AIM (Accelerative Integrated Methodology) is a compete language-teaching system that uses the following strategies:
Gesture Approach: Through a kinesthetic technique called the gesture approach, the teacher is able to maintain all communication in the target language 100% of class time. No one is singled out, as all receive extensive practice continuously—a wonderful way to reduce the affective filter. Students easily understand words, as the teacher continuously provides comprehensible input—students see, hear, and on occasion also gesture the words and meanings. As a result, they are stored in different parts of the brain for easier recall.
Pared-Down Language: To ensure a target-language-only classroom, high-frequency vocabulary is carefully selected to help students communicate very early in the language-learning process. Pleasant repetition, a necessary component to the acquisition of any language, appears throughout and is one of the reasons AIM guarantees target language only. Students are purposefully exposed to the same words in different contexts in a way that is not meaningless rote repetition, but fun and engaging.
Engagement: This is a literacy-based approach in which story, theater, and drama provide the context. Working with one story over 50 class hours provides the focal point around which many of the activities center and provides predictability, security, and confidence, resulting in great success in maintaining the target language only for the beginner. There is a strong musical component as well—raps, songs, and choreography vary class activities and provide an additional kinesthetic outlet.
Independent Language Manipulation: Taking the story as a starting point, AIM uses a series of carefully designed language-manipulation activities that allow students to experience the thrill of creating meaning independently, remaining constantly in the new language because the activities are based on very familiar vocabulary and contexts.
Over 35 kits are available in French, Spanish, Mandarin, English, and Japanese. Training options include face to face; live online; and self-paced.
View the website here.
