ASSESSING PERFORMANCE
Using AAPPL to Improve Language Learning
Paul Sandrock
Danielle Tezcan
ACTFL
TEACHING TO THE TEST IS …
1. Good
2. Bad
3. Either – Depends on the Test
2
PROFICIENCY IS….
… the ability to use
language in real world
situations in a
spontaneous interaction
and non-rehearsed
context
PERFORMANCE IS….
… the ability to use
language that has been
learned and practiced in
an instructional setting
and is within familiar
contexts and content
areas.
Performance
Language is learned and
practiced
Familiar contexts and
content areas
Curriculum-based,
what was taught
Proficiency
Spontaneous, non-rehearsed
Broad content and context in
authentic situations
Independent of curriculum or
when, where, or how the
language was acquired
PERFORMANCE TOWARD PROFICIENCY
Documenting Student Growth
NCSSFL - ACTFL CAN - DO STATEMENTS
Bridging
performance and
proficiency
INTERMEDIATE LOW - INTERPERSONAL
ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines - Speaking
Speakers at the Intermediate Low sublevel are
able to handle successfully a limited number of
uncomplicated communicative tasks by creating
with the language in straightforward social
situations. Conversation is restricted to some of
the concrete exchanges and predictable topics
necessary for survival in the target-language
culture. These topics relate to basic personal
information; for example, self and family, some
daily activities and personal preferences, and
some immediate needs, such as ordering food and
making simple purchases. Speakers are primarily
reactive and struggle to answer direct questions or
requests for information. They are also able to ask
a few appropriate questions.
Can-Do Global
Benchmark
I can participate in
conversations on a
number of familiar topics
using simple sentences. I
can handle short social
interactions in everyday
situations by asking and
answering questions.
SAMPLE OF GLOBAL BENCHMARKS
Global Can-Do Benchmarks
General description of the
proficiency level for each of the
modes
SCREEN SHOT BOLD
Global Can-Do Benchmarks
General description of the
proficiency level for each of
the modes
SCREEN SHOT BOLD
Bold statements
Main indicators for the level
and the mode
SCREEN SHOT BOLD
Target statements/Check list
Provide instructional focus
Create class evidence
Should emphasize “re-spiraling”
ASSESSING:
HOW FAR IS YOUR GAZE ON THE HORIZON?
OPI/WPT
AAPPL
Summative Assessments
Formative Assessments
BRIEF HISTORY
• 2006 – Survey of Assessment Uses and
Needs
• 2007 – Analysis of best practices within the
assessment industry
• 2008 – AAPPL Framework and Prototype
WHAT IS AAPPL MEASURE?
The
ACTFL
Assessment of
Performance toward
Proficiency in
Languages
AAPPL MEASURE: Modes of Communication
Interpersonal
Listening/Speaking
Interpretive
Reading
Interpretive
Listening
Presentational
Writing
INTERPRETIVE MODE
• Understand, interpret, and analyze what is heard,
read, or viewed on a variety of topics.
• No active negotiation of meaning with the writer,
speaker, or producer
INTERPRETIVE READING - NOVICE
The Novice-level learner
•Comprehends written texts by recognizing key words and formulaic phrases, ranging in
length
–
–
–
–
Words
Lists
Phrases
Simple sentences
•Derives meaning when authentic texts are
– supported by visuals - graphically organized information
– on familiar topics
INTERPRETIVE READING - INTERMEDIATE
The Intermediate-level learner
•Generally comprehends simple texts that are organized in individual
sentences and strings of sentences containing mostly high-frequency
vocabulary on highly familiar topics in
–
–
–
–
Simple stories
Routine correspondence
Short descriptive texts
Other selections within familiar contexts – announcements, notices, online
forums, etc.
