Forsyth County Schools
Foreign Language
Middle School
Continuation
Curriculum
Revised June 2005
(Every day curriculum)
by: April Davila, Cathie Swanson
and Jamie Prentice
FL Continuation Curriculum Page 3
Very Important Preliminary InformationContinuation vs. Newcomer Curricula
The Newcomer Curriculum was designed for students beginning foreign language study in middle school. The first year of study is A, the second B and the third C. The Continuation Curriculum was designed for students moving up from the elementary program. This is labeled as 6th, 7th and 8th grade curriculum and is grade-level specific. Just as these students would move into 6th grade Math or Language Arts, they would also move into 6th grade Foreign Language.
Target Language Use
In order to practice the most effective foreign language instruction, it is expected that the teacher will use the target language 90-100% of class time. In addition to regular instruction, classroom management is to be conducted in the target language as well. It is understood that emergencies and/or major discipline issues may require the use of English.
Content Integration
The middle school curriculum is divided into thematic units. These units may be combined to create large instructional chunks or they may be presented as individual units of instruction. Because of the great flexibility in the presentation of the units, this curriculum lends itself to the integration of various subject areas into the foreign language instructional arena. Any opportunity to revisit material from another content area reinforces both that area and the foreign language.
Recycling of Vocabulary & Structures
To better ensure that students come to “own” the language and structures of each unit, all vocabulary and structures are subject to be recycled. Each unit in the middle school curriculum lists only vocabulary and structures new to students. In the planning of activities for each new unit, teachers should intentionally create situations which incorporate, as well as encourage, student use of appropriate vocabulary and structures from previous units.
Language Structure/Grammar
Contrary to the study of foreign languages in the past, today’s middle school curriculum approaches the study of language structure on a “need to know” basis. Rather than following a grammatical syllabus in which the study of structure takes a front seat over language use, this curriculum identifies language functions over which students should gain control and then determines the grammatical elements that are needed to handle those linguistic functions. Thus, middle school foreign language teachers should view grammar in a support capacity to real language use.
Skill Balance/Mode Integration
Teachers should be conscious of the need to give attention to all of three modes of communication—interpersonal, interpretive, presentational—in planning for instruction. Activities should allow students to communicate in situations reflective of all three modes of communication. While students are extremely motivated to “speak” the language, they should also be provided opportunities to hear the language, as well as to read and write it.
Assessment
The Forsyth County middle school foreign language assessment program is guided by the philosophy that assessment and instruction should be mirror images of each other both in content and form. This means that students should be assessed on what they have been learning and in the ways they have been learning it. Inasmuch as the foreign language classroom is an activity-rich learning environment, each teacher’s assessment program should reflect this same amount of variety. Students, then, should be assessed in a multitude of ways that allow them to demonstrate the full range of what they know and are able to do in and with the foreign language.
FL Continuation Curriculum Preliminary Information Page 3
National Standards in Foreign Language Education
1. Communication: Communicating in Languages Other Than English
1.1 Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions.
1.2 Students understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics.
1.3 Students present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of listeners on a variety of topics.
2. Cultures: Gain Knowledge and Understanding of Other Cultures
2.1 Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the practices and perspectives of the cultures studied.
2.2 Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the products and perspectives of the cultures studied.
3. Connections: Connect with Other Disciplines and Acquire Information
3.1 Students reinforce and further their knowledge of other disciplines through the foreign language.
3.2 Students acquire information and recognize the distinctive viewpoints that are only available through the foreign language and its cultures.
4. Comparisons: Develop Insight into the Nature of Language and
Culture
4.1 Students demonstrate understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of the language studied and their own.
4.2 Students demonstrate understanding of the concept of culture through comparisons of the cultures studied and their own.
5. Communities: Participate in Multilingual Communities at Home and Around the World
5.1 Students use the language both within and beyond the school setting.
5.2 Students show evidence of becoming life-long learners by using the language for personal enjoyment and enrichment.
taken from Standards for Foreign Language Learning: Preparing for the 21st Century
FL Continuation Curriculum Preliminary Information Page 3
Student Profile: End of 5th Grade 135 contact hours
By the end of 5th Grade, most students will exhibit Novice High ability in listening and reading and Novice-Mid ability in speaking and writing.
