Assessing Chinese Language Proficiency in Young Students: Strategies and Results

1. Assessing Chinese Language Proficiency in Young Students: Strategies and Results Marcia H. Rosenbusch, Director National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa Claudia Navarro-Villarroel National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa Chengbin Yin, Project Coordinator Chinese K-5 Curriculum Project Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL), Washington, DC

2. K-5 Chinese Project Collaborative Partners National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center at Iowa State University and Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington, DC Two Midwestern School Districts Funding Source U.S. Department of Education, Language Resource Centers: 2006-2010

3. K-5 Chinese Project • Purpose of Project Curriculum • Develop a K-5 Chinese language framework for non-intensive (90 min./week) programs • Develop proficiency-focused and standards-based curriculum and materials through Backward Design; • Train teachers in best practices; • Train teachers in classroom-based assessment with the SOPA.

4. K-5 Chinese Project • Purpose of Project Research • Students’ progress in Chinese language proficiency; • Attitudes toward the Chinese language and culture of students, administrators, teachers, parents and the community; • Student progress on standardized assessments of English language arts and mathematics as compared to the progress of control groups.

5. Why assess oral proficiency? • Demonstrate student progress in language learning • Assess performance – values authentic communication

6. What is the SOPA? Student Oral Proficiency Assessment Goal:To find out what students can do with the language they are learning.

7. Based on the 5 Goals of National Standards • Goal 1:Communication Interpersonal Mode Interpretive Mode Presentational Mode • Goal 2:Cultures • Goal 3:Connections • Goal 4:Comparisons • Goal 5: Communities Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century. (1999). National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project. American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, et. Al.

8. Student Oral Proficiency Assessment: SOPA What skills are rated? • Oral Fluency • Grammar • Vocabulary • Listening Comprehension

9. SOPA Rating Scale Three Main Levels: • Junior Novice • Junior Intermediate • Junior Advanced

10. SOPA Rating Scale Sublevels: Junior Advanced-High Junior Advanced-Mid Junior Advanced-Low Junior Intermediate-High Junior Intermediate-Mid Junior Intermediate-Low Junior Novice-High Junior Novice-Mid Junior Novice-Low

11. Non-Immersion SOPA • Warm Up: (Put students at ease) Introductions • Task 1: Fruits/other objects (Identify, name) Goal: To assess listening, word-level speech • Task 2: All about You (Answer informal questions) Goal: To give students opportunity to create with language on familiar topics

12. Non-Immersion SOPA (cont.) • Task 3: Community or Classroom Activity (Follow/giving commands, describe) Goal: To give students opportunity to create sentence-level speech • Wind down: Finish at student’s comfort level

13. SOPA Task 1: Fruits • Identifying(Where are the red fruit?) • Naming(What is this fruit called?) • Following instructions (Put the fruit here. Count them.)

14. SOPA: Task 2 – All About You • All about you • Answering informal questions How old are you? What do you do on your birthday? Do you have brothers or sisters? Would you like to have a sister/brother? Do you have a pet? What is it called? What is it like? Why?

15. SOPA: Task 3 – The Community • Identifying • Following Instructions • Describing What do you have there? Where is the red fire truck? Where is the fireman? Take the dog. The dog is playing with a ball in front of the apartment building. What is the mailman doing in the pet store? Why?

16. SOPA: Wind Down • Following instructions • Positive ending, task students can complete successfully! Simon says... Touch your head. Raise your right hand. Touch your left eye. Clap for both of you.

17. Adaptations: Chinese SOPA Grade 2 Task 1: Identifying, naming, following instructions Materials: Backpack with school supplies • Identifying 指指红色的铅笔。(Point to a red pencil.) 红色的铅笔在哪里？(Where is the red pencil?) 蓝色橡皮是哪个？(Which ruler is blue?)

18. Chinese SOPA Grade 2 Task 1: Identifying, naming, following instructions (cont.) Materials: Backpack with school supplies • Naming (Oral Fluency) 这是什么颜色？(What color is this?) • Following instructions 把所有的铅笔/尺/橡皮/蜡笔放在一起。(Put all pencils/crayons/rulers/erasers together.)

