Ohio LinguaFolio Contacts:Debbie Robinson, ODE
[email protected]
Ryan Wertz, ODE [email protected]
Carol Eiber, Retired LF [email protected]
Parthena Dragett, Current LF
[email protected]
*Welcome to this LinguaFolio session for language educators who
want to learn about a new tool which allows language learners to
self-assess and document language and cultural competencies for
various uses.
Welcome & IntroGet a feel of the audience languages, levels,
etc.Knowledge Level of LF: How many have heard of LF? Keep your
hand up if youve heard a presentation on LF? Have you used any part
of LF in your teaching? Youve used it enough and you can give
examples during this presentation?Housekeeping details:Asking
questions: jot down and hold them until the end of each
section.
*Ive framed my presentation today using a series of essential
questions related to LinguaFolio.
I believe that the answers to these questions - which we will
explore in some depth during this session - will provide you with
the insight and resources you need to begin using LinguaFolio in
your classrooms.
- Read slide.**First, lets answer this question with the
technical, or academic, answer.
- Read slide.*Since LinguaFolio is primarily a tool for use by
language learners, lets take a look at a description that would be
more meaningful to them.
In other words, LinguaFolio is a tool for those who are learning
or have learned a language at school or outside of school where
they can record and reflect on their language learning and cultural
experiences.
It accompanies language learners throughout life and is suitable
for documenting language competencies for a wide variety of
personal, academic and career-related uses.*LinguaFolio informs
language learners, parents, educators, and businesses. *LinguaFolio
strives to paint a very holistic picture of what language learners
know and can do. Im hard-pressed to think of any other tool or
mechanism currently in existence that brings together and maintains
all of the different evidential elements of language and culture
learning over an extended period of time.The LinguaFolio design
team is busy updating all LinguaFolio materials and building an
online LinguaFolio web site which will eventually provide universal
access to LinguaFolio through one, centralized portal.
For now, LinguaFolio users should access all LinguaFolio
materials through the NCSSFL web site and safely store them and all
samples of student work for the dossier section in a safe place,
for example a district shared drive, until such time that they can
be downloaded into the centralized portal. It may still be a couple
of years before universal access is available to all LF users. In
the current economy, funding to expand the Web site has been
scarce.**A version of LinguaFolio for early language learners,
called LinguaFolio, Jr., can be used as soon as their literacy
skills develop.
The documents you will find in LinguaFolio, Jr., have been
designed for use by students in grades 37. By 8th grades, students
should be transitioning into the adult version of LinguaFolio.
Currently, LinguaFolio, Jr., is offline for further development.
Check the NCSSFL Web site regularly for developments and future
access to this tool for use with early language learners.
*I imagine there are probably still some questions about the
nature of LinguaFolio and how it can be used to document language
learning, but I think those questions will be answered if you hang
with me for awhile.
Lets focus our attention quickly on LinguaFolios
origins.*LinguaFolio is the creation and intellectual property of
the National Council of State Supervisors for Languages, or
NCSSFL.
The NCSSFL is an organization of education agency personnel from
all states of the United States who provide oversight and
supervision of foreign/world language education at the state
level.The mission of NCSSFL is to provide leadership in
facilitating and promoting policies and practices that support
world-class language education in the United States.The current
central clearing house for LinguaFolio and the place where the most
up-to-date information and most recent revisions of LinguaFolio can
be found is on the Web site of the National Council of State
Supervisors for Languages (NCSSFL).
www.ncssfl.org is the web address.**The idea for LinguaFolio
came from the European Language Portfolio, which is based on the
Common European Frame of Reference (a tool for determining language
proficiency, much like our own ACTFL Guidelines). However,
LinguaFolios design is the result of uniquely American
influences.
In 1999, the National Standards for Foreign Language Learning in
the 21st Century was introduced in the United States to frame
teaching and learning and to guide curriculum development. Better
known as the five Cs, the National Standards laid out for the first
time what student language learners should know and be able to.
The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines were created to provide common
criteria that official raters and professors could use to evaluate
adult language performance.
