Student Achievement Assessment Committee

GREAL Objectives for First-Year in Language and Culture
(based on the ACTFL proficiency guidelines)

I. Learning strategies

1. observation
2. memorization
3. hypothesizing
4. inferencing
5. analyzing
6. awareness of learner styles

II. Skills

A. Speaking skills

1. talking about common topics and describing aspects of daily life
2. using memorized material in basic speech acts (i.e., commands, statements or questions)

B. Listening comprehension and reading skills

understanding texts on everyday topics that have a predictable structure

C. Writing skills

1. writing on everyday topics using common forms (e.g., personal notes, applications
2. mastery of basic characters

D. Research skills

ability to use dictionaries, learning software, WWW resources

E. Cultural skills

employing learned behaviors appropriate to familiar language contexts

III. Knowledge

A. Structural understanding

recognition of basic features of verbal and nominal systems and syntactic structures

B. Cultural knowledge

1. awareness of cultural differences in the interaction of people, perception of self, space and time
2. ability to recognized differences and commonalities between the native culture and the target culture
3. understanding some cultural traditions and select aspects of the cultural heritage

Dept. of GREAL Generic Recommendations for
Learning in First-Year Language Courses
(based on the ACTFL proficiency guidelines)

I. Strategies for approaching language learning in general

Students will:

• learn strategies for acquiring the four skills-listening, speaking, reading, writing-based upon a sense of their own learning proclivities
  
• practice both individual and cooperative learning
  
• learn how to use their knowledge of the world and to make informed conjectures about meaning
  
• recognize cognates and employ other elementary, comparative techniques to arrive at meaning

2. Development of speaking, writing, listening and reading skills

Speaking ability adequate to:

• talk about common topics depicting aspects of daily life (e.g., home, work or school, biographical information, time expressions, weather, greetings and leave-takings)
  
• command a basic lexicon, including expressions for colors, numbers, clothing, names, times, family and friendship relations, etc.
  
• use memorized material in simple statements or questions such in order to identify familiar objects, people, places, etc.
  
• produce essential sounds (tones and intonations)

Writing skills adequate to:

• write on personal topics and complete essential forms
  
• reproduce the language's essential letters or characters

Listening and reading skills adequate to:

• understand oral and written texts with a predictable structure on quotidian topics
  
• apprehend meaningful contrastive sound (tone and intonation) differences

3. Cultural knowledge

Students will:

• become aware of cultural differences in the interaction of people, perception of self, space and time, and how to hypothesize in order to provide explanations of differences
  
• become familiar with cultural traditions and aspects of the target cultural heritage
  

GREAL Objectives for Second-Year Language and Culture
(based on the ACTFL proficiency guidelines)

I. Learning strategies

1. observation
2. memorization
3. hypothesizing
4. inferencing
5. analyzing
6. adjusting to individual learner style

II. Skills

A. Speaking skills

1. communicate on a wider range of everyday survival topics and conduct interpersonal communication to fulfill personal needs
2. negotiate basic courtesy and social requirements, including the appropriate use of formulaic language in social settings (beyond greetings, apologies, ect.)
3. begin to create with the language and to manipulate memorized chunks of material

B. Listening comprehension and reading skills

1. understand connected discourse on familiar topics at a normal rate of speed
2. understand simple telephone conversations and the essentials of media reports with necessary repetitions
3. understanding descriptive texts on topics familiar to the reader
4. obtain essential information and main ideas from more complex texts

C. Writing skills

1. writing simple connected prose on topics grounded in personal experience
2. demonstrate essential grammatical and structural accuracy, such as consistency in correct use of tenses and proper use of necessary subordinating conjunctions

D. Research techniques

proper use of dictionaries, learning software, and WWW resources, including those in target language

E. Cultural skills

adequately react to social expectations (i.e., avoid miscues that inhibit communication)

III. Knowledge

A. Structural understanding

1. recognizing basic verbal and nominal system features and syntactic structures
2. understanding principal morphological and syntactic structures and basic principles of sentence formation

B. Cultural knowledge

1. increased awareness of differences between cultures and within the target culture
2. knowledge of social expectations relating to age, gender, social rank, etc.
3. greater familiarity with cultural traditions and heritage and how it informs contemporary culture

Dept. of GREAL Generic Recommendations for
Learning in Second-Year Language Courses
(based on the ACTFL proficiency guidelines)

1 Strategies for language learning in general
Course participants will:

• develop an appreciation of how their speech (and associated behavior) may be perceived by persons from the target culture-that is, they will begin to acquire a sense of the target culture's norms rather than relying exclusively on memorized language and behaviors
  
• practice research skills applicable to target-language reference sources, using native speakers' as sources, and comparing U.S. and foreign sources
  
• compare the grammar of their native language with that of the target language
  
• be able to show connections between language and cultural concepts
  show how their knowledge of the target language and culture can be of use in other disciplines

2 Development of speaking, writing, listening and reading skills

Speaking skills include the ability to:

• communicate on a wider range of everyday topics and conduct interpersonal communication to fulfill personal needs beyond those normally considered survival tasks
  