19. Adaptations: Chinese SOPA Grade 2 Task 1: Identifying, naming, following instructions (cont.) • Transition to Task 2 铅笔/橡皮/尺/蜡笔，有多少？ (How many pencils/rulers/erasers/crayons are there?)

20. Chinese SOPA Grade 2 Task 2: All about you • Answering informal questions 你住在哪儿？(Where do you live?) 你有姐姐吗？(Do you have older brothers?) 有几个？(How many brothers and sisters do you have?) 在学校里学什么？(What do you learn in school?) 今天几月几日？(What is the date today?)

21. SOPA: Task 3 – House Scene • Identifying …在哪里？(Where is …?) 指一指……. (Point to …….[mom/dad/little boy/little girl, bedroom/kitchen/living room/bathroom].) 几个人？（房间/三明治/香蕉）(How many……[people/rooms/sandwiches/bananas]?)

22. SOPA: Task 3 – House Scene • Naming and describing 这是什么？(What is this?) 这是谁？(Who is this?) 他/她在干什么？ (What is s/he doing?)

23. SOPA: Task 3 – House Scene • Giving and Following Commands 把爸爸放在卧室里。(Put dad in the bedroom.) 把花放在客厅里。(Put the flowers in the living-room.) Then, hand the little boy/girl magnet to one student and tell the student: 你是这个小男孩/小女孩 (You are the little boy/little girl), and gesture for the student to make up his/her own commands for the other student.

24. SOPA: Wind Down • Positive ending, task students can complete successfully! Tell the students that they have the option of singing a song, or play “Simon Says!” If students have difficulty responding to this activity, follow the commands together with them. Make it fun! 很好 (Great!) 谢谢你 (Thank you!) 再见 (Good bye!)

25. Research Design • Treatment Schools vs. Control Schools • Have World Language = Treatment Schools • Have no World Language = Control Schools • Longitudinal Study: Chinese

26. School Characteristics 2007 Table 1: Ethnicity distribution among schools Table 2: Free/Reduced price lunch among schools Retrieved on 2009 from http://www.schooldigger.com/

27. SOPA Rating: Junior Novice Level Junior Novice-High = 3 Junior Novice-Mid = 2 Junior Novice-Low = 1

28. Research Results School 1

29. School 1

30. School 3

31. School 3

32. SOPA Findings: Year 1 In schools with a non-intensive Chinese program (90 min./week) in kindergarten and first grade… • Students score at the Junior Novice Low level at the end of Year 1

33. Recommendations • Complete oral proficiency assessments of students at regular intervals (depending on intensity of program) • Values oral proficiency • Demonstrates program outcomes to student, parents, and community

34. Recommendations • Become familiar with summative oral proficiency assessments that are available for different levels and purposes: • ELLOPA www.cal.org/ela • SOPA www.cal.org/ela • NOELLA casls.uoregon.edu/noella.php

35. Recommendations • Train teachers in the use of summative oral proficiency assessments • They will value oral proficiency • They will focus on developing students’ oral proficiency • They will integrate measures of authentic oral assessment into the classroom

36. Recommendations • Use available resources for training teachers in oral proficiency assessment: • ELLOPA and SOPA: www.cal.org/ela

37. Plans for Future Research • SOPA will be administered: • at the end of Year 3 (Grade 2) • At the end of Year 4 (Grade 3) pending funding • At the end of Year 6 (Grade 5) pending funding • Data will be analyzed to explore differences in results over time and between schools

38. Plans for Future Research • Other oral proficiency assessments will also be used: • National Online Early Language Learning Assessment (NOELLA) • At the end of Year 4 (Grade 3) pending funding • At the end of Year 6 (Grade 5) pending funding • Teacher Observation Matrix (based on the SOPA) TOM-SOPA • In Years 4-6 (Grades 3-5)pending funding

39. Questions?

40. Assessing Chinese Language Proficiency in Young Students: Strategies and Results Marcia H. Rosenbusch, Director National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa Claudia Navarro-Villarroel National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa Chengbin Yin, Project Coordinator Chinese K-5 Curriculum Project Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL), Washington, DC