“Guidelines” for Future Professionals: A Case for Graduate Training in Assessment

O'Brien, Traci S.

doi:10.1017/9781782045878.012

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…I have summarized the controversy surrounding the Guidelines elsewhere (O'Brien, 2015) but will reiterate here one important point: The Guidelines are not prescriptive. They do not dictate the content of what we teach.…”

Section: The Guidelines and Advanced‐level Teaching And Learning In U...mentioning

confidence: 98%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Telling a Good Story: Proficiency‐Based Teaching, Advanced‐Level Literary Discussions, and Social Justice

O'Brien

2022

Die Unterrichtspraxis

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Scholars in our profession have long called attention to the gap between language classes and upper‐level content courses. Some current trends, such as decolonizing the curriculum and using the lens of social justice, are highlighting an additional gap, which they perceive in students' preparedness to deal justly with an unjust world. This article examines some representative publications of these trends and shows how their shift away from a focus on target language learning may, in fact, exacerbate both gaps. Because they advocate restructuring world language curricula around something other than the target language and culture, these trends may distract teacher‐scholars from proven approaches – a distraction which can, in turn, hinder students from reaching Advanced or Superior levels (ACTFL, 2012). In contrast, this article argues that using the ACTFL Guidelines and proficiency‐based teaching are most useful to support students in learning to tell “good” stories, which empowers them to reach Advanced and Superior proficiency. A student‐centered, proficiency‐based approach helps teacher‐scholars bridge the gap between language and content courses as well as between individual students' proficiency in upper‐level classes. This article's last section provides detailed examples of multilevel tasks for common texts read in a literature class created for a wide range of proficiency levels.

show abstract

Section: The Guidelines and Advanced‐level Teaching And Learning In U...mentioning

confidence: 98%

“…In contrast to divisive and confusing ideological claims, the Guidelines provide a much more effective structure for curricula that keeps the primary focus on real-world, achievable TL goals (Hoffmann & James, 1986;Kym, 2003Kym, , 2011O'Brien, 2015). The Guidelines are an important tool for non-linguists because they describe and predict TL development.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Telling a Good Story: Proficiency‐Based Teaching, Advanced‐Level Literary Discussions, and Social Justice

O'Brien

2022

Die Unterrichtspraxis

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Beyond Cash Value: Promoting Real‐World Competence in the Global Turn

O'Brien

2020

Die Unterrichtspraxis

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the literature on intercultural competence, such competence, or set of competencies, is desirable precisely because a globalized world needs world citizens who are at home everywhere and can deal effectively with alterity – presumably in order to be agents of positive change. To remain relevant, we as teachers in German Studies need theoretical and pragmatic justifications for what we do in and outside the classroom in order to prepare students for the reality of our 21st‐century world. At the same time, one needs to heed the call of the global turn carefully lest one replaces globalization with homogenization. After thorough research on this topic, some of which I will review in this article, one cannot avoid a surprising conclusion: Without selling out to it, we in the humanities have a lot to learn from the business model in the conceptualization of goals, the implementation of standards, and the identification of the proper assessment tool(s). The root of this problem, I assert, is the theoretical murkiness surrounding claims about value in the humanities (and the social sciences). Ultimately, this article uses comparison with the business model to advocate discernment about claims of value with solid foundations in the real world.

show abstract

“Guidelines” for Future Professionals: A Case for Graduate Training in Assessment

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Telling a Good Story: Proficiency‐Based Teaching, Advanced‐Level Literary Discussions, and Social Justice

Telling a Good Story: Proficiency‐Based Teaching, Advanced‐Level Literary Discussions, and Social Justice

Beyond Cash Value: Promoting Real‐World Competence in the Global Turn

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About