3.1 – Performance Activities in the Communication Modes

Performance-based assessment is not unique to the study of world languages. Our colleagues in other disciplines also integrate performance-based activities and assessments to create meaningful and authentic experiences for students. As world language teachers, we customize our use of performance-based activities and assessments when we design them to address the three modes of communication: Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational.

View

View the following video that shows how students in one school district perform across the three modes while also addressing the Communities Standard from the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages (Links to an external site.).  As you view this video, consider how you could use online or face-to-face communities to create meaningful, authentic context for your language learners as they demonstrate what they “can do” in the interpretive, interpersonal and presentational modes of communication.  

Now let’s share some ideas about how we can craft can-do statements, or learning targets, for our online students that also address the Communities Standard:

Activity Details

Due: Before 11:59 p.m. on Monday, June 22

1. Open the NCSSFL-ACTFL Global Can-Do Benchmarks (Links to an external site.). We will only focus on the novice-mid to novice-high benchmarks from this document for this activity. This is because our target audience of students at CSUSB, whom we will teach in Week 5, most likely will possess novice-mid to novice-high proficiency. 
2. Select from among the five listed communication modes for either novice mid or novice high the one that interests you the most. 
3. Craft a student-friendly learning target that includes a community  connection  similar to the examples shown in the video above. 
4. In your learning target include a reference to a technology that helps students to interact with a community.
5. Share your community-focused, student-friendly learning target in our Communities Padlet (Links to an external site.). In your padlet post be sure to list the following:
   1. Communication mode
   2. Performance level
   3. Learning target written in student-friendly language
   4. Community connection
   5. Technology used to facilitate this community connection. If you need some ideas, check out your colleagues’ posts in the Sharing Tools and Techniques Discussion in the Tools, Tips, and Resources Forum of our course.
      
      

Example: Interpersonal Communication/Novice Mid: I can talk about today’s weather in a Skype call with a sister class in another location.

Our Padlet: Communities Padlet (Links to an external site.)

The NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements (Links to an external site.) are a great way to create performance activities that students can understand, that address all modes of communication and that target the appropriate proficiency level. You are using Can-Do statements for your 10-minute peer microteaching learning episode you will conduct in week 3 of our course. You are also using these Can-Do statements for the 60 minute lesson you and your Peer Microteaching Group members will teach to students at California State University, San Bernardino in week 5 of our course. Students can also use this resource to self-assess their progress.