The ACTFL Performance Guidelines outline and describe for
teachers of K-12 learners language performance in terms of what
learners know & can do at three levels of proficiency & in
three communicative language domains.Performance guidelines allow
us to know how well students perform what they have learned.
LinguaFolio was created using all three of these resources, in
addition to the European Language Portfolio and the Common European
Frame of Reference. As a result, the LinguaFolio tool is
internationally benchmarked and well-calibrated for use throughout
the United States. The NCSSFL is grateful for the assistance of its
partners at the University of Oregon and the University of Nebraska
- Lincoln. Without their participation, LinguaFolio would still be
little more than idea. Today, LinguaFolio is rapidly becoming the
de facto common world languages assessment in the United
States.
In fact, the new Deputy Assistant Secretary for International
and Foreign Language Education at the U.S. Education Department,
Andre Lewis, has expressed interest in LinguaFolio and has stated
his desire to engage the NCSSFL in a dialogue regarding its use
nationally.
Educators and language learners are invited to use any and all
LinguaFolio resources as they become available.
However they should refrain from making their own versions of
the tool. The underlying idea is to have a common, standardized
tool that is easy transferable and universally recognized as being
valid anywhere in the country.
**Now Id like to talk briefly about what LinguaFolio does for
students, or perhaps more appropriately, what it allows students to
do for themselves.* I want you to think about what made you
successful as a language learner. Its easy to come up with an
answer now that were language teachers, but at the time you were a
beginning language student, you may not have consciously understood
what worked for you and what didnt!
The standards movement has transformed the role of the teacher
to one of facilitator more than that of transmitter of knowledge.
Consequently learners must assume more responsibility for their
learning. LF is designed to allow them to do just that!*If I had
asked you to come up with a list of the general characteristics of
successful learners, you probably would have produced something
that looks like the list youve seen on the last two slides. The
creators of LinguaFolio took great pains to ensure that current
research on learner success was taken into account as they designed
this tool.
By using LinguaFolio in your classroom, rather than acting as
keepers and distributors of knowledge, you become your students
guide, facilitating their self-discovery and providing them
opportunities for language practice and self-evaluation.
*The goals of LinguaFolio here in the United States largely
parallel the goals of the European Language Portfolio:
First and foremost, LinguaFolio strives to promote
meta-cognition. Research has proven that students who reflect on
their own learning perform substantially better than those that do
not.
Research indicates that even the most reluctant language
learners respond favorably when they are required to look
introspectively at their own language-learning. They come to better
appreciate the progress they are making, which in turn increases
their motivation levels.
Articulation continues to be a very real and very troubling
problem for language learners in the U.S. There are few mechanisms
to help language learners and their instructors as they move from
class to class, level to level, or institution to institution.
The U.S. is home to a rich linguistic and cultural diversity,
one that remains largely untapped. In the past, heritage language
learners felt obligated to ignore their cultural heritage and avoid
using their heritage languages in order to fit in. LinguaFolio
strives to undo some of the damage this mentality has caused by
accentuating the value of heritage languages and cultural
knowledge.* I dont need to make an argument to anyone in this room
that language learning should be a life-long endeavor, but
LinguaFolio strives to make this point early on with beginning
language learners.
Youll notice two terms on this slide that you may or may not
know: Plurilingualism implies that one uses different languages at
varying levels of proficiency for specific purposes (for example, a
receptionist at a hotel that caters to foreign tourists does not
require the ability to analyze literature).
Pluriculturalism implies the same for ones use of ones cultural
understandings.
The perceptions that many parents and employers have are often
based on their own language-learning experiences during an era when
language learning was very different. Imagine being able to access
a students LinguaFolio during a parent-teacher conference to drive
home your point about any given students progressor lack
thereof!
LinguaFolio is designed to follow the language learner out of
academia and into the workplace, becoming a language and
interculturality skills portfolio that can be used during the
college admissions process or during employment interviews.*As I
mentioned at the beginning of this presentation, LinguaFolio is
composed of three parts.*The Language Biography is a record of
personal language learning history that helps learners evaluate
their learning goals and reflect on language learning and
intercultural growth. In this section there are can-do statements
that help learners self-assess their language competencies and how
well they can interact in authentic cultural contexts. This section
is also designed to help learners set realistic learning goals and
reflect on how they learn. This is the part that is the most
important in a formative assessment process; the information that
teachers draw from their students biographies will help guide their
instructional decisions.
