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Teacher Training :: Chinese Instructional Strategies

Characteristics of Effective Foreign Language Instruction

 

In 1999, the National Association of District Supervisors of Foreign Languages (NADSFL) published a revised version of earlier document in which its members identified the characteristics of effective foreign language instruction. The previous document, in turn, was based on a statement of descriptors developed by foreign language department heads in Montgomery County (MD) Public Schools.

 

The guidelines were intended to provide descriptors of standards-based foreign language teaching.  In the words of NADSFL, “[the]  guidelines provide a basis for common understanding and communication among evaluators, observers, and practitioners in classrooms where foreign/second languages are taught. The Characteristics focus on the students who are the recipients of effective foreign language instruction.”

 

In March, 2007, the National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland convened teacher educators who had been awarded institutional grants to provide summer professional development to high school teachers of Arabic and Chinese.  The Arabic-teacher educators developed additional descriptors that illustrate each of the NADSFL teacher characteristics.  In the material that follows readers will find the characteristics from the NADSDL document indicated by numerals;  the bullets below them are intended as self-assessment statements that can be used prior to and subsequent to professional development to determine progress teachers make in enhancing their ability to teach foreign languages.  As these bullets are not language specific, they provide a useful means of detailing what successful foreign language teachers to produce student learning.

1. The teacher sets high expectations for all students, designs assessment, and organizes instruction to engage and motivate all learners.

  • I can write a lesson plan.
  • I can plan and facilitate classroom instruction to actively engage and motivate learners.
  • I can maintain all students on task.
  • I can ensure that all students contribute to classroom interactions.
  • I can set high expectations for students and design assessments that reflect those expectations.

 

2. The teacher and students communicate purposefully in the target language as listeners, speakers, readers, writers, and viewers.

  • I can conduct the class in the target language without needing to resort to English at least 80% of the class period.
  • I know when to use English for instructional purposes and when it is not necessary or appropriate.
  • I can make myself understood to students when I speak in the target language.
  • I can plan and carry out real-world tasks in real-world settings in culturally appropriate ways.
  • I can design my classroom activities so that student/teacher  and student/student interactions are meaningful and functional.
  • I can facilitate  classroom discussion without dominating it.
  • I know how to monitor for evidence of comprehension (eg. Responses, eye contact).
  • I can explain an effective approach to developing literacy for foreign language learners.
  • I can plan learning activities that connect to other content areas.

 

3. There is more student activity than teacher activity in most lessons. Student activity includes student to student interactions as well as teacher to student interactions. Students work independently, in pairs, and in groups. Students ask and answer questions and they create with language.

  • I can plan student interactions that have purposes outside of the classroom.
  • I know and can use a variety of  structured and balanced (so that all students participate) activities (pair, group, full-class) throughout the class so that students can use the language.
  • I can provide to students a variety of opportunities to participate in class via a variety of means (small-group and other approaches (journals).
  • I can design activities so that all learners are involved and engaged.
  • I know how to promote student participation through both self-nomination and being called on.
  • I can model expectations for student performance in pair and group activities.


4. Students take risks as language learners because the learning environment is positive and supportive.

  • I can provide a comfortable and friendly environment so that students feel comfortable speaking freely and making mistakes.
  • I know what my students would think is a comfortable and friendly environment and I can  create this.

 

5. When error correction is appropriate, students are given opportunities, including wait-time, to self-correct. Teacher correction of student errors is often done through follow-up review and re-teaching strategies.

  • I can correct errors and know when indirect or direct error correction is appropriate and use it, applying research and theory to decide which errors to correct, when and how.
  • I can correct errors without discouraging or embarrassing students.
  • I can correct errors in ways that are sensitive to the learner and appropriate to the task.


6. Assessments are ongoing. Students are assessed formally and informally on how well they are able to meet the objectives of the lesson. Continuous self-assessments for students and teachers are encouraged.

  • I can see standards aligned in my class assessments.
  • I can develop assessments that reflect ALL my teaching goals, materials, and what occurs in class, encompassing all skills including intercultural competence/awareness.
  • I can collect evidence of student learning without using pencil and paper, designing tasks that simulate real-life use of language.
  • I can use multiple ways to collect information on student progress, providing options for students to fulfill class expectations, and I take suggestions for how expectations can be met (as appropriate).
  • I can create assessment instruments that have face validity and positive washback into my classes.
  • I know before I administer the test how I will evaluate the results and have communicated this to the students.
  • I can use assessment on a daily basis to modify and improve instruction.
  • I can include assessment measures in all my instructional objectives.

 

7. Students use language specific learning strategies and are encouraged to assess their own progress.

  • I can apply research and theory to explicitly teach students to apply learning strategies effectively and I seek evidence of their independent application of those strategies.

 

8. Culture is a natural component of language use in all activities.

  • I can teach/introduce/present culture as a natural component of language in all skills.
  • I can incorporate authentic materials and tasks that reflect cultural practices, products, and perspectives.


9. All students are guided to use all levels of thinking skills, e.g., they repeat, recognize, and recall as well as apply, create, and predict.

  • I can create tasks that encourage students to recall and activate their background knowledge.
  • I can design a variety of activities to encourage students to think critically by applying new language skills in the creation of original products/communications.


10. The diverse learning styles of all students are considered in the teacher's instructional planning.

  • I know how to elicit from students their expectations/hopes of this class and modify at least some units in direct response to student input/interest.
  • I know and can use diverse activities to satisfy/accomodate diverse learning types.

 

11. Students have positive attitudes toward cultural diversity which are often demonstrated in the learning environment.

  • I can design learning activities to help students develop positive attitudes toward cultural diversity and I know how to collect evidence that tells me I was successful.

 

12. The physical environment including displays of student work is instructional, motivational, and informative.

  • I can develop tasks in which students produce culturally appropriate physical work that will be displayed to promote instructional motivation and individual ownership in class.
  • I can design a physical environment serves as an instructional resource, not simply an attractive classroom.

 

13. Students and teachers are not text-bound during instructional time. It is obvious that the text is a tool, not the curriculum.

  • I can develop classroom activities and resources for instruction extend beyond the textbook to functional use of the language in real-world settings.

 

14. Students and teachers use a variety of print and non-print materials including authentic target language sources.

  • I can identify and use authentic materials to teach listening and reading in class.
  • I know and can use authentic video, audio, realia, language and culture bearers, target culture communities (including electronic) to provide for real-world language use.

 

    15. Technology, as appropriate and available, is used by students and teachers to facilitate learning and teaching.
  • I can use available technology on a regular basis to make learning more fun, interesting and effective, reinforce language skills and enhance authenticity.

 

Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners

 

Each foreign language classroom consists of a heterogeneous group of language learners.  STARTALK summer programs will prove to be even moreso because students will be coming from a variety of backgrounds and schools.  It is critical that teachers be able to differentiate the instruction to meet the diverse needs of these learners.  Click here to read an article by Toni Theisen of Loveland, Colorado about strategies that she uses to differentiate how she reaches each learner in her class:  www.sedl.org/loteced/communique/n06.pdf

 

The following site has a very wide variety of resources to assist teachers in differentiating classroom instruction. Check them out at http://www.internet4classrooms.com/di.htm

 

Click here to get information on meeting the needs of the diversity in your classroom from the National Capital Language Resource Center:  http://www.nclrc.org/about_teaching/topics/learner_diversity.html

 

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