• negotiate on a basic level courtesy and social requirements, including the appropriate use of formulaic language in social settings
  
• begin to create with the language and manipulate chunks of memorized material
  
• pronounce words and speech segments that, although they may be clearly marked as non-native, do not seriously impede communication
  

Listening comprehension sufficient to:

• understand connected discourse on familiar topics
  
• understand simple telephone conversations and the essential points media reports (i.e., factual in content)
  

Reading comprehension adequate to:

• read with good understanding simple connected texts on familiar topics
  
• obtain essential information from more complex texts
  
  

Writing skills include the ability to:

• write simple connected prose on personal topics
  
• observe essential grammatical and structural accuracy, such as consistency in the use of tenses and proper use of necessary subordinating conjunctions
  
• perform essential keyboarding tasks in the language
  
  

3 Culture
Students will show:

• increased awareness of cultural differences and knowledge of social expectations relating to age, gender, social status, and other differentials in the target society
  
• increased familiarity with the cultural tradition and heritage and begin to see connections between them and contemporary culture
  

Assessment in Intermediate Japanese
Spring 2002

Learning outcomes:

Listening skills:
1. Students will be able to comprehend the stories and paragraphs about the topics covered by applying effectively the basic sentence patterns and the vocabulary they have learned.
2. Students will be able to comprehend conversations on familiar topics.

Speaking skills:
1. Students will be able to apply the basic sentence patterns they learned effectively in the mock situations.
2. Students will be able to carry on conversations on familiar topics and be understood by "sympathetic" native speakers.

Sample list of topics:

• introduction
  
• schools, towns
  
• daily activities
  
• weather
  
• hobbies
  
• families
  
• food
  
• stores
  
• travels
  
• home
  
• transportation
  
• illness
  
• life
  
• occupation

Reading skills:
1. Students will be able to read Hiragana and Katakana without any difficulty.
2. Students will be able to read and comprehend about 300 Kanji characters.
3. Students will be able to read paragraphs written in Kana and about 300 basic Kanji characters.
4. Students will be able to comprehend paragraphs written in Kana and Kanji on
familiar topics with minimal difficulty

Writing skills:
1. Students will be able to write Hiragana and Katakana without difficulty.
2. Students will be able to write basic Kanji characters (150).
3. Students will be able to write short paragraphs on familiar topics.
4. Students will be able to write brief presentations and correspondence.

Cultural knowledge:
1. Students will demonstrate understandings and appreciation of contemporary Japanese culture and customs pertaining to basic interpersonal communication.
2. Students will understand and realize key differences between the contemporary cultures of Japan and the U.S.

Intermediate Japanese
Spring 2002

Assessment Methods (techniques/frequency):

The assessment of the learning outcomes was done by the instructor. The instructor
wrote detailed evaluations of each student's demonstrations of listening comprehension skills.
The instructor:
1. administered individual oral interview;
2. observed individual students in conversation with native Japanese speakers;
3. administered listening comprehension proficiency tests of level 4
(maybe Level 3 also if some students score high.);
4. administered self-assessment surveys at the end of the year;
5. administered comprehension tests based on short texts on familiar topics;
6. reviewed individual portfolios.

The instructor kept the following records:
1. tapes of the individual oral interviews;
2. evaluations of the reading proficiency tests;
3. listening comprehension test results.

Results and conclusions:

1. Listening comprehension of short texts on familiar topics estimated at 90%.
2. Level 4 Listening Comprehension Proficiency Test average 61%:
(60% is passing grade)
(the highest 96% and the lowest 46%)
3. Level 3 Listening Comprehension Proficiency Test: average 46%
(one student scored 100 %)
4, Overall fulfilled the expectations of comprehending text content as opposed
to individual sentences.
5. Overall fulfilled expectations of oral communicating with the instructor in
interview situations.
6. Fulfilled listening comprehension expectations in situations with native Japanese
speakers at an estimated 70% rate.

Recommend actions:

1. More frequent oral practice in class: dialogues, speeches, daily conversation.
2, More frequent review of previously learned vocabulary, phrases and patterns.
3. Increased opportunities to practice listening comprehension, starting with short
texts and gradually progressing to longer texts, including narratives.
(Use video tapes and TV Japan more often.)
4. Increased opportunities to meet native speakers of Japanese and hear and
observe or take part in conversations.

Russian program assessment
Beginning Level
AY 2001-2002

Goal: to assess students' ability to apply acquired language skills,
cultural knowledge and teamwork skills in "real life" situations.

Outcomes targeted (see attached):
Learning skills 1-5.
Research skills.
Writing skills.
Cultural knowledge.

Form of assessment: authentic assessment

Assessment format and procedures:

1) Team projects
2) Students were asked to create a homepage for a website for a Russian
store or restaurant featuring traditional cuisine (in Russian).
3) Students completed questionnaires assessing their progress
during the work on the project in following areas:

a. language skills (reading and writing);
b. handling Russian-language texts in computer software;
c. interpersonal communication skills and teamwork skills.

Recommendations: