What is oral proficiency and how do learners demonstrate their progress towards this goal?

At the center of the American Council on Teaching Foreign Languages (ACTFL), national standards are the three modes of communication. The interpersonal and the presentational modes are focused on both oral and written communication. In the interpersonal mode learners engage in conversation, provide and obtain information, express feeling and emotion, and exchange opinions. This mode occurs in two-way, spontaneous exchanges that involve negotiation of meaning and are based on unrehearsed prompts. Activities and strategies include debates, discussions, phone calls, video chats, asking for and giving directions, conversations with friends about making plans.

In the presentational mode, learners present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics. It is one-way, planned, and can be rehearsed. There is no other feedback from another person. Some activities and strategies include creating videos, presenting a story, delivering a speech, creating a public service announcement, recording podcasts, or presenting a skit or play.

Teachers can use language performance using a rubric that measures proficiency in terms of ability to use the language effectively and appropriately in real-life situations. Students need to demonstrate what they “can do.”

Differentiated instruction occurs when teachers design learning to meet individual students needs. It differentiates among content (the materials students need to learn); process (the practice provided by the material); products (activities and projects in which students apply learning); and, according to Carol Ann Tomlison, fosters a positive learning environment (the way the classroom functions and feels).

In their introduction to ¡Qué chévere 1!, K.H. Beer, Charisse Litteken, and P.J. Hoff tell us, at the same time that they introduce their Spanish textbook, how they differentiate instruction and design learning to meet individual student meets:

Content:

1. Use reading materials for different ability levels;

2. Present materials visually and auditorily; and

3. Use materials that result in analysis and evaluation.

Process:

1. Provide opportunities for students to work in pairs and groups;

2. Adapt instruction to meet multiple intelligences and other learning styles; and

3. Provide differentiated testing.

Products:

1. Provide opportunities for communication;

2. Provide challenging and engaging tasks; and

3. Provide a variety of final projects based on learning styles.

Open-ended performance assessments are the best way to determine growth in oral proficiency. Each statement needs to be designed to show what a student is able to do with the language in order to elicit meaningful feedback. Rubrics and feedback should be put in student-friendly terms, so students know what they can do to improve.

LinguaFolio® is a portfolio assessment instrument designed to support individuals in setting and achieving their goals for learning languages. It includes three components:

1. Biography, where information about a learner’s language background, intercultural activities, and the National Council of State Supervisors (NCSSFL) and ACTFL can-do self-assessment statements are published;

2. Dossier, where samples of a learner’s work document progress over time; and

3. Passport, where formal qualifications, certificates or diplomas, and achievements are recorded, along with a summary of self-assessments that describe competency with different languages.

This three-fold approach, based on the European Language Portfolio, enables language learners of all ages and levels to document their language learning as they move along the continuum towards greater proficiency.

The vision of LinguaFolio® is to allow seamless progress in language learning as individuals move from one level to another, from one program to another, and even as they cease to participate in formal language instruction, but continue active language learning independently. The goal is to empower each individual learner to take responsibility for his or her language learning and be able to continue to develop proficiency independently and autonomously once the formal sequence of language instruction has ended.

LinguaFolio® is an excellent source for “can-do” statements at different proficiency levels. The “can-do” statements are a perfect resource to use to create learners targets for each thematic unit, help students set personal goals, and provide a clearer explanation about what students are learning in their Spanish classes. “Can-do” statements help learners identify what they need to do to function at a specific level of proficiency. The statements also help educators plan curriculum, units of instruction, and daily lessons to help learners improve their performance and reach a targeted level of proficiency. Through multiple opportunities to show that they “can do” in classroom formative and summative assessment, unit by unit, learners collect the evidence that points toward a specific proficiency level. The proof that a learner has reached a proficiency level can only occur through an independent assessment of proficiency such as the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview or Writing Proficiency Test; the can-do Statements however, provide a tool for leaners to chart their progress and for educators to organize and support the learning.

• To view more information about NCSSFL-ACTFL Performance indicators for language learners clik here

• To view the full "can-do" statements document click here

• To view the NCSSFL-ACTFL "can-do" Benchmarks click here

Here I present a sample activity created by the Center for Applied Second Language Studies at the University of Oregon:

Speed Dating

This activity aims to develop interpersonal speaking for classes with novice-mid and novice-high learners. In completing this activity, students will engage in short conversations in a speed-dating format. The goal of using this format is that students will have multiple opportunities to prove mastery of the relevant NCSSFL-ACFTL “can-do” statements to the activity. The students will do two rounds of interviews. The second time through, they will record each interview with a mobile device. At the end of the activity, they will upload their best samples to LinguaFolio® Online, CASLS’s online language learning portfolio, with a mobile app, LFO to Go. These samples will serve as evidence regarding how well students achieved the relevant “can-do” statements.

