91´«Ã½

Texts

• Richards, Jack and Rodgers, Theodore. (2010).  Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. 2nd Edition. Cambridge, UK:  Cambridge University Press
• Shrum, Judith and Eileen Glisan. (2010). Teacher’s Handbook:  Contextualized Language Instruction. 4th Edition. Boston: Heinle and Heinle.

Purpose of the Course

1. To provide an overview of foreign language teaching strategies based upon theory, practicum, and creativity.
2. To allow for full discussion and analysis of past and current thinking in second language acquisition in principle and in application.
3. To prepare the foreign language teacher with the necessary know-how, dexterity, and confidence to be a capable teacher of foreign languages.

Student Objectives

At the conclusion of this course, 91´«Ã½ will be able to:

1. Understand the National Standards for Foreign Language Education as established by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).
2. Outline useful areas of past and present trends in second language acquisition theory.
3. Use various approaches and methods of language teaching, as deemed necessary for successful language skill development and implementation.
4. Recognize the latest in technology integration practices.
5. Think and research critically and strategize accordingly.
6. Use a variety of assessment strategies to evaluate student learning in foreign language.

INTASC Principles

The objectives listed above correlate with standards developed by the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium, a consortium that first met in 1992 to define practices and requirements for teacher licensure agreed upon by all states.  The chart below indicates how the objectives for this course correspond to those established by INTASC.

• Principle # 1 :  The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) he or she teaches and can create learning experiences that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful for 91´«Ã½.
• Principle #2:  The teacher understands how children learn and develop, and can provide learning opportunities that support their intellectual, social and personal development.
• Principle # 3:  The teacher understands how 91´«Ã½ differ in their approaches to learning and creates instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners.
• Principle # 4:  The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage 91´«Ã½’ development of critical thinking, problem-solving, and performance skills.
• Principle # 5:  The teacher uses an understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation.
• Principle # 6:  The teacher uses knowledge of effective verbal, nonverbal, and media communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom.
• Principle # 7:  The teacher plans instruction based upon knowledge of subject matter, 91´«Ã½, the community, and curriculum goals.
• Principle # 8:  The teacher understands and uses formal and informal assessment strategies to evaluate and ensure the continuous intellectual, social and physical development of the learner.
• Principle #9:  The teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates the effects of his/her choices and actions on others (91´«Ã½, parents, and other professionals in the learning community) and who actively seeks out opportunities to grow professionally.
• Principle #10:  The teacher fosters relationships with school colleagues, parents, and agencies in the larger community to support 91´«Ã½’ learning and well-being.

Correlation between INTASC Principles and Course Objectives

To Enable Students To	Related INTASC Standards
Understand the National Standards for Foreign Language Education as established by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).	#1, #4, #5, #6, #7
Outline useful areas of past and present trends in second language acquisition theory.	#1, #4, #7
Use various approaches and methods of language teaching, as deemed necessary for successful language skill development and implementation.	#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #10
Understand the latest in technology integration practices.	#2, #3, #6, #7
Think and research critically and strategize accordingly.	#1, #2,  #3, #4, #5, #6, #9
Use a variety of assessment strategies to evaluate student learning in foreign language.	#2, #3, #4, #5, #8

Major Topics of Presentation and Course Content

• Understanding how and why 91´«Ã½ learn the way they do (7 class periods)
  • Study of theories and practices in second language acquisition
• Methods and trends in teaching foreign languages (9 class periods)
  • Review of the various approaches and strategies in foreign language teaching for vocabulary, syntax, reading, listening, speaking, writing, overall comprehension, and cultural elements
• The foreign language classroom (2 class periods)
  • A study of the student population, the classroom layout, available resources, city/country/state requirements, proficiency goals, teacher evaluation, and motivation
• Phonetics and principles of pronunciation techniques (6 class periods)
  • Oral production awareness and correction strategies
• Testing, measurements, assessment, and correction (6 class periods)
  • Understanding evaluative criteria for determining progress or lack thereof in the language skill development areas
• Technology integration in the foreign language classroom (6 class periods)
  • Study of past to present and simple to complex technological tools in the language classroom and determining their level of usefulness in language skill development

Course Requirements

• Students will give presentations on how to teach vocabulary building, reading for comprehension, syntax error correction, grammar structures, and geographical or cultural information.
• Students will demonstrate teaching vocabulary building, reading for comprehension, syntax error correction, grammar structures, and geographical or cultural information. Detailed lesson plans are required.
• Students will maintain a journal on all required readings (textbooks and otherwise). Entries will contain synopses and personal reaction to readings.
• Students will conduct textbook reviews for texts at beginner, advanced, and intermediate levels and submit these reviews in a journal fashion following a prescribed format for textbook review.
• Students will have three major tests and a final examination in addition to other requirements. 
  Tests will cover the following topics:  second language acquisition theory; popular methods and approaches in language teaching; and interpersonal and presentational oral skill development and production.
• Students will be required to be active participants in all classroom discussions.

How Activities and Assignments Contribute to and Assess the Course Objectives

Objective	Class Discussion	Presentations	Journal Entries	Tests	Textbook Reviews	Lesson Plans	Final Exam
1	X	X	X	X		X	X
2	X		X	XX			XX
3	X	XX	X	XX	X	XX	X
4	X	X				XX	X
5	X	XX	X	X	XX	XX	X
6	X	X	X			XX

Week One

Class One:  The Why, What, and How of Standards

Presentation of the syllabus and course expectations

Understanding the ACTFL Standards of Learning and the role of standards in the foreign language classroom

Teacher’s Handbook Preliminary Chapter: pages 1-10

Teacher’s Handbook Chapter 2: pages 51-58 “An Introduction to the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century” and “Pre K-12 English Language Proficiency Standards”

1-1) Foreign Language Annals: Spanish Only for Foreign Language in the Elementary School (FLES): Competing Discourses in Local Language Policy (p 102-118)
Ryuko Kubota, Shawna Catlett (volume 41 issue 1)

Abstract: Teaching Spanish has become increasingly popular in the United States due to demographic shifts. This study focuses on a Spanish-only initiative for an existing Foreign Language in the Elementary School (FLES) program proposed by a southeastern public school district’s school board. It analyzes discourses underlying the policymakers’ rationales and resistance from teachers, 91´«Ã½, and community members. Analysis of documents, video recordings of school board meetings, newspaper articles, and e-mail exchanges reveals competing discourses that constructed particular views on language, language learning, and the benefit of Spanish for Latino and African American 91´«Ã½. Characteristics of these discourses include language ideologies, racialization of the arguments, hospitality as a reaction to “language panics” (Hill, 2001, p. 245), and the constructed nature of Latino parents’ knowledge. The study suggests the importance of multilingualism for world language education.

1-2) Foreign Language Annals. Language Educational Policy and Language Learning Quality Management: The Common European Framework of Reference (p 81-101)
Olaf Bärenfänger, Erwin Tschirner (volume 41 issue 1)

Abstract: The major goal of the Council of Europe to promote and facilitate communication and interaction among Europeans of different mother tongues has led to the development of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR). Among other things, the CEFR is intended to help language professionals reflect on their current practice and situate and coordinate their efforts. The last two objectives are similar to quality management goals. The aim of this article is to present a standard model of quality management, and show how the CEFR may be used to introduce quality management goals in foreign language learning settings to improve the quality of foreign language teaching and learning and to document its results.

