Rev. for Exam 2

Topics for exam  ACTFL Guidelines eg. Identify levels based on descriptions of students, various aspects of proficiency, how proficiency may influence teaching.  Standards e.g. 5 C’s, modes of communication and contrast with proficiency, 3 aspects of culture.  Teaching Methods See hlrc.byu.edu and Omaggio Ch. 3  Thematic and content based teaching  Nature of learners, what they are like at different ages  Role of motivation (Dornyei visual etc. ch. 1)  Backward planning and writing objectives  IRE v. IRF and Interpersonal Communication  Theories of Language Acquisition including sociocultural theory  Skill getting v. Skill using, value or lack thereof of mechanical grammar drills.  Critical period, argument for or against.  Time on task, role in learning  Program types, especially elementary and k-12 learners, pros and cons

Practice Activities  See p. 102 in text  Test questions won’t be nearly as lengthy or involved but will ask similar kinds of questions.  Your principal would like to develop your elementary level students’ abilities in a foreign language.  Explain 3 types of language learning programs and then explain a strength and weakness and the role of content in each.

 In the state where you live many elementary students participate in Dual immersion programs. They are exposed to large quantities of comprehensible input, and perform well academically, but produce very little in the target language.  In terms of language acquisition, Explain the role of output and then explain what might be students’ strengths and weaknesses in the target language.  You know a couple of friends who have some skill in a foreign language. One took several years of Spanish where he was taught using mainly a grammar translation approach with occasional speaking activities.  The other took a year or two of Spanish with a teacher that employed the natural approach where formal grammar learning was deemphasized. He then spent a month in Spain living with a family.  Imagine you are Stephen Krashen. Explain two aspects of your theories and use them to predict what the students will be able to do in Spanish.

 A student in your 3 rd semester French class is able to use memorized chunks to communicate about herself and immediate surroundings.  She can answer simple questions. But can be very difficult for native speakers to understand.  According to the ACTFL Guidelines, what level is this student?  Your colleague was heavily influenced in her teacher training by ACTFL proficiency guidelines. And is now hearing about the Standards for Foreign Language Learning.  Explain to her several ways that the “Standards” influence teaching that are different from the ways that proficiency guidelines influence teaching.