Criteria and Practices of College-Level Chinese Placement

and K-16 Articulation

Hua Dong 董桦 , Northeastern University

Jin Zhang 张锦 , Massachusetts Institute of Technology

National Chinese Language Conference April 7, 2013, Boston

Criteria and Practices of College-Level Chinese Placement and K-16 Articulation

• Clear descriptions of student performance are fundamental for K–16 articulation in language learning. Placement criteria and practices of four-year colleges differ; therefore, the panel will look into how two college-level institutions place Chinese learners who have previous Chinese experience into Chinese classes. Participants will learn about different aspects of placement criteria, such as the ACTFL 5 C’s or in-house guidelines or rubrics, language-learning skills or integrated skills, and pragmatic competence. The panel will also solicit the K–12 participants’ input regarding the instructional goals of their highest-level Chinese classes, as well as the postsecondary participants’ input regarding their placement practices.

• This session will be presented in Chinese and/or English.

Why the discussion?

"Clear, agreed-upon descriptions of desired student performance across different levels" are deemed fundamental for standard-based K-16 articulation for language learning, so that the students can get “seamless progress through [their] language learning experiences.” (Bai, Patrick, Robinson 2009)

Standards (1): ACTFL 5Cs for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century

The ACTFL 5Cs• Communication:

Communication in FL/SL• Cultures: products,

practices, perspectives• Connections: FL/SL and

other disciplines • Comparisons:

understand nature of language and culture

• Communities: multi-lingual communities, local and elsewhere

ACTFL proficiency guidelines 2012: speaking, listening, writing, reading

• Distinguished• Superior• Advanced - high

- mid- low

• Intermediate - high- mid- low

• Novice - high- mid- low

Standards (2): 2012 ACTFL performance descriptors for language learners (based on 1998 K-12 version)• 3 modes of communication

- interpersonal- interpretive- presentation

• Parameters for the language learner’s performance- functions- contexts and content- text type

• How and how well is the language learner to be understood and to understand

- language control- vocabulary- communication strategies- cultural awareness

Standards (3.1): AP Language and Culture course description (Italian)

Six groups of learning objectives1. Spoken Interpersonal Communication2. Written Interpersonal Communication3. Audio, Visual, and Audiovisual Interpretive Communication4. Written and Print Interpretive Communication5. Spoken Presentational Communication6. Written Presentational Communication

Standards (3.2): AP Chinese Language and Culture course description (Italian)

ACHIEVEMENT LEVEL DESCRIPTIONS (ALDs)1. Interaction2. Strategies3. Opinions4. Language structures5. Vocabulary6. Register7. Pronunciation8. Cultures, connections, and comparisons

Question:Are postsecondary Chinese programs’ placement criteria and practices based on these standards?

Diversified needs and varied instructional goals

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology- 4-year bachelor’s degree programs- no foreign language requirement- a 4-subject concentration in HASS required

• Northeastern University- 4-, 5-, and 6-year degree programs- varied foreign language requirements

Postsecondary placement “tests”• On-line tests• Paper-and-ink tests• Face-to-face interviews• Combination of these testing forms

High-school placement• Honor class• AP class

MIT’s Chinese curriculum

3rd-year Chinese (1 semester)

2nd-year Chinese(2 semesters)

1st-year Chinese(2 semesters)

True beginners 1

2 semesters of 3rd-year Chinese

2 semesters of2nd-year Chinese

2nd semester of 1st-year Chinese

1st semester of 1st-year Chinese

Advanced beginners

True beginners 2

1 semester of 2 Very Fast Track

classes

(2 half-semester courses)

MIT placement: criteria & practice 1Pre-college credit:1. AP Chinese

score of 5 9 general elective unitsA semester-long language class is 12 units of HASS elective credit at MIT.

2. Classes taken at other accredited 4-year degree-granting universities

transfer credit may be granted

MIT placement: criteria & practice 2

1. No computer adaptive test2. No written exam with vocabulary, grammar,

reading and/or writing tasks 3. Most students are placed through face-to-face

assessment of their Chinese skills.

MIT placement: criteria & practice 2

• The instructors check what the students can do and what they can not do yet in Chinese, looking at their speaking, listening, reading and character-writing skills, and how they interact with native Chinese speakers, i.e., the instructors, in Chinese.

• The assessment is heavily textbook-oriented.

• True beginners are mostly placed in the regular track.

