1. Designing Instruction for the AP French Language and Culture Course
Brian Kennelly, California Polytechnic State University
Davara Potel, Solon High School (OH)
James Monk, The College Board
ACTFL 2009 Annual Convention
November 20, 2009
San Diego, California

2. Session Content AP Course and Exam Review for World Languages
Designing Instruction for AP French Language and Culture
Reflective Practice and Planning Learning Experiences
Learning Objectives and Achievement Level Descriptions
Using Course Themes, Recommended Contexts, and Essential Questions
Working with Authentic Materials
Assessment: Integrating Skills within the Modes of Communication
Timeline for Announcing Changes

3. AP Course and Exam Review for World Languages Project Rationale
AP courses are regularly updated to stay abreast of developments within each academic discipline. AP regularly conducts College Curriculum Studies to ensure ongoing alignment with parallel college courses.
Differences among the tasks and performance expectations across the current suite of AP Exams in the world languages are significant, which may lead to misunderstanding on the part of AP teachers as well as colleges with regard to AP standards.
Currently, colleges and universities generally do not compensate students with credit or placement equivalent to the proficiency that students obtain as a result of their AP experience in a world language.

4. AP Course and Exam Review for World Languages Project Goals
Ensure that the AP courses in world languages:
Embody a coherent conceptual organization
Effectively develop language proficiency across the three modes of communication (Interpersonal, Interpretive and Presentational)
Effectively integrate cultural competence, connections to other school disciplines, comparisons between the target language and culture and those of the learner, and foster the use of the language within the broader communities beyond the traditional school environment
Draw upon current scholarship in learning theory
Align with the best practices of college and university teaching
Maintain the continued validity of AP to colleges and universities
Advance the availability and access to AP world language courses for a diverse range of prepared students
Prepare students for success in subsequent college-level courses
The AP Program regularly conducts reviews of its courses and exams by collecting college survey data and conducting comparability studies. To ensure that the AP Program promotes the best approaches to college-level studies in secondary world language classrooms, AP conducted a multi-year project to review the suite of AP world language courses, exams, and professional development opportunities.

5. AP Course and Exam Review for World Languages Process
Forty-eight world language educators were selected to serve on six AP World Language Commissions.
Commissioners used the following resources to develop a common framework for the AP courses in world languages:
Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century
ACTFL Performance Guidelines for K-12 Learners
Data gathered in a study of Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish college courses
Course portfolio data gathered from post-secondary instructors
Data gathered from colleges and universities regarding current credit and placement policies

6. AP Course and Exam Review for World Languages Process
Commissioners working across languages developed the new AP Curriculum Framework for World Languages and Cultures: Claims, Achievement Level Descriptions, and Themes.
Draft AP Curriculum Frameworks were reviewed by AP teachers, college and university faculty, and leaders of professional organizations.

7. Designing Instruction Reflective Practice
Describe acceptable performance Achievement Level Descriptions
Set Goals
Learning objectives
Design Thematic Instruction
Themes, Recommended contexts
Assess Progress toward Goals
Redirect Instruction as needed

8. Designing Instruction Planning Learning Experiences
Determine how your students will:
be engaged and challenged by exploring important and relevant ideas (through inquiry, research, discussion)
have opportunities to activate previous knowledge
have opportunities to process new information using a variety of media (literature, journalism -- print, radio, podcast, television -- art, cinema)
receive explicit instruction on the knowledge and skills needed to prepare them for success
work in a variety of groupings (pairs, small and large group) to maximize learning opportunities
draft, revise, and refine their work based on feedback
set goals at the beginning of a unit and self-assess prior to the end of a unit

9. Designing Instruction for AP French Language and Culture
Learning Objectives and Achievement Level Descriptions
Using Course Themes, Recommended Contexts, and Essential Questions
Working with Authentic Materials
Assessment: Integrating Skills within the Modes of Communication

10. Designing Instruction Learning Objectives
The learning objectives are statements we make about the knowledge, skills, and abilities of students who take the AP course.
Six groups of learning objectives represent the three modes of communication described in the Standards.
Interpersonal Communication Interpersonal Speaking, Interpersonal Writing
Interpretive Communication Interpretive Listening and/or Viewing, Interpretive Reading
Presentational Communication Presentational Speaking, Presentational Writing

