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– Why is assessment critical in world language education?
Assessment plays a critical role in world language education for many reasons. First, the assessment provides educators with insights into what students know and can do in the language, and educator can change their teaching practice based on the student’s performance. Second, assessment provides feedback to both students and teachers, identifying areas of strength and weakness. This feedback loop is essential for guiding students’ language learning journey and for teachers. Third, assessment can help to collect data from students and teachers can use the data to identify areas where the curriculum may need to be adjusted to better meet students’ needs. In all, assessment in world language education is critical for guiding instruction, monitoring progress, and providing feedback to the teacher to reflect on their teaching and change instruction accordingly.
1. Create a better environment for culturally responsive teaching in my classroom.
2. Attend more PD sessions to improve myself.
3. Build stronger relationships with students and support their learning.– What are some challenges and barriers in integrating technology into language education? How can these be addressed?
I think the challenges are the new updates and development of the technology are so quick, so it is not very easy to keep up with all the new technology. Also, every practice needs to have a purpose, it should not be because you want to use technology in language education then you use some new technology methods, it should serve the purpose of how to help students improve in different modes of learning.
– Can technology effectively simulate cultural immersion, which is vital for language learning? What are the limitations and advantages compared to traditional immersion methods?
I think so, I think if teachers have a mindset about the cultural setting, they should be able to find technology to support that purpose. The limitations are it has to be preset, and it could not be an interpersonal mode in language practice, because it cannot provide immediate feedback about the understanding of the culture.
– What role does gamification in language learning apps and software play in enhancing learning outcomes? Does it lead to long-term retention of language skills?
Gamification in language learning apps is more fun and more engaging for students, however, the outcome is also different because students might pay too much attention to gaming, not the real practice. Also, it works better in vocabulary practice, not in other learning modes. I don’t think it leads to long-term retention of language skills because students might focus too much on the game, it only gains short-term language skills.
– What do you envision as the future of language learning with the advancement of technology? What emerging technologies could further revolutionize this field?
There is no doubt that the future of language learning will be affected it by the advancement of technology, however, the most important it whether you can use the technology to serve the teaching purpose. I still think a traditional teaching setting can provide personal interaction, which is very important in language learning.– How can I modify content, process, and product to accommodate different learning styles and abilities?
I could provide a variety of learning ways like showing images, listening to audio, watching videos, etc to accommodate different preferences. I also can give students a couple of options to do their assignments， such as interpersonal speaking, interpretive, and presentational modes for students to choose which way they would like to do the topic. That can help students to suit their learning styles.– What strategies can I use to manage classroom logistics effectively while implementing differentiated instruction?
Successful management of the classroom could support implementing differentiated instruction. Before the class, in the preparation period, I can provide different materials and different activities for students. During the teaching practice, I can use flexible seating and help students individually if needed.– How can I continuously assess and adjust my teaching strategies to meet the evolving needs of my students?
I use formative assessments such as Gimkit, and Quizlet for students so I know what level they are and how they are getting the current knowledge. Then I will reflect based on the assessment result about what I can continue to help students to improve, what are the strong points that students can move on, and what weak points students need to work on. Last but not least, I can work with other teachers or attend PD to continue to improve to help students.• What’s a new teaching method or strategy you’d like to try this year? Briefly explain why.
I would like to promote interpersonal speaking this year, so I am using Kagan’s structure to help students speak more in a guided way.
The reason why I want to highlight interpersonal speaking is: that I would like my students to use Chinese when they get a chance to go to China or meet Chinese people. They should be able to talk to native Chinese and make friends. They need to know what’s the method to maintain a conversation, and how to react when they have something they don’t understand.
1. What are the most significant lessons you have learned during Phase 2 training? How do you plan to apply them in your future teaching practice?
I have learned that the teacher needs to use a backward design for the lesson and based on the design, distribute the different learning modes to support the learning target. Also, interpretive activity usually goes first then interpersonal and presentational activities.
I want to apply them in my future practice, especially the interpersonal speaking mode. I would like to encourage students’ language performance so that they can use the language better.
2. What are your plans for continued professional growth and development? How will you stay updated on best practices, educational research, and advancements in your subject area?
I plan to continue to take PD, so I can continue to do my professional growth. Besides these, I joined Jiang Laoshi’s book study group and hope to learn from other teachers while reading one book together. I would also like to participate in ACTFL this year and listen to different workshops to stay updated on best practices and advancements in my subject area.Hi Nehal,
I really like you pointed out the difference between formative assessment and summative assessment. I agreed with you that ” It is meant to guide the learner to reach the desired learning target.” So the purpose of the assessment for educators should be to guide them to reflect on the teaching practice and guide them on how to close the gap between high achievers and low achievers.
Hi Janet,
You made a good point that teachers cannot assess everything in the classroom, that’s why formative assessments and summative assessments were designed to provide various ways to assess students. I think the backward design is essential and the learning target is the most important element when you plan an assessment. Because assessments need to reflect students’ progress, so whether students achieve the learning target is an important indicator for the assessment data.
I watched Creating Meaningful Performance Assessment Tasks – Laura Terrill (27’30”)
What was the purpose of the assessment?