ACTFL Listening Guidelines (Novice High)Students are able to understand short, learned utterances and some sentence-length utterances, particularly where context strongly supports understanding and speech is clearly audible. They can comprehend words and phrases from simple questions, statements, high-frequency commands and courtesy formulae. At this level, students may require repetition, rephrasing and/ or a slowed rate of speech for comprehension.
ACTFL Speaking Guidelines (Novice Mid)
Speakers at the Novice-Mid level communicate minimally and with difficulty by using a number of isolated words and memorized phrases limited by the particular context in which the language has been learned. When responding to direct questions, they may utter only two or three words at a time or an occasional stock vocabulary or attempt to recycle their own and their interlocutor’s words. Because of hesitations, lack of vocabulary, inaccuracy, or failure to respond appropriately, Novice-Mid speakers may be understood with great difficulty even by sympathetic interlocutors accustomed to dealing with non-natives. When called on to handle topics by performing functions associated with the Intermediate level, they frequently resort to repetition, words from their native language, or silence.
ACTFL Reading Guidelines (Novice High)
Reader has sufficient control of the writing system to interpret written language areas of practical need. Where vocabulary has been learned, they can read for instructional and directional purposes, standardized messages, phrases, and expressions, such as some items on menus, schedules, timetables, maps and signs. At times, but not on a consistent basis, the Novice-High reader may be able to derive meaning from material at a slightly higher level where context and/or extra linguistic background knowledge are supportive.
ACTFL Writing Guidelines (Novice Mid)
Writers at the Novice-Mid level are able to copy or transcribe familiar words or phrases, and reproduce from memory a modest number of isolated words and phrases in context. They can supply limited information on simple forms and documents, ad other basic biographical information, such as names, numbers, and nationality. Novice-Mid writers exhibit a high degree of accuracy when writing on well-practiced, familiar topics using limited formulaic language. With less familiar topics, there is a marked decrease in accuracy. Errors in spelling or in the representation of symbols may be frequent. There is little evidence of functional writing skills. At this level, the writing may be difficult to understand even by those accustomed to reading the texts of non-natives.
Student Profile: End of 8th Grade 525 contact hours
By the end of 8th Grade, most students will exhibit Intermediate-Low ability in listening and reading and Novice-High ability in speaking and writing.
ACTFL Listening Guidelines (Intermediate-Low)
Students can understand sentence-length utterances which consist of recombinations of learned elements in a limited number of content areas (basic personal background and needs, social conventions and routine tasks, such as getting meals and receiving simple instructions and directions), particularly if strongly supported by the situational context. Listening tasks pertain primarily to spontaneous face-to-face conversations. Understanding is often uneven; repetition and rewording may be necessary. Misunderstandings in both main ideas and details arise frequently.
ACTFL Speaking Guidelines (Novice-High)
They are able to handle a variety of tasks pertaining to the Intermediate level, but are unable to sustain performance at that level. They are able to manage successfully a number of uncomplicated communicative tasks in straightforward social situations. Conversation is restricted to a few of the predictable topics necessary for survival in the target language culture, such as basic personal information, basic objects and a limited number of activities, preferences and immediate needs. These speakers respond to simple, direct questions or requests for information; they are able to ask only a very few formulaic questions when asked to do so.
These speakers are able to express personal meaning by relying heavily on learned phrases or recombinations of these and what they hear from their interlocutor. Their utterances, which consist mostly of short and sometimes incomplete sentences in the present, may be hesitant or inaccurate. On the other hand, since these utterances are frequently only expansions of learned material and stock phrases, they may sometimes appear surprisingly fluent and accurate. First language may strongly influence pronunciation, as well as vocabulary and syntax when attempting to personalize their utterances. Frequent misunderstandings may arise but, with repetition or rephrasing, these speakers can generally be understand by sympathetic interlocutors used to non-natives. When called on to handle simply a variety of topics and perform functions pertaining to the Intermediate level, the speaker can sometimes respond in intelligible sentences, but will not be able to sustain sentence level discourse.