11. Designing Instruction Achievement Level Descriptions
Achievement Level Descriptions are specific statements about what students at different performance levels know and are able to do.
Provide AP teachers with valuable instructional feedback based on student performance that informs instructional adjustments for subsequent academic years
Represent progression along a trajectory of second-language learning
Allow colleges and universities to better place AP students based on robust descriptions of students’ knowledge, skills, and abilities upon successful completion of the AP course

12. Designing Instruction Achievement Level Descriptions
Each set of achievement level descriptions is composed of various features of student performance that provide evidence that the learning objectives are met.
Example: Spoken Interpersonal Communication Interaction Vocabulary Strategies
Register Opinions Pronunciation
Language structures Cultures, connections, comparisons

13. Designing Instruction Using the Course Themes and Recommended Contexts
The AP French Language and Culture course is structured around six course themes; each of the themes includes a number of recommended contexts for exploring the theme.
Recommended contexts are neither prescriptive nor required; they merely serve as suggestions for addressing the themes.
Teachers will address all six course themes in the AP course; however, they are not expected to address each of the recommended contexts within a theme.
Teachers are encouraged to engage students in study of the various themes through both historical and contemporary perspectives.

14. AP French Language and Culture Curriculum Framework Thematic Approach
Global Challenges
Science and Technology
Contemporary Life
Personal and Public Identities
Families and Communities
Beauty and Aesthetics
The AP courses in world languages and cultures are structured around six themes: global challenges, science and technology, contemporary life, personal and public identities, families and communities, and beauty and aesthetics. Teachers are encouraged to engage students in the various themes by considering historical, contemporary, and future aspects as appropriate.

15. Science and Technology Personal and Public Identities
Global Challenges
Diversity Issues
Economic issues
Environmental issues
Health Issues
Human Rights
Nutrition and Food Safety
Peace and War
Science and Technology
Current Research Topics
Discoveries and Inventions
Ethical Questions
Future Technologies
Intellectual Property
The New Media
Social Impact of Technology
Contemporary Life
Advertising and Marketing
Education
Holidays and Celebrations
Housing and Shelter
Leisure and Sports
Professions
Rites of Passage
Travel
Personal and Public Identities
Alienation and Assimilation
Beliefs and Values
Gender and Sexuality
Language and Identity
Multiculturalism
Nationalism and Patriotism
Families and Communities
Age and Class
Childhood and Adolescence
Citizenship
Customs and Ceremonies
Family Structures
Friendship and Love
Beauty and Aesthetics
Architecture
Contributions to World Artistic Heritage
Ideals of Beauty
Literature
Music
Performing arts
Visual arts
These are merely recommended contexts for addressing the Course Themes in your syllabus. They are neither required nor prescriptive; however, what is required in the syllabi is that each of the course themes be explicitly addressed.

16. Designing Instruction Using the Course Themes and Recommended Contexts
Example 1: A unit on Earth Day and efforts to protect the environment in various areas of the French-speaking world (one theme, one context)
Course theme: Global Challenges Recommended context: Environmental Issues
Example 2: A unit on ideals of beauty represented in the history of French painting (one theme, multiple contexts)
Course theme: Beauty and Aesthetics Recommended contexts: Contributions to World Artistic Heritage, Ideals of Beauty, Visual Arts
Example 3: A unit on immigration and integration in French-speaking countries (multiple themes and contexts)
Course themes: Global Challenges, Personal and Public Identities, Families and Communities Recommended contexts: Diversity Issues, Alienation and Assimilation, Citizenship

17. Designing Instruction Essential Questions
In a thematic approach to instructional design, essential questions guide classroom investigations, learning activities and performance assessments. They may provide topics for project work, take-home essays, and in-class debates, for example.
Essential questions allow students to investigate and express different views on real-world issues, make connections to other disciplines, and compare aspects of French-speaking cultures to their own.
Essential questions should capture students’ interest, inform the selection of authentic materials to use in class, and help students consider the course themes across time and across cultures.

18. Designing Instruction Essential Questions
Sample essential questions for a unit on discoveries and inventions (a recommended context for the Science and Technology theme):
How have discoveries and inventions from the French-speaking world changed our lives?
Who are the inventors in the French-speaking world today, and what projects are they working on?
What factors hinder the process of invention?
What would you like to discover or invent someday, and why?
These essential questions can guide research projects oriented historically or from a contemporary perspective, and they may provide topics for in-class debates, brief written research reports, or oral presentations.

