Janet Swaffar

Remapping the foreign language curriculum : an approach through multiple literacies

Janet Swaffar and Katherine Arens offer a holistic approach to postsecondary language teaching that integrates the study of literature and culture into every level of the curriculum. By studying multiple genres ranging from popular to elite, students gain an understanding of multiple communicative frameworks - and develop multiple literacies. Swaffar and Arens propose the use of a sequence of template-generated exercises that leads students from basic grammar patterns to a sophisticated grasp of the interrelations among language use, meaning, and cultural context. One example of their approach is the teaching of Laura Esquivels novel Como agua para chocolate ( Like Water for Chocolate ). From exercise to exercise, students consider use of tense, narrative strategy (the connection between recipes and plot), and the social codes in the novel compare the novel with the Hollywood film version (different imagery for different audiences) critique promotional descriptions of the film on the Internet examine a magazine interview of Esquivel (to expose the interviewers assumptions) The authors combine theory and practice, research and personal experience, to present a new, interdisciplinary curriculum that should strengthen the teaching of foreign languages in junior colleges, four-year colleges, and universities.

Pattern Questions for Student Conceptual Processing

Despite current emphasis on the readers role, L2 testing practice has remained largely text-centered. Consequently, when we test reading, we fail to assess a vital component of reading comprehension: a students construction of textual meanings based on that individuals cognitive and background schema. This paper will look at the impact of testing on schema sensitivity and propose a question type, the pattern question, to alleviate problems suggested in reading research. The paper concludes with sample items and a discussion of student response to these question types in pilot work conducted at the University of Texas1

The case for a procedural model as a multiple measure of reading comprehension

Abstract Based on a hermeneutic model for reading, we present a procedural item designed to test discretely several of the multiple ways readers comprehend and express themselves about the content and implications of reading passages. We begin by reviewing briefly findings about existing measures widely used in testing or research (e.g., multiple choice, cloze, recall protocols) in order to make the case that it may be useful to consider an alternative task format such as the one suggested here. Next, the procedural model itself is illustrated as a task hierarchy that can be adapted (scaled) to various levels of text difficulty and to various levels of student proficiency in the second language. Two ways to scale the procedural item (and the rationale in that scaling) are then discussed in detail: (a) the stages for recognizing versus generating language for different stages in completing the item and (b) the stages at which students are asked to use their native or a second language to provide answers. We conclude by summarizing the practical advantages of isolating and sequencing key processes that L2 research identifies as significant for comprehension.

From Language to Literacy: The Evolving Concepts of Foreign Language Teaching at American Colleges and Universities Since 1945

This chapter assesses the history of FL teaching and professional organizations since 1945 to explain the current lack of integration between language and content within collegiate foreign language curricula and the absence of more student-centered practices and research. It identifies major time periods marked by particular theories and pedagogical models that shaped attitudes and practices in Departments in their hiring and their classrooms. The historical analyses explores resulting concepts of learning styles and teaching objectives that evolved for beginning, intermediate and advanced level FL classes. These sections also incorporate the role of professional organizations, notably the MLA’s responses and ACTFL’s initiatives developed to address emergent needs across institutions. The author’s objective is to illustrate how the enduring legacies of each era continue to influence FL departments’ curricular decisions and in many cases explain their resistance to change. The author concludes by making the case for learner-centered pedagogies presented in forthcoming chapters and suggests the parameters for faculty initiatives to be undertaken to reform their curricula.