EDCI 3724 CRN 91559
EDCI 5784 CRN 91614
Location: Schultz 104
Instructor: Kris Lubbs
328 Major Williams Hall
322A War Memorial Hall
231-4051 (Leave a message)
231-8348 (Leave a message)
Office hours: MW 10-12 and by appointment
Graduate Assistant: Michelle Griffith
Web page: www.fll.vt.edu/lubbs
Web page for Handbook: http://thandbook.heinle.com
Other useful web pages: http://www.richmond.edu/~terry/methods.htm
Shrum, J. L. & Glisan, E. W. Teacher’s Handbook: Contextualized
Instruction. Boston: Heinle & Heinle, 2nd edition, 1999.
National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project. (1996). National standards for foreign language learning: Preparing for the 21st century. Lawrence, KS: Allen Press, Inc.
Prequisite: Approval from the instructor is required for admittance
into this class. Students must have completed or be completing advance
studies in the target language. Required education classes should be taken
in conjunction with or prior to the class.
You will need to have an active PID for this course. In addition to general mail, an e-mail list will be used for announcements, work updates, and general class discussion. You may send messages to the e-mail list by clicking on “Reply to all.”
The Virginia Tech Honor Code will be strictly enforced. All aspects of your coursework are covered by the Honor System. Please see the following website for further information:
If anyone is in need of special accommodations due to a disability, please contact me during office hours, over electronic mail, or telephone before or after class.
Welcome to Methods of Teaching Foreign Language!
As the instructor of this methods course, I plan to:
· create an inviting and stimulating environment in which the students will form a learning community based on mutual respect and interests with the common goal of pursuing research and inquiry into innovative and traditional methods of teaching a foreign language.
· create a content- and context-based curriculum in which concepts and structures are presented in a spiraling fashion that is cognitively engaging and intrinsically interesting for students;
· prepare teachers to be responsive to local, national, and international needs. (Byrnes, et al, 2000);
· facilitate as learners construct their own knowledge so that it will be meaningful and applicable to their own needs and goals, thereby granting them ownership of the class and its outcome;
· encourage self reflection so that the learners will constantly evaluate their progress as situated within the learning environment.
Goals of the course:
This general goals for our work in this course are to develop:
· An understanding of second-language acquisition research, incorporating pedagogical methods and learning theories.
· The ability to contextualize language instruction to address the goals of the Standards for Foreign Language Learning.
· The ability to construct meaningful and well-planned units of study such as lesson and unit plans.
· The ability to deal creatively and positively with those students who have diverse learning styles.
· A knowledge of assessment methods for language performance in context.
· An understanding of the use of technology to contextualize and integrate language instruction.
· An awareness of and an understanding of the importance of adapting to school culture.
The evaluation for the methods course will be based on the following:
· Class participation and exit slips 10%
· 4 chats 10%
· 4 Lesson plans 10%
· Unit plan 10%
· Weekly journal reflections 20%
· Presentations 20%
· Electronic portfolio 20%
Technology skills that are necessary to develop the electronic portfolio
· possess typing skills, including ease with using the many facets
of a word processing program;
· create a document;
· name, save, retrieve, revise, rename a document;
· send, receive, save, print, and delete e-mail to individuals or to groups