•Comprehends information-rich texts with a highly predictable order and
format
INTERPRETIVE READING - ADVANCED
The Advanced-level learner
•Generally comprehends paragraph-length discourse such as that
found in
–
–
–
–
–
–
stories
straightforward literary works
personal and work-related correspondence
written reports or instructions
descriptive texts
other texts dealing with topics of a concrete nature
INTERPRETIVE LISTENING - NOVICE
The Novice-level learner
•Comprehends speech by recognizing key words and formulaic phrases,
ranging in length
–
–
–
–
Words
Lists
Phrases
Simple sentences
•Derives meaning when speech is
– Highly contextualized
– Highly predictable, such as those found in introductions, basic courtesies and
high frequency commands.
INTERPRETIVE LISTENING - INTERMEDIATE
The Intermediate-level learner
•Generally comprehends speech on familiar topics that consists of
–
–
–
–
Simple, sentence-length speech
Straightforward announcements
Short messages
Simple instructions or directions
•Comprehends information-rich speech
–where they hear what they expect to hear
– with redundancy, restatement, paraphrasing, and contextual clues
INTERPRETIVE LISTENING - ADVANCED
The Advanced-level learner
•Generally comprehends paragraph-length discourse such as that
found in
–
–
–
–
–
–
Stories
Oral presentations (news)
Instructions
Anecdotes
Descriptive texts
Other speech dealing with topics of a concrete nature
INTERPRETIVE LISTENING - ADVANCED
The Alpenhorn. Is there anything more Swiss than that? Love it, hate it, this word immediately
calls to mind images of men in Lederhosen standing on the side of a mountain. But now there’s
Eliana Burki, an Alpenhorn player who completely breaks that stereotype.
Eliana could pass for a rock star—a new Lady Gaga. She is young, beautiful, and
fashionable. And she’s the first Alpenhorn player to reach a worldwide audience. Coincidence?
Explore this web site and you will find that there’s more to Elaina than meets the eye.
But behind the image that Elaina creates is a woman who is a scholar of her instrument. She can
talk to you at length about the great Alpenhorn players—people like Joszef Molnar, Hans-Jürg
Sommer, and William Hopson. However, she denies that any of them have influenced her.
Find out more. Look at Eliana’s extensive tour- and television schedule. She is touring Switzerland
extensively this summer and would welcome the chance to perform for you. She’s performing in
each of the cities on the map. She loves to greet audiences after her shows. You can meet and get
autographs of Eliana’s latest CD.
PRESENTATIONAL MODE
• Present information concepts and ideas on a
variety of topics to
– Inform
– Explain
– Narrate
– Persuade
PRESENTATIONAL MODE - NOVICE
The Novice-level learner
• Produces
– words and phrases and highly practiced sentences or formulaic questions
– simple, basic information on very familiar topics
• May show emerging evidence of the ability to
express own thoughts and preferences.
PRESENTATIONAL MODE - INTERMEDIATE
The Intermediate-level learner
•Produces sentences and series of sentences
•Expresses own thoughts and presents information and
personal preferences on familiar topics by creating with
language primarily in present time
•May show emerging evidence of the ability to tell or
retell a story and provide additional description
PRESENTATIONAL MODE - ADVANCED
The Advanced-level learner
•Produces narrations and descriptions
–in all major time frames on familiar and some unfamiliar
topics
–Using full paragraphs that are organized and detailed
•May show emerging evidence of the ability to provide
a well-supported argument, including detailed evidence
in support of a point of view.
INTERPERSONAL MODE
In Interpersonal communication, individuals
– interact and negotiate meaning in spoken,
signed or written conversations
– share information, reactions, feelings, and
opinions
Interpersonal Listening/Speaking – Novice
The Novice-level learner
• Understands and produces
– highly practiced words, lists and phrases and an occasional sentence
• Can ask and respond to highly predictable, memorized and
formulaic questions
• May show emerging evidence of the ability to express own
thoughts and preferences.
INTERPERSONAL LISTENING/SPEAKING NOVICE
•
•
•
•
Prompt
Hello! My name is
Antonia. What’s your
name?
I am from Colombia.
Where are you from?
I’m in my room. Where are
you?
I take English and math
classes. What classes do
you take?
•
•
•
•
Novice-level Response
My name Sam.
I am in the United States.
in Spanish class
Science, Spanish, English,
math.
