Foreign Language and Communication

1. PSMLA
October 17, 2014
Developing Communicative Proficiency
through Task-based Instruction
Sarah Aguilar-Francis and David Brightbill
William Penn Charter School

3. Presentation Overview:
1. Why are we redesigning units based on the use of IPAs?
2. How to design a unit
3. Unit dissection with examples
• Three main steps
• Examples of formative evaluations and activities
• Examples summative evaluations
• Rubrics
4. Resources for learning more and additional examples

4. Goals:
Learn what an IPA is and how to use them to help students
develop improved communicative proficiency.
Learn the steps for how to develop an IPA and
accompanying activities.
Leave with immediate access to various examples of IPAs
that you can use to get started and additional resources to
learn more.

5. Before Now
Focus on mastery of
grammar forms and
memorization of
vocabulary lists
Focus on what students
are able to do with the
language
Four skills of second
language acquisition
were practiced
separately.
Focus on the three
modes of communication
which build on each other
(integrated skills)
Teacher-centered
classroom
Student-centered
classroom

6. Before Now
Teachers used pencil and
paper tests to assess
students’ mastery of
grammar points and
vocabulary. (Ex. Fill-in-the-blanks
etc…)
Students take part in real
life tasks to demonstrate
what they can do with the
language. Their progress is
measured according to the
ACTFL performance
guidelines and the three
modes of communication.
Textbooks were the only
resource.
Textbook is one of many
resources and authentic
materials are more widely
utilized.

7. “You can’t just sprinkle 21st century skills on the
20th century doughnut. It requires a fundamental
re-conception of what we’re doing.”
Christopher Dede, Professor, Harvard Graduate School of Education

8. How to design a unit?
STEP #1 - Start with the end in mind. Identify the desired
results.
McTighe, J & Wiggins, G. (2005) Understanding by Design (2nd ed.)
What themes or topics do we want the students to explore?
These come from a textbook or district curriculum.
What do we want the students to do with what they have
learned?
The three modes of communication and the ACTFL
Proficiency Guidelines provide a road map.

9. What are the three modes of communication?
Interpretive Communication
Students listen to or read authentic resources related to the theme and
take part in an activity or answer questions to assess comprehension.
(one directional)
Interpersonal Communication
In pairs, students discuss the theme of the unit and use details that they
learned from the text used in the interpretive task. The teacher provides
guiding questions. This task should be spontaneous and audio or
videotaped. (two directional)
Presentational Communication
Students share their research/ideas/or opinions related to the initial topic.
Sample presentational formats can be speeches, drama skits, radio
broadcasts, videos, posters, letters, blogs, websites, e-mails, etc. (one
directional) Students can submit rough drafts and solicit feedback from
their teachers.
Source: Glisan, Adair-Hauck, Koda, Sandrock, and Swender, 2003, p. 18

10. Review:
Fill in graphs, charts or graphic organizers
Ordering in a restaurant
Follow a route on a map
Develop an agenda or a daily schedule
Memorized skit
Making a purchase
Develop and carry out a survey and share
the findings
Identify and categorize vocabulary
Interpretive
Interpersonal
Interpretive
Presentational
Presentational
Interpersonal
Presentational
Interpretive

11. How to design a unit?
STEP #2 - Develop assessments
How will the students show what they have learned?
Traditional grammar and vocabulary quizzes
Formative evaluations and classroom activities
Summative evaluation (IPA project with the 3 modes of
communication.
Use of authentic resources

12. What is an authentic resource?
Any resource made by native speakers for native speakers.
Nunan and Miller (1995) define authentic materials as those which
“were not created or edited expressly for language learners”.
What are some examples?
articles
video clips
songs
brochures
graphs and charts
movies
commercials
podcasts
interviews
books letters and emails
menus
train or bus schedules

13. What are some advantages of using authentic
resources?
They are samples of real
language.
They often show culture in a
real life context.
They can address current
events.
They are more interesting.
You can use the same
authentic resource with multiple
levels.
They provide teachers with
an opportunity to teach
students how to tolerate
ambiguity.
What are some disadvantages?
They can be difficult to understand and teachers need to create
comprehension activities that are level appropriate.
Looking for authentic materials and then creating comprehension
activities is very time consuming.
They often require the use of technology, which is not accessible to
all students.