• Advanced beginners are mostly placed in the streamlined track.

Study Chinese at NEU

• 13 languages offered at World Languages Center (about 1,500 enrollment)

• Required three language courses for B.A., and six language courses for Bachelor of Science in International Business with Minor in Chinese

Students taking Chinese language courses at NEU

Fall 2005 Spring 2006

Fall 2006 Spring 2007

Fall 2009 Fall 2010 Fall 2011 Fall 2012 Spring 2013

stu-dents

40 55 68 95 108 129 130 151 173

10

30

50

70

90

110

130

150

170

190

NEU Course Offerings, Spring 2013• CHNS 1101 Elementary Chinese 1  • CHNS 1102 Elementary Chinese 2• CHNS 2101 Intermediate Chinese 1• CHNS 2102 Intermediate Chinese 2• CHNS 3101 Advanced Chinese 1• CHNS 3102 Advanced Chinese 2• CHNS 4101 Advanced Proficiency Chinese 1

• CHNS 1501 Elementary Chinese 1 for Heritage Speakers• CHNS 1502 Elementary Chinese 2 for Heritage Speakers

• 17 classes of about 180 students  

NEU curriculum

• New Practical Chinese Reader, vol. 1-3 up to intermediate levels

• All Things Considered, advanced levels

• Discussing Everything Chinese, advanced proficiency levels

Moving Placement Online

• Initiated by Dr. Dennis Cokely, director of World Languages Center (WLC), NEU.

• Main researcher and creator: Dr. Luigia Maiellaro, coordinator of Italian Language Program, WLC. She set the criteria and principles, and created a model in Qualtrics in spring 2012.

• Five languages were chosen to test the model: Italian, French, Portuguese, Japanese and Chinese.

• Took more than a year for each language group to develop its own questions for four levels.

NEU placement criteria (1)• Grammar, vocabulary, and knowledge of

pragmatic and sociolinguistic skills (75% for Elem. Levels, 70% for Interm. Levels)• listening comprehension(10% for both Elem. & Interm. Levels)• reading comprehension(15 % for Elem. Levels, 20% for Interm. Levels)

Source: Dr. Luigia Maiellaro

NEU placement criteria (2)

1. a minimum number of items has been given;

2. every test topic area has been covered;

3. sufficient items have been administered to maintain test validity.

Source: Dr. Luigia Maiellaro

Designing Placement Test in Qualtrics: PRINCIPLES

• Decide on language content– Make a comprehensive list of the language content taught

at each level.– Decide the proportion among the elements chosen.

• Decide on forms and tasks: – multiple-choice – true/false activities– matching activities– discrimination activities

Source: Dr. Luigia Maiellaro

Designing Placement Test in Qualtrics: EXAMPLES (1)

Designing Placement Test in Qualtrics: EXAMPLES (2) 1st Semester

Designing Placement Test in Qualtrics: EXAMPLES (3) 1st Semester

Designing Placement Test in Qualtrics: EXAMPLES (4) 1st Semester

Designing Placement Test in Qualtrics: EXAMPLES (5) 1st Semester

Designing Placement Test in Qualtrics: EXAMPLES (6), 3rd Semester

Challenges for Placement

• Accuracy of Placement Tests• Retention:

– students stop taking Chinese classes between high school and college

– Students stop taking Chinese classes between semesters in college, e.g. co-ops

For a smoother transition from HS to college

• Characters: read? copy? write from memory?• Pronunciation: tones important?• Grammar: memorized phrases or sentences?

explanation? • Pragmatic competence?

Question: What role(s) do the standards play?

Open discussion and Q & A time

• Postsecondary: placement at different institutions• K-12: expectations

ReferencesAmerican Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century, 3rd edition (Executive Summary) http://www.actfl.org/sites/default/files/StandardsforFLLexecsumm_rev.pdf

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (2012) ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines http://actflproficiencyguidelines2012.org/

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (2006) ACTFL Performance Descriptors for Language Learners http://www.actfl.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/PerformanceDescriptorsLanguageLearners.pdf

Bai, Patrick, Robinson (2009) Strengthening K-16 Articulation through Assessment and Placement http://www.slideshare.net/internationaled/robinson-patrick-bai-strengthening-k16-articulation

College Board (2011) AP Chinese Language and Culture course description http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap08_chinese_coursedesc.pdf

College Board (2011) AP Italian Language and Culture Course and Exam Description http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/AP_ItalianCED.pdf