This document provides a summary of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy and examples of how its levels of thinking (Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, Create) can be applied to foreign language activities. The taxonomy levels progress from lower to higher order thinking. Sample language activities are described for each level across the three modes of communication: interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational.

1. Appendix 3.1 Foreign Language Planning Model Using Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy 485
APPENDIX 3.1 FOREIGN LANGUAGE PLANNING MODEL USING
BLOOM’S REVISED TAXONOMY
Bloom’s
Level
Definition of
Level Learning Actions
Sample Foreign Language
Activities*
Higher-orderThinking
Create Putting
information and
ideas together
to develop an
original idea or
engage in critical
thinking
Compose, construct,
create, design, devise,
estimate, forecast,
generate, hypothesize,
imagine, infer, invent,
make, plan, produce,
role play, rearrange
parts, present, propose,
transform, write
Creating stories, advertisements,
charts, surveys, paintings,
pamphlets, posters, presentations,
songs, productions (presentational
mode); writing essays, poems,
new endings to stories, reports,
recipes, news articles; designing
games, lessons, cartoons,
inventions, models of cultural
products; responding to
hypothetical situations, open-
ended role-plays, culturally
authentic situations (interpersonal
mode); providing alternative
interpretations of a text based
on cultural, historical, personal
perspectives (interpretive mode)
Evaluate Judge the value
of ideas and
materials by
developing and
applying specific
criteria and/or
standards
Appraise, assess,
consider, check,
criticize, critique,
debate, discuss,
experiment, evaluate,
give opinion, judge,
prioritize, recommend,
relate, summarize, test,
weigh
Conducting debates, trials,
discussions, arguments, panel
discussions (interpersonal mode);
writing letters, recommendations,
summaries of surveys,
editorials, persuasive speeches,
evaluations and self-evaluations
(presentational mode); designing
and conducting content-based
experiments; evaluating a
character’s actions in a story
(interpretive mode)
Analyze Break
information into
smaller segments
so that it can be
understood
Analyze, classify,
compare, contrast,
deconstruct, deduce,
differentiate,
distinguish, dissect,
infer, integrate,
investigate, organize,
outline, paint, report,
research, survey,
select, separate, solve,
structure, subdivide
Defining words and expressions;
creating diagrams, charts, graphs,
illustrations, spreadsheets,
outlines; developing surveys
and questionnaires; conducting
cultural investigations; comparing
and contrasting features of L1 and
L2; comparing and contrasting
products, practices, perspectives
in L1 and L2; inferring ideas from
an authentic text (interpretive
mode)

2. 486 Appendices
Lower-levelThinking
Apply Use learned
information,
concepts, and
principles in
completing new
tasks
Execute, practice,
calculate, apply, build,
carry out, change,
demonstrate, modify,
implement, interview,
record, report, solve,
sketch, teach, use
guides/charts/maps,
prepare
Conducting interviews and
discussions following a model
(interpersonal mode); designing
models, visuals, paintings,
brochures, illustrations, projects,
performances that follow outline
or criteria (presentational
mode); following maps, verbal
directions/instructions, recipes,
or experiments; developing
lessons to teach material/skills;
completing puzzles; continuing
a story that was heard or read
(interpretive mode)
Understand Make sense of
material
Summarize, discuss,
explain, outline,
demonstrate an
understanding of,
interpret, paraphrase,
relate, predict, restate,
show, distinguish,
illustrate, rewrite
Summarizing the gist of an
audio, video, or printed authentic
segment (interpretive mode);
creating predictions/illustrations
for an authentic text; writing
conclusions/implications based on
data (presentational mode); giving
examples of cultural products,
practices, perspectives; explaining
the significance of a cultural
artifact or object in one’s personal
world
Remember Recall and
recognize
learned material
Identify, label, recall,
define, describe, find,
group, recognize, list,
locate, match, name,
recite, repeat, retrieve,
select, sort, state,
locate, discover
Labeling drawings, visuals; making
lists of words and expressions for
a given theme; naming words in
a given category (e.g., months
of year, foods, seasons); reciting
numbers, alphabet, days/months,
etc.; completing worksheets and
workbook pages that elicit recall;
naming facts about TL culture;
matching cultural products and
practices to perspectives; locating
on a map countries in which TL is
spoken
*Note: These activities would be done using the target language.
Source: Shrum & Glisan, 2010 (based on Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy Planning Framework, http://www.kurwongbss.
qld.edu.au/thinking/Bloom/blooms.htm).
Note: Several examples are given in the chart of how the three modes of communication might be used across the
levels of the taxonomy. This chart is not meant to be inclusive, and there are many other possibilities for how the
modes might be applied to the various levels of thinking.

