AP® Chinese Language and

Culture: Pre- AP® Instructional

Strategies and Written

Presentational Tasks

National Chinese Language

Conference

Atlanta April 16-18, 2015

Lisa Podbilski

Louisville Collegiate School

Lili Tsai Wong

Clovis West High School/Buchanan High School

AP Chinese Language and Culture

Development Committee

2014-2015

Committee members:

2 co-chairs: 1 High School and

1 Higher Education

2 Higher Ed teachers

2 High School Teachers

AP Chinese Chief Reader

College Board Advisor

AP Chinese Language and

Culture Development Committee

2014-2015

• Lisa Podbilski, Louisville Collegiate

School, oulisha@hotmail.com

• Lili Tsai Wong, Clovis West High School

/Buchanan High School, CA,

lilitsaiwong@cusd.com

Focal Points & Objectives

AP Chinese Course Overview: Goals and Expectations

AP Chinese Examination: Objectives and Format

Pre-AP® Strategies

Written Presentational Tasks

I. AP Chinese Course

Overview

AP Chinese Course Overview

• AP“… is a collaborative effort between motivated students; dedicated teachers; and committed high schools, colleges and universities.”

• AP Chinese course is designed to be comparable to 4th semester/250 hours of college level instruction

What is AP Chinese?

• Preparing students to be proficient in Chinese across the three communicative modes

• Connecting students to college success

• Contributing to college credits

Why AP Chinese?

AP Chinese Learning Objectives:

Students are expected to…

Engage in spoken interpersonal

communication

Engage in written interpersonal

communication

Comprehend information from a variety of audio and

visual resources

Comprehend information from a variety of written

and print resources

Plan, produce and present spoken presentational

communications

Plan and produce written

presentational communications

apcentral.collegeboard.com

Real-life situations Vocabulary usage

Language control Communication strategies

EMPHASIZE Communication:

Understanding and being understood

AP Chinese Course: Explore Culture

Products:

Books, music, tools, etc.

Perspectives:

Values, assumptions,

attitudes

Practices

Social interactions

within a culture

Develop student

awareness and

appreciation of

the 3 P’s

AP Central

apcentral.collegeboard.com

II. Objectives and

format of the AP

Chinese Exam

AP Chinese Examination

Objectives & Focus

Test knowledge of Chinese language and culture (contemporary and historical)

Test ability to communicate in Chinese in linguistically, culturally and socially appropriate ways.

Test ability to interact with authentic materials

Focus on interpersonal, interpretive and presentational communication using the four skills

Format of AP Examination

Examination length

Approximately 2 hours and 15

minutes in length

70 multiple choice questions and 4

free-response tasks

Examination categories

Section I: multiple-choice questions.

• Part A: Listening

• Part B: Reading

Section II: free-response tasks requiring written and spoken responses.

• Part A: Writing

• Part B: Speaking

Grade distribution:

By communicative modes:

Interpretive -- 40%

Interpersonal -- 30 %

Presentational -- 30 %

By language modality:

• Listening -- 25 %

• Reading -- 25 %

• Writing – 25%

• Speaking -- 25 %

http://apcentral.collegeboard.com

Scoring Criteria for Free

Response Items

Task completion

Response to the prompts, organization and text type

Delivery Pace,

pronunciation, register

Language use

Vocabulary and

grammatical structure

No. Verbal Grade

Description

6 Excellent Demonstrates

excellence

5 Very good Suggests excellence

4 good Demonstrates

competence

3 Adequate Suggests competence

2 Weak Suggests lack of

competence

1 Very Weak Demonstrates lack of

competence

0 Unacceptable Contains nothing that

earns credit

Rubrics-based holistic assessment of students’ responses

III. Pre-AP and

AP Chinese

Strategies

1. Vertical Teaming

FIRST STEP: Collaborate with Chinese language

colleagues! It take a team to make an AP Chinese

language and Culture course successful.