The Language Dossier is a collection of certificates and digital
work samples chosen by the language learner to document and
demonstrate language skills, experiences, and achievements to
others. Digital text, audio and video work samples are all ideal
for inclusion in LinguaFolio.
The Language Passport provides a snapshot, or overview, of what
a learner can do with language because it summarizes the
self-assessments from the Language Biography and provides
validation for results from formal external assessments. It is a
record of formal qualifications, certificates or diplomas, along
with self-assessments that serve as a summary of experiences and
competency with different languages that can be updated frequently.
The Passport is an official document that can be shown when
students transfer from school to school, level to level, teacher to
teacher or to prospective employers for professional purposes. The
LinguaFolio Passport belongs to the learner but is intended for use
by outside audiences.*Before completing any other part of the
LinguaFolio, the NCSSFL recommends that language learners first
complete the self-assessment checklist and the learning styles
inventory in order to establish a personal baseline:the
Self-Assessment Checklist, composed of the Can Do statements is the
LinguaFolio element which enables learners to document their
foreign language accomplishments methodically in terms of language
proficiency in the three modes of communication.b.the Learning
Styles Inventory is a How Do You Learn? section contained in the
Biography section which allows learners to contemplate and record
their personal learning style (or styles) and better understand the
learning strategies and techniques which are most beneficial to
them.*Lets consider the progress indicators of the national
standards or the benchmarks and indicators of our own Ohio FL
Content Standards.
These are used to measure students progress against program
goals, where the term program has typically meant a three to five
year sequence of language learning.
The Self-Assessment Checklist, or the Can Do statements as they
are more commonly called, provides us with a mechanism to break
them down into useful, student-friendly descriptions of learning.
By asking students to frequently revisit the Can-Do statements to
show what more they know and can do, teachers can help their
students to document their progress toward broader programmatic
goals.*Here you see Can Do descriptions for older learners, such as
high school students. These can be found on the NCSSFL Web
site.
These are descriptions of what learners can do at the Novice Mid
level on the ACTFL scale.
Notice here that learners mark if they can do the task easily or
if it is one of their goals -- all positive, motivating
language.
When you have a chance, take a look at all of the Can-Do
self-assessment checklists and see to what extent you think your
own students could use them.
Even these positive descriptors are sometimes difficult and
overwhelming for students who are neither accustomed to
self-assessment nor to thinking about what they can do with
language. This is why it is so important -- even before you begin
to use LinguaFolio -- to start embedding short self-assessments
into your everyday teaching.*Why do students approach us and ask
what grade theyll be getting? Why dont they know?!
It may be easy for us to evaluate their proficiency, but before
students can accurately self-assess their own language
competencies, they have to learn to realistically understand what
they can do with language. Self-assessment has to be learned and
practiced.
The photos on the screen are from the Teachers Guide to the
LinguaFolio Junior for young learners. The image on the left shows
Can-do statements for students in grades 3-5 to circle. Teachers
can ask their students to use a tool such as this page of the
Language Biography at the beginning of a new school year, mid way
through the year, and again at the end. Its important that students
realize that learning is a cyclical process - once they have been
exposed to a new concept doesnt mean that they can immediately
apply that learning with proficiency without repeated practice.
The image on the right, for students in grades 5-7, provides
boxes for students to write in the dates of when they can do
certain things. After winter or summer break, or even a week after
they learned something, students may not be able to demonstrate
that learning. This ongoing / repeated check will make it clear
that language learning is a process that requires continual use of
what we learn and opportunities to put this learning to use. It
ends up being a motivating factor for the student, and also an
accountability factor for the teacher who is then challenged to
provide more language production opportunities.*As I said a moment
ago, self-assessment is something that must be learned and
practiced. I strongly suggest that you embed self-assessments into
your daily lessons whenever it makes sense to do so.
