2009 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES OF THE STANDARDS IN COLLEGE FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION

Permanent URI for this collection

Browse

Recent Submissions

Now showing 1 - 10 of 12
  • Item
    Introduction
    (Heinle Cengage Learning, 2009-01-01) Scott, Virginia M.; Dessein, Eva; Nisselson, Rachel
  • Item
    Teaching culture: The standards as an optic on curriculum development
    (Heinle Cengage Learning, 2009-01-01) Arens, Katherine
    This chapter offers an experiment in defining what it means to teach culture, based on the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century (2006). Traditional postsecondary FL classrooms all too often define “culture” as a set of facts; the Standards suggest that culture may be profitably defined as a field of cultural practices, signifiers, and knowledge. In consequence, a curriculum may be developed stressing how learning a culture means not only acquiring its knowledge base but also the strategic competencies needed to function within it. Defining culture as a pragmatic field structured like a language but functioning in more dimensions requires that any curriculum be targeted at a particular site or region within which a group acts and defines itself as culturally literate through communication, pragmatic practices (behaviors, institutional functions), and a characteristic knowledge base. To make this case, I first offer a rereading of the Standards to redefine learning language as learning culture. I then provide examples of how such a rereading of the Standards can be implemented to structure curricula fostering various forms of culture literacy. The experiment proposed here argues that the Standards apply to a more encompassing model for learning, especially for teaching and learning culture as a set of semiotic systems revealed in the pragmatic choices made by members of a cultural community in a particular field of culture. My experiment, therefore, challenges how the Standards have been read and implemented overall.
  • Item
    Incorporating the standards into a 3R model of literary and cultural analysis
    (Heinle Cengage Learning, 2009-01-01) Ketchum McEwan, Eilen
    Although useful for providing directions and continuity for foreign language programs at the high school and university levels, the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century (2006) seem to overlook the specific skills of literary analysis, a traditional focus for many college-level language programs. This chapter attempts to address that oversight by offering a 3R Model of Literary and Cultural Analysis (Recognize-Research-Relate). The 3R Model combines literary, linguistic, and cultural acquisition within a general analytical model that fulfills the Standards’ Five Cs of foreign language learning. Based on research in schema theory and reader-response theories, the 3R Model helps students identify literary and linguistic elements that seem representative of a target culture, research the target culture through various resources to arrive at a multifaceted view of that culture, and apply the newly developed background knowledge to the text for a more culturally informed reading. Specific examples taken from Francophone literature provide a detailed presentation of the three steps of the model, accompanied by suggestions for using the model with other languages and levels of linguistic competency, thereby demonstrating its wide-ranging application within postsecondary language programs.
  • Item
    A standards-based framework for the teaching of literature within the context of globalization
    (Heinle Cengage Learning, 2009-01-01) Schutlz, Jean Marie
    The 2007 MLA report, Foreign Languages and Higher Education: New Structures for a Changed World, calls into question many of the current practices in language teaching, their underlying philosophies, and even the structure of departments of foreign languages and literatures in light of the impact of increased globalization, which privileges the development of “translingual” and “transcultural” competence. Particularly at stake is the traditional role of literature in the foreign language curriculum, a role made all the more problematic within the context of the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century (2006), which are ambivalent as to how literary texts should figure into the foreign language classroom. Although three of the Standards’ Five Cs—Cultures, Comparisons, and Communication—have generated new paradigms for the incorporation of literature in the language classroom, very little research has been done in terms of Communities and Connections. This chapter explores why these two standards seem to have been passed over within the pedagogical literature and examines how they can figure prominently into a reconfigured foreign language curriculum that advances the goals of the Standards as well as those of the 2007 MLA report. The chapter further explores how literature can be repositioned within interdisciplinary practices that might serve to create new kinds of connections within the global arena, as well as how literature helps provide students access to new foreign language communities. Finally, the chapter concludes by illustrating the theoretical discussion with the description of an intermediate French language course designed specifically to meet the needs of students interested in Global Studies.
  • Item
    Using the online forums to integrate the standards into the foreign language curriculum
    (Heinle Cengage Learning, 2009-01-01) Oskoz, Ana
    This chapter reports on the work conducted in a foreign language (FL) program at the University of Maryland Baltimore County that integrates both in-class and online discussions to reflect on students in and interpret various documents and experiences. In particular, this study focuses on students in one class of Intermediate Spanish I who used asynchronous online interactions to explore, analyze, and reflect on cultural topics. Five groups of students’ online discussions were collected and analyzed through the framework of the 5 goals of the Standards. Subsequent quantitative analysis of the data showed that the online forums can become springboards for students to share, debate, and interpret information; to gain knowledge and understanding of other cultures; to reflect and make connections to additional bodies of knowledge; to compare and contrast the target culture with their own; and to participate in multilingual and multicultural communities. Pedagogical suggestions to enhance the value of the discussion boards are provided at the end of the chapter.
  • Item
    Reconceptualizing the goals for forerign language learning: The role of pragmatics instruction
    (Heinle Cengage Learning, 2009-01-01) DeWaard Dykstra, Lisa