AP Central Pre-AP for World Languages

and Cultures Teachers Corner

apcentral.collegeboard.com

College Board Resources

College Board Store: AP Vertical Teams Guide for World Languages and Culture

store.collegeboard.org

College Board Workshops and

Summer Institutes

Pre-AP® Strategies: AP Vertical Teams® in World Languages and Culture

professionals.collegeboard.com

1. Two-day workshops for middle and high school

teachers who will be forming and/or strengthening an

AP Vertical Team.

2. Develop standards-based instructional strategies

College Board Workshops and

Summer Institutes

professionals.collegeboard.com

AP Chinese Language and Culture

Teacher Community

apcommunity.collegeboard.org/web/apchinese/

2. Proficiency Skills

SECOND STEP: Building proficiency begins at the

lowest levels and works it way upwards.

What does proficiency mean?

• The quality of having great facility and competence

• Skillfulness in the command of fundamentals deriving from practice

Skills based instruction

ACTFL Proficiency guidelines

Use of rubrics

Can-do statements

Student self-reflection

Empowers students to have control of their own learning- Let them see their progress overtime!

24

ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines

What can students DO with

language, in terms of

speaking, writing, listening

and reading in REAL

WORLD situations; in NON

REHEARSED and

SPONTANEOUS context.

What are some examples?

What activities can you do in

a Pre-AP classroom and/or

AP classroom?

http://www.actfl.org/publications/guidelines-and-manuals/actfl-

proficiency-guidelines-2012/chinese

Focus on Proficiency

http://paintingtoproficiency.wikispaces.com/Proficiency+Primer

26

Can- Do Statements They help students identify what they

CAN DO (what they need to do) in

order to function at a specific level of

proficiency.

27

Chinese I AP Chinese Level

28

AP Chinese Scoring Guidelines

Scoring Guidelines

http://apcentral.collegeboard.com

Develop goals and do proficiency checks throughout the

year!

Skills based instruction Integration of the 5 C’s:

Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, Communities

and Communication

3 Modes of Communication:

Interpersonal, Presentational, and Interpretive

31

5C’s and 3 Modes of Communication

Teach your students about the 5C’s and the

Modes of Communication! Teach students to

speak our “teacher” language!

3. Best Classroom Practices

THIRD STEP: Create thematic units that purposefully

incorporate proficiency skills, the 5C’s and the 3 modes:

Student Centered Learning!

Backwards Design and Thematic Units

Design curriculum by setting goals before choosing

what materials you are going to use and types of

assessment:

1. What is your end goal for each thematic unit?

2. What do you want your students to DO with the

language?

3. What do they need to know?

4. Classroom Strategies

FOURTH STEP: Develop proficiency based activities

for all four skill areas:

Reading

Writing

Listening

Speaking

Classroom Strategies: Reading Reading with a purpose

Think about when you read something….there is usually a purpose or reason behind it; you usually know why you are going to read it: 1. Text message 2. Email 3. News article 4. Novel 5. Magazine

NOW… think about your own classroom. What are some pre-reading and post-reading strategies you have used in your class?

Classroom Strategies: Listening

Listening with a purpose Same thing about listening….there is usually a purpose or reason behind it: 1. Voice message 2. Transportation announcement 3. Radio broadcast 4. Podcast 5. School intercom announcement What are some pre-listening and post-listening strategies you have used in your class?

Pre-Reading and Pre-Listening

Strategies

1. Use an advanced organizer teaching aide that

prepares students for what is to come. Helps connect

incoming information and prior knowledge.

2. Provide guided questions for the students to follow.

3. Provide a few vocabulary words that are new

4. Scaffolding authentic resources

Classroom Strategies: Writing

Writing with a purpose See the trend… students need a reason to do something; a purpose: 1. Text message reply 2. Email reply 3. Letter 4. Invitation 5. Note

At the lower levels, give them a template to follow- model for them so the students know what to do.

Classroom Strategies: Speaking

Speaking with a purpose 1. Conversation with peers 2. Introductions 3. Directions 4. Ordering food 5. Making plans 6. Descriptions Get students speaking in Chinese, even if it is not 100% correct! Make them feel comfortable trying to express themselves in class. Use authentic visuals to get students speaking!