One example of an embedded activity that builds familiarity with
the self-assessment process and fosters self-assessment skills for
learners is the easy incorporation of three or four can-do
statements at the end of a lesson. On the slide is such an
example.
Always start with the easiest task and build in complexity.
Students can use it as a review sheet or start out the next class
session by showing what they can do with a peer. They can do this
type of an activity individually during a quiet time in class, as a
peer-assessment, or as an exit slip at the end of class.**Teachers
can help learners to select any or all of these biography elements
to record evidence of their language learning and to build the best
biography to show their language learning experiences.
These tools are currently being updated. Students will soon be
able to download and save the documents and type right into
them.*The second component of LinguaFolio is the Dossier
section.
The Dossier is the learners own personal warehouse or safety
deposit box. The valuables that are stored there are the very best
examples of the learners work which highlight his or her abilities
and experiences.
Ideally, everything in the Dossier will be stored
electronically. Certificates, for example, can be scanned and
stored as PDF files. Of course, learners will want to back up these
storage files in more than one place!*To provide a comprehensive
view of what students can do with language, they need to provide
both their formative and summative assessment results.
Formative assessments are on-going, continuous snapshots of
knowledge and skills used for the multiple purposes of monitoring
progress, providing student feedback, modifying curriculum and
adjusting plans for new classroom learning experiences. They
comprise many of the ordinary learning tasks students do on a
routine basis, such as participate in dialogues, role play, write
short descriptions, interpret messages, etc.
A Summative Assessment is a check of what has been learned at
the end of a lesson, unit, or class/course. Based on a cumulative
learning experience, summative assessment is testing for
achievement and/or mastery, and depending on age and level, can
take the form of performance tasks, oral interviews, written
reports, projects or external exams.
In general, the student will want to choose more summative
assessments to include in his or her LinguaFolio than formative
assessments. An integrated performance assessment at the end of a
unit of study is much more tell-tale about what a students knows
and can do with the language then a formative vocabulary quiz
(which only proves that the students can regurgitate a memorized
list of words). The learner should always demonstrate what he or
she can do with that vocabulary in real life contexts!
ELLOPA- Early Language Listening and Oral Proficiency Assessment
(younger students K-2)SOPA- Student Oral Proficiency Assessment
(younger students 3-8)STAMP- Standard-based Measurement of
Proficiency online speaking, reading and writing assessment.NOELLA
National Online Early Language Learning Assessment OPI- Oral
Proficiency Interview / MOPI- Modified Oral Proficiency Interview
(for lower levels of lang.)IPAs Integrated Performance Assessments
/ End-of-Course Exams AP Exams
Several school districts and some entire states are using some
of these formal assessments and recording them officially on the
LinguaFolio, thus validating learners self-assessments*The third
component of Lingua Folio, the Language Passport, is like an actual
passport. It is an official record which includes: certificates and
diplomas, a learner self-assessment of his or her language
proficiency; teacher & tutor reports; and a summary of
experiences and ability with different languages.
The Passport section should be updated regularly. It is this
snap shot section that should be shared as a public document
anytime a student changes teachers or schools, applies for college,
or interviews for a job.*Here is an example of the old paper
version of the Passport for language-learners who are high
school-aged.
Notice how this document placed importance on ALL languages the
student knows, including heritage languages.
There was a place for the learner to summarize his or her
language and intercultural experiences as well as a place to
summarize any major assessments completed or any recognition that
he or she had received.
There was also a place for the learners to record and update his
or her current proficiency level in the various languages that he
or she knows:Once a learner is able to successfully demonstrate 80%
of the can-do statements on a particular level of the
self-assessment checklist in the biography, he would then consult
the self-assessment grid, also located in the passport section. If
the learner felt confident that he also meets the criteria shown
for that particular level, then he would fill in the corresponding
level on the passport summary page.*
All of these same items and functions are present in the online
version of the Passport, which summarizes biographical information,
external assessment scores (which are not visible on this slide)
and learner self-evaluation. The chart on the right side reflects a
learners self evaluation.
Note that, as students complete Can-Do questions in the
biography section, there is an interface with the language
self-assessment section of the Passport section, and the learners
self-evaluation chart fills in accordingly.