Interpersonal Listening/Speaking Intermediate
The Intermediate-level learner
•Can communicate by understanding and creating personal meaning on
–Familiar topics
–Using sentences and series of sentences
•Can understand, ask and answer a variety of questions
•Consistently able to initiate, maintain, and end a conversation to satisfy
basic needs and/or to handle a simple transaction
•May show emerging evidence of the ability to communicate about
more than the here and now.
INTERPERSONAL LISTENING/SPEAKING INTERMEDIATE
•
•
•
•
Prompt
Let’s talk about music. Tell me what
kind of music you listen to. Why do
you listen to this music?
I listen to music on my iPod. How do
you listen to music?
Listen to this. This is The Zodiacs my favorite group. Tell me about a
group that is popular with young
people in America.
Your school has music programs,
doesn’t it? Tell me about one of
them. What do the students do who
participate in this program?
•
•
•
•
Intermediate-Level Response
I like all music, um, without classical
music. It is boring.
Ah, I listen to my music on my telephone,
but I have an I-Phone and also I have an IPod and, uh, my computer.
Ah, a group that is very popular with
young people in the United States and
North America, um, is the Black-Eyed Peas
group. All the members in the group are
young and the music is, um, very good
and all, um, like them.
Ah, there is a band and an, ah, and, um,
piano and guitar classes. Um, many
people go to the school in order to see
the band.
Interpersonal/Listening Speaking - Advanced
The Advanced-level learner
•Can communicate with ease and confidence by understanding
and producing narrations and descriptions of
–paragraph-length
–in all major time frames
•Can deal efficiently with a situation with an unexpected turn of
events.
•May show emerging evidence of the ability to participate in
discussions about issues beyond the concrete.
INTERPERSONAL-LISTENING/SPEAKING –
ADVANCED - PROMPT
1.
2.
3.
4.
Prompt
It’s been great talking to you in Spanish. Tell me, why did you
decide to study Spanish? Why did you make that decision?
Do you remember an occasion when you needed to speak
Spanish? What happened? Tell me the whole story—I want to
know all the details.
How do you plan to continue improving your Spanish? How do
you plan to use your Spanish in the future?
I want to learn English. Can you recommend a television show that
will help me learn English? Why do you think this program will
help me improve my English?
INTERPERSONAL LISTENING/SPEAKING –
ADVANCED - RESPONSE
2. Well, I use my Spanish a great deal in my work because I work in a
pharmacy where I have to speak with patients that don’t speak English
almost every week. But one very special time was when I was like nine years
old, I think. I was in Cancun, Mexico with my family for Christmas. And we
were, um, we went by bus and we wanted to visit the city. Then, we went on
the bus and my mother didn’t know when we had to leave the bus. Then we
were there for like three hours. Then, I, when I was 9 years old, had to talk
with the, ah, the uh, the one who drives the bus and he, he finally told me
that we forgot to leave the bus two hours ago and he took us to, to the street
that we needed and we were very [attempts unsuccessfully to say thankful]
because we were the last ones the last ones on the bus and no one else was
there and we didn’t know what to do. Well, because I could speak Spanish
with the, with the man, umm, he drove to, to the street. Thank you.
AAPPL - DEMO
http://aappl.actfl.org/
LESSONS TO APPLY TO INSTRUCTION
• Learn to communicate
• Practice communicating
• Assess communication
HOW LEARNING FACILITATORS USE
CAN-DO STATEMENTS
• Curriculum and daily lesson planning
• Creating performance assessment and task-specific
rubrics
– Functions, text type, content, expectations for accuracy
BOTH LEARNERS AND FACILITATORS
Can use statements to show progression of a specific
task:
–
–
–
–
Can set as a goal
Can do with help
Can do independently, but not all the time
Can do independently and consistently
STRATEGIES FOR USING AAPPL
• Feedback to teacher and learners
• Analysis of students meeting course - level
proficiency target
• Review of appropriateness of proficiency
targets
• Improvement of articulation – based on what
students can do
HOW IS THIS MODEL OF ASSESSMENT
BENEFICIAL?
Students
You as a Teacher
Administrators/
Community
Next Level’s
Teachers
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