Visual Prompts

Visual Prompts

Classroom Activities and Strategies

Teachers need…

Help students develop high order thinking skills

Help students build and retain vocabulary

Use authentic materials

Stay in the target language using gestures and visuals

Be a model and guide to students

Use a variety of materials in class to keep students

engaged!

Teach students….

Circumlocution

To guess and derive meaning from context clues

Reflect on their learning

Study skills beyond classroom

Self advocate

IV. Written

Presentational

Tasks

What is “Backward Design”? (based on “Understanding by Design” by Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe, 2005)

什么是“反向教学设计”？

为什么要 “反向”？

我们一般教学惯用的程序是：

1. 授课内容

2. 各种与本课内容有关的练习活动

3. 作业练习

4. 测验与考试

“反向教学设计”的迷思：

测验与考试 作业练习

各种与本课内容有关的练习

活动 授课内容 ? ? ?

当然不是！

1. 决定学习目标 2. 检验学习结 果 3. 设计教学内容

三个教学顺序：

Learning outcomes describe the

knowledge, skills, and attitudes that

learners should have after

successfully completing a learning

experience or program.

终极目的：在整个教学过程中，学生学习成果是否达到 我们预定的教学目标？

Assignment

The four pictures present a story. Imagine you are writing the story to a friend. Narrate a

complete story as suggested by the pictures. Give your story a beginning, a middle, and an end.

Stage 1: Identify desired goals –

1. Students will “narrate” the story to someone.

2. Students will give a beginning, a middle and

an end in the story.

3. Students will use at least three “transition words”

in the story.

4. Students will use “connection words”.

aka “Assessment”

Apply the AP Scoring Guidelines

Stage 3: Plan Learning Activities and Instructions

Worksheet of “Transition Words”

Teach and Practice

Stage 2: Determine acceptable evidence

Student Sample #1

對不起, 大家, 我遲到了. 今天早上, 我晚醒了. 然後,

我急急忙忙地準備, 以便在火車走以前可以叫計程車

去火車站. 可是,一輛計程車來以前, 我在第三街

等了好久.

計程車來了, 我就去了火車站. 可是, 我快搭車的時候,

就發現我忘了帶我的車票, 我忽然記得把車票留在

計程車裡. 車幸虧還在.

儘管我很快進火車站, 可是我發現火車已經走了.

所以我遲到是因為我必須等到下個火車來. 我很抱歉.

Student Sample #2

有一天，一个姑娘需要去北京，但是她住在离北京

很远的地方。她不但得坐火车到北京，而且得搭出

租车带她到火车站。虽然坐飞机比坐火车快得多，

可是她没有那么多钱坐飞机。她下了出租车以后，

去火车站排队等火车。列车员检查人有没有火车票。

她发现她的车票还在出租车里面。她很高兴，她写了

出租车的电话，她给开出租车的人打电话。开车的人

告诉姑娘在火车站的入口见面。她跑步跑得很快

回火车站去。无论做什么都不够，她太晚上火车了。

Student Sample #3

你好, 小美, 今天我很不好, 因為今天是我朋友的生日,

可是我不去她的生日會.晚上七點的時候我坐計程車,

再一個小時, 我需要去地下鐵. 因為八點地下鐵離開.

我不但遲到了而且路上有塞車. 要是我不去我的朋友

會發火. 在地下鐵的入口, 我跑步. 儘管我不遲到了,

可是我忘記了我的車票. 我說, 天啊! 不可能.

我找了很多的地方, 現在是七點五十五分了.

我發現我的車票在計程車裡. 我跑去地下鐵的出口.

即使我跑步, 我也遲到了, 地下鐵以經離開了. 今天

我很不好.

你的好朋友

李賢莉

Please provide your feedback about the

workshop using your smart phone or tablet:

Participant Feedback

谢谢大家！

Lisa Podbilski oulisha@hotmail.com

Lili Tsai Wong lilitsaiwong@cusd.com