Class Two: Introduction to the Foreign Language Classroom (Classroom Assessment, Using English, and a sociological reflection on the state of the foreign language classroom)

Chapter 11: pages 433-438 “Classroom Assessment Techniques”

2-1) Foreign Language Annals: Instructors’ Use of English in the Modern Language Classroom (p 310-320)
Carol Wilkerson (volume 41 issue 2)

Abstract: Contemporary best practices in the profession encourage teaching as much as possible in the target language, but when university faculty were observed teaching Spanish, the majority spoke English during instruction and many engaged in frequent code switching (alternations) between English and Spanish. Findings indicate that instructors used English as a strategy to save time, avoid ambiguity, and establish authority. Variation in the amount of English spoken by instructors may influence 91´«Ã½’ articulation between courses and the ultimate success of language programs. Therefore, university faculty may benefit from pedagogical training to teach with limited reliance on English.

Class Three: Introduction to Language Learning Processes and Understanding Foreign Language Leaner Motivation

The Teacher’s Handbook Chapter 1: pages 11-45….understanding the basics of:

• Universal Grammar
• Competence vs. performance
• Communicative competence
• Krashen’s Input Hypothesis
• Acquisition vs. learning
• Input processing
• Variability in performance
• Interlanguage Theory
• Long’s Interaction Hypothesis
• Negotiation of meaning
• Swain’s Output Hypothesis
• Sociocultural theory
• Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development
• Scaffolding
• Mediation
• Language play
• Interactional competence
• Affect and motivation

Discussion ideas: The intersection of language learning and linguistics, the relationship of input and output, identifying key differences in language acquisition as a cognitive versus social achievement, the basics of the Zone of Proximal Development.

3-1) Foreign Language Annals: Questioning the Stability of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety and Motivation Across Different Classroom Contexts (p 138-157)
Sung-Yeon Kim (volume 42 issue 1)

Abstract: This study examined whether foreign language learner anxiety and motivational goal orientations remained stable across two different classroom contexts: a reading course and a conversation course. The researcher measured anxiety and four types of motivational goal orientations by surveying 59 Korean college 91´«Ã½ learning English in both courses. A repeated-measures MANCOVA was used to analyze the responses. The findings indicated that levels of anxiety can vary according to instructional contexts. The study found a significant difference for anxiety, with the 91´«Ã½ reporting higher levels of anxiety in the conversation course than in the reading course. By contrast, for goal orientation, 91´«Ã½ exhibited similar patterns across contexts. These Korean 91´«Ã½ displayed a high tendency toward a utilitarian goal regardless of context. The article also suggests teaching implications for reducing anxiety and enhancing motivation.

3-2) Foreign Language Annals: An International Comparison of Socially Constructed Language Learning Motivation and Beliefs (p 287-317)
Sandra G. Kouritzin, Nathalie A. Piquemal, Robert D. Renaud (volume 42 issue 2)

Abstract: In our global economy, it is important to understand all factors influencing successful language learning. A survey of more than 6,000 university 91´«Ã½ in Canada, Japan, and France revealed differences in language learning beliefs, attitudes, and motivations in the three countries. Learners in Canada and France exhibited primarily instrumental and integrative motivation, respectively, whereas learners from Japan displayed a different form, social capital motivation, in which knowledge of a foreign language carries value in and of itself. Knowledge of these different forms of motivation has pedagogical and political implications for language teachers.

Week Two

Class Four: History of Trends in Foreign Language Teaching 

Approaches and Methods Part 1: pages 3-70…A brief history of language teaching, the nature of approaches and methods in language teaching, the Oral Approach and Situational Language Teaching, The Audiolingual Method

Discussion ideas: How the trends in the past have shaped foreign language teaching today, finding strengths and weaknesses in early approaches, examining the intersection of language learning and linguistics, understanding approaches and methods as two distinct ideas.

4-1) Omaggio-Hadley, Alice. “On Teaching a Language: Principles and Priorities in Methodology.” Teaching Language in Context, 3rd edition. pages 86-138.

• History of foreign language teaching methods
• Orienting Instruction Towards Proficiency
• Methodology and Proficiency: Five Working Hypotheses
• The Proficiency Orientation of Existing Methodologies: A Preliminary Appraisal
• Three “Traditional” Methods
  • The Grammar-Translation Method: “Mental Discipline”
  • The Direct Method: A Rationalist Perspective on Language Learning
  • Audiolingual Methodology: An Empiricist Perspective on Language Learning
• Reactions to Audiolingualism: Two Mentalist Perspectives
  • The Cognitive Anti-Method
  • The Cognitive-Code Method
• A Functional Approach: Communicative Language Teaching
• Modern Adaptations of the Direct Method
  • Total Physical Response
  • The Natural Approach
• Humanistic Approaches to Language Teaching
  • Community Language Learning
  • The Silent Way: Learning through Self-Reliance
  • Suggestopedia: Tapping Subconscious Resources
• Summary: On Teaching a Language
•  Activities for Review and Discussion
  • Find some films/clips from television shows that give examples of teaching strategies (i.e. “Dangerous Minds,” “Saved By the Bell,” “Dead Poet’s Society”) and analyze different strategies shown

Assignment Announcement: Due Date for Lesson Plan Presentations (Class 18)

Assignment: Start some type of spreadsheet/journal to keep track of major points of methods and approaches as a reference for later in the course

Class Five: Alternative Approaches and Methods

Teacher’s Handbook Chapter 2 pages 46-51

• A Historical View of Context in Foreign Language Instruction
• The Role of Context in Proficiency-Oriented Instruction

Approaches and Methods Part 2 pages 71-150 (except 115-124)

• Total Physical Response
• The Silent Way
• Community Language Learning
• Suggestopedia
• Whole Language
• Neurolinguistic Programming
• The Lexical Approach
• Competency-Based Language Teaching

Discussion ideas: Finding strengths and weaknesses in each method, how some methods address the diverse needs of a language learner, has anyone seen these approaches in practice, why are these methods considered “alternative,” understanding these methods as ways of achieving standards.

Class Six: Understanding Specific Students and How Different Students Learn

Teacher’s Handbook Chapter 10: pages 348-358…understanding diverse ways 91´«Ã½ learn languages

• Diverse ways 91´«Ã½ learn language
• Multiple intelligences
• Learning styles
• Teacher personality and teaching style
• Language learning strategies

Approaches and Methods “Multiple Intelligences” pages 115-124

6-1) Foreign Language Annals: Student Attitudes Toward Native and Non-Native Language Instructors (p 468-482)
Tammy Jandrey Hertel, Gretchen Sunderman (volume 42 issue 3)

Abstract: This study investigates 91´«Ã½’ attitudes toward native and non-native speaking instructors of Spanish. A quantitative questionnaire was administered to 292 91´«Ã½ enrolled in three different levels of undergraduate Spanish courses at a U.S. university. Participants were asked to rate Likert scale items related to native versus nonnative speaking instructors’ knowledge and teaching ability, as well as their own potential to learn from the instructors. Results indicate that 91´«Ã½ perceive native speaking instructors to possess advantages over non-native speaking instructors with regard to pronunciation and culture, but not with regard to the teaching of grammar or vocabulary. Proficiency level and the native language of a participant’s current instructor also influenced opinions.

