Meeting 13 • 19 February 2008 • Tuesday

Version:
2/19/08

Today

(X) = anticipated time in minutes
Key to notes added AFTER the class meetsL
√ = topic / activity that was adequately dealt with during the class
+ = topic needs more attention & will be resumed at next / subsequent meeting(s)
- = a topic / activity that was proposed but not carried out
Struckthrough text like this = a topic / activity that was proposed but not included is not going to be taken up after all
Italic text like this = comments after the meeting

Main Topic(s): teaching & testing writing, listening, reading; large-scale standards

reprise from previous meeting: an Oregonian article about "teaching to the test" (and for profit)

(40) Teaching and assessing writing (cont'd.): the situation in English departments (if anyone knows); university-level "communication skills" initiatives; test-takers stories and opinions about the TOEFL writing section; classroom techniques we have found effective (or ineffective); ACTFL Writing Proficiency Guidelines;

(10) Break: Go get your coffee or your snack, but bring it back. We'll start promptly after 10 minutes, with or without you!

(40) large-scale standards (introduction, with AL/FL breakout sessions at next meeting); let's use Oregon's preK-16/20 standards as a point of departure (Second LanguagesEnglish [native language]); and here are Portland Public Schools 2006 standards (writing, reading, listening, speaking, and [!] culture); testing (and teaching?) listening and reading; computer-assisted testing (WebCAPE placement test as example); European Union standards (Europass) and DIALANG test;
reading: Hughes chapters 9, 11, 12

(10) More about the FL and AL "cultures": the background and professional pursuits of the course instructors (here Fischer: overview • more about projects & publications)


Upcoming class meetings (21 February 2008, Thursday)

Breakout sessions for FL and AL about large-scale standards; rooms TBA, but probably AL in the regular classroom

Upcoming assignment(s)

This section offers a PREVIEW, not activated assignments. Assignments are made, with announcement of their deadlines, both in class and on the "schedule" page.

Assignment 4 has been simplified, and its scoring guide is now ready.

We have again revised (downward!) the list of assignments for the course (see course Calendar, bottom of page). More about that soon.

Announcements

Check with AL or Sara/Fischer about upcoming visits from AL job candidates. All of them are connected to assessment and (FL people please note) two of them have extensive FL experience.

Misc.

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