ACTFL Reading Guidelines (Intermediate-Low)
Students understand main ideas and/or some facts from the simplest connected texts dealing with basic personal and social needs. Such texts are linguistically noncomplex and have a clear underlying internal structure, for example chronological sequencing. The texts provide basic information about which the reader has to make only minimal suppositions or to which the reader brings personal interest and/or knowledge. Examples include messages with social purposes or information for the widest possible audience, such as public announcements and short, straightforward instructions dealing with public life. Some misunderstandings will occur.
ACTFL Writing Guidelines (Novice-High)
These writers are able to meet limited basic practical writing needs using lists, short messages, postcards and simple notes, and to express themselves within the context in which the language was learned, relying mainly on practiced material. The writing is generally writer-centered and focused on common, discrete elements of daily live. Writers are able to recombine learned vocabulary and structures to create simple sentences on very familiar topics, but the language they produce may only partially communicate what is intended. Control of features of the Intermediate level is not sustained due to inadequate vocabulary and/or grammar. Writing is often comprehensible to natives used to the writing of non-natives, but gaps in comprehension may occur.
Student Profile: End of 10th Grade 825 contact hours
By the end of 10th Grade, most students will exhibit Intermediate-Mid ability in listening and reading and Intermediate-Low ability in speaking and writing.
ACTFL Listening Guidelines (Intermediate Mid)
Students understand sentence-length discourse which consists of recombinations of learned utterances on a variety of topics. Content continues to refer primarily to basic personal background and needs, social conventions and somewhat more complex tasks, such as lodging, transportation, and shopping. Additional content areas include some personal interests and activities, and a greater diversity of instructions and directions. Listening tasks not only pertain to spontaneous facet-to-face conversations but also to short routine telephone conversations and some deliberate speech, such as simple announcements and reports over the media. Understanding continues to be uneven.
ACTFL Speaking Guidelines (Intermediate Low)
Speakers can successfully handle a limited number of uncomplicated communicative tasks by creating with the language in straightforward social situations. Conversation is restricted to some of the concrete exchanges and predictable topics necessary for survival in the target language culture. These topics relate to basic personal information covering, for example, self and family, some daily activities and personal preferences, as well as to some immediate needs, such as ordering food and making simple purchases. At this level, speakers are primarily reactive and struggle to answer direct questions or requests for information, but they are also able to ask a few appropriate questions. These speakers express personal meaning by combining and recombining into short statements what they know and what they hear from their interlocutors. Their utterances are often filled with hesitancy and inaccuracies as they search for appropriate linguistic forms and vocabulary while attempting to give form to the message. Their speech is characterized by frequent pauses, ineffective reformulations and self-corrections. Their pronunciation, vocabulary and syntax are strongly influenced by their first language, but, in spite of frequent misunderstandings that require repetition or rephrasing, they can generally be understood by sympathetic interlocutors, particularly those accustomed to dealing with non-natives.
ACTFL Reading Guidelines (Intermediate Mid)
Students read with increased understanding simple connected texts dealing with basic personal and social needs. Such texts are linguistically noncomplex and have a clear underlying internal structure, for example chronological sequencing. Texts provide basic information about which the reader has to make only minimal suppositions or to which the reader brings personal interest and/or knowledge. Examples may include short, straightforward descriptions of persons, places, and things written for a wide audience.
ACTFL Writing Guidelines (Intermediate Low)
These writers can meet some limited practical writing needs. They can create statements and formulate questions based on familiar material. Most sentences are recombinations of learned vocabulary and structures. These are short and simple conversational-style sentences with basic subject-verb-object word order. They are written mostly in present time with occasional and often incorrect use of past or future time. Writing tends to be a few sentences often with repetitive structure. Vocabulary is limited to common objects and routine activities, adequate to express elementary needs. Writing is somewhat mechanistic and topics are limited to highly predictable content areas and personal information tied to limited language experience. There may be basic errors in grammar, word choice, punctuation, spelling, and in the information and use of non-alphabetic symbols. When these writers attempt to perform writing tasks at the Advanced level, their writing will deteriorate significantly and their message may be left incomplete. Their writing is understood by natives used to the writing of non-natives, although additional effort may be required.