1. levels of students - definitions

scope and sequence are strictly grammar-based items. Scope is a list of the grammar covered in a book and sequence is the order that the grammar is presented. I really like the fact the book points out that this is the way textbooks are designed and that neither publishers nor instructors will be interested in a book that does not work this way.

  1. using ACTFL guidelines
  2. important to determine what kinds of tasks students are ready for (87); factors that make the activity more or less complex
  1. steps
  2. complexity
  3. cognitive demands (abstract)
  4. amount of information
  5. expected language
  1. Summed up on p. 88 to three ways to increase complexity:
  1. increase information load
  2. explore more subtopics (kind of relates to i) or more complex subtopics
  3. alter the linquistic support
  1. Worth note: p.93 says “Instructors should never hesitate to offer linguistic support to language learners of all levels--beginning, intermediate, or advanced”: communication is more important than assessing what students can’t do.
  2. Also: “Instructors should be keenly conscious of and constantly working toward speaking as little as possible. As learners’ language abilities increase, so should their opportunities for using the language” this conflicts with what I’ve been taught in CI, but I get it
  1. Example from the classroom: Task Based Characteristic Discussion (Latin II) and Task Based Character Planning (Latin III)
  1. Are students ready?
  1. 3 steps
  2. step 1 - easy (no discussion); step 2 - small group communication; step 3 - class communication
  1. this is a gradual increase with clear development
  1. built up with previous activities and readings - students already expect this kind of cognitive demand
  1. students have already completed this type of task with more concrete ideas… we are gradually increasing demand
  1. small amount
  1. NO new words
  2. simple table
  3. no “gotchas”/”surprise twists”
  4. language is given -- support for students
  1. Differences in examples A.1-A.2 and A.3


A.1-A.2

Similarities

A.3

binary options

same topic

interrelated phenomena

additional steps

concrete scales

rating system

no rating scale

draw class conclusion

conclusions

reach conclusions about activities and details

same type of support

provide lexical support

complex structures based on abstract ideas and comparisons