Sonica Spanish - a case study

Sonica Spanish is a software programme for teaching and learning about Spanish language. Designed to help teachers who are not Modern Foreign Language specialists bring Spanish teaching into their classroom, Sonica Spanish fully supports the National Languages Strategy and covers the learning outcomes of the Key Stage 2 QCA scheme of work for Spanish (published summer 2004). The activities are interactive, fun and motivational and range from using a dance mat and karaoke to arcade style games.

Most of the lessons have incorporated whole-class teaching, with the dance mat and karaoke being particularly popular with the pupils. The theory at Dereham St Nicholas Junior School is that if children get excited they want to learn. And the dance mat hits all the right buttons. According to Alan: "They love the Sonica dance mat. No other piece of software excites them as much. They are learning and having a great time."

Learning Spanish through Sonica delivers many additional benefits. Pupils at the school are already noting the grammatical differences between English and Spanish. According to Alan, Spanish is relatively easy for the children to learn, as the rules and spellings are consistent. They can see how straightforward it is compared to English. As a result, their confidence and desire to learn has increased tenfold.

Pupils' numeracy and literacy skills have also benefited. With many of the Sonica games being centered on numbers, children are using their mathematical skills without realising it. Alan Thompson commented:  "The programme enthuses them to want to know. Pupils rarely find adding and subtracting in a Maths lesson motivating. But doing so in Spanish as part of an arcade style game is incredibly exciting for pupils. They actually want to find out the answer."

Indeed, according to Alan, making the children forget that they are in a lesson is where the software excels. He has also noted a marked improvement in the confidence levels of the quieter children during Spanish lessons.

"They actually forget they are doing a subject and that's such an advantage. They are learning because they are playing. I have never seen something excite children as much as this. Many of my class now come to school with stories of how they are teaching it to their parents in the evening."

Sonica Spanish has created a real appetite for learning in Dereham St Nicholas Junior School. The children lucky enough to go on holiday to Spain come back with stories of how they chatted away to waiters or Spanish children and all of them are despairing of how slowly adults learn the lingo! One pupil's parents, for instance, were so impressed by her grasp of Spanish that they enrolled at a local night school to support her by learning it themselves.

With the government's aim to have every primary school teaching a language by 2010, this can appear a daunting prospect for teachers who have none or very little experience of teaching a foreign language. Alan has found that Sonica Spanish has encouraged other teachers who don't speak a word of Spanish to take part in the club and learn alongside the children. Alan commented: "There are many teachers who may meet this initiative with resistance - after all, it's a whole new skill to learn. With Sonica Spanish, we have found that the pupils' excitement encourages the staff. It's a great place to start. It is easy to use and the amount of support that it gives to a non-specialist teacher is impressive."

Indeed, Helen Debbage, a non Spanish speaking colleague of Alan Thomspon now attends the club and she has recently started teaching Spanish in her classes with the help of Sonica Spanish. Both teachers find  the flexibility of Sonica Spanish and the range of activities condusive to a variety of teaching and learning  styles. Alan also currently runs a County Group for Norwich, helping teachers prepare to introduce language teaching in time for 2010. He also wants to start setting up links with Spanish schools to provide real life interaction for the pupils.

In terms of Sonica Spanish, Alan believes he has still only scratched the surface. Up until now he has been dipping into the activities in a scattergun approach. He now wants to focus on the Sonica family and has already thought of getting the children to write to the characters and create stories around them - again, using Spanish to build upon the children's literacy skills. For Alan, the next steps are just as exciting as they are for the children. He commented:

"I look forward to exploring the rest of the software and using it to build up the pupil's knowledge of the Spanish culture and language. There is so much to the software - it has been extremely well thought out. I am constantly finding new activities and can't see the children ever tiring of it".