Brandon McLeod

FL 561 Teaching Languages

Dr. Burnett
30 November 2015
Episodes 3 and 4
Episode 3
Chapter 6, pg. 207, Episode Two
Using the Interactive Model to Explore an Authentic Audio/Video Segment

ACTFL/NCATE 4.a. Understanding and Integrating Standards into Planning; 4.b.

Integrating Standards in Instruction; 4.c. Selecting and Designing Instructional Materials

TESOL/NCATE 3.a. Planning for Standards-Based ESL and Content Instruction; 3.b.
Managing and Implementing Standards-Based ESL and Content Instruction; and 3.c.

Using Resources Effectively in ESL and Content Instruction

For this activity, you will again need to select a targeted level of instruction: elementary
school, middle/junior high school, high school, or beyond.

Option 1: Select an authentic segment on audiotape/CD or videotape, an authentic live broadcast,

or an authentic audio segment from the Internet (e.g., conversation, commercial, news report,
talk show, song).

Decide how this segment might be used in a particular thematic unit in order to address
short- and long-range objectives. Then design a plan for teaching the segment by using
the interactive approach presented in this chapter. Begin with the interpretive mode and
then integrate interpersonal and presentational communication. Describe what students
will do in each stage of the procedure. Your instructor may ask you to present your taped
segment and an element of your lesson to the class.

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Activity
For this activity, I have selected John O'Sullivans Tedx Lecture from April 2014,
Changing the Game in Youth Sports. This lecture could be used for an upper intermediate
or advanced ESL or EFL class discussing the themes of sports and parenting. This lecture is
extremely useful in presenting a cultural artifact in a manner, which allows for discussion and
opinion forming.
As a pre-activity, have the students activate prior knowledge through a question and
answer session regarding their experiences with sports when they were young. Following
this, show the video. To engage the students in an interpretive activity, have them write their
initial impressions of the videothis can be supported with questions geared to get them
thinking about their experiences with sports, motivation, and the role of their parents and
coaches. This should be followed with prompts to help the students articulate their opinions
on the role of competitive sports in childrens lives and the positive and negative effects
parents and coaches can have. The key is to get the students to examine and clarify their own
opinions, and not to influence their thinking in a particular direction.
Depending on the length of the class, the interpretive element may take the rest of the
time period, which is fine. It is possible that in the evening they will further reflect on the
lecture and their personal memoriesfurther developing their opinions and ideas. It is also
good to have this extra time because it allows the students the time they need to sort through
their many opinions and turn them into articulate messages. They will need this articulation
during the interpersonal portion of the activity.
The interpersonal portion may be approached in two phases. The first is a small group
discussion, where the students ask each other about their experiences with competitive sports,

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parents, and coaches. The students will learn about their classmates experiences and interests
and share their own. Once all of the students have had a chance to discuss their competitive
sport history with your classmates, the format should be shifted to that of an informal debate.
The class can be divided into two opposing sides and given the opportunity to brainstorm
arguments with their like-minded classmates. One interesting way to get the students
participate (and avoid the over-participation of some students) is to have a talking stick (or
something similar) which the students must hold if they wish to share their opinion.
Additionally, another good rule is that once someone uses the talking stick, they cannot use it
until two other people in their group have used it. Moreover, there will be a two-minute
maximum for anyone holding the stick and after the stick is used, it must be transferred to the
other side to use. These simple rules prevent many of the common issues with class
discussions and debates.
Finally, as a presentational activity, the students will form groups of two or more. Within
these groups, they must create a scene depicting a youth sporting event. For this activity, they
may choose to portray either negative or positive reactions from the parents and coaches.
After acting out the scene, they must present to the class what happened in the scene, what
effects it might have on the child, and what parents/coaches can do to avoid the pitfalls
depicted. This activity allows the students to have fun creating a miniature play, but also
forces them to think critically about the cultural artifact, relate it to their own experiences,
and develop their own recommendations.
Overall, this activity supports the immediate goals of the target vocabulary words (and
grammatical structures), while also helping students explore and cultivate thoughts and
opinions within the target language. It aims at the larger goals of developing fluency through

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authentic communication through the smaller goals of completing a reflection activity, a class
discussion and debate, and a play and presentation activity.
Episode 4
Chapter 11, pg. 440, Episode One
Analyzing and Adapting a Traditional Test

ACTFL/NCATE 5.a. Knowing Assessment Models and Using Them Appropriately

TESOL/NCATE 4.a. Issues of Assessment for English Language Learners; and 4.c.
Classroom- Based Assessment for ESL

Task One: Analyze the following traditional test given to a French I class. Why is it
considered traditional? Explain, using the following questions as a guide:
1. Is there a context? If there is none, what context could be applied?
a. There is not a context. Given the low level of the students (as indicated by the
difficulty of the test), it takes non-traditional thinking to apply context to this
assessment. For example, instead of simply asking translations of numbers, it
could have been formatted to have the numbers occur naturally within a
comprehensible paragraph. Additionally, if the students are too low level for that,
the number questions could have been presented in a method that gets the students
to use the numbers in a sentence (even if the format of the sentence needs to be
provided, as in, Use the format.). Additionally, the sentences within the cloze
conjugation exercise could have been formatted to be in sequence or part of a
larger paragraph (the same applies for the conjugation rewriting in the next
section).
2. What knowledge and/or skills are being evaluated?
a. There is some vocabulary being tested (numbers and some expressions of time)
and some grammar (conjugations) being tested.
3. How is the learner asked to use the target language?

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a. The learner is asked to use the target language in a non-authentic, contextdeficient manner. The assessment, based on rote memorization instead of use, is
asking for explicit information.
4. Does the test address standards-based competencies? Explain.
a. This test is part of the Old Paradigm of testing, in which students are not asked
to think creatively or apply the knowledge they have gained. As such, it does not
address standards-based competencies. There is no authentic application of the
language, there are not multiple opportunities for the students to demonstrate
knowledge, and it is lacking all three modes of communication.
5. Why is this test not considered performance-based, authentic, integrative, or interactive?
a. This test is not considered performance-based because there are no aspects of
performance in the assessmentit is simply rote memorization of a few
vocabulary terms and grammatical structures, not a chance for students to use
their knowledge and skills in a creative way. It is not authentic because the
language is not being used (or even presented) within any context. It is not
integrative, since it does not engage students in real-life communication. It is not
interactive since there is no listening, speaking, reading authentic text, or writing
to communicate.
6. What might this test reflect concerning the classroom practices of the test designer?

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a. This test suggests that the designers classroom practices also follow the old
paradigm where students are presented vocabulary and grammatical constructs in
lists and through rote memorization, and not given opportunities for creativity or
authentic engagement.
Chapter 6 Test: French I
Name __________________________________________________________________
I. Write the French equivalents for the following numbers:
1.
23____________________________________________________________________
2.
46____________________________________________________________________
3.
69____________________________________________________________________
4.
72____________________________________________________________________
II. Complete the following sentences with the present tense of the infinitives:
1. (descendre) Nous_______________________en ville.
2. (attendre) La famille_______________________un autobus.
3. (vendre) Un homme_______________________des sandwiches.
III. Change the present-tense sentences below to the near future using aller + infinitive.
1. Nous arrivons de France. ______________________________________________
2. Il va de Paris Chicago. ______________________________________________
References

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Shrum, J. and Glisan, E. (2010). Teachers handbook: Contextualized language instruction (4th
ed.). Boston, MA: Heinle.
Sullivan, J. (2014). Changing the game in youth sports. Tedx. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXw0XGOVQvw