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Welcome to the Target Language wiki!
One of the most important things a world language teacher can do to develop their students' communicative proficiency is to immerse them in that language to the fullest extent possible. It is important to model authentic communication so that they can begin to communicate themselves at their stage of language development.

This means we need to make the effort to use the target language as our mode of communication with our students: in conversation, inputting new vocabulary and concepts (yes, even grammar!), practice, assessment and as much possible outside of your classroom.

So it's essential that we use target language with our students from Day 1 of Level 1. This can certainly be challenging, but not impossible. Think of it as a journey.

When I began my own journey to become a target language teacher, it was a gradual, incremental process that took about 5 years to complete, but the results were instantly apparent as students moved through my program and I would never do it any other way! Start with steps that feel manageable to you and continue to challenge yourself in small chunks.

Listed below are links to the presentations that I have done for a variety of conferences on training yourself to increase your use of Target Language. Please use them as resources for your own journey.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me:

clanphere@natomas.k12.ca.us

Christine Lanphere ACTFL 2007 National Language Teacher of the Year Natomas High School, Sacramento, CA

To learn more about the ACTFL National Language Teacher of the Year:

http://www.actfl.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3500