Undergraduate and graduate students

1. Omaggio Hadley, Alice. (2001). Teaching Language in Context. 3rd Edition. Boston: Heinle & Heinle.

2. Shrum, Judith & Eileen Glisan. (2005). Teacher's Handbook:  Contextualized Language Instruction. 3rd Edition. Boston: Heinle & Heinle. 

Graduate Students only

3. Bardovi-Harlig, K. & Hartford, B. (1997). Beyond Methods: Components of Second Language Teaching Education. New York: McGraw Hill.

Course Description and Course Goals:
Welcome to the foreign language profession! This course seeks to address both theory and practice of foreign language teaching. It is primarily intended to help language instructors experienced and inexperienced to develop understanding of learning and teaching of languages in classroom. Teaching strategies used are lecture with discussion, small-group activities, video commenting, and discussion of class visits and observations.

By the end of this course, students should be able to: 

(i)   Demonstrate an understanding of current theories of second-language acquisition research.
(ii)  Design lesson plans and communicative projects that reflect current SLA theory and practice.
(iii) Prepare and use a Picture File to teach a foreign language lessons.
(iv) Develop the ability to reflect on their teaching and the teaching of others.
(v)  Use technology as a tool for professional development and to promote student learning. 

General Assignments and Expectations

• The participants are expected to read all assignments before each meeting, be prepared to give a critical assessment of the readings, and to participate actively in the classroom and practical projects (see participation grade below).
• All projects that are assigned outside the class are to be written on a computer and must include all appropriate typed accents in the foreign language.
• All assignments must be proof read and carefully checked for accuracy of the language.
• Teamwork is highly encouraged in preparation for the class and for many assignments. This is done to promote and develop collaboration, which can be beneficial to all learners and useful to teachers.
• Class attendance is required due to the practical aspects of the course: assignments and practices in class. After the first two absences, the participation grade will be lowered by 10 points for each unjustified absence (absences are to be justified with written notes). The participation grade, which is 15% of the final course grade, may reach zero due to excessive absences!
• Late work will not be accepted, except for unusual circumstances (please talk to me about possible problems ahead of time). 

Graduate students are asked to react in writing on the assigned chapters in Bardovi-Harlig & Hartford. A one-page reaction will be due each time a chapter is assigned. Again, late work will not be accepted, except for unusual circumstances (please talk to me about possible problems ahead of time). This short paper will be graded as part of the homework category. The graduate students are encouraged to briefly summarize and explain the main point of the chapter to the rest the class when appropriate (see syllabus for graduate students’ presentations and choose topics you would like to present).
 

The course grade will be based on the following criteria:

Undergraduate students

Presentations & participation ……….....	15%	NB.  (Participating in class discussions. Being present is not enough (see (a) above))
Midterm exam ……………….................	20%
Homework: (TPR lesson, Grammar lesson, teaching philosophy) ………….....	15%
Portfolios and Communicative projects (Picture Files with Listening & speaking activities, reading, culture activities)…..........	15%
Performance-based Project (Student-teachers)	15%	Students must start preparing for this project immediately! Please see due date for summary of first visit.
Final exam……………………...............	20%

The course Methods of Teaching Foreign Language is based on the University Delaware’s Conceptual Framework, which was developed by a multi-college committee to define the approaches generally used in the university’s teacher education program. The framework is based on the conviction that good teaching requires constant trial and error, thought revision, and reflection. For that reason, a primary goal of  “Methods of Teaching Foreign Language” is not merely to convey content, but to help students develop and practice skills they will need for a career of vital, innovative teaching. These skills begin with personal reflection aimed at improving practice, but they also include using scholarly resources as well as forming partnerships with parents, teachers, and the larger community as a means of defining and resolving problems. Students should read the Conceptual Framework document, which they will find at: University of Delaware's Conceptual Framework document or its brief version here.
 

A. Reflective practitioner: All readings, activities, and projects encourage students to think through problems and approaches to teaching. Specific step-by-step models will be provided as well as general tools, and students are encouraged to reflect on these tools and find their way to solve problems. Textbooks present material in a way that invites reflection and problem solving. The activities that accompany the chapters require thoughtful consideration. Finally, discussions, small group work, demonstrations, micro teaching session, portfolio and all projects include reflective exercises.

B. Scholar: In accord with the general way of becoming reflective practitioners, students are encouraged to consider ways of using existing research-based information as means of determining what more they need to learn and how best to learn it. Students are required to include in this effort not only traditional scholarly texts but appropriate Internet sites and community resources as well. This work is not undertaken as separate, isolated assignment; rather, it is part of the routine development of motivational activities, lesson plans, multiple assessments, and other instructional materials the students are writing in the course. Accordingly, students are required to indicate, in written assignments specifically how they are applying this research-based information to the material they are proposing to use with their (future) pupils. Finally, students are challenged to move beyond the traditional image of scholarship as an individual pursuit and to experience the acquisition of knowledge as a collaborative, community effort.

C. Problem-solver: The concept of problem-solver is not separate from the goals of the two concepts defined in A and B above. For that reason, the class discussions, activities, demonstrations, and micro teaching sessions are routinely framed in terms of analyzing what problems need to be solved, what information or material is necessary to solve them, and how that information or material may be acquired. This approach is applied to such topics as the development of motivational activities for diverse learners, the incorporation of state content standards into lesson planning, and the development of principled stands on issues of importance to the profession.

