The Revised NJCCCS for World Languages: Meeting the Challenge

1. The Revised NJCCCS for World Languages: Meeting the Challenge Rosanne Zeppieri Supervisor of World Languages West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District Rosanne.zeppieri@ww-p.org

2. Four Corners • What is the most important factor in determining student achievement (learning)? • A. Student ability • B. How teachers treat children • C. Student motivation • D. Lesson design

3. Pre-Test • Think, jot down your responses, confer with a partner to complete your answers. • Name the 5 Cs of the National Standards. • Explain the Modes of Communication. • Name and explain 3 proficiency levels as defined by ACTFL. • At which proficiency level are your students functioning?

4. Five Cs of National Standards

5. Modes of Communication • Interpretive (Relating to the understanding of spoken or written language) • Interpersonal (Involving two-way interactive communication) • Presentational (Involving creating spoken or written communication)

6. INTERPRETIVE COMMUNICATION TASKS • Read an authentic recipe in the target language and answer a series of questions about the ingredients, the preparation, and cooking of the item. • Before traveling to the target culture, you want to make sure you are up to date with hip European fashion. Read an article on fashion trends for teenagers. Then summarize in English what your read in as much detail as possible. • ?

7. INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION TASKS • Imagine that you are traveling by train in Spain. You need to get from Madrid to Sevilla by early evening. You have lots of luggage with you and would like to avoid transferring trains as much as possible. Ask the person at the counter (played by another student) for the information that will help you decide which train to take. • Research unemployment issues in a target language country at the library or on the Internet. Working in groups of four, exchange ideas and information about the topic and generate your own solutions to the unemployment issue. • ?

8. PRESENTATIONAL COMMUNICATION TASKS • A new student from France just enrolled in your school. The guidance counselor asks you to give the girl/boy a tour of the school. You have to speak in French because she/he does not understand much English. • During a trip to Latin America, you write a post card to your Spanish teacher describing your experiences. • ?

9. ADVANCED Narrate and describe in all major time frames Discuss topics concretely and abstractly Handle a linguistically unfamiliar situation INTERMEDIATE Create with language Ask & answer questions Handle a simple situation or transaction Sentence-level speech Control of present tense NOVICE Minimal communicative ability 15 to 20 Words Memorized phrases Lists Major Levels of the ACTFL Proficiency Scale

10. Characteristics of Novice-Mid speakers • Respond to simple questions on the most common features of daily life • Convey minimal meaning • Isolated words • Lists of words • Memorized phrases • Some personalized recombinations of words or phrases • Satisfy only a very limited number of immediate needs

11. Characteristics of Novice-High Speakers • Respond to simple, direct questions or requests for information; express personal ideas by relying heavily on learned phrases or recombination of these; provide short and sometimes incomplete sentences in the present tense and may be hesitant and inaccurate • Able to ask a few formulaic questions • May appear surprisingly fluent and accurate when using learned material • Handle simple survival tasks at the Intermediate level, can sometimes respond in sentences, but cannot sustain this level of discourse

12. Characteristics of Intermediate-Mid Speakers • Able to handle successfully a number of uncomplicated communicative tasks by creating with the language in straightforward social situations • Conversation is restricted to concrete and predictable exchanges that would be necessary for survival in the target language country

13. Characteristics of a Intermediate-Mid speakers • Topics for conversation may include the following: • Information about self and family • Daily activities and personal preferences • Ordering food • Seeking lodging • Getting transportation • Asking directions • Making simple purchases

14. Characteristics of a Intermediate-High speakers • Narrate and describe across a wide-range of topics at the paragraph level • Compare and contrast • Offer and support opinions • Persuade someone to change point of view • Make and change plans • Offer advice • Handle a situation with a complication

15. Teaching to the Standards • “The major shift is to look at language learning not as an abstract study of vocabulary, grammar, and linguistics, but as a useful tool to meet the demands of contemporary life.” National Standards for Foreign Language Learning

16. “Knowing how. When, and why to say what to whom.” • ACTFL stresses that the organizing principle needs to be communication, which also highlights the why, the whom, and the when. So, while grammar and vocabulary are essential tools for communication, it is the acquisition of the ability to communicate that is the ultimate goal of today’s world languages classroom.

