LANGUA WORLD'S INSTRUCTIONAL PHILOSOPHY
Proficiency-Based
Instruction
Langua World has conducted thorough research on the theories of language
learning and teaching and has adopted the newest and most innovative method
of foreign language instruction in use: proficiency-based instruction.
Proficiency-based instruction differs from older, more traditional teaching
methods in that it emphasizes competence and the ability to perform
task-based activities in the target language are stressed, rather than the
instruction and discussion of grammar rules. The grammatical features of a
language are introduced through an inductive approach, which encourages
learners to draw conclusions about the underlying rules of the language from
the many examples they see and practice. Where many older instructional
methods teach students to talk about the language, a proficiency-based
approach teaches students to talk in the language.
Langua World's foreign language course outlines have been developed based on
the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)
Proficiency Guidelines. For more information about ACTFL, please check out
the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages site at: http://www.actfl.org
The ACTFL guidelines are adapted from the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR)
guidelines developed for numerous United States government agencies. Today
the ACTFL guidelines are widely used in academia in the U.S. The guidelines
are designed as a tool for measuring a speaker's ability to function in the
target language while performing various tasks on different levels. The
ACTFL guidelines include expanded descriptions of the lower levels of
competency since these are the levels achieved by most adult learners. The
higher level descriptions are conflated and they fit a broader range of
proficiency than the lower levels do. The descriptions of the higher levels
mark the baseline of competency that may be demonstrated by learners at
these levels. For example, a speaker at the Superior level may have not yet
attained the full range of ability that educated speakers with years of
training and experience in the target language may possess.
The level I-IV foreign language classes at Langua World focus on the
instruction of practical tasks, both personal and business-related, that
students will be requires to perform upon relocation to a foreign country.
The tasks for each level of language instruction have been carefully chosen
in accordance with the ACTFL proficiency guidelines.
Hours of Instruction
Levels I-IV consist of 50 hours of instruction each, for a total of 200
hours. We have indicated the corresponding ACTFL proficiency rating for each
of Langua World's levels, as well as a range of instructional proficiency
rating will vary depending on individual aptitude, experience, and
motivation.
Performance Evaluation
At the end of each level of foreign language instruction, students can be
evaluated to determine their proficiency in speaking, understanding, reading
and writing the target language. Proficiency ratings are determined by the
number of tasks that the student can perform at a given level, and with what
degree of ease and fluency the tasks are handled. More specific evaluation
criteria are given in the course outlines for each level of language
instruction.
P.A.C.E
A Model for Integrating Form in a Proficiency-Oriented Approach
P. - PRESENTATION of Meaningful Language
This step represents the 'whole" language you are presenting in a
thematic-way. It can be an interesting story, a TPR (Total Physical
Response) lesson, a recorded authentic listening segment, an authentic
document, or a demonstration of a real-life, authentic task. Materials from
the textbook chapter can be used if they are found to be interesting and
relevant to lesson being taught. Care should be taken to ensure that the
presentation adequately represents the structure in question and that the
structure is appropriate to the learners' developmental level.
The presentation should be interactive; students should be guided by the
teacher through the new elements of language to be learned. This guided
participation may take the form of student repetitions of key phrases cued
by the teacher during a storytelling session, student-teacher role-reversal
in a TPR activity, listening comprehension exercises, or discussions that
anticipate the content of a reading. The goal here is to enable the students
to stretch their language abilities by using the new elements of the target
language in meaningful ways through the help and mediation of the teacher.
A. - ATTENTION
This step focuses learner attention on some aspect of the language used
during the Presentation activity. In this step, the teacher highlights some
regularity of the language. This can be achieved in several ways. Teachers
can ask questions about patterns found in a written text about words and
phrases repeated in a story. Overhead transparencies of example sentences
from the Presentation can be prepared, with important words and phrases
circled or underlined. The point to this step is to get learners to focus
attention on the target form without needless elaboration or wasted time.
C- C0-CONSTRUCT AN
EXPLANATION
Learners and teacher should be co-constructors of grammatical explanation.
After learners focus attention on the target form, the teacher assists them
in raising awareness about the target structure. During this step, students
are guided to hypothesize, guess, make predictions, or come to
generalizations about the target form. These cognitive probes help learners
discover regular grammatical patterns, sound systems, word order, or
language functions. As students hypothesize and generalize about the target
form, teachers build upon and extend students' knowledge without
overwhelming them with superfluous grammatical knowledge.
E- EXTENSION ACTIVITY
Focus on form is only useful if this knowledge can be pressed into service
by the learners in a new way at a later time. The Extension Activity
provides learner with the opportunity to use their new way at a later time.
The Extension Activity provides learners with the opportunity to use their
new skill in creative and interesting ways while at the same time
integrating it into existing knowledge. Examples are information-gap
activities, role-play situations, dramatizations, games, authentic writing
projects (business documents, diaries, etc.), paired interviews, or
simulations of real-life situations. In each case, learners should have the
opportunity to practice and use the target form in a useful and meaningful
way, in a way that mimics situations encountered in real life.
Language classes and translation/interpretation services
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