19. Designing Instruction Working with Authentic Materials
The AP course places emphasis on students demonstrating an understanding of cultural products, practices, and perspectives. An excellent way to increase students’ awareness and understanding of aspects of French-speaking cultures is to use authentic materials related to the various course themes. Authentic materials include newspapers and magazines, radio and podcasts, television and film, literature, music and other works of art from the target language cultures.
Teachers should assume complete flexibility in resource selections and instructional exploration of the six course themes.

20. Designing Instruction Working with Authentic Materials
Some questions to consider when selecting authentic materials:
What do I use already that I know works for my students and me, and that I can relate to one or more of the course themes?
Do my materials reflect a variety of…
course themes and topics that promote interdisciplinary study?
types of written texts? / types of audio and audio-visual resources?
cultural perspectives of the French-speaking world?
linguistic features that show the diversity of the French language?

21. Designing Instruction Classroom Assessments
Classroom assessments should prepare students for a successful performance on the AP Exam but should also be more varied than the limited number of task types on the AP Exam.
Classroom assessments should be focused within a range of student proficiency (Intermediate to Pre-Advanced as described in the ACTFL Performance Guidelines for K-12 Learners) rather than an assumed college course equivalency (third-year college course in French language).

22. Designing Instruction Classroom Assessments
Classroom assessments should be connected to thematic units of study and focus on developing students’ proficiencies across the three modes of communication: Interpersonal, Interpretive and Presentational Communication
Classroom assessments should require students to demonstrate understanding of an authentic stimulus material, thus integrating listening and/or reading into a task whose product is written or spoken.

23. Designing Instruction Integrating Skills within the Modes of Communication
Examples of integrated-skills assessments in Interpersonal and Presentational Writing:
Interpersonal Writing: (1) engage in an “e-pal” exchange with students at a French-speaking school, (2) read or listen to a posting to a blog or an Internet discussion group and write a reply, (3) engage in text messaging in French
Presentational Writing: (1) write a review of a French-language film or music CD for your school’s French club newsletter, (2) produce creative writing in French (a poem, a personal narrative) based on the work of your favorite writer(s)

24. Designing Instruction Integrating Skills within the Modes of Communication
Examples of integrated-skills assessments in Interpersonal and Presentational Speaking:
Interpersonal Speaking: (1) lead a class discussion on an assigned reading, (2) engage in an in-class debate, (3) engage in conversations in person, via telephone or Skype®
Presentational Speaking: (1) retell in French, in your own words, a favorite story from your childhood, (2) create a podcast or vodcast (video podcast) in French about a topic that interests you

25. Designing Instruction Focusing on the Interpretive Mode of Communication
Interpretive Communication – creating an appropriate understanding of a spoken or written message when there is no recourse to the speaker or writer – is of particular importance in the AP course. The Interpretive mode is used to support communication in the other modes.
Instruction that seeks to develop proficiency in the Interpretive mode should use authentic materials and probing questions so that students pay attention to the following:
Identification of theme, purpose, and point of view
Identification of details that support a main idea
Use of contextual clues to deduce meaning of unfamiliar words
Inference of implied meanings
Connection of the content of a message to the student’s existing knowledge

26. AP French Language and Culture Summary: What’s new in the revised course?
The main focus of the course is to develop students’ proficiencies in the three modes of communication as described in the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century: Interpersonal, Interpretive and Presentational Communication
Student performance is described as a range of student proficiency (Intermediate to Pre-Advanced according to the ACTFL Performance Guidelines for K-12 Learners) instead of an assumed college course equivalency (third-year college course in French language).
The course has a thematic approach.
The course includes a focus on culture as described in the Standards: cultural products, practices, and perspectives.

27. Timeline for Announcing Changes
Prospective AP Exam questions were piloted in AP classrooms in May 2009; the next round of pilot testing is scheduled for fall 2010.
On November 9, 2009, the AP Program announced which subjects will have changes made to their exams for May 2012 ( academic year). For the AP courses in world languages and cultures, the 2012 new exam date is valid for AP French and AP German.
For AP subjects that will have changes made to their exams for May 2012, a full new practice exam will be made available at the start of the school year.

30. New AP Vertical Teams Guide and Workshop
Build an AP Vertical Team or strengthen an existing one.
Align world language and culture curricula vertically across grade levels.
Implement a thematic approach to instruction using standards-based strategies for curriculum development.
Transfer new strategies to classroom practice.

31. Questions and Answers Brian Kennelly James Monk
AP French Language and Culture Curriculum Development and Assessment Committee
California Polytechnic State University
Davara Potel
Solon High School, Solon, Ohio
James Monk
Associate Director, Curriculum and Content Development
Advanced Placement Program