, but that’s not true. CI teachers use context, gestures, visuals, and repetition to make the target language comprehensible. While occasional minimal translation can help with tricky concepts, the focus remains on maximizing input in the target language.
Switching to Comprehensible Input (CI) has made my teaching more effective and engaging. Despite some misconceptions, CI is flexible and supports natural language learning. It fits any teaching style while keeping lessons meaningful and structured. By making language understandable, we help students confidently use it in real-life situations. Adopting CI means choosing a more impactful approach to language teaching.
The Question of the Day, or La pregunta del día in Spanish, is a low-key strategy that engages students from the beginning of class and invites them to use the target language right away. You don’t really need much—start the class by projecting an image or asking a question, and invite your students to engage with it. This is the first thing your students will see when you start the class!
Why Use the Question of the Day?
The “Question of the Day” works across all proficiency levels and can be easily modified to your students’ language abilities. For beginners, questions can center around yes/no answers, personal preferences, or familiar topics. For more advanced students, you can introduce open-ended questions that require more complex responses and challenge students to use new vocabulary and grammar structures.
To implement the “Question of the Day,” start by displaying a question in the target language, such as “¿Cuál es tu comida favorita?” or “¿Qué hiciste el fin de semana?”. Give students a few minutes to think and share their answers with a partner or small group, encouraging peer communication in a low-pressure setting. Then, have a few students share with the class.
Quick Tips to Incorporate “The Question of the Day”
Make sure the questions are at your students’ proficiency level: For novice learners, stick to simple, familiar vocabulary. For more advanced learners, challenge them with questions requiring more descriptive or complex answers.
Use Visuals for Support: Support comprehension by using pictures, flashcards, or even gestures.
Relate the questions to the current lesson content: Where possible, connect the “Question of the Day” to the lesson’s topic. For example, if you’re teaching animal vocabulary, you could start with, “¿Cuál es tu animal favorito?” (What is your favorite animal?) to provide relevant context. Similarly, if you’re using a Clipchat or telling a story, base your question on it.
PQA (Personalized Questions and Answers) is a wonderful teaching technique to use with any level, but especially with novice levels. As its name indicates, PQA involves personalizing language by asking questions to your students. This is a great way to connect the language directly with your students’ experiences. PQA is also valuable for teachers to get to know their students and for building classroom community; it can be used at any time, even as a quick follow-up activity. The best thing about PQA is that you don’t need materials to start!
Personalized Questions and Answers (PQA) is an easy way to engage students with questions connected to their students’ lives and interests.
Here’s how it might unfold:
Starting with a Question: The teacher asks a simple, personalized question in the target language, such as “¿Tienes una mascota?” (Do you have a pet?).
Student Responses: Students answer according to their experience. Responses might be as simple as “Sí” (Yes) or more detailed like “Tengo un perro” (I have a dog).
Follow-Up Questions: The teacher asks follow-up questions to encourage further conversation. For example, “¿Cómo se llama tu perro?” (What’s your dog’s name?) or “¿De qué color es tu perro?” (What color is your dog?).
Engaging the Class: As the conversation continues, the teacher may direct questions to other students to keep the whole class involved. “¿A quién más le gustan los perros?” (Who else likes dogs?) “¿Quién tiene un perro”? (Who else has a dog?).
Use of Visuals and Gestures: The teacher might use pictures or gestures to help clarify vocabulary or concepts, especially for novice learners. I specially like having flashcards for every questions (like the one seen in the picture below).
Repetition and Reinforcement: The teacher repeats key phrases or vocabulary throughout the conversation to help reinforce language in a natural context.
Encouragement: Students are encouraged to participate, even if their responses are as simple as a single word or a basic sentence.
Movement and Engagement: In younger classes, the teacher might add actions or games to accompany the questions, keeping energy levels high and the learning interactive.
You can complement this activity by documenting the responses of the student being interviewed. Later, you can share the results with the class and ask questions about that student. This allows the activity to shift from using first-person language to third-person, all within a meaningful context.
Personalized Questions and Answers (PQA) creates a learning environment where students can practice language in real-life situations.
I recently came across a post by the Comprehensible Input Classroom featuring a special guest,Benjamin Tinsley, discussing Map Talks. I love how he suggested having a script ready for the Map Talk. Although I’ve been using Google Earth™ for this purpose with my students, I never considered providing a script to guide our conversation. Typically, I engage my students in quick Map Talks, prompting them to guess temperatures in different parts of the world. Following their guesses, we virtually explore pre-selected locations to ensure the images spark curiosity among my elementary students.
Benjamin recommends changing the language to the target language in Google Maps™ by clicking on the three lines, then selecting the target language. Ben also recommends starting with your school community first if it’s your first Map Talk. I find this genius! I encourage you to check out Benjamin’s Map Talk and explore his blog for more insights and ideas to bring to your classes. Although he teaches high school French, much of what he shares can be adapted for different grades and proficiency levels.