    The the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century (2006) and the 2007 MLA report, Foreign Languages and Higher Education: New Structures for a Changed World, have put forth recommendations for language education in the United States. Both documents lament the dearth of competent speakers of languages other than English and both advocate for a change to the current system. However, in this chapter I argue that neither model is sufficient. After a thorough analysis of the Standards and the MLA report, I present a review of the literature on interlanguage pragmatics and argue that the inclusion of pragmatics instruction can aid in the personal transformation necessary for true competence in the second language. Pragmatics study provides a starting point for the deconstruction of the original self by presenting often conflicting patterns of a paradigm that to learners appears to be self-evident as well as uniform across cultures, namely what constitutes politeness—the building block of interaction that serves as a frame for all discourse. When politeness is found to be distinct across cultures, the sense of a foundation of communication gives way and the native culture, and with it the self, are challenged. The inclusion of pragmatics can result in a different self than before, an amplified self with varying sets of workable frames for interaction. It is in this way that meaningful entrance into and interaction with the target culture can take place. The Standards and the MLA report come up short precisely because they do not adequately address this important component of language.
  • Item
    A chronicle of standards-based curricular reform in a research university
    (Heinle Cengage Learning, 2009-01-01) Bernhardt, Elizabeth; Valdés, Guadalupe; Miano, Alice
    In 1995, Stanford University embarked upon curricular renewal in all major foreign languages. This curricular renewal was motivated by the university senate’s concern that campuswide internationalization could not come about without a serious commitment to language teaching and learning. That commitment was then institutionalized in the Stanford Language Center. The Center was charged with encouraging excellence in language teaching, establishing and maintaining performance standards, providing professional development opportunities for the teaching staff, and developing a research program about language teaching and learning. At the heart of the renewal process established by the Language Center was a professional development program focused on Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) certification that helped the teaching staff to acquire a common framework and professional language upon which to engage and interact. Also key was a focus on the Standards as blueprints for program development. This chapter narrates the process the staff negotiated over several years of development, using the 1st- and 2nd-year Spanish programs as the specific instance of Standards-based curriculum development. Appended to the chapter is the curricular document that includes objectives for interpersonal, presentational, and interpretive language based on a quarter system calendar for 2 years of instruction. In addition, the chapter chronicles how the Standards-based curriculum had both a washback and a feedback effect on staff-development and knowledge of language assessment. Finally, the chapter maps a future path, noting the shortcomings of current assessment procedures for analyzing presentational language, and proposing an alternative.
  • Item
    In search of relevance: The standards and the undergraduate foreign language curriculum
    (Heinle Cengage Learning, 2009-01-01) Willis Allen, Heather
    Beyond the Standards’ influence on K-12 language education policy and continued discussions of their relevance and application to foreign language (FL) instruction and assessment, the tangible impacts of the Standards in shaping curriculum and classroom instruction have not been wide-ranging in university-level FL departments. This chapter identifies and discusses three factors that have contributed to the reception of the Standards in higher education and, more specifically, in terms of the advanced undergraduate FL curriculum. Based on the discussion of these factors, I respond to the question of whether the Standards provide a framework adequate for addressing the critical challenge facing university-level FL programs today of the meaningful integration of language and content across the curriculum. Ultimately, I argue that although the Standards continue to serve as an important document within a historical continuum of pedagogical change, they fail to provide principled guidance for university-level FL departments struggling to identify pathways or approaches to inform how curricula are articulated.
  • Item
    Strengthening the connection between content and communication
    (Heinle Cengage Learning, 2009-01-01) Phillips, June K.
    This chapter presents some of the underlying concepts that informed the development of the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century, especially those that concern achieving communicative and content goals in all levels of language courses. It proposes that a firm understanding of the contexts embedded in the three modes of communication—Interpersonal, Interpretive, and Presentational—establishes an instructional orientation that is more informative for teaching/learning than the four skills alone provided. Using the communicative modes as the starting point for a solid base of cultural or interdisciplinary content (including literary sources) results in learning that has strong intellectual content in the humanities rather than rote learning and manipulative language practice. To facilitate this merging of communication and content, a series of templates are offered that instructors can use so that questions are asked at the planning stage that are appropriate to the content area. This scan of content with potential for student learning is then matched with communicative tasks appropriate to the proficiency level of students. The templates help to establish a mindset for instructors so that new materials can be explored with minimal materials development time and also take advantage of contemporary events, student interests, and opportunities for curricular enrichment.
  • Item
    The national standards at the postsecondary level: A blueprint and framework of change
    (Heinle Cengage Learning, 2009-01-01) Terry, Robert M.
    For years we have looked for the one right way to teach foreign languages. Many different methods, techniques, and approaches have surfaced, but none has yet provided us with the way. The most recent phenomenon to appear is the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century. While still not affording us the answer, since their 1996 appearance the Standards have had a noticeable impact on foreign language teaching: New state frameworks, new curricula, new textbook series, and a new focus on performance in the classroom, as outlined in the Five Cs (Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, Communities). Another challenging yet exciting C is now facing those of us who teach at the college/ university level: Change. The challenge is in convincing colleagues why change is necessary and why they should change. We all should read the 2007 Modern Language Association report, Foreign Languages and Higher Education: New Structures for a Changed World. Although this report does not mention the Standards, there is a striking overlap of both the spirit and the tenets set forth originally in that 1996 document. The two-tiered structure that typically exists between the humanists and language specialists, as the MLA report calls them, must be addressed and must evolve for our own common interests. Our goals need to be restructured to produce linguistically and culturally competent users and not rivals to native speakers. It is time for a change. The national standards provide us with the tested and proven blueprint and roadmap that we need.