D. Partner: Class periods will include activities that model technique of cooperative peer instructions. Students are encouraged to develop both the skills and the attitudes necessary to foster routine, comfortable partnership-formal and informal- with pupils, parents, and colleagues.
 

As part of the Foreign Language Methods course, the module described in this section aims to prepare student teachers to analyze, assess, and reflect on the impact they have had on their students' progress. The module is designed to provide student teachers with the tools they need to assess their performance as teachers by reflecting on their performance and by assessing their students' progress. In order to be able to conduct this performance-based assessment, student teachers will learn how to gather data, analyze it, and present it in an organized manner. This training will enable them to conduct this assessment during the student teaching period. 

In order to be able to assess their performance, student teachers will be trained to use the following tools: First, they will learn to gather data using structured interviews or surveys in a foreign language teaching setting. Second, they will learn to describe assessments tools used to evaluate students' progress and relate these tools to the methodology used in the classroom. Finally, they will learn to provide the profile of at least one student including an account of his/her progress. 
 

 1. Early on i.e. by the end of the second week of instruction, students must secure a class to visit for this project. The student teacher will ask permission to sit in a 105 or 106 section of a language of their choice and observe the instructor's teaching for training purposes. Students who are observing classes in high school may base their projects on those classes and graduate students who are currently teaching may use one of their classes. Those students who do not belong to these groups must ask permission to visit a 105- section (Spanish, French or German).

2. The student teacher will describe at least two sessions: one session at the beginning of the semester (the second week of instruction) and one session at the end of the semester. For each session, the student teacher will provide a step-by-step description of what happened in the classroom: the structure of the class, the material presented, and the methodology used in the class etc. during those visits.

3. The student teacher will conduct a brief interview with the instructor. She/he will ask questions about the methodology used in her/his class, the assessment used and the rationale behind the instructor's choice of the methodology and the materials employs in that class.

4. The student teacher will select one or two students and provide her/his profile, progress, and the difficulties she/he encounters in the class.

5. The student teacher will assess the learner(s')' progress (i.e. the student(s) interviewed) based on the tools used in that course. Generally speaking, assessment tools in 105/106 courses include but are not limited to (i) Homework; (ii) Quizzes; (iii) Exams; (iv) Oral performance. The student teacher will provide a brief description of each tool and its components: grammar, vocabulary, listening, speaking, reading and writing skills, and culture. She/he will link the assessment tool to the methodology used to teach the course. She/he will discuss whether or not these components were all present in the assessment tools and how this affects students' progress. 

6. The final project, which will be a paper with an introduction, a development, and a conclusion, with a TABLE OF CONTENTS, will be a report that shows that the student teacher is able to carry out a performance-based assessment in a class she/he will student teach. The performance-based assessment means that student teacher is able to show that her/his teaching has affected in some way the progress of her/his students.
 
 



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THE FOLLOWING ARE SUGGESTED QUESTIONS TO ANSWER
AND ISSUES TO ADDRESS IN THE REPORT










I. Learning-teaching context 

 I. A. School Characteristics

• Population (makeup and family profile). 
• District (profile compared to other districts in the region). 
• Student population and its profile. 
• Needs of these students and how to meet them. 
• Resources available to students (computers, library, grants, other). 
• Programs available to students and how they meet their needs.
• Relation between the programs and world languages. 
• Are the programs integrated? 
• Teacher evaluation program: does it exist? Does it apply to World Languages?
• The mission statement of the school/district and how it relates to World Languages?

 I. B. Classroom Characteristics 

• Grade, level or course
• Students profile (were they together and since when?
• Languages they speak or they have learned. 
• Resources available for the classroom you observed. 
• The number of groups in the class. Reason for having these groups instead of others.
• Rules in the classroom: consequences, rewards, homework if not done etc.
• Expectations for students. Actions and tasks the instructor expects her/his students to complete.

 I. C. Students Characteristics

• Demographics: Number of students, gender categories, ethnic makeup etc.
• Transportation and its impact on students if any (for instance fatigue, problems with transportation or with children who use transportation).
• Chapter 1 program students etc. 
• Proficiency ability in languages.

II. Achievement Targets
• The curriculum and its objectives: (how do the objectives relate to the 5 Cs, to the State and national standards?) 
• Targets for the instructional sequence as you identify them: (List of the targets: be as specific as you can and relate the targets to the State standards).


III. Assessment Plan

• Formative or summative assessment. 
• The extent to which achievement targets match assessment methods. 
• The rationales for selecting the assessment methods. Correspondence with teaching method. Be explicit: course taught in such and such away. 
• Assessments there are for students with special needs. 


IV. Sample of Instructional Sequence

• Samples of Lesson Plans and methods used to teach the material.
• Samples of Instructional Materials (such as a reading passage, cultural note or caption etc.)
• Methodology used in the course: degree to which the method is communicative, accuracy oriented etc.


V. Analysis of Students Learning

• Student Scores on Pre-Assessment 
• Student Scores on Specific Tasks (or quizzes for Udel. courses)
• Student Perceptions and Responses and how they react to the teaching method (from interviews) 


VI. Evaluation and Reflection

• Your evaluation and reflection on the instructional sequence. Method(s) of teaching.
• The extent to which achievement targets were met (using results from interviews and assessment tools) 
• The questions and issues you have identified
• Effective and successful aspects
• Things that could be done differently.