Week Three

Class Seven: Current Communicative Approaches

Approaches and Methods Part 3 pages 151-192

• Communicative Language Teaching
• The Natural Approach
• Cooperative Language Learning

Assignment: Update spreadsheet/journal, be prepared to discuss 2 of these 3 methods, think of two examples of these methods 

Class Eight: Current Communicative Approaches (continued)

Approaches and Methods Part 3 

• Content-Based Instruction
• Task-Based Language Teaching
• The post-methods era

Assignment: Update spreadsheet/journal, be prepared to discuss 2 of these 3 methods, think of two examples of these methods 

The Foreign Language Classroom

Class Nine: Addressing Diverse Learners Needs

Teacher’s Handbook Chapter 10 pages 358-393

• Addressing diverse learners’ needs
• The inclusive classroom: accommodating learners with disabilities
• Physical needs
• Special learning needs
• At-risk learners
• Gifted learners
• Heritage learners
• Differentiated instruction
• Communities Goal Area
• Community-based and service learning

Discussion ideas: Understanding diverse needs in the classroom, influence of different methods on diverse learners (determining which strategies best address diverse needs), the role of community in the classroom, creating a classroom community. 

9-1) Foreign Language Annals: If You Don’t Know Where You Are Going, You’ll Wind Up Somewhere Else: The Case of “Foreign Language Learning Disability” (p 7-26) Richard Sparks (volume 42 issue 1)

Abstract: Despite the lack of empirical evidence, the term foreign language learning disability (FLLD) has become popular in the learning disabilities (LD) and foreign language literature. I contend that there is not a unique “disability” for foreign language learning and suggest instead that foreign language skills run along a continuum of very strong to very weak foreign language learners. To support my positions, I review problems with the definition and diagnostic criteria for LD. Then, I cite problems with the development and use of a logically consistent, easily operationalized, and empirically valid definition and diagnostic criteria for the FLLD concept and explain how proponents of this “disability” misuse the foreign language aptitude concept. Last, I detail implications for identifying 91´«Ã½ who exhibit foreign language learning problems, address policies that permit 91´«Ã½ to obtain waivers from or course substitutions for foreign language requirements, and describe issues hidden from foreign language educators because of the LD and FLLD concepts.

9-2) Foreign Language Annals: Students With Learning Disabilities and AD/HD in the Foreign Language Classroom: Supporting Students and Instructors (p 42-54)
Eve Leons, Christie Herbert, Ken Gobbo (volume 42 issue 1)

Abstract: This article explores why 91´«Ã½ with learning disabilities and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) struggle with the foreign language curriculum and how their difficulties manifest themselves in the classroom setting. Findings of a three-year, federally funded study that sought to combine expertise in the field of learning disabilities with expertise in the field of language teaching are presented. Discussion includes how accommodations for 91´«Ã½ with learning disabilities and AD/HD often miss the mark, and which teaching practices have been identified as supporting student learning.

9-3) Foreign Language Annals: One Right Way, Intercultural Participation, and Language Learning Anxiety: A Qualitative Analysis of Adult Online Heritage and Non-heritage Language Learners (p 483-504)
Joellen E. Coryell, M. Carolyn Clark (volume 42 issue 3)

Abstract: This study investigated self-assessed anxious learners who enrolled in online Spanish courses to determine if their anxiety was mediated by the lack of face-to-face (F2F) and other synchronous learning interactions. Participants were enrolled in courses at two post-secondary institutions located in south-central Texas. Narrative analysis was used to interpret the interview data. Findings indicated participants experienced language anxiety because their previous F2F and online learning experiences enforced the concept of language as performance with a focus on correctness and precision. However, intercultural respect and a desire to participate meaningfully with diverse cultural communities became a resource for our participants as they wrestled with language learning anxiety and persisted in their learning endeavors. Implications for designing online language instruction for anxious, self-directed adults are offered.

9-4) Kramsch, Claire and Linda von Hoene. “The Dialogic Emergence of Difference: Feminist Explorations in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching.” Feminisms in the Academy. The University of Michigan Press: 1995. pages 330-357.

“The…essay reflects an ongoing discussion between the two authors on the dialogic emergence of voice, difference, and cultures in the foreign language classroom and in feminist theory.”

• Feminist Theory and the Emergence of Voice and Difference
• Language Learning Research and the Emergence of Voice in Context
• Toward a Critical, Double-Voiced Foreign Language Pedagogy

Week Four: Methods and trends in teaching foreign languages

Class Ten: Classroom Planning

Teacher’s Handbook Chapter 3 pages 73-106

• The current paradigm for instructional planning
• Brain-based research findings and instructional planning
• Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy of Thinking
• L2 input and teacher talk
• Classroom discourse IRE vs. IRF
• Oller’s Episode Hypothesis
• Unauthentic, authentic semiscripted oral texts
• Content-based instruction (CBI)
• Backward-design planning
• State frameworks
• Thematic unit planning
• Lesson objectives
• Anticipatory set
• Advance organizers

Discussion ideas: Classroom planning strategies, making a lesson plan, blending different methods and approaches in planning strategies, achieving standards.

Case Study (page 102): Observing a Japanese language classroom and understanding how standards are addressed appropriately. Exploring the role of specific second language acquisition techniques…(supplement? Identifying which approaches and methods from the Richards and Rogers book are used)

Chapter 2: pages 62-65 “The Role of the Textbook in the Foreign Language Classroom”

10-1) Foreign Language Annals: Rhetorical Strategies in Chinese and English: A Comparison of L1 Composition Textbooks (p 695-720)
Ming-Tzu Liao, Ching-Hung Chen (volume 42 issue 4)

Abstract: The present study compared the rhetorical strategies for argumentative writing in Chinese and English composition textbooks. The textbooks were selected based on four criteria. The results of the study revealed that there are similarities and differences in Chinese and English argumentative writing. Both Chinese and English agree upon the function of the argumentative writing, encourage writers to voice their personal opinions, adopt a similar macrostructure for argumentative writing, recommend placing the thesis statement in the introduction, share similar strategies for writing the introduction and the conclusion, and share several strategies to support the argumentation. In addition, they both recommend deductive and inductive reasoning, emphasize emotional appeals, and stress the necessity of addressing the opposing views. However, English textbooks suggest using Toulmin’s reasoning system and avoiding logical fallacies, addressing ethos and the needs of different types of audience, and assessing the audience’s values, whereas Chinese textbooks highly value appealing to history and moral issues, and using proverbs, set phrases, and analogy. Possible reasons for the similarities and differences in the rhetorical elements are provided. Results provide insights that are of practical use for both the L2 English composition instructor and the Chinese L2 English writer.

10-2) Foreign Language Annals: Thinking Globally, Acting Locally: Selecting Textbooks for College-Level Language Programs (p 562-573)
John Angell, Stayc DuBravac, Margaret Gonglewski (volume 41 issue 3)

Abstract: This article examines the process by which college-level foreign language programs evaluate and select instructional materials for beginning level courses. A review of the relevant literature reveals an ambivalent relationship with textbooks, often the default curriculum for language courses. Despite textbooks’ apparent key role in language programs, there is a surprising lack of cohesive recommendations from the field on evaluating and selecting textbooks. Results of an informal survey illustrate how the textbook selection process, individuals involved, and individuals’ satisfaction with the selection process varied across programs. Respondents with established selection processes involving more stakeholders tended to be more content with process and selection. The authors conclude that there is a need for greater transparency and a broader professional discussion of this critical matter in language learning and teaching.

10-3) Omaggio-Hadley, Alice. “Epilogue: Planning Instruction for the Proficiency-Oriented Classroom: Some Practical Guidelines.” Teaching Language in Context 3rd edition. pages 456-466.