As you can see, LinguaFolio is evolving.A copy of the
Self-Assessment Grid is attached to the back of your handout.
Notice how the grid is written in relatively kid-friendly
language.
Also notice how it incorporates all three modes of communication
(interpretive, interpersonal and presentational) as well as
descriptors based on the ACTFL proficiency guidelines.***Student
goal-setting and reflection creates a cycle of learning that
involves several basic steps: identifying what it is that you want
to learn; reflecting on how to learn it, given your strengths and
learning styles; learning the material in the ways that youve
identified as being best for you; assessing what you know and can
do; reflecting on the effectiveness of the learning strategies you
employed; and then setting new goals.
Be careful that the Dossier does not become a collection of
evidence with no reflection.
For example, have students keep track of time spent on language
learning outside of class and correlate this investment of time to
good pieces of evidence. Make sure learners recognize the benefits
of their effort and experiences outside of class. We cant ever talk
too much about effort.*This is a simple graphic representation of
the process of the reflective learning process I just described. It
is a continuous cycle that should be built into the day-to-day
routines and learning activities that occur in your classroom.
**When learners know how to think about their learning, they are
more capable of setting goals and taking charge of their learning,
but this, too, is a learned skill.
The best place to start is for us as teachers to model setting
goals. Identifying the learning goals for the day, either orally or
on the board, lets students know from the beginning the purpose of
their engagement and a reason for their efforts. Today well learn
how to Remember to focus on function not form when you set class
goals!
Students can set their own short term goals, such as:I still
have trouble with so I will need to work onThe next step for me in
the writing process is to I want to learn more about *Again, be
sure to model what good reflection looks and sounds like to your
students.
And dont settle for simple descriptors like That was
interesting. or That was boring. Instead, insist on That was
interesting because and That was boring because
Based on their reflections, they may need or want to adjust
their goals.***By definition, interculturality refers to the
authentic use of language, including non-verbal communication,
within cultural contexts in a way that demonstrates ones knowledge
of and sensitivity to the target culture.
This graphic organizer demonstrates how closely language and
culture are linked. The tie is so strong that language and culture
should never be taught separately.
The language reflects the culture, and the culture reflects the
language. In order for the student to get the full experience of
the culture, it must be through the language.
Culture is not an academic exercise. If students are to learn
how to interact successfully with people from other cultures, then
it is critical for them to gain firsthand experience with those
cultures. For this reason, it is absolutely essential that todays
language teachers frame language learning within real-life contexts
at all times. Grammar-based instruction does little to help prepare
students to use language in real life contexts.
Intercultural experiences provide the most meaningful
opportunities for developing capacity in a language.
Learners need to know how to recognize, document, and process
these experiences. They also need to understand intercultural
experiences are an integral and much-needed part of language
learning. **By nature, younger language learners are not reflective
in nature. With most young people its full steam ahead and dont
look back!
Instructors must take a little bit of time, especially with
beginning learners, to talk about the different aspects of culture
and their direct ties to language learning.
Instructors should also model for students what intercultural
reflection looks like. Dont expect your students to immediately
begin sharing profound cultural insights and tying them to their
progress in learning a language without having dissected some good
examples first!
Over time, students need to learn to seek out and embrace
cultural differences as a primary way to make progress in their
language learning. When you consider the nature of young language
learners, say middle school or high school learners who are greatly
preoccupied with blending in and being the same as their peers, you
begin to better understand the challenges inherent in this type of
reflection.
*Intercultural experiences involve direct interaction with
another culture and the subsequent reflection that takes place
afterwards. Because it is relatively impossible to reflect during
an intercultural learning event, the language classroom becomes the
primary place where students can reflect on their cultural
interactions with the assistance of their teachers.
If learners are going to be held responsible to recognize and
deconstruct intercultural experiences, then we, as their teachers,
must prepare them to undertake this reflection and give them plenty
of opportunities to practice.
Modeling is the first step. In the target language, teachers can
share their own interactions with speakers of the target language.
