Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and UW STARTALK 1

WAFLT/COFLT Conference Vancouver, WAOctober 13, 2012

STEM and Heritage

Language LearnersUW STARTALK Russian Language Team:

Michele Anciaux Aoki, Ph.D., Teacher Program DirectorWorld Languages Program Supervisor, OSPI

Svetlana Abramova, Ph.D., Student Program Lead InstructorVeronika Egorova, Ph.C., Student Program Technology Lead

Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and UW STARTALK 2

Goals for this workshop…

• You can explain what STEM is and why it’s important to language teachers (and learners)

• You can describe at least 2-3 characteristics of heritage language learners (HLLs)

• You can identify 2-3 of the STARTALK Principles• You can give an example of a STEM language

lesson (Space Race)• You can express one or two ideas for applying

what you’ve learned about STEM and HLLs to your teaching situatio

Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and UW STARTALK 3

MissionTo provide summer language

learning opportunities for students and professional development

opportunities for teachers in critical languages

Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and UW STARTALK 4

UW STARTALK Student Program 2012

• 4-week intensive (5 hours/day) language program

• Focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)

• Focus on Heritage Language Learners

Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and UW STARTALK 5

STEM• What is it?• Why is it important to language

teachers (and learners)?

What have you heard about STEM?

Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and UW STARTALK 6

STEM: What is it?

• Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

• Program started by Judith A. Ramaley, former director of the National Science Foundation’s education and human-resources division.

• Designed to revolutionize the teaching of subject areas such as mathematics and science by incorporating technology and engineering into regular curriculum by creating a “meta-discipline.”

http://drpfconsults.com/understanding-the-basics-of-stem-education/

Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and UW STARTALK 7

STEM: More than 4 subjects

• STEM Education attempts to transform the typical teacher-centered classroom by encouraging a curriculum that is driven by problem-solving, discovery, exploratory learning, and requires students to actively engage a situation in order to find its solution.

• The science, engineering, and mathematics fields are made complete by the technology component that provides a creative and innovative way to problem solve and apply what has been learned.

Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and UW STARTALK 8

STEM: Why is it important (to us as language teachers)?

• All students benefit from the STEM program because it teaches independent innovation and allows students to explore greater depths of all of the subjects by utilizing the skills learned; these skills are going to be required in order for today’s students to be tomorrow’s global leaders.

• STEM is the big education “buzz” word• STEM has business and legislative support• STEM is often expanded to STEAM (for “Arts”)

(so there is potential to also include WLs)

Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and UW STARTALK 9

Heritage Language Learners: who are they?

• Narrow definition: those who have been exposed to a particular language in childhood but did not learn it to full capacity because another language became dominant. FUNCTIONAL PROFICIENCY

• Broad definition: those who have been raised with a strong cultural connection to a particular language, usually through family interaction. CULTURAL AFFINITY

(Polinsky & Kagan, 2007)

Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and UW STARTALK 10

HLL profile:oral performance characteristics

• Pronunciation/intonation – Americanized/Native-like • Mispronunciations – Yes • Borrowings – Yes • Speech rate – Native-like • Lexical errors – Yes • Grammatical errors – Yes • Word order – Americanized/Native-like • Complex syntax – Some • Code-switching – No • Awareness of register - No

 

Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and UW STARTALK 11

UW STARTALK 2012 student profiles

• 21 students (ages 14-18 years old)• Born in the US or arrived before age 3 (10) • Age at immigration: 4-9 (7) • Age at immigration: 9-14 (4)• Self-ratings in listening, speaking, reading, and

writing:– Receptive are stronger than productive skills

(15)– Receptive equal productive skills (6)

Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and UW STARTALK 12

Student 1/Student 2

Students’ Profiles Student 1 (F) Student 2 (M)

Age at immigration Born in US 2 years

Language spoken at home

Russian/English combo Russian

Parents speak Russian/English Russian/English

Grandparents speak Russian Russian

Speaking Russian in daily life

Sometimes Every day

Self-rating (0-5) L-4; S-3; R-2; W-1 L-5; S-4; R-5; W- 3

Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and UW STARTALK 13

HLLs gaps in linguistic knowledge and mistakes

• incomplete grammar• limited vocabulary• limited pragmatic competenceBUT: • near-native pronunciation • high range fluency

Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and UW STARTALK 14

Getting to a higher proficiency level

According to C. Martin, instruction should focus on:– Awareness of what is defined as Superior level

language• Functions, contexts and content areas, the text

type, and the expectations for accuracy – Expansion of contexts and content areas beyond

personal and anecdotal– Expansion of the lexical base to include precise

(rather than generic) vocabulary– Producing coherent extended discourse that goes

beyond the single paragraph– Dealing with topics from an abstract perspective

Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and UW STARTALK 15

Principles

• Implementing a Standards-Based and Thematically Organized Curriculum

• Facilitating a Learner-Centered Classroom• Using the Target Language and Providing

Comprehensible Input for Instruction• Integrating Culture, Content, and Language

in a World Language Classroom• Adapting and Using Age-Appropriate

Authentic Materials• Conducting Performance-Based Assessment

Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and UW STARTALK 16

STARTALK Lesson Demo

• STEM Theme: The Space Race• Target audience: Heritage learners• Target proficiency levels:

– Intermediate+ in Oral Proficiency– Novice to Intermediate in Reading

and Writing

Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and UW STARTALK 17

Debrief Observation Form

• Goals for the unit. • Clear beginning, middle and end. • Target language at least 90% of the

time. • The target language input is

comprehensible. • Checks for understanding.• Authentic materials are used.

Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and UW STARTALK 18

Debrief…

• Learner-centered classroom.• Meaningful guided and independent

practice. • Integrates language and culture. • Integrates language and content. • Interpretive mode of communication. • Interpersonal mode of communication. • Presentational mode of communication.

Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and UW STARTALK 19

Space Race Lesson Plan

• Elements of the Lesson Plan• What is similar or different from

other lesson plan templates you’ve seen or used?

• Where did STEM fit into the Lesson Plan and the Lesson Demo?

• How did the lesson accommodate heritage language learners (HLLs)

Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and UW STARTALK 20

Revisit goals for this workshop…

• You can explain what STEM is and why it’s important to language teachers (and learners)

• You can describe at least 2-3 characteristics of heritage language learners (HLLs)

• You can identify 2-3 of the STARTALK Principles• You can give an example of a STEM language

lesson (Space Race)• You can express one or two ideas for applying

what you’ve learned about STEM and HLLs to your teaching situatio

Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and UW STARTALK 21

For more information, visit:

http://depts.washington.edu/startalk http://www.nhlrc.ucla.edu/events/

institute/2012/index.asphttp://startalk.nhlrc.ucla.edu/