3. Bloom’s Taxonomy Across Stages of Language Acquisition
Source: Adapted from Bloom’s Taxonomy, Halliday’s language Functions, and Krashen’s Stages of Language Acquisition. Contributors: Mike
Gaddis and Cynthia Bjork. As shown on the Journal of the National Staff Development Council, Winter 2008.
Levels of thinking
and language
functions
Level of thinking and
academic language
move from concrete
recall to more
complex and more
abstract in any
undertaking.
Language use across stages of second-language acquisition
Moves from simple to complex in grammatical tenses, forms, vocabulary, etc.
Preproductio
n:
(Level 1)
Nonverbal
response.
Early
Production:
(Level 2)
One-word
response.
Speech
emergence:
(Level 3)
Phrases or
short
sentences.
Intermediate
fluency:
(Level 3)
Longer and
more
complex
sentences.
Advanced
fluency:
(Level 3)
Near native-
like.
Creating
Appraise, argue, assess,
choose, compare,
defend, estimate, judge,
predict, rate. select,
support, value, evaluate
Teacher
mismatches
animal with its
environment
and asks: Is this
the right
environment?
Find the right
environment.
What are the
best materials
for the duck to
build a nest?
What makes a
good home for
a bear?
(Examine
settings and
evaluate: “A
cave makes a
good home.”)
What would
happen if you
put a worm in
the desert?
Recommend a
different
environment for
a mother duck
to raise her
ducklings.
Defend your
choice.
Evaluating
Arrange, assemble,
collect, compose,
construct, create,
design, develop,
formulate, manage,
organize, plan, prepare,
propose, set up
Point to the
animals that live
in the soil.
Say the names
of the animals
that live in the
soil.
How could you
change a
scorpion so it
could swim?
What would a
camel need to
survive in the
desert?
How would you
protect the
wildlife in a
forest where
hiking was
popular?
Analyzing
Analyze, appraise,
calculate, categorize,
contrast, criticize,
differentiate,
discriminate, distinguish,
examine, experiment,
question, test
Show me an
animal that
cannot lie in
the forest.
Name the
parts of a fish
that help it
live in the
water.
How are
raccoons and
squirrels the
same? How
are they
different?
How does a
bear use its
claws to
catch fish?
Gather
berries?
Why do you
think a bear
hibernates in
winter?
Applying
Apply, choose,
demonstrate, employ,
dramatize, illustrate,
interpret, operate,
practice, schedule,
sketch, solve, use
Show me what
would happen I
we put the fish
in the desert.
Tell me what
would happen if
we put a fish in
the desert.
How could you
change the body
of a fish to
make it fly?
How would you
capture and
transport
scorpions to a
zoo?
How would a
deer
camouflage
itself in the
forest in winter?
In the desert?
Understanding
Classify, describe,
discuss, explain,
express, identify,
indicate, locate, report,
recognize, restate,
review, select, translate
Show me where
a deer lives.
Tell me which
animals eat
meat.
Why is a toad
the color it is?
Explain how a
snake catches
its prey.
Why do fish
need gills to live
in the water?
How do gills
work?
Remembering
Arrange, order, define,
duplicate, label, list,
name, recognize, relate,
recall, repeat,
reproduce
Where is the
raccoon?
What is the
name of this
animal?
What are the
body parts of a
turtle?
Give the
definition of a
mammal.
Tell me
everything you
know about a
clam.