When using Google Maps™, you can explore different layers to view the map. I personally love using the Global View and Satellite map types because, in my opinion, they provide more details.
After completing your community-focused Map Talk, consider broadening your horizons. I extend an invitation to explore Cali, Colombia—a city nestled between breathtaking mountains. Here are some of the questions you might ask during your Map Talk:
Vamos a visitar Colombia.
Colombia está en América del Sur.
La capital de Colombia es Bogotá.
Los colores de la bandera de Colombia son el amarillo, el azul y el rojo.
El idioma oficial de Colombia es el español.
Colombia celebra su independencia el 20 de julio.
En Colombia hay ciudades grandes y pueblos pequeños.
Una ciudad importante en Colombia es Cali.
Cali está en el suroccidente de Colombia.
Cali es una ciudad entre montañas.
Cali es famosa por la salsa. A muchas personas les gusta bailar salsa en Cali.
En Cali hay muchos lugares especiales: (these are some landmarks you can type in Google Maps and explore) El Museo del Oro de Cali, El Zoológico de Cali, la Biblioteca del Centenario, y el Barrio San Antonio.
You can also show the map and talk with your students about words they might already identify, and what things they can find in the city.
This has to be one of the most engaging activities that I have used with my early elementary students. With the support of technology, I have animated their drawings, and this has consistently surprised them each time we reach this point. I followed the steps below:
Asked my students to make a drawing of one character using a pencil. I also instructed them to trace them using a black pen and then add color.
Digitalized their drawings by taking pictures or scanning them.
Created a presentation using Canva, with one slide displaying the drawing and the next slide showcasing the animations.
During class, projected the presentation and asked the illustrator or owner of the picture some questions about it (name, favorite color, favorite animal, and fruit) to create their personalities. Typed their answers.
While in Canva, searched for pictures to support the answers.
Clicked “Present” on Canva, and read aloud the information about the character.
This activity has been great for asking questions and having my students respond to them. Since I only focus on one character per class, it provides repetition in a fun way. This requires low preparation since I only digitalize and animate one character before each class, taking about three minutes. It’s worth the giggles and joy!
The Affective Filter is one of Dr. Stephen Krashen’s hypotheses for language acquisition. It refers to the learner’s emotional state when learning a language. If a student is feeling stress during class, this could generate a mental block and cause them to feel overwhelmed, making the affective filter go high. The best approach for students’ acquisition process is to keep the affective filter low by fostering a positive and relaxed learning environment that motivates students to engage, stay motivated, and remain open to input.
Here are some suggestion to help keep that affective filter low:
Mistakes Are Ok!
Make sure your students understand that it is totally fine to make mistakes. When students make errors while communicating in the target language, it is best not to interrupt. Instead, as a teacher or instructor, engage with the students by modeling the correct way to express the idea. For example, if a student says, “This is a car blue,” the teacher would respond, “Yes, this is a blue car.” This approach ensures the student does not feel corrected and allows them to hear the correct form in context. Encouraging students to take risks in this way helps to keep the affective filter low.
Make Sure You are Using Comprehensible Language
Something that can quickly generate stress is a learner who doesn’t understand what’s being said to them. This will generate the affective filter to elevate. The best way for teachers to lower stress in the classroom is to always use comprehensible language and ensure that students understand the messages in the target language. It’s important to understand the proficiency level of our students, use visuals and body language to support the messages, as well as pause to check understanding
Games, Games And More Games!
Use non-competitive games. Participating in non-competitive games is an excellent way to minimize the affective filter, especially with activities such as memory games and bingo that involve vocabulary, phrases, or sentences from stories.These games don’t require a lot of preparation; some of them can even be created with your students. Games that incorporate movement are also great, such as Four Corners or A mí también. Total Physical Response (TPR)-based games, such as Follow the Leader, Simon Says, and Charades, work great too!
Stories
Stories are valuable tool for language teaching as they engage learners emotionally, provide contextual learning, expose them to natural language patterns, help them create emotional connections, and present a variety of language use. All these factors contribute to a positive learning environment with a lower affective filter. After telling or reading a story, you can extend it by having students engage in role-playing or acting out the narrative.
Less Is More!
When structuring lessons, consider the “less is more” approach to prevent overwhelming your students. Providing a manageable amount of new vocabulary and language structures helps maintain a low affective filter. Focus on quality over quantity, allowing students to thoroughly internalize the language before introducing new concepts. This contributes to a sense of achievement, reducing stress and anxiety for the learner.
An environment that promotes a low affective filter prompts learners to be more successful at acquiring a language!