Assessment is to give educators and students the information needed to understand what comes next in the learning process. Students can use assessments to know their current learning and see how to improve or close the gap. Educators can use assessment data to reflect their teaching process and revise their teaching practice. Assessment includes formative assessments and summative assessments. Formative assessments can be used daily to check students’ understanding. A summative assessment usually needs to be given at the end of the unit to check students’ learning. It usually includes portfolios, projects, interviews, essays, tests, and presentations.How do we design assessments that measure what they intend to measure?
Before educators design the assessment, we need to keep these ideas in mind: first, provide clear instructions to make sure students understand the assessment. Second, educators need to design the assessment to assess students’ ability to synthesize, evaluate and apply the knowledge. Third, Based on students’ different learning types, various assessments should be provided to match the variety of instructions to give different students different chances.With those guidelines, when we design assessments, we need to think about the topic that we would like to measure the student’s learning. The assessment should relate to the learning target that we planned for the topic. We need to assess students’ learning based on those learning targets.
Second, we need to design the assessment based on the student’s language level. We also need to make sure students understand the assessments, and the assessments are proper for their language level.
Third, we also need to design the assessment related to the modes of communication. No matter the assessment is an interpretive assessment, interpersonal assessment, or presentational assessment, educators need to make sure all assessments have a real-world purpose.
Last but not least, educators need to use the rubric to provide feedback to students. Feedback is important to help student learning. Instead of a single-point rubric, educators can use two sides rubrics to let students know what they can continue to grow and what they have achieved.
Hi Zhao laoshi,
3 things fascinating about the post
1. The activity setting is very interesting.
2. The steps to conducting this activity are easy to follow.
3. The purpose of this activity fits the cultural idea very well.
2 ideas I can adapt
1. I can adapt the card you use in the activity to help students to be more successful.
2. I can adapt the role-play ideas for the activity to add more fun to the activity.
1 wonder
I wonder for novice-level students, give them the colorful card to indicate guests can reduce the practice time in the classroom and be more efficient?– Name of the activity: What is Stereotype & Prejudice?
– Activity steps:
Students will learn about nationality.
Step 1: Teachers will show students several pictures and ask students to guess their nationality. The teacher will show Asian American photos so students might not guess correctly about the nationality.
Step 2: Students will guess which nationality of those people is in the picture.
Step 3: The teacher will tell the correct answer and teach students the nationality in the target language.
Step 4: The teacher will continue to show pictures and ask students to guess.
– What modifications or changes do you want to make, and why?
I will include interpersonal speaking between students, instead of the teacher asking, student A can ask student B about their nationality. With this change, it can move from the teacher center classroom to the student center classroom.
After the teaching, I will ask students to research one person that is American but has a different country’s background in his/her family history. Then present it about this person. With this change, students can find somebody their like, so it can increase culturally responsive teaching in the classroom.Dear Xia laoshi, I love the activity you designed!
3 things fascinating about the post
1. The process of the activity is very clear
2. The purpose of the activity linked with the culture very well
3. The consideration to change for novice learners is very thoughtful
2 ideas you can adapt
1. I can adapt the student reflection because reflecting can help students understand what they learned better.
2. The finding of the common area in this activity not only helps students understand the culture but also helps them with teamwork.
1 wonder
I wonder for novice-level students, “a trip to a country” and “a city in China” are very big topics, can they still narrow them down?Dear Xia laoshi, I love the activity you designed!
3 things fascinating about the post
1. The process of the activity is very clear
2. The purpose of the activity linked with the culture very well
3. The consideration to change for novice learners is very thoughtful
2 ideas you can adapt
1. I can adapt the student reflection because reflecting can help students understand what they learned better.
2. The finding of the common area in this activity not only helps students understand the culture but also helps them with teamwork.
1 wonder
I wonder for novice-level students, “a trip to a country” and “a city in China” are very big topics, can they still narrow them down?I agreed that AAPPL is the best fit for your program. It covers different modes and also includes the traditional four aspects (listening, speaking, reading, and writing). So you can always find your assessment fit in the catalog. But I think teachers need to identify different modes because sometimes you can simply change one format and make the presentational tasks become interpersonal tasks.
I will choose ACTFL’s Assessment of Performance towards Proficiency in Languages (AAPPL).
– My students are from 6th grade to 12th grade. The program covers middle school to high school (university dual credit class), so our curriculum is from novice low to advanced mid. 95% of my students are non-heritage.
– With this background, students are evaluated by Interpersonal Listening & Speaking, Presentational Speaking and Writing, Interpretive Reading, and Interpretive Listening.
– There are three reasons why I choose AAPPL: first, it brings the 5 C’s of the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages into the assessment. In 5 C, especially the culture, I think the Culture element is critical for students to learn a world language. Second, I can collect evidence of language skills in each mode of communication. Third, with task-based, AAPPL can have different types of assessments for teachers to choose from based on the student body, and students could feel it more manageable in their familiar topics. Regardless of formative assessments or summative assessments, teachers can use AAPPL to understand the individual learner’s language proficiency and the teacher can help students achieve the learning target.
– I think it requires special training for people who will administer this specific assessment platform because the teacher needs to understand different types of communication modes and understand how to put assessments in the correct catalog.
