2016 THE INTERCONNECTED LANGUAGE CURRICULUM: CRITICAL TRANSITIONS AND INTERFACES IN ARTICULATED K-16 CONTEXTS
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ItemConfronting literacy in Chinese as a foreign language(Heinle Cengage Learning, 2016-01-01)While critics of standards-based movements such as Common Core State Standards (CCSS) may argue over issues of content, testing, and perceptions of government control over education, few argue against the need for some type of well-reasoned set of standards if educators are to orchestrate principled instructional sequences. The foreign language community is no exception, having devoted an enormous amount of dedication to standards-based instructional development, the most current guidance for which is embodied in the World- Readiness Standards for Learning Languages (WRSLL). These standards should be viewed as good news for the growing Chinese-language education field. Yet, these standards also force Chinese-language stakeholders to openly confront perhaps the most professionally vexing dimension of Chinese language education: teaching students to read and write. This chapter will discuss issues in Chinese literacy from both a theoretical and applied standpoint. The chapter’s goal is to help stakeholders in Chinese and in world languages understand how standards-based instruction raises the ante in terms of what will be expected from students in a variety of educational settings; I also address how these expectations may need to be tempered, given the enormous amount of time and effort students expend in acquiring Chinese literacy skills. The article will draw from theories and models of second-language reading, as well as the research and experience of Chinese language educators, to highlight points of contention that need airing and professional resolution.
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ItemThe roadmap to mainstreaming dual language immersion in Rhode Island(Heinle Cengage Learning, 2016-01-01)This article describes the premise, rationale, and goals of the Rhode Island Language Roadmap and seeks to illustrate how the Roadmap process can be a vehicle for mainstreaming language immersion education from K-12, articulated with Cultures & Languages across the Curriculum (CLAC) initiatives in higher education. Leaders and faculty members of U.S. university language departments will learn from the Roadmap process how to include stakeholders from outside of world language education, for example, government officials, business leaders, and nonprofit leaders, in the process of curricular reform. The leaders of the Roadmap process in Rhode Island and the authors of this article come from academia, but reach beyond their sphere of typical influence to become agents of change on a statewide level.
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ItemA proficiency-based articulation project between postsecondary institutions(Heinle Cengage Learning, 2016-01-01)In this chapter, we examine language program articulation between a major state university and the community college from which it receives the highest number of transfer students through the lens of second-semester courses in Chinese, Portuguese, and Russian. We use syllabi, course materials, and data on students’ language background and language proficiency to assess the effectiveness of current placement and transfer policies at the two institutions and outline plans to implement proficiency targets, provide curricular and pedagogical infrastructure to support these targets, and develop procedures to institutionalize proficiency testing.
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ItemImplications of advanced placement world languages and cultures tenets for university foreign language programs(Heinle Cengage Learning, 2016-01-01)This chapter considers the implications and applications of several tenets of the Advanced Proficiency World Languages and Cultures curriculum for university foreign language programs, including the six themes around which the curriculum is organized and the backward design model advocated for instructional planning. The chapter addresses issues of outcomes, assessment, and curriculum design and offers suggestions for graduate student education that further reflect on and support this curricular approach.
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ItemPerceptions of native English-speaking and heritage Spanish-speaking high school students in a Spanish immersion program(Heinle Cengage Learning, 2016-01-01)This article reports on a qualitative, exploratory study of 27 students—19 native English speakers (NES) and 8 heritage Spanish speakers (HSS)—that examined students’ perceptions of their second or heritage language learning and culture learning as participants in a successful one-way high school Spanish immersion program at a large public high school in Virginia. Implications for university language program directors (LPDs) are also discussed. The study posed the following research question: What are students’ perceptions of their language-learning experience and their culture-learning experience within this program, and what other aspects of the program do students believe constitute “value added” as a result of their experience? The author posited that intensive exposure to the second language (L2) or heritage language (HL) would enhance students’ confidence as Spanish speakers and had the potential to spark cognitive, behavioral, and affective changes in them as they dug deeper into the modalities of their first and second cultures.
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ItemMaking connections in beginning language inctruction through structured reflection and the world-readiness standards for learning languages(Heinle Cengage Learning, 2016-01-01)Twenty-six beginning L2 learners provided structured reflections over the course of a first-semester collegiate German class. The present analysis investigates connections made by these students between their learning of German and their experiences beyond the course. Drawing on the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages (WRSLL) to inform the nature of connection-making reported in the students’ journals, the study shows that learners described personally meaningful connections that align well to the Communities and Connections goal areas—components of the WRSLL that have received relatively little attention in research and professional dialogues. Additionally, students showed a deepened understanding of themselves in relationship to the course content. The article concludes with a discussion concerning the role of reflection in supporting Standards-based pedagogies.
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ItemThe shared course initiative: Curricular collaboration across institutions(Heinle Cengage Learning, 2016-01-01)As a growing number of academic institutions are adapting their mission to emphasize global engagement, it is essential that they continue to make a broad menu of languages available to their students and researchers. However, a number of constraints have made it increasingly difficult for institutions to maintain depth and breadth in their language offerings, particularly in the less commonly taught languages (LCTLs). In order to address this challenge, Columbia University, Cornell University, and Yale University have developed a collaborative framework to share instruction in the LCTLs across institutional boundaries. The Shared Course Initiative (SCI) uses high-definition videoconferencing to create a synchronous, classroom-to-classroom learning environment that allows the three institutions to share instruction in a wide range of LCTLs. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the SCI and situate it within the current literature on institutional globalization and curricular transformation in language education. We also discuss the potential of the model for the creation of collaborative curricula and the sharing of academic resources across institutional boundaries.
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ItemInternationalizing the curriculum at home: Transcultural exploration in a French-German course(Heinle Cengage Learning, 2016-01-01)Foreign language departments are ideally situated to guide students to fully engage with what it means to be an educated, socially responsible, and global citizen. In particular, initiatives emanating from these departments can help answer the call to foster transcultural and translingual competence. This article centers on a jointly designed, team-taught, advanced course in French and German. Inspired by the multiliteracies framework, the course aimed to teach critical awareness and foster the development of graduates who are truly international in their outlook. To achieve this goal and develop learners’ abilities to work collaboratively with diversity, complexity, and ambiguity, we engaged learners on the terrain of critical cultural studies, guiding them to ask (different) questions, form and test new hypotheses, develop and explore new perspectives, and understand change in France, Germany, and the United States. Learners examined various types of documents and engaged with various modalities. After describing the theoretical frameworks and methods of the course, this article critically discusses the successes and challenges of our project based on class discussions, student work, and student feedback.
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ItemIntroduction. Beyond the collegiate foreign language program: Horizontal and vertical artriculation for 21st-century learners(Heinle Cengage Learning, 2016-01-01)
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ItemContents, acknowledgements, abstracts, contributors(Heinle Cengage Learning, 2016-01-01)