HKIS workshop Foreign Language Proficiency:

Performance Assessment & Instructional Practice

proficiency based curriculum planning&

assessmentsOct 1-2 2011

For ISM ML deptA. Vargas/N. Mes

What is Proficiency? = “what can they do with the language?”

• Can you? • So what? • Now what?

S can speak the language fluently, S can read and write

– not enough!

Proficiency-based Curriculum Planning

= CONTEXT! NOT Immersion

– Negotiation of meaning

– Even for beginners – provide the zone of proximity, it doesn’t matter if students don’t understand, keep feeding the information

Thematic focus for teaching should be(by Helena Curtain)• Communicatively purposeful• Cognitively engaging• Intrinsically interesting – tap

students own interests• Culturally connected – even candy

wrappers can be the source of cultural thoughts

Planning Learning Objectives

3 modes of communication

Interpersonal Interpretive Presentational

All Three = Performance Task

Learning Objectives= What can students do with what they learned?= language FUNCTIONS

Powerful verbs for language functions

demonstrate tell ask & answer identify

Talk about retell express compare

respond suggest criticize relate

interpret create relate summarize

Come to agree decide negotiate infer

Let’s see if these objectives are good.(keep it simple –context will help students)• Tell time • OK• Learn 10 new words • X – no purpose• Talk about likes and dislikes • X – no goal• Understand the meaning of the text • X – how do they demonstrate this?• Plan a menu • X - too narrow• Know the differences between A and B • X – change to “Compare”

Functions for Unit for Clothing

• Level 1• Ask the price/express their preference• Level 2• Compare/describe/state likes&dislikes/tell• Level 3• Suggest what to wear/give reasons for likes• Level 4• Suggest reasons for what to wear for

occasions/discuss/sell an idea/persuade/criticize/compare/debate

Assessing Performance Toward Proficiency

Conceptual control

Partial control

Full control

Assessing performance toward proficiency

Proficiency does not mean perfectionInstruction and assessment at each level should target:

What forms my global identity?

• Interpretive

– Watch video of last year’s exchange students

• Presentational

– Design a poster that identifies what creates your global identity (family, reading, media, interests, travel, language learning, etc.).

– Explain the poster you designed to the class.

• Interpersonal

– Try to come to consensus what key elements are

Respecting the environment

• Interpretive–Read a website about actions

students abroad take to respect the environment

• Interpersonal–Spontaneous conversations

comparing what local students do to what they found out from the website

• Presentational–Create an infomercial

Move from: Answer

questions after reading

To: Decide if it’s logical to infer that…and provide evidence from the reading to support

why and why not.

Move from: Share class schedules

To:

Find out who has the busiest day.

Assessments should have a goal and purpose = GRASP!

standards-based assessments

• Provide how the best performance looks like.

• It’s important to TEACH students this, not just assume they would know

Assessing Presentational mode

•Did everyone hear it? Was it clear? Eye contact? Not reading?•Was the content (what does this mean)? –supported by evidence of various aspects, main topic is clear•Was information accurate, relevant and organized?•Was the language clear and appropriate to the task and the context? Did it interfere with the communication?

Rubrics

• Rubric should be assignment specific

Rubric is for feedback Will my students know

how good is good enough?

How can my assessment task pull out the desired performance?

Is my feedback focused on what really counts to help students increase their proficiency?

Benchmark 1

Functions/

purposes

Benchmark 2

Functions/

purposes

Benchmark 3

Functions/

purposes

Differentiated Rubric (proficiency level)• ‘Differentiated instruction and products will require

differentiated rubric’. – As a precondition, it needs Benchmarks for each proficiency level.

• Benchmarks are not just word list, but functions and purposes.

• You can’t necessary communicate even when you memorize all the vocabulary.

Resources from the workshop for your further Professional Developments

Teaching Foreign Language K-12: A Library of Classroom Practices:http://www.learner.org/resources/series185.htmlThis video library and professional development guide bring to life the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century. Illustrates effective instruction and assessment strategies in K-12classrooms around the country. 27 teachers and their students; eight languages; full range of competency levels. (#30 was recommended by Mr. Sandrock)

World Language Assessment: Get in the Mode! http://www.ecb.org/worldlanguageassessment/Seven video segments (15 minutes each) take teachers into K-12 classrooms to explore issues and examples of assessing world languages. Focuses on three modes of communication, includes web resources, provides a framework of formative and summative assessments for use at any grade level.

Image sources:

• http://www.flickr.com/photos/graphicreality/818287997/sizes/z/in/photostream/

• http://www.flickr.com/photos/familymwr/5115357756/sizes/l/in/photostream/

• http://www.flickr.com/photos/sharynmorrow/9676184/sizes/z/in/photostream/

• http://globalengage.ibo.org/eng/post/international-global-citizens-award

• http://www.flickr.com/photos/22177648@N06/2137734862/

• http://www.transportgooru.com/2010/03/webinar-alert-experience-from-others-how-to-successfully-apply-the-its-knowledge-resources-for-decision-making/