14. How to design a unit?
STEP #3 - Determine what grammar and vocabulary the
students will need to know in order to be
successful on the summative assessment (IPA
project)
Students do not need to have full mastery of a grammar point
in order to communicate effectively.

15. Unit Dissection
3 STEPS - Identify the desired results
Design assessments (formative and summative)
Determine the grammar and vocabulary needed
What topics or themes do we want the students to explore?
Spanish 3 - Unit 3 - The environment
What do we want the students to do with what they have
learned?
- Identify and describe environmental problems
- Explain what will happen in the future if we do not address
these problems now.
- Recommend possible solutions
- Use the information they have learned to research and talk
about a specific and current environmental issue.

16. Unit Dissection
Teach the necessary vocabulary and grammar for the unit.
We used Quizlet to share the vocabulary for the unit with the
students.
The vocabulary came from the textbook and the authentic
resources we used for the unit. There was also flexibility for
the students to add words as well.
We taught the future and the subjunctive. We also showed
the students how to use the subjunctive with impersonal
expressions and with verbs of influence.
The grammar points came from the textbook and the
communicative goals for the unit.

17. Unit Dissection
Formative activities (Practicing the three modes of
communication)
- Conversations in pairs or small groups describing photos
with environmental problems.
- Speaking activities as a class - 4 corners
- Practice the three modes of communication with authentic
resources.
#1 - Article on the Greenhouse Effect
#2 - ¿Qué es lo que pasará? (Song)
#3 - Video Yasuní Park in Ecuador
#4 - Video and Article on the use of orange peels as a
source of alternative energy.

18. Unit Dissection
Summative evaluation - Final Integrated Performance
Assessment (IPA) which assesses each of the three
modes of communication in a real life context.
Begin by developing a scenario (based on the unit’s theme) that will grab
students’ attention and that links the three communicative tasks.

19. Interpretive Task
Students listen to or read authentic resources related to the
theme and take part in an activity or answer questions to
assess comprehension. (one directional)
Presentational Task Interpersonal Task
After receiving feedback about the interpretive
task, students engage in interpersonal oral
communication about a topic that relates to the
theme of the unit and interpretive text. This task
should be spontaneous and audio or videotaped.
(two directional)
Students engage in presentational
communication by sharing their
research/ideas/or opinions related to the
initial topic. Sample presentational formats
can be speeches, drama skits, radio
broadcasts, videos, posters, letters, blogs,
websites, e-mails, etc. (one directional)
Students can submit rough drafts and solicit
feedback from their teachers.
Feedback
Source: Glisan, Adair-Hauck, Koda, Sandrock, and Swender, 2003, p. 18

20. Unit Dissection
Summative evaluation - Final IPA
Parte #1 - Interpretive Task
- Audio Resource - Video
- The students watched the video and took notes on what
they observed and heard.
- These notes and the visual aspect of the video provided
scaffolding to help the students better understand the
written resource.
- Written Resource - Article (part #1 and part #2)
- Rubric

21. Unit Dissection
Summative evaluation - Final IPA
Parte #2 - Interpersonal Task
- Topics for conversation
- Ejemplo #1
- Rubric
Please note - This part is spontaneous. The students do
not see the topics or questions beforehand and do not
receive time to practice.

22. Unit Dissection
Summative Evaluation - Final IPA
Parte #3 - Presentational Task
- Guidelines for the presentation
- Example #1 - Video (next slide)
- Example #2 - Prezi
- Rubric

24. Additional Resources and IPA Examples:
http://tinyurl.com/o73nyek

25. Gracias
saguilar-francis@penncharter.com
dbrightbill@penncharter.com