• Setting Goals for a Proficiency-Oriented Program
  • Guidelines for Text Selection
  • Designing the Course Syllabus
• Guidelines for Planning Lessons
• Increasing Focus on Students’ Interests

Class Eleven: Communicative Teaching Strategies and the Use of Texts

Teacher’s Handbook Chapter 6: pages 178-215

• The three modes of communication
• The interpretive mode for teaching listening, reading, and viewing
• Schema Theory
• The processes involved in listening and reading
• L1 vs. L2 interpretive processes
• Reader-/listener-based and text-based factors in comprehension and interpretation
• Integration of authentic texts
• Exploration of literary texts
• Workshop-style classroom for exploring texts
• Acquisition of new vocabulary through text exploration
• Use of L1 vs. L2 in checking comprehension
• The Interactive Model for developing listening, reading, and viewing

Discussion ideas: Understanding communication, comprehension and interpretive processes, integrating reading/speaking/writing/listening into one whole unit, interaction of different modes in attaining second language.

11-1) Foreign Language Annals: The Amount, Purpose, and Reasons for Using L1 in L2 Classrooms (p 742-759)
Juliane C. de la Campa, Hossein Nassaji (volume 42 issue 4) ***cross reference with 2-1

Abstract: This study examined the amount, the purposes, and the reasons why L1 is used in L2 classrooms. Data consist of video and audio recording of samples of two instructors’ L2 classes over the course of a 12-week semester in two second-year German conversation university courses, instructor interviews, and stimulated recall sessions. Results revealed that the instructors used L1 quite frequently in their classrooms and that they did it for many reasons and purposes. They also believed that L1 should be used in L2 classrooms and that its use facilitates L2 learning. Findings provide evidence that despite disagreement on the use of L1 among L2 researchers, these instructors of German as a foreign language used L1 in their classrooms for important instructional purposes.

11-2) Foreign Language Annals: Integrating Language and Literature: Teaching Textual Analysis with Input and Output Activities and an Input-to-Output Approach (p 453-467)
Stacey Weber-Fève (volume 42 issue 3)

Abstract: The Modern Language Association report and Profession issue from summer 2007 (Geisler et al., 2007) are highly indicative of the increasingly debated concerns in the profession surrounding (1) the traditional division of foreign language curriculum between “language” and “literature” and (2) the instruction of textual analysis (or practice of close reading) in the student-centered literature classroom. In this article, [Weber-Feve discusses] the need in the profession to address the contemporary problems inherited from the traditional “language-literature” divide and postulate the use of close reading as a tactic to overcome this traditional divide. This article specifically addresses the issue of “why” and “how” to teach 91´«Ã½ textual analysis meaningfully and communicatively in the foreign language classroom and then proposes and demonstrates the use of input and output activities as a pedagogical strategy.

11-3) Foreign Language Annals: An Interactive, Instructor-Supported Reading Approach vs. Traditional Reading Instruction in Spanish (p 687-701)
Ransom F. Gladwin IV, Jonita Stepp-Greany (volume 41 issue 4)

Abstract: This study analyzes the effects of the Interactive Reading with Instructor Support (IRIS) model on reading comprehension, as compared to a traditional (direct-teaching/lecture format) instructional model. The IRIS model combines reading strategies and social mediation together in the Spanish as a second language environment. In the IRIS model, elements of strategy-focused instruction, scaffolding, and language promoting assistance are operant. The IRIS model, a collaborative learning approach, presents no disadvantage in reading comprehension when compared to a traditional direct-teaching model. Furthermore, a slight trend in the data shows an increase in recall performance of the experimental group (the 91´«Ã½ participating in the IRIS model) when compared to the control group throughout the term.

Assignment: Teach and Reflect: Using the Interactive Model to Explore an Authentic Printed Text- how to select an effective text and use a text productively. Bring in a text to demonstrate.

Technology Focus: Blogging

Class Twelve: Elementary Education Strategies

Teacher’s Handbook Chapter 4 pages 107-144

• Role of age and social/psychological factors in language acquisition
• Benefits of early language learning
• Characteristics of elementary school learners
• Mythic stage of development
• Program models: early language learning, immersion, sheltered instruction, dual language
• Thematic planning webs
• Content-based/content-related (content-enriched) FLES
• Content-obligatory/ content-compatible language
• Graphic organizers
• Semantic maps
• Venn diagrams
• Total Physical Response (TPR)  **also in Approaches and Methods
• Storytelling
• Language Experience Approach
• Story maps
• Cooperative learning
• Global units
• Performance assessment strategies
• Connections Goal Area

Discussion ideas: Why it is important to consider age in foreign language education, incorporation of current communicative methods in the elementary classroom, differences between teaching grammar/vocabulary/culture in the elementary classroom.

12-1) Lotherington, Heather, Michelle Holland, Shiva Sotoudeh, and Mike Zentena. “Project-Based Community Language Learning: Three Narratives of Multilingual Story-telling in Early Childhood Education.” The Canadian Modern Language Review. Volume 65, Number 1. p.125-145.

Abstract: At Joyce Public School (JPS) in the Greater Toronto Area, [the team of Lotherington, Holland, Sotoudeh, and Zentena] are engaged in ongoing collaborative action research to develop pedagogical approaches to emergent literacies that engage multilingual, multicultural, and multimodal perspectives in complex interplay. [Their] research is grounded in the challenges children experience in acquiring literacy across home, school, community, and societal contexts in a culturally and linguistically diverse urban setting, given limited curricular opportunities for involving multiple languages in literacy education. [Their] research involves collaboratively designed classroom-based narrative projects that productively entwine multilingualism, English language discovery, and digital technologies in elementary literacy instruction. This article provides first-person perspectives on and an analytical discussion of the emerging pedagogies of three primary-grade teachers involved in our collaborative multi-literacies research who successfully engage multilingualism in English language and literacy education.

Week Five

Class Thirteen: Middle School Education Strategies (focus on teaching culture)

Teacher’s Handbook Chapter 5: pages 145-177

• The definition of middle school
• The middle level learner
• No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)
• Middle level programs
• Sequential vs. exploratory language programs
• Classroom management 
• Cultures and Comparisons Standards
• The three Ps: practices, products, perspectives
• Kluckhohn Method
• Byram’s Intercultural Communication
• Sample of thematic units
• Assessment of middle school performance

Discussion ideas: Differences with elementary language education, application of techniques for the middle level language learner, the role of cultural study, achieving standards, integration/blending strategies.

13-1) Omaggio-Hadley, Alice. “Teaching for Cultural Understanding.” Teaching Language in Context 3rd edition. Pages 345-389.

• Problems in the Teaching of Culture
• Definitions, Models, Inventories, and Frameworks: Capturing the Essence of “Culture”
  • Achieving Balance and Avoiding Bias: Two Considerations in Developing a Cultural Syllabus
  • Exploring Behaviors and Values: Models for Building Cross-Cultural Understanding
• Strategies for Teaching Culture
  • Some General Considerations
  • The Lecture
  • Native Informants
  • Audio taped Interviews
  • Videotaped Interviews/Observational Dialogues
  • Using Readings and Realia for Cross-Cultural Understanding
• Understanding Culturally Conditioned Behavior: Some Common Teaching Techniques
  • Culture Capsules
  • Culture Clusters
  • Culture Assimilators
  • Culture Mini-dramas
  • Deriving Cultural Connotations (word association, semantic mapping, practicing common vocabulary in cultural contexts: a cross-cultural presentation of foods, collages)
  • Hypothesis Refinement
  • Artifact Study
  • Decreasing Stereotypic Perceptions
  • Using Proverbs in Teaching Cultural Understanding
  • Humor as a Component of Culture: Exploring Cross-Cultural Differences
• Summary: Teaching for Cultural Understanding
• Activities for Review and Discussion

13-2) Foreign Language Annals: Less Commonly Taught Language and Commonly Taught Language Students: A Demographic and Academic Comparison (p 405-423)
Alan V. Brown (volume 42 issue 3)

Abstract: Efforts to fund the teaching of critical languages, along with increasing enrollments in less commonly taught language (LCTL) classes, have evidenced a renewed interest in LCTL pedagogy. While much is known about enrollment trends, materials development, and professional training, far less research has compared LCTL and commonly taught language (CTL) 91´«Ã½. Students from 83 classes (nine different languages) at a large university completed a questionnaire containing items requesting demographic and academic information. The results of a chi-square analysis demonstrated that LCTL learners were older, expected higher grades, reported higher GPAs, found their courses more difficult, and had studied a third language at a much higher rate. Although far from conclusive, these data begin to identify differences that may exist between LCTL and CTL 91´«Ã½, specifically in university, introductory-level courses.

