ACTFL Presentation Fall 2006

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Developing Interpretive Reading Tasks for
Introductory Literature Courses
Donna Shelton, PhDNortheastern State
UniversityTahlequah, Oklahoma
Photo Donna Shelton
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Contents

• Challenges of the introductory literature class
• Interpretive tasks and the ACTFL IPA or
  Integrated Performance Assessment
• Interpretive reading tasks in the introductory
  literature course
• An example task and rubric for Spanish
• Creation of an interpretive reading task

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Challenges of Introductory Literature Courses
Photo Donna Shelton
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Introductory Literature Courses

• Transition from language-focused to content-based
  courses can be stressful
• Upper-level content courses in general
• Students may still be at the Intermediate level
• Courses may not support language acquisition
• Few opportunities to use Advanced- and
  Superior-level language functions in classroom
  discourse (Mantero, 2002 Donato and Brooks, 2004)

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Introductory Literature Courses

• Reading comprehension skills of students in
  third-year courses are often not adequate for
  literature
• Shook (1997) describes a mismatch between
• the students linguistic knowledge of Spanish and
  the text
• The students knowledge of Hispanic culture and
  the text
• Shook suggests reading tasks that integrate the
  students knowledge with that assumed by the text

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Introductory Literature Courses

• Chaves Tesser and Long (2000) stress the need for
  the explicit teaching of reading in courses at
  all levels of the curriculum
• Describe a reading strategies course at the
  sophomore level to prepare students for demands
  of upper-level content courses

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Our Introductory Course

• SPAN 3503, Readings in Hispanic Literature
• Sixth semester course and prerequisite for
  4000-level literature survey courses
• Students are Spanish majors and minors
• In fifth semester, Advanced Composition and
  Conversation I and Hispanic Cultural Themes
• In sixth semester also take Advanced Composition
  and Conversation II
• Textbook for this spring is Aproximaciones al
  estudio de la literatura hispánica, 6th edition

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Our Challenges

• Low number of contact hours in lower-level
  courses
• Students who are not generally readers by nature
  and who have little experience with literature
• Experience with Hispanic culture varies widely
• Anxiety related to reading literary works results
  in reading strategy amnesia

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A Work in Progress

• Last years course
• Text organized thematically rather than by genre
• Interpretive reading tasks based on the criteria
  of the ACTFL Integrated Performance Assessment
• Interpretive task on an text not covered in class
  as the final project
• Insufficient student progress and high stress
  levels reported anecdotally by course completers
  now in the literature survey
• Modifications for next semesters course are
  described here

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Interpretive ReadingTasks and the ACTFL IPA
Photo Donna Shelton
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Interpretive Communication

• Listening, reading, or viewing
• Two essential skills
• Literal comprehension (Novice and Intermediate)
  or text information extraction (Adair-Hauck et
  al, 2006, p. 368)
• Interpretative comprehension (Pre-advanced and
  above) or integration of extracted text
  information and prior knowledge (Adair-Hauck et
  al, 2006, p. 368)

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Interpretive Tasks

• Measure learners level of comprehension of
  authentic texts
• Main idea and supporting information
• Meaning from context
• Concept inferences
• Authors perspectives or intent
• Comparing cultural perspectives
• Personal reaction to the text
• Organizing principle
• First phase in the ACTFL Integrated Performance
  Assessment or IPA (Glisan et al, 2003
  Adair-Hauck et al, 2006)

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Overview of IPA Tasks

• Performance assessments to determine
  communicative proficiency in all three modes
• Series of three tasks in a set order
  interpretive, interpersonal, presentational
• Authentic tasks all thematically related
• Modeling and practice precede the performance
  task
• Feedback after each task is crucial (Glisan et
  al, 2003, Adair-Hauck et al, 2006)

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Evaluating IPA Performance

• Criteria based on ACTFL Performance Guidelines
  for K-12 Learners
• Proficiency range (Novice, Intermediate,
  Pre-advanced)
• Communicative mode
• Language performance in six domains
  (Comprehensibility, comprehension, language
  control, vocabulary, cultural awareness,
  communication strategies) (ACTFL, 1998)

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IPA Use in University Courses

• Incorporating IPAs into upper-level courses
• Great potential for language and content courses
  composition and conversation, civilization and
  culture, literature
• Means for integrating content and language
  acquisition
• Tasks and criteria for assessment must move
  beyond Pre-advanced (Intermediate-High), the
  highest proficiency level included in the IPA
  protocol (Shelton, 2006)

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IPA Modifications in Advanced Courses

• Rubrics for each communicative mode
• Criteria and descriptors must reflect expectation
  of higher proficiency levels
• ACTFL Performance Guidelines for K-12 Learners
  can be used as a starting point
• ACTFL/NCATE Standards One and Two for language
  education candidates and their rubrics are very
  useful for all three modes
• ACTFL speaking and writing guidelines could be
  used for interpersonal and presentational
  communication

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Interpretive ReadingTasks and the Introductory
Literature Course
Photo Donna Shelton
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Expanding the IPA Interpretive Task

• The IPA Pre-advanced interpretive rubric
  specifies the following skills as Exceeding
  Expectations
• Identifying the main idea and supporting details
• Inferring the meaning of new words
• Inferring and interpreting the writers intent
• Identifying the writers perspectives
• Identifying cultural perspectives
• Identifying the organizing principle (Glisan et
  al, 2003)
• Exceeding Expectations would be the equivalent of
  Advanced-Low

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Expanding the IPA Interpretive Task

• In the ACTFL Program Standards, the Exceeds
  Standard column in the Standard One rubric is
  Advanced-Mid or higher
• For interpretive reading, Exceeds Standard means
• Interpreting the text on multiple levels
• Analyzing it from various perspectives
• Providing a detailed personal interpretation
• Demonstrating a range of cultural knowledge to
  support the interpretation (ACTFL, 2002 p. 8)

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Expanding the IPA Interpretive Task

• Tasks should emphasize and develop interpretive
  comprehension
• Reading strategies for inferring meaning
• Application of literary and cultural knowledge
• Assessment criteria on interpretive rubric
• Does Not Meet Expectations Intermediate-High
  (Pre-advanced)
• Meets Expectations Advanced-Low
• Exceeds Expectations Advanced-Mid or above

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Recommendations for Use

• Provide students with the rubric in advance
• Show students a completed model interpretive task
  (Adair-Hauck et al, 2006)
• Extensive background information and prereading
  activities are essential
• Consistent, timely, and specific feedback with
  additional practice as needed
• Combine with interpersonal and presentational
  tasks related to the literary texts, even if a
  true IPA is not used
• Emphasize quality over quantity

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Why Not Just Use Whats in the Book?

• Introductory literature textbooks generally have
  good background information and a selection of
  pre- and post-reading exercises
• However, the exercises are not specific enough to
  assist instructors and students in identifying
  their strengths and weaknesses with regard to
  reading comprehension

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Example Interpretive Task and Rubric
Photo Donna Shelton
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Don Juan Manuel

• From Aproximaciones al estudio de la literatura
  hispánica
• Lo que sucedió a un mozo que casó con una
  muchacha de muy mal carácter, El conde Lucanor,
  1335
• In each ejemplo the young count asks his tutor
  Patronio how to solve a problem, and Patronio
  gives advise in the form of a story that ends
  with a moral in verse
• Challenges for third-year students include
  archaic language and social relationships and
  situations from medieval Spain
• Intepretive task divided into literal and
  interpretive comprehension sections

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Literal Comprehension Task Elements

• Main idea Identify the problem the counts
  dependent has. According to the story Patronio
  tells the count, what should the dependent do to
  solve the problem? Limit your response to a few
  concise sentences.
• Supporting details Briefly explain the role of
  each of the following in Patronios story the
  young man, his father, the young woman, the dog,
  the cat, the horse, the in-laws.

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Literal Comprehension Rubric Elements
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Interpretive Comprehension Task Elements

• Dialectical variations Lo que sucedió is a
  work of Spanish literature. Find four different
  examples of language specific to Spain, identify
  the part of speech of each word, and explain what
  they mean in English.
• Archaic language El conde Lucanor wrote Lo que
  sucedió in the 14th century. Although the
  story you are reading has been modernized by the
  editors of the textbook, some archaic forms
  remain. Find the following forms in the text and
  explain how the archaic forms differ from the
  modern forms díjole (line 1), Fuese (line 26),
  fuere (line 111)

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Interpretive Comprehension Rubric Elements
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Interpretive Comprehension Task Elements

• Meaning from context Explain what the following
  words probably mean in English, and describe the
  strategies you used to make this decision
  tenía el querer, pero no el poder (line 12),
  buscaré algún partido (line 19), muy flaco
  servicio (line 29).
• Historical context Briefly summarize the
  historical context of El conde Lucanor and
  explain, providing specific details, how this
  context is evident in the story.

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Interpretive Comprehension Rubric Elements
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Interpretive Comprehension Task Elements

• Cultural perspectives Compare the purpose of
  marriage in the Middles Ages as shown in this
  story with the purpose of marriage as you
  understand it.
• Literary context We have learned that some
  medieval prose is didactic in nature. Explain
  whether or not this statement applies to Lo que
  sucedió and why.

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Interpretive Comprehension Rubric Elements
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Interpretive Comprehension Task Elements

• Personal interpretation Provide an
  interpretation of the two lines of verse at the
  end of Lo que sucedió Describe what the
  verses mean to you and why, and base your
  explanation on the text.
• Organizing principle Describe the structure or
  organization of Lo que sucedió Indicate the
  line numbers where changes in the structure take
  place and explain the changes.

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Interpretive Comprehension Rubric Elements
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(No Transcript)
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Thoughts on Next Semesters Course

• Organize texts by genre
• A formative interpretive task for each text in
  each genre
• A summative interpretive task for each genre unit
  for assessment purposes
• Formative tasks
• Consider grading for completion only
• Divide tasks into sections (literal vs.
  interpretive)
• Students share responses in small groups in class
  or via Blackboard discussion board or other
  online means
• Monitor student discussions, provide feedback
• Summative tasks
• Could serve as program assessment artifacts

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Creating an Interpretive Reading Activity
Photo Donna Shelton
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Creating an Interpretive Reading Task

• Another text from Aproximaciones al estudio de la
  literatura hispánica
• Rima LIII, well-known poem by 19th century
  Spanish poet Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer
• Depending on session attendance and participant
  preferences
• Small group activity to develop elements of an
  interpretive task, or
• Whole group discussion of possible elements

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Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Rima LIII
pero aquellas cuajadas de rocíocuyas gotas
mirábamos temblary caer como lágrimas del
día....     ésas... no volverán! Volverán del
amor en tus oídoslas palabras ardientes a
sonar,tu corazón de su profundo sueño     tal
vez despertará. pero mudo y absorto y de
rodillas,como se adora a Dios ante su
altar,como yo te he querido...,
desengáñate,     así no te querrán!
Volverán las oscuras golondrinasen tu balcón sus
nidos a colgar,y otra vez con el ala a sus
cristales     jugando llamarán. pero aquellas
que el vuelo refrenabantu hermosura y mi dicha a
contemplar,aquellas que aprendieron nuestros
nombres,     ésas... no volverán! Volverán
las tupidas madreselvasde tu jardín las tapias a
escalary otra vez a la tarde aún más
hermosas     sus flores se abrirán.
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Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Rima LIII
But those drops of dewthat we watched
trembleand fall like tears of the
day...     those... will not return! Ardent
words of love will returnto sound in your
ear,your heart will perhaps awaken     from its
deep slumber. But mute and entranced and
kneeling,like worshiping God at an altar,like I
desired you..., don't kid yourself,No one will
desire you like that!
Dark swallows will returnto hang their nests on
your balconyand again with their wings will rap
playfully     on its windows. But those who
checked their flightto contemplate your beauty
and my happiness,those who memorized our
names,     those... will not return! Dense
honeysuckles will returnto climb the adobe walls
of your gardenand again in the afternoon even
more lovely     will open their flowers.
English translation by H. Landman on the Spanish
Poems website at http//spanishpoems2.blogspot.com
/2007/04/gustavo-adolfo-bcquer-volvern-las.html.
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Works Cited
Adair-Hauck, Bonnie, et al. The Integrated
Performance Assessment (IPA) Connecting
Assessment to Instruction and Learning. Foreign
Language Annals 39 (2006) 359-382. American
Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
ACTFL Performance Guidelines for K-12 Learners.
Yonkers, NY ACTFL, 1998. American Council on
the Teaching of Foreign Language. ACTFL Program
Standards for the Preparation of Foreign Language
Teachers. ACTFL, 2002. Chaves Tesser, Carmen and
Donna Reseign Long. The Teaching of Spanish
Literature A Necessary Partnership between the
Language and Literature Sections of Traditional
Departments. Foreign Language Annals, Volume 33
(2000) 605-613. Donato, Richard and Frank B.
Brooks. Literary Discussions and Advanced
Speaking Functions Researching the
(Dis)Connection. Foreign Language Annals 37
(2004) 183-199
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Presentation Resources
Glisan, Eileen W. et al. ACTFL Integrated
Performance Assessment, ACTFL, 2003. Mantero,
Miguel. Bridging the Gap Discourse in
Text-Based Foreign Language Classrooms. Foreign
Language Annals, Volume 35 (2002)
437-456. Shelton, Donna. Using the ACTFL
Integrated Performance Assessment in Advanced
University Courses. ACTFL Convention.
Nashville. November 2006. Shook, David J.
Identifying and Overcoming Possible Mismatches
in the Beginning Reader-Literary Text
Interaction. Hispania, Volume 80 (1997)
234-243. Virgillo, Carmen, L. Teresa Valdivieso,
and Edward H. Friedman. Aproximaciones al
estudio de la literatura hispánica. 6th ed.
Boston McGraw-Hill, 2008.
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Questions?Thank you!Donna Sheltonsheltods_at_nsu
ok.edu
Photo Donna Shelton