Meeting 16 • 24 May 2012 • Thursday

Version:
6/13/12

People (√ = present; strikeout = absent; e+strikeout = excused absence): √Fischer; √Chapman; √Choate; √Couture; √Hinsinger; √Hunter; eIdrissi; Looney; √Moore

(X') = anticipated time in minutes (to total 100 minutes + 10-minute break)
(0001) etc.=item in document collection (will be explained in class)
Key to notes added AFTER the class meets:
√ = topic / activity that was adequately dealt with during the class
+ = topic was begun but needs more attention & will be resumed at next / subsequent meeting(s)
- = a topic / activity that was proposed but not carried out - will be taken up later
Struckthrough text like this = a topic / activity that was proposed but is not going to be taken up after all
Italic green text like this = comments after the meeting
Week 8: More about the projects; special presentations; portfolio assessment

new materials:

0931 (not on disk) Understanding University Success ("Second Languages," pp. 67-71 (pp. 41-3 of original book) - it's in the handout for meeting #14 (17 May); next stage of USP grant for occupation-related CBI (draft timeline & budget, criteria for judging) also abstract of 0400 (not on CBI disk), Moore, Zena, "African-American Students' Opinions about Foreign Language Study" (FLA 38.2, Summer 2005, 191-200)

√

(05') Depending on mood of group: Confessions about "the most challenging task I had to undertake as a user of another language"

√

(30') Discussion of projects - hope people have brought something to the table.

I haven't forgotten the request for videos of CBI in action.

+

(20') The discussion we have been putting off about the @#$% rice cultivation / science ed articles (0725, 0082). If necessary, collect basic info (plenary, small groups) from people who have read the articles. Relation to Reaching for PASS (1995) project, model thematic unit / course about "Discovery / Encounter".

(10') Break: Go get your coffee or your snack.

√

(15') relating language learning to the learners' larger development (and getting away from "standardized testing") - Understanding University Success (0931 not on disk, pp. 67-71, Second Languages - excerpts in handout for previous meeting, #14, 17 May). "Faculty Viewpoint" quotation / pretty picture caption, p. 71: "Students should understand their first langauge and be aware of its grammar and vocabulary. If students know parts of a sentence in their first language, it speeds up the process of learning a second language. We waste a lot less time if they know the grammar of their first language before they come to me to learn another one."

-

(10') If time (see next topic first): General discussion on what, if anything, languages can add to a person's/ citizen's/ nation's/ civilization/s education, cultivation, employability, pleasure, decency, hope for salvation. See below, paragraph beginning "I think we need a discussion…"

+

(15') The modest proposal for an immodest culminating event of a subversive nature: What would we want to accomplish with our target audience? If time: the current WLL CBI grant situation: USP intent to apply in handout); just announced but long expected: US DOE CFDA 84.016A Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Programs RFP. Next step was taken yesterday: formation of team, initial discussion of timeline & budget (see handouts)

-

(5') If time: more about grants - COFLT Mini-grants; little/medium grants that might support the Humboldt Project or similar (see especially Wells Fargo)
Upcoming class meeting(s) (#17 • 29 May 2012)

1) Finish Stryker/Leaver

2) The culminating event: if we're doing it, then let's get on with the serious planning.

3) Proposed next major topic of general discussion: specific examples of CBI on the level of thematic units (=Project 2); suitable reading: 0176 Lear, "Spanish for Working Medical Professionals" & 0815 "Pet talk: To meet a growing demand, more veterinarians trying to learn Spanish" (example of missing the point: 0813, "Scrubbing In: It's critical to speak patient's language"; 0356 Bueno, "Creating Community…A Content-Based Approach" (art & film); 0436 Armengol, "Developing the Language of Mathematics"; 0115 "Designing a Standards-Based thematic Unit"; 0304 "Integrated Thematic Unit: House"; work samples 0707a, 0707b

There was some interest in the following areas, which will receive attention as time allows: the various content areas; literature; culture; changing the curriculum; business; grants.

Below here are notes for myself; read them at your peril!

grant info: ••PSU grants; ••small-/medium-scale external grants & a sample application; ••large-scale external grants & a sample application; ••conference ideas & sample proposals

••how to assess CBI activities (the projects; in general);

••Portland Public Schools "Recommendations for the Second Language Minimum Performance Standards" (#0010a)

••Drake

I think we need a discussion about what we (ourselves, our learners) want language teaching and learning to accomplish, so that we can examine the pros and cons of CBI (and other teaching methods or tools). Example: Some people prize language courses for what they contribute to the development of students' intellectual rigor (logic, clear thinking, understanding of system, rules, principles); such people may also say: "…especially Latin" or "…but of course they can get the same things from a stiff geometry course". To what extent is that view / goal compatible with CBI? What if the students' goal is to… [name several different goals]?
Upcoming assignment(s)

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