Case Study (page 172): Increasing use of L2 in the classrooms. Why this specific technique for middle school learners? What aspects of this case study can be used for language learners at different ages? 

Class Fourteen: Teaching Grammar

Teacher’s Handbook Chapter 7: pages 216-244

• Deductive and inductive approaches to grammar instruction
• Focus on form
• Re-conceptualizing grammar instruction
• Story-based language learning
• Co-constructing grammar explanations
• Dialogic grammar explanations
• The PACE model: Presentation, Attention, Co-Construction, Extension

Discussion ideas: Grammar as a foundation of language instruction, teaching grammar at different age levels, further discussion of the PACE model, grammar in popular communicative methods.

14-1) Foreign Language Annals: Processing Instruction and Dictogloss: A Study on Object Pronouns and Word Order in Spanish (p 557-575)
Bill VanPatten, Daniela Inclezan, Hilda Salazar, Andrew P. Farley (volume 42 issue 3)

Abstract: In the current study, we present the findings of an experiment with 108 participants of Spanish as a second language in which we compared the effects of Dictogloss (DG) and processing instruction (PI) and compared both sets of effects to a control group. Our findings do not support the results of a recent study, Qin (2008). In that study, DG and PI were found to be equally effective; however, we find that PI is superior overall to DG as an instructional intervention, a finding much more in line with the original research on which Qin based her study (e.g., VanPatten & Cadierno, 1993). We trace differences in results to materials and assessment tasks in Qin’s study, which departed significantly from previous research.

14-2) Foreign Language Annals: Barcroft, Joe. “When Knowing Grammar Depends on Knowing Vocabulary: Native-Speaker Grammaticality Judgments of Sentences with Real and Unreal Words.” Canadian Modern Language Review. Volume 63 Number 3. Pages 313-343.

Abstract: This study examined how the presence of real versus unreal words in sentences affected the ability of native English speakers to make accurate grammaticality judgments and forced-choice decisions for sentences with violations in the use of dative alternation and comparatives. Sentences with dative alternation violations contained polysyllabic verbs (*John explained Mary the plan) that were real (e.g., explained), similar (e.g., explunned), and dissimilar (e.g., tidnopped) to real verbs. Sentences with comparative violations contained polysyllabic adjectives (*Robert is demandinger than Allen) that were real (e.g., demanding), similar (e.g., demunding), and dissimilar (e.g., natormunt) to real adjectives. Accuracy of grammaticality judgements was much lower for sentences with unreal words than real words. For sentences with comparatives, accuracy also was higher in sentences with similar words than with dissimilar words, demonstrating a graded effect for partial access. These findings provide support for theoretical accounts that associate knowledge of these structures with knowledge of real words and for instruction oriented toward the development of vocabulary knowledge.

Assignment: Episode Two: Designing a Story-Based PACE lesson (page 238)
OR
Episode Three: Developing a PACE Lesson for the Post-Secondary Level (page 239)

Class Fifteen: Teaching Oral and Written Interpersonal Communication

Teacher’s Handbook Chapter 8: pages 245-298

• The ACTFL oral proficiency scale and speaking from a proficiency perspective
• Implications of proficiency for instruction
• Nature of interpersonal communication
• Willingness to communicate (WTC)
• Instructional conversations (ICs)
• Strategies for helping 91´«Ã½ interact orally
• Turns-at-talk, routines and gambits, gestures
• Student discourse in pair/group activities
• Collaborative dialogue
• Conversational repair
• Strategy training
• Cooperative learning: task-based instruction
• Developing advanced-level discourse through the study of literature and culture
• Developing interpersonal writing
• Dialogue journals
• Key pal and pen pal letter exchanges and synchronous electronic interaction
• Providing feedback in oral interpersonal contexts
• Types of teacher feedback (trouble, repair, noticing, uptake)

Discussion ideas: Developing oral communication, student conversation, evaluating oral proficiency, strategies for different ages.

15-1) Foreign Language Annals: Achieving the Advanced Oral Proficiency in Arabic: A Case Study (p 401-414)
Keiko K. Samimy (volume 41 issue 3)

Abstract: This article is based on a case study of a white American graduate student, Mark, who achieved “Superior” oral proficiency in Arabic according to the ACTFIi Oral Proficiency Scale. Based on multiple data sources (e.g., interviews, observation, document analysis), the study highlights Mark’s multiple identities as a language learner, language instructor, and as a (non)member of a target language community. It is hoped that the study will inspire and inform language learners and educators of LOTEs (languages other than English), particularly, of LCTLs (less commonly taught languages), such as Arabic.

Case Study (page 290): “The Survivor Game.” Which Richards and Rogers “approaches and methods” are used? Would this type of activity work at any level? What are some possible challenges to student participation? How could this game be adjusted for an individual’s teaching style? In your opinion, why do you think this strategy has been so successful?

Week Six

Class Sixteen: Teaching Presentational Speaking and Writing

Teacher’s Handbook Chapter 9: pages 299-347

• Presentational communication in speaking and writing
• The nature and purposes of oral and written presentational communication
• A problem-solving model of the L1 writing process
• Teaching presentational writing and speaking as a process
• The importance of audience
• Formats for presentational communication at the elementary, middle, and high school levels
• Reading-to-write
• Writing as product: ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines-Writing
• Technologically enhanced presentations
• Providing feedback on writing
• Peer revision
• Ways to evaluate writing
• Evaluating oral and multimedia writing presentations
• Pronunciation: feedback and instruction

Discussion ideas: Differences between presentational speaking and dialogue, benefits of peer assessment, standards.

16-1) Foreign Language Annals: To Assign a Topic or Not: Observing Fluency and Complexity in Intermediate Foreign Language Writing (p 722-735)
Joshua D. Bonzo (volume 41 issue 4)

Abstract: The present study examines the written products of third-semester German 91´«Ã½’ written productions during a timed, in-class writing activity. Topic selection control was modulated from instructor to student during eight 10-minute sessions. To account for order of treatment, two of the four groups were counterbalanced with the other two. Each written product was textually analyzed and categorized into a general fluency index and an overall grammatical complexity score, both of which were correlated and statistically analyzed (ANOVA). ANOVA results indicate that topic control did influence participants’ written fluency but not grammatical complexity (though mean scores for complexity were higher during self-selected topic writing). Participants’ overall level of fluency was significantly higher when they selected their own topics.

16-2) Allen, Linda. “Nonverbal Accommodations in Foreign Language Teacher Talk.” (Interlibrary loan)

Foreign language (FL) teachers who use the FL as the language of instruction typically make both verbal and nonverbal accommodations to facilitate learners’ comprehension of the language. Although verbal accommodations have been extensively examined, nonverbal accommodations have not received equal scrutiny. Drawing on research from the field of communication this article proposes a framework which identifies, classifies, and organizes FL teachers’ nonverbal behavior. The article describes an observational study in which each nonverbal behavior in the framework is defined and illustrated as it occurs in a FL class. Pedagogical implications for the framework and a research agenda for continued study of FL teachers’ nonverbal behavior are suggested. 