17. A Matter of Translation

18. Standard 7: • ALL STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO USE A WORLD LANGUAGE IN ADDITION TO ENGLISH TO ENGAGE IN MEANINGFUL CONVERSATIONS, UNDERSTAND AND INTERPRET THE SPOKEN AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE, AND PRESENT INFORMATION, CONCEPTS, AND IDEAS WHILE GAINING AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE PERSPECTIVES OF OTHER CULTURES. THEY WILL MAKE CONNECTIONS WITH OTHER CONTENT AREAS, COMPARE THE LANGUAGE AND CULTURE STUDIED WITH THEIR OWN, AND PARTICIPATE IN HOME AND GLOBAL COMMUNITIES.

19. Implications for Teaching and Learning • Competence vs. Ability to Communicate • Role of Grammar • Listening to student speech • Questioning Strategies • Teacher-centered vs. Student-centered Classes

20. Competence vs. Ability to Communicate • Focus on what students can DO with the language: observable performance Traditional Approach Proficiency-oriented Approach

21. Assessing Proficiency • Rubrics based on ACTFL proficiency levels • Digital Voice Recorders, Flip Video, cell phone • Speech samples to provide quality feedback to students • Significant part of students’ grades

22. “Knowing how, when, and why to say what to whom” Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions. Consortium for Assessing Performance Standards (CAPS) A database of assessment tasks that are products from teachers in four New Jersey school districts Work for this project was funded by a Foreign Language Assistance Program grant that was awarded in September, 2003 http://flenj.org

23. Record student speech samples Olympus http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/645955/Olympus-VN-4100-PC-Digital-Voice/ FLIP Video Camcorder http://www.theflip.com/products_flip_ultra.shtml

24. Record student speech samples LOGITECH + Download a free, cross-platform sound editor at http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ Use the record feature on your cell phone

25. Good questions = effective communication • “Display” • Factual • Open-ended • Ask for clarification • Probe for more information • Ask for an opinion • How? Why?

26. Pair/Small Group Activities Paired and Small Group Activities • Give everyone a chance to speak and practice the language • Are student-centered rather than teacher-centered • Result in learners using language in a more natural and authentic way than in teacher-led activities Pair Work 1, Watcyn-Jones & Howard-Williams (2002)

27. Information Gap One student has information that other partner does not have and the partners have to share their information.

28. Find the Difference Students work in pairs and each couple is given similar but different pictures. Students discuss the similarities and/or differences in their pictures.

29. Pre-Speaking Strategies • Brainstorming/Semantic Mapping Resurfaces prior learning Introduces new vocabulary/structures Organizes thoughts Builds background knowledge Establishes a context for learning Introduces themes/big ideas Pre-assesses prior learning

30. Semantic Mapping • Procedure: • A key word is written on the chalkboard, overhead transparency, or chart paper. • Students are asked to think of other words that relate to the key word. Students write down a list of these words to be shared with the class. • Students share their words. After the list of words is completed, the words are grouped by category. • Students discuss why certain words go together. Category names are assigned.

31. Semantic Mapping

32. Prelude to Conversation

33. Prelude to Conversation • Functions • Structures implicated • Vocabulary that students tend to forget or misuse • Pertinent tools for elaboration • Follow-up task

34. Reporting Before coming to class, ask students to read a newspaper or magazine and, in class, report to their friends what they found the most interesting news. Students can also talk about whether they have experienced anything worth telling their friends in their daily lives.

35. Guided Conversation • Preparing students for interpersonal speaking • Building their vocabulary and communication strategies • Thanks to Laura Terrill

36. Scenarios With A Twist • Divide into groups of five • Each group takes one part of the scenario (A or B) • Meet with your group to discuss the language needed to enact the scenario • Choose one member of the group to sit in the “hot seat.” • Thanks to Dr. Joseph Goebel, TCNJ

37. Socratic Circle Discuss the following questions using information gleaned from class work: Do humans change the environment or does the environment change humans? How do the choices we make concerning the environment reflect our culture and lifestyle?

38. Closure • Jot down three new ideas that piqued your interest today. • Name one aspect of teaching to the standards that you would like to explore further. • Discuss these two items with a partner.