Language Outcomes
in Chinese Immersion
Myriam Met
myriammet@gmail.com
Source: Greg Duncan, Interprep Inc.
Source: Greg Duncan, Interprep Inc.
Getting to Intermediate
• Defense Language Institute
• College majors
• High school students
ACTFL Proficiency Levels and Employment
The chart below correlates the anticipated level of proficiency to the number of years of language study.
Have
limited
work
ability and
survive
and cope
in country
language
skills.
SFUSD MANDARIN IMMERSION
Proficiency Based Performance Expectations
At the end of
Grade
Level
Total Immersion
ACTFL
CAWLS
1
Novice Mid
Mid Stage I
2
Intermediate Low
Beginning Stage II
3
Intermediate Med*
Mid Stage II*
4
Intermediate Med*
Mid Stage II*
5
Intermediate High *
End Stage II/Beginning
Stage III
8
Advanced Low
Beginning Stage III
12
Advanced Mid
Mid Stage III
K
Focus on Literacy
• How important is literacy?
• What do parents think about literacy?
• What do educators think about when they
think about Chinese iteracy?
Teaching Literacy
in Chinese Immersion
• Setting goals and objectives: how well should
our students read and by when?
• What about pinyin?
• Which characters? In what order? How many?
• What is critical for K-2 in terms of reading?
Writing?
• What is critical for grades 3-6?
• What materials are useful?
How Many Characters?
• China (estimates) = 2500 by end of grade 6
• Chinese textbooks for heritage learners by
end of grade 6 =<1000
Reading and writing Goals: Chinese characters
Grade
Write new characters
Recognize characters/ common
phrases
K
80+
150
1
120+
250/200-500
2
220+
500/600-800
3
250+
700/800-1000
4
250+
800-1000/1200-1500
5
350+
1200-1500/1500-1800
6
review+200+
1600+/2000+
7
Review+200+
1800+/2200+
8
Review+200+
2000+/2400+
Full day
immersion
program in
US
How Many Characters?
50-50 Model in US
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
K: 80
1st: 100
2nd: 170
3rd: 200
4th: 260
5th: 350
COMMUNICATION ARTS IN CHINESE
A knowledgeable immersion first grade student
R --develops and applies reading skills
*recognizes 300 Chinese characters related to the first grade curriculum
*recognizes 50 high frequency radicals
*understands that radicals are the building blocks of Chinese characters
*uses knowledge of radicals to decode the form and meaning of characters
*uses context clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar characters
*understands Chinese character relationships: synonyms, antonyms, homophones, multiple
meanings
*understands that pinyin is a Roman alphabet form of Mandarin Chinese that is used primarily for
typing in Chinese on a computer (type in pinyin and it appears on the screen as the
corresponding character)
*recognizes the pinyin forms of words related to the first grade curriculum
R --comprehends what is read
*understands logical relationships: simple sequence, compare/contrast
*understands fact/non fact
*uses comprehension strategies: predict/infer, monitor/clarify, question, evaluate, summarize
How Many Characters?
“We used to set a number of characters by grade level,
roughly 250 for grade 1,
300 to 450 for other grades,
but not anymore, as we see this did
not help us identify students'
proficiency levels, and the retention
of the characters has been a big
problem for some students …”
What does it mean
to know a character?
•
•
•
•
•
‘recognize’”= match to sound
‘recognize’”= match to picture
Name
Use to make meaning from text
Write text
SFUSD: Moving Forward
•
•
•
•
Targets
End of year performance indicators
Instruction and assessment
Progress reporting
What Can Parents Do?
• Support through motivation and attitude
• Reading/listening for pleasure
• Homework buddies