Class Seventeen: LESSON PLAN PRESENTATIONS (in class)

Class Eighteen: LESSON PLAN PRESENTATIONS (in class)

Week Seven: Phonetics and principles of pronunciation techniques

Class Nineteen: Teaching Pronunciation 

19-1) Rippman, Walter. Elements of Phonetics of English, French, and German

19-2) HiÅŸmanoÄŸlu, Murat. “.” Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies. Vol.2, No.1, April 2006.

Abstract: This paper aims at stressing current perspectives on pronunciation learning and teaching. It summarizes the background of pronunciation teaching, emphasizes the need for incorporating pronunciation into foreign language classes owing to regarding pronunciation as a key to gaining full communicative competence, and takes into account present-day views in pronunciation pedagogy like the impact of the discipline of psychology in pronunciation teaching, NLP as a perspective frequently advocated by innovative pronunciation teachers, the idea of approaching pronunciation teaching from different modalities, the relationship between effective foreign language pronunciation teaching and Gardner’s MI Theory, Autonomous pronunciation learning and teaching and the use of technology for the teaching of pronunciation.  

Class Twenty: Teaching Pronunciation

20-1) Bennett-Bradley, Kat. “Teaching Pronunciation An Independent Study Course for Teachers of Adult English as a Second Language Learners.” Northern Colorado Professional Development Center.  

• Identify elements of good oral production 
• Identify and apply techniques in teaching pronunciation 
• Compare textbooks and evaluate their approaches to pronunciation instruction 
• Understand how to incorporate pronunciation exercises into lesson plans 

20-2) : This website is intended for use by teachers of English as a second language. Containing several example exercises to guide 91´«Ã½ towards correct pronunciation, this website is a solid starting point to explore different ways of teaching proper pronunciation.

20-3) : This website teaches the basics of English pronunciation by showing diagrams of the mouth and explaining the position of the mouth in order to achieve proper pronunciation.

Class Twenty-One: Achieving and Evaluating Oral Proficiency 

21-1) Blake, Robert, Nicole Wilson, Maria Cetto, and Cristina Pardo-Balesetter. “” Language Learning and Technology. Volume 12 Number 3. Pages 114-127.

Although the foreign-language profession routinely stresses the importance of technology for the curriculum, many teachers still harbor deep-seated doubts as to whether or not a hybrid course, much less a completely distance-learning class, could provide L2 learners with a way to reach linguistic proficiency, especially with respect to oral language skills. In this study, we examine the case of Spanish Without Walls (SWW), a first-year language course offered at the University of California - Davis in both hybrid and distance-learning formats. The SWW curriculum includes materials delivered via CD-ROM/DVD programs, online content-based web pages, and synchronous bimodal chat that includes sound and text. The contribution of each of these components is evaluated in the context of a successful technologically assisted course. To address the issue of oral proficiency, we compare the results from both classroom and distance-learning 91´«Ã½ who took the 20-minute Versant for Spanish test, delivered by phone and automatically graded. The data generated by this instrument shows that classroom, hybrid, and distance L2 learners reach comparable levels of oral proficiency during their first year of study. Reference is also made to two other ongoing efforts to provide distance-learning courses in Arabic and Punjabi, two languages where special difficulties in their writing systems have an impact on the design of the distant-learning format. The rationale for offering language courses in either a hybrid or distance-learning format is examined in light of increasing societal pressures to help L2 learners reach advanced proficiency, especially in less commonly taught languages (LCTLs).

21-2) Foreign Language Annals The Development of Oral Proficiency During a Semester in Germany (p 246-268)
Martina U. Lindseth (volume 43 issue 2)

Abstract: This study measures and analyzes improvements in 91´«Ã½’ oral proficiency during a study abroad semester in Germany. Oral proficiency interviews were conducted with participants before and after the program during three consecutive years. All interviews were assigned official ratings. Usage of two specific grammar structures associated with the Advanced level was also tracked. Before the program, most 91´«Ã½ were at Intermediate Low, even those who had completed 5th-semester German courses. Although 80% completed the program with improved proficiency ratings, very few reached the Advanced level. Internal analysis of speech samples did reveal that the post-program Intermediate Mid performances were much closer to the Advanced level than pre-program performances with the same rating. The study concludes with an assessment of curricular implications for post-program courses.

Week Eight

Class Twenty-Two: Understanding and Evaluating Oral Proficiency

The Art of Non-conversation by Marysia Johnson (Understanding oral proficiency and evaluating oral proficiency)

The Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) is a widely accepted institution assessing second and foreign language ability. It is used by such U.S. government agencies as the Foreign Language Institute and the Defense Language Institute and by institutions such as the Educational Testing Service and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. The Art of Nonconversation examines the components of speaking ability and asks whether the OPI is a valid instrument for measuring them. Marysia Johnson applies the latest insights from discourse and conversational analysis to determine the nature of OPI’s communicative speech event and investigate its construct validity within Messick’s definition of validity. She discusses models of speaking ability- several communicative competence models, an interactional competence model, and a model of spoken interaction based on Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of learning. Finally she proposes a new model to test language proficiency drawn from sociocultural theory, one that considers language ability to be reflective of the contexts in which the language has been acquired. 

Case Study (page 386): Differentiating Instruction. Analyze each classroom and identify the major methods and approaches in each classroom (be prepared to discuss). Compare/contrast all three strategies. Modify the classrooms to accommodate individual teaching style. 

Class Twenty-Three: Communicative Teaching Strategies

23-1) Making Communicative Language Teaching Happen “Communicating in the Classroom” pages 49-73

• Learning to communicate
• Communication and communicative language ability
• Purposes of communication
• Classroom Discourse
  • Communicative Drills
  • Teacher-Fronted versus Paired or Group Interaction
• Classroom Communication as Information Exchange
  • Identifying the topic
  • Designing an appropriate purpose
  • Identifying information sources
• Negotiating Meaning
  • Information-Gap Activities
  • Group Decision Activities
• Relieving Atlas: When Tasks Dictate roles
  • Instructor as resource person
  • Instructor as architect
• Summary

Making Communicative Language Teaching Happen “Building Toward a Proficiency Goal” pages 74-97

• On lesson goals
• Rethinking lesson goals: Information-exchange tasks as lesson objectives
• Grammar
• Vocabulary
• Functions
• Activities and class hour goals
• Attaining a subgoal
• Moving from input to output
• Work outside of class
• A final point
• Summary

“Suggestions for Using Information-Exchange Tasks for Oral Testing” pages 98-115

• Four criteria for designing a good test
• Washback effects
• Oral testing in classrooms: Adapting Information-Exchange Tasks for Use as Oral Tests and Quizzes
• Two tests for evaluating spoken language
  • Elicitation procedures
    • The Oral Proficiency Interview
    • The Israeli National Oral Proficiency Test
• Evaluation Criteria for Tests of Spoken Language
• Componential Rating scales
• Summary

Class Twenty-Four: Technology and Teaching Proper Pronunciation

24-1) Tanner, Mark W. and Melissa M. Landon. “.” Language Learning and Technology. Volume 13 Number 3. Pages 51-65.