Mode(s):

Interpersonal Speaking, Interpretive Listening

Objectives: • Students will develop interpersonal speaking skills. • Students will engage in metacognition. • Students will reflect on how well that they have learned given content.

Resources:

2 student survey/reflection sheets, mobile devices

Procedure:

1. To begin class, lead students in a brainstorm of basic questions to ask when meeting someone for the first time. Review expectations and conventions regarding the use of register in such a situation.

2. Students will fill out one survey/reflection sheet with information about themselves. After filling out the information, they rank how well that they think that they will be able to achieve the “can-do” statements listed at the bottom of the page. This page also gives a brief explanation of the activity at hand.

3. Set the classroom up so that two rows of students are facing each other. Explain that the students will engage in speed dating with 7-10 different members of the class. Each conversation will last for 1-1.5 minutes. At the end of the time, students will all move one spot to the right to change partners.

4. After the students complete the first round of interviews, give global feedback to the class regarding trends that you heard. Each student should also fill out the remaining self-evaluation questions.

5. Next, students will fill out a second survey sheet with information about an alternate personality that they have invented for the second round of speed dating. They will engage in the same self-‐reflection as they did for the first round.

6. During the second round of speed dating, students should record each of their 7-10 conversations on their mobile devices.

7. At the end of the interviews, have students upload their best interviews as evidence for the relevant can-do statements. Students will evaluate whether or not they “can do with help” or “can do” when they upload.

8. Review student samples before the next class period to determine whether or not you agree with the students’ self-assessments. Use what you review to focus the following day’s lesson plans.

It is recommended to leave the brainstorming session on the board for students who are struggling. Clearly, the students who use the board would have to answer “can do-with help” when engaging in self-evaluation, but it is an appropriate mechanism to scaffold output for these students. An additional support for struggling students is to let them use their information sheets to read from when answering questions. While needing the sheet means that their capacity for spontaneous oral output is lower than that of some of their peers, it is a worthwhile support given that students are using information that they created in order to communicate.

To utilize the program in one your courses, you would first have to purchase a subscription to LinguaFolio® Online. However, there is a way for you to get to know the LinguaFolio® website better before choosing whether or not you would like to use LinguaFolio® in their courses. They can provide you with usernames and passwords for a demo teacher account and a demo student account, which you can use to explore the website.

They also have a resource website that provides more information about LinguaFolio® and how to implement it. Here's the link: http://lfonetwork.uoregon.edu/

If you decide you would like to purchase a subscription, the cost is $2 per student per academic year, and can be paid for either directly with a paper check and subscription form, or online with a credit card or e-check. You can find details on the website, http://casls.uoregon.edu/pages/tools/linguafolio.php, under the headline “Linguafolio® Online Pricing” a third of the way down the page.

I am currently exploring LinguaFolio® and I must say that I like it very, very much! You should give it a try!

LinguaFolio® Teacher Training Modules:

Training on how to implement LinguaFolio® is available online at:

• The Nebraska Department of Education site (http://www.education.ne.gov/forlg/LinguaFolio/LinguaFolio.htm);

• The University of Oregon for STARTALK programs (http://lfonetwork.uoregon.edu/educators/linguafolio-for-startalk/); and

• LEARN NC (from the School of Education at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill) as a series of LinguaFolio® Training Modules (www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/linguafolio). All seven modules are designed to be completed individually, used as part of a professional group or program training, or incorporated into face-to-face and/or blended training environments. An adaptable Training Portfolio Checklist (http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/LinguaFolio/6744) allows for the creation of a local plan.

LinguaFolio® Resources from NCSSFL:

LinguaFolio® Home: http://www.ncssfl.org/LinguaFolio/index.php?linguafolio_index

LinguaFolio® FREE registration: http://www.ncssfl.org/LinguaFolio/index.php?registration

The registration is necessary so that updates and changes can be communicated to all LinguaFolio® users. Users will not receive other unsolicited emails.

LinguaFolio® Software Options:

If your state or district is interested in developing its own online LinguaFolio® for learners, there are two options:

• Go to the Center for Second Language Studies (CASLS) (http://casls.uoregon.edu/pages/tools/linguafolio.php) at the University of Oregon for details about purchasing access to LinguaFolio® Online using a credit card or e-check.

• Contact Michael Kimsal, the North Carolina e-LinguaFolio® software developer, at mgkimsal@gmail.com for more information about how to obtain the open source software to build a state or district e-LinguaFolio®.

.