You might talk about how, during a phone call you reacted to a
native speaker not understanding exactly what you meant. Express
your own vulnerability to someone correcting your language or
having your biases or stereotypes exposed in an uncomfortable
manner so that your students know that its normal to experience
similar feelings. Explain how understanding and learning from our
cultural faux pas is not only natural but necessary!
Share with your students how you seek out intercultural
experiences, by going to a foreign language at the local arts
theater, reading something online, attending a conference session,
volunteering someplace where those being served predominantly use
the target language or making an effort to travel abroad whenever
time and money allow.
To build their intercultural skills, teachers have to be willing
to sacrifice some time from what are considered normal activities.
Understanding culture and language is not easy; its a process over
time. Teachers need to guide students in thinking about their
reactions and biases. To not make this time relegates us right back
to the same old same old way of teaching culture in isolated bits
and pieces whenever theres a spare minute or two to fit it in. We
all know this to be a poor way for language learners to gain
intercultural understanding. Often it ends up reinforcing a
stereotype, rather than demystifying it.Heres an example of one of
two tools students can elect to use to document an intercultural
experience theyve had. *Here is another tool that students might
choose to record an intercultural encounter. Please note that
neither tool overtly asks the students What did you learn? Students
often dont exactly know or understand what theyve learned from a
particular cultural encounter until some time later.
A periodic review of cultural moments and encounters might well
result in some significant Ah ha! moments for studentseven well
after a cultural encounter has taken place. ***Research coming out
of the Council of Europe on their European Language Portfolio and
more recently out of the University of Nebraska on LinguaFolio
shows the following:
Read slides.*With so many clear cut benefits, you might ask why
is LinguaFolio not being required by the state for all language
learners? How I wish it were that easy!
Although world languages are considered part of the Ohio Core
curriculum, Ohio law does not mandate a common assessment for our
subject. Instead, as a local control state, schools and districts
decide how best to asses and monitor students progress.
We are depending on all of you to take LinguaFolio back to your
districts, share word with your colleagues and curriculum folks
about how the use of this tool is becoming widespread and is
gaining attention at the national level, weigh its merits, and
implement it in your classrooms with your own students.**Based on
the use of LinguaFolio in pilot programs around the country with
students of all ages, abilities and socio-economic backgrounds, we
have seen that in the United States learners of any world language,
including English, can benefit from using LinguaFolio.
Particularly, the particularly positive results of a long-term
longitudinal study of LinguaFolio conducted by researchers at the
University of Nebraska Lincoln have clarified the numerous positive
benefits of LinguaFolio use as well as its validity and reliability
as a formative assessment tool.
For the past five years, Ohio has been one of nine states to
pilot LinguaFolio.
Over the past two summers, the National Security Language
Initiatives intensive summer STARTALK programs incorporated the use
of LinguaFolio as a means of assessing learner progress and piloted
the prototype of the online version of LinguaFolio. This summers
STARTALK programs will again use the online version.
Most recently, during the current 2008-2009 school year, the
state of Utah has joined the piloting effort. They are conducting
the first statewide pilot of LinguaFolio Online.* Fill out your own
passport, biography and dossier if possible and share them with
your students. Again, I cant stress the importance of modeling the
use of LinguaFolio for your students.
Based on their current level of proficiency, help learners to
craft short-term learning goals based on the chapter or unit they
will be studying and long-term proficiency goals, and make sure
those goals are attainable!
Although its not recommended, if your students maintain actual
paper portfolios and you let them take them home, they may never
come back. Kids lose things! Store portfolios in the classroom or
even better, store everything electronically and save a tree!
Once LinguaFolio becomes available online for everyone, it will
be much easier for students to store their goals, reflections and
evidence. If you have your students begin to use LinguaFolio via
electronic means now, it will also be much easier to transfer
students information and documentation to an online clearinghouse
once it is up and available to everyone.*Here are Web sites for
different resources related to LinguaFolio.
Because LinguaFolio is a NCSSFL project, check that Web site
periodically for news and updated materials and resources.
*If you have further questions about LinguaFolio, here are the
people to contact in Ohio.
Best wishes to you and your students if you decide to integrate
LinguaFolio into your classes. Please keep in touch and let us know
how things are going!