Video teaches Spanish to elementary pupils

     By Tina Allen
     View staff writer
      Clark County elementary school pupils are on their way to knowing a second language through a Spanish video program the district first piloted in first-grade classrooms in 1993.
      "Espa–ol Para Ti" was developed by Elena Steele, the district's administrative specialist for foreign languages, after the School Board of Trustees decided they wanted Spanish implemented at the elementary level.
      District-wide assessments of the program, which has been incorporated into each grade level at all elementary schools one year at a time, have shown first-graders are retaining 82 percent of everything that is on the video, second-graders 80 percent and third-graders about 77 percent.
      In controlled teaching environments, assessments are showing the children are retaining between 85 to 90 percent of the material. This is the first year it is being used in fifth-grade classrooms.
      Because of its success, the program has since been purchased by National Textbook Contemporary and is now distributed nationwide. It recently sold $250,000 of copies to Atlanta schools.
      "When we did this video it was basically a dream," Steele said. "Will it work? Will it be good enough? Can we really teach kids foreign language through the media of television? If it's good, they will watch it. If it's fun, they will learn. There were all these ifs. But with the time of having teachers try it out at each grade level, we found out that yes, thank goodness it does work."
      Steele said research shows language acquisition that is brain compatible is best learned between birth and the age of 12. One of the reasons she said is because vocal chords are set at puberty, and children who learn before that are able to develop the proper pronunciation of sounds in the language.
      The children may be saying things that are very basic because the lessons are simple. However, Steele said: "What they can say, they say perfectly. We are getting all these kids prior to puberty, so whatever they can say in Spanish is flawless."
      Each week, pupils spend one hour watching the videos that have a "Sesame Street" nature to them, and participating in learning activities. In first and second grades, only oral language is used; in third grade, simple correspondence is introduced; and by fourth and fifth grades, pupils are reading and writing Spanish.
      "We need to be realistic. This one hour a week of videos over five years is not going to make them bilingual," Steele said, "but it will make them flexible and know learning a language can be fun. Language is a question of opportunity."
      She said learning a second language helps create a sense of multicultural excitement, and helps with cognitive development by increasing vocabulary and syntax. Spanish was chosen for the program because 75 percent of high school students are choosing it as an elective.
      "Of course if you continue it, then you become bilingual, and that's the goal," Steele said.
      Barbara Chidester, who teaches fifth grade at Stanford Elementary School, said her pupils are probably at a first-year high school Spanish level.
      "You can really hear a difference in the ones who have had it (all along)," Chidester said. "They sound very authentic."
      She said one of the most important benefits of her pupils learning Spanish is it allows them to communicate with native Spanish speakers in school who are learning English.
      Roxanne Gums, first-grade teacher at Lummis Elementary School, said "We've always had a boy or girl who has spoken the language and they act as the leader. It's been really positive for us."
      Gums said she is learning along with her pupils. A benefit of the video format, according to Steele, is that teachers do not have to know the language, which can be economically advantageous to the district, since it does not have to hire extra Spanish instructors.
      "If we had a teacher in each classroom, that would be best," Steele said. "But when you don't have those means you have to push that door ajar somehow. And `Espa–ol Para Ti' has done that."
      Both Chidester and Gums agreed the program is presented in a nonthreatening manner and does not overwhelm the pupils.
      The video stars Holly Johnson, who is a multicultural specialist in the district's Multicultural Education department.
      "She turned out to be a superb addition because she was so talented and so Romper Room," Steele said. "Whenever they see her, she's like this TV personality who is really real. She's a great, great teacher and she has such artistic qualities to her. She was just so animated that made every video really special for the kids.
      "I didn't want to be the teacher on the video because I came with my Spanish. And I wanted the kids to say, `She learned Spanish just like I have to.' So it was very important that the teacher on the screen was an American teacher that had learned her Spanish."
      Instead, Steele is the voice and life behind the puppets that co-star with Johnson. There is Rosco the Wolf, Dora the Cow, „ico the Toucan, Jorge the Giraffe, in addition to Leanne, Kipper and Winston, who are named after associates from KLVX-TV, Channel 10, which did the filming.
      "This program is one that depends on teachers," Steele said. "Without them, it wouldn't happen. So they are responsible for `Espa–ol Para Ti' being as good as it is and going as far as it has."