Abstract: With research showing the benefits of pronunciation instruction aimed at suprasegmentals (Derwing, Munro, & Wiebe, 1997, 1998; Derwing & Rossiter, 2003; Hahn, 2004; McNerney and Mendelsohn, 1992), more materials are needed to provide learners opportunities for self-directed practice. A 13-week experimental study was performed with 75 ESL learners divided into control and treatment groups. The treatment group was exposed to 11 weeks of self-directed computer-assisted practice using Cued Pronunciation Readings (CPRs). In the quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test design, speech perception and production samples were collected at Time 1 (week one of the study) and Time 2 (week 13). Researchers analyzed the treatment’s effect on the learners’ perception and production of key suprasegmental features (pausing, word stress, and sentence-final intonation), and the learners’ level of perceived comprehensibility. Results from the statistical tests revealed that the treatment had a significant effect on learners’ perception of pausing and word stress and controlled production of stress, even with limited time spent practicing CPRs in a self-directed environment.

24-2) Ducate, Lara and Lara Lomicka. “” Language Learning and Technology. Volume 13 Number 3 pages 66-86.

Abstract: This paper reports on an investigation of podcasting as a tool for honing pronunciation skills in intermediate language learning. We examined the effects of using podcasts to improve pronunciation in second language learning and how 91´«Ã½’ attitudes changed toward pronunciation over the semester. A total of 22 91´«Ã½ in intermediate German and French courses made five scripted pronunciation recordings throughout the semester. After the pronunciation recordings, 91´«Ã½ produced three extemporaneous podcasts. Students also completed a pre- and post-survey based on Elliott’s (1995) Pronunciation Attitude Inventory to assess their perspectives regarding pronunciation. Students’ pronunciation, extemporaneous recordings, and surveys were analyzed to explore changes over the semester. Data analysis revealed that 91´«Ã½’ pronunciation did not significantly improve in regard to accentedness or comprehensibility, perhaps because the16-week long treatment was too short to foster significant improvement and there was no in-class pronunciation practice. The podcast project, however, was perceived positively by 91´«Ã½, and they appreciated the feedback given for each scripted recording and enjoyed opportunities for creativity during extemporaneous podcasts. Future studies might seek to delineate more specific guidelines or examine how teacher involvement might be adapted to the use of podcasts as a companion to classroom instruction.

Week Nine: Testing, Measurements, Assessment, and Correction

Class Twenty-Five: Creating Effective Assessment Strategies

Teacher’s Handbook pages 394-433

• The paradigm shift in assessment practices
• The washback effect of tests
• Purposes of tests
• Summative vs. formative assessments
• The continuum of test item types
• Assessment formats: prochievement, performance-based, and PALS
• An interactive model for assessing interpretive communication
• Authentic assessments
• Developing and using scoring rubrics
• Standards-based Integrated Performance Assessments (IPAs)
• Empowering 91´«Ã½ through assessment
• Portfolios and self-assessments
• Interactive homework

Discussion ideas: Standards, the purpose of evaluation, differences between different types of evaluations, motivation.

Class Twenty-Six: Creating Effective Assessment Strategies

26-1) Omaggio-Hadley, Alice. “Classroom Testing.” Teaching Language in Context 3rd edition. pages 390-451.

• Some general concepts in language testing: Assessment Measures and Item Types
• The Case for Hybrid Classroom Tests
• Characteristics of Test Items and Item Types
• Listening Comprehension Formats
  • Listening for Specific Grammatical or Lexical Features
  • Listening for Specific Semantic Information
  • Listening and Following a Map or Diagram, or Choosing or Completing a Picture
  • Comprehension Questions
  • Writing a Summary of a Message in the Native Language
  • Global Classification and Gisting
• Reading Comprehension Formats
  • Reading for Sociocultural/Pragmatic Cues to Meaning
  • Reading and Choosing the Best Paraphrase
• Writing and Mixed-Skills Formats
  • Sentence Cues
  • Contextualized Partial Translation (Reading and Writing)
  • Cloze Adaptation
  • Discourse Transformation
  • Partial Conversations (Reading and Writing)
  • Translation Cues
  • Open-Ended Completions (Reading and Writing)
  • Responding to a Target Language Text (Reading and Writing)
• Guidelines for Creating Contextualized Paper-and-Pencil Tests
  • Evaluating the Tests Draft
• Testing Oral Skills
  • The Structure of the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview
  • Formations and Elicitation Techniques for the Novice through Superior Levels
  • Recent Adaptations of the OPI
  • Adaptations for Classroom Testing: Some Possible Formats for Oral Achievement Tests
  • Some Recent Innovations in Test Design
• Summary: Classroom Testing

26-2) Foreign Language Annals: Dynamic Assessment of Advanced Second Language Learners (p 576-598)
Marta Antón (volume 42 issue 3)

Abstract: This article reports on the implementation of diagnostic assessment in an advanced Spanish language program at the university level. Particular attention is given to the use of dynamic assessment practices as a way to assess language abilities, intervene in learning, and document learners’ growth. Dynamic assessment is conceptually based on sociocultural theory, specifically on Vygotsky’s notion of Zone of Proximal Development (Lantolf & Thorne, 2006; Minick, 1987). Assessment procedures conducted with third-year Spanish language majors are described with the purpose of illustrating the potential of dynamic assessment for second language learning contexts. Students took a five-part diagnostic test. Two parts of the test, the writing and speaking sections, were conducted following dynamic assessment procedures. A qualitative analysis of the results shows that dynamic assessment allows for a deeper and richer description of learners’ actual and emergent abilities, which enables programs to devise individualized instructional plans attuned to learners’ needs.

26-3) Foreign Language Annals: Self-Assessment of Speaking Skills and Participation in a Foreign Language Class (p 158-178)
Diane de Saint Léger (volume 42 issue 1)

Abstract: This article investigates the ways in which learners’ perception of themselves as second language (L2) speakers evolved over a 12-week period. Thirty-two 91´«Ã½ of the advanced French stream in a tertiary institution participated in this semester-long study. Students self-assessed their speaking skills and their level of participation in French oral tasks in weeks 4, 6, and 12, and set learning goals accordingly. Self-perception evolved in a positive fashion over time, particularly in relation to fluency, vocabulary, and overall confidence in speaking in the L2. In addition, individual goal-setting encouraged learners to take increased responsibility toward their own learning, although increased awareness did not necessarily lead to concrete actions to modify learning behavior. To conclude, this study highlights the potential pedagogical benefits of self-assessment at both the cognitive and affective levels.

Case Study (page 442): Developing Authentic Assessment Tasks and Rubrics. How does this activity achieve standards? Can you create a grading rubric for this assignment? What types of strategies are employed to evaluate proficiency?

Class Twenty-Seven: Addressing Issues that Arise with Assessment Strategies

“Issues in Testing Comprehension and in Evaluating Writing” Making Communicative Language Teaching Happen, pages 256-275

• One Issue for All Tests: Purpose
• Testing Listening Comprehension
  • Content
  • Tasks
  • Language of Assessment
• Testing Reading Comprehension
  • Task Type and Language of Assessment
  • Ite Construction
• From Classroom Activities to Reading Tests
  • Processes and Products
  • Focus on Content
  • Focus on Skills Application
• Some Issues in Evaluating Writing
  • Responding to Form
  • Responding to Content
  • Responding to Drafts
  • Holistic versus Analytical Scoring
• Summary

Week Ten

Class Twenty-Eight: Assessing Writing Skills

Lee, Icy. “Assessment for Learning: Integrating Assessment, Teaching, and Learning in the ESL/EFL Writing Classroom.” The Canadian Modern Language Review. Volume 64. No. 1) 2007.

Abstract: Assessment for learning (AfL) is a relatively new concept in ESL/EFL writing. In AfL, learning is a goal in its own right, and assessment is the means to achieving the goal. Despite an emphasis on assessment the concept AfL appears to suggest, in implementing AfL teachers need to integrate teaching, learning and assessment rather than focus exclusively on how to assess student writing per se. This article aims to discuss the key concepts of AfL with reference to writing and provide practical suggestions to help ESL/EFL writing teachers implement AfL in their own classroom. 

Class Twenty-Nine: Assessing Reading Comprehension and Speaking

In-Class Activity - Make up assessment for reading comprehension and speaking skills. Look at www.rubistar.com for helpful assessment matrices and outlines.

Technology integration in the foreign language classroom

Class Thirty: Understanding the Importance and Possible Potential for Using Technology in the FL Classroom

Teacher’s Handbook pages 449-459

• Digital natives and digital immigrants
• New literacies
• Technology-Enhanced Language Learning (TELL)
• Using technology to support standards-based instruction
• International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) standards for 91´«Ã½ and teachers
• Classroom technologies
• Multimedia technology in the three modes of communication

30-1) Foreign Language Annals: Motivating Students’ Foreign Language and Culture Acquisition Through Web-Based Inquiry (p 640-657)
Laura Levi Altstaedter, Brett Jones (volume 42 issue 4)

Abstract: According to the National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project, one of the ultimate goals of studying a foreign language is to better understand different cultures. To this end, we implemented a project in an undergraduate foreign language course that promoted a systematic inquiry-based approach to learning about the Hispanic culture. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether this project would increase 91´«Ã½’ ability perceptions and values related to the Spanish language and the Hispanic culture. Data from questionnaires and reflection essays demonstrated that 91´«Ã½ reported higher ability perceptions and values in the Spanish language and the Hispanic culture as a direct result of participating in the project. These findings suggest that this inquiry-based teaching approach is a viable way to incorporate the study of culture into a university foreign language course.

30-2) Foreign Language Annals: “Instructors’ Integration of Computer Technology: Examining the Role of Interaction” (p 61-80)
Hoe Kyeung Kim, Dorothy Rissel (volume 41 issue 1)

Abstract: Computer technology has the potential to provide rich resources for language teaching and learning. However, it continues to be underutilized, even though its availability, familiarity, and sophistication are steadily increasing. This case study explored the way in which three language instructors’ beliefs about language teaching and learning affected their use of computers in teaching in a postsecondary context. Data consisted of six weeks of observations of classrooms and computer labs and interviews with the three instructors. The findings suggest that the instructors’ beliefs about interaction affected their use of computers significantly more than their technological expertise, and imply that for computers to be used more widely, teacher preparation needs to take into consideration instructors’ beliefs and approaches to language teaching.

American Association of Teachers of French National Bulletin: “Exploring Virtual Linguistic Landscapes” (volume 35 issue 3): This article defines “linguistic landscapes” and the place of language teaching in the virtual realm. Briefly discussing various virtual spheres in which language teaching can be utilized, this article seeks to inform language teachers about seeking new landscapes-virtually.

Week Eleven

Class Thirty-One: Effectively Incorporating Technology into the Classroom

Teacher’s Handbook pages 460-473

• Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC)
• Synchronous and asynchronous communication
• Simulations
• Messaging technologies
• Social networks, wikis, blogs
• Telecollaboration
• Speech recognition
• Podcasting/vodcasting
• WebQuests
• Distance learning
• Proper use of websites

31-1) Foreign Language Annals: Got Film? Is It a Readily Accessible Window to the Target Language and Culture for Your Students? (p 318-339)
Kathleen A. Bueno (volume 42 issue 2)

Abstract: This article reviews what we know about integrating film into our foreign language classes and addresses the aspects of film and the media literacy issues that impact deeper understanding of the target language and culture. In addition, [Bueno illustrates] the interplay of these factors in planning instruction that integrates film in the third and fourth year of university study. Finally, I describe a classroom application: the delivery of the feature film Yerma (Távora, 1998) via a course management system for an advanced Spanish conversation and composition class and the strategies and techniques employed to promote translingual and transcultural competence.

31-2) Foreign Language Annals: Exchanging Second Language Messages Online: Developing an Intercultural Communicative Competence? (p 660-673)
Ulf Schuetze (volume 41 issue 4)

Abstract: This article reports on a study carried out twice on an online second language course that was set up between a Canadian University and a German University. In that course, 91´«Ã½ of German in Canada and 91´«Ã½ of English in Germany exchanged 2,412 messages in 2004 and 1,831 messages in 2005. A list of processing criteria for assessment was developed so the assessment process was transparent to instructors and 91´«Ã½ alike. The main research question was if these processing criteria led to the development of an intercultural communicative competence as defined by Byram (1997). Results showed that 91´«Ã½ who asked wh-questions, shared personal experiences, gave examples, and found material that was not provided in the course, engaged in the online dialogue with great success.

31-3) Foreign Language Annals: Blogging: Fostering Intercultural Competence Development in Foreign Language and Study Abroad Contexts (p 454-477)
Idoia Elola, Ana Oskoz (volume 41 issue 3)

Abstract: An essential instructional goal in foreign language education is the enhancement of 91´«Ã½’ intercultural competence. This article reports on a study that examined how intercultural competence developed between study abroad and at home 91´«Ã½ (in Spain and the United States, respectively) who used blogs as a mediating tool over the course of a semester. The data, blogs and two questionnaires, were analyzed by applying Byram’s (2000) assessment guidelines. The results showed that: (1) both study abroad and foreign language learners presented instances of intercultural competence as described in Byram’s guidelines, with each group reflecting the unique characteristics of its context, and (2) blog interactions had a positive effect on the development of both groups’ intercultural competence.

Case Study (page 475) Teaching Culture Through Photos. Exploring the use of digital cameras in a French classroom and examining the effectiveness of this technology. 

Class Thirty-Two: TMC Day

Class Thirty-Three: Learning How to Use and How to Evaluate Online Resources

American Association of Teachers of French National Bulletin: “Facebook: A Valuable Tool to Develop L2 Socio-Pragmatic Awareness” (volume 35 issue 4): This article attempts to determine if Facebook and other social networking sites can be successfully used in the foreign language classroom. 

• : Prezi is an application an editor that lets you create Prezi presentations. However, unlike many applications, Prezi can be used directly from an Internet browser (e.g. Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari) without the need to install anything. Prezi can also be installed (we call this Prezi Desktop) so you can use it without Internet access.
• : Voki is a free service that allows you to create personalized speaking avatars and use them on your blog, profile, and in email messages.
• : Screencast is a way of uploading videos, photos, and other information on one website. Individuals can share information via Screencast and create interactive blogs.

Week Twelve

Class Thirty-Four

• : The goal of the REALIA Project is to develop and implement a searchable digitized media database which will provide instructors of modern languages with teaching resources accessible via the Web. REALIA will publish royalty-free, faculty-reviewed media for scholars and 91´«Ã½, and be open to all disciplines that wish to contribute or use cultural materials appropriate for instruction at the college and secondary level. The REALIA Project seeks to increase through collaboration the quantity of high-quality teaching and learning materials by providing a respected venue for media projects that otherwise might not be shared or published.
• : CALICO, the Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium is a professional organization that serves a membership involved in both education and technology.
  CALICO has an emphasis on language teaching and learning but reaches out to all areas that employ the languages of the world to instruct and to learn. CALICO is a recognized international clearinghouse and leader in computer assisted learning and instruction. It is a premier global association dedicated to computer-assisted language learning (CALL).

Class Thirty-Five

• : Project Merlot is an online resource for all educators at all levels. In the “world
  languages” section of the website, educators can access thousands of different online resources to use in their classroom and provide for their 91´«Ã½.

Project Merlot Assignment: Go through the Project Merlot website and evaluate 3 language teaching websites in the language of your choice/ability. 

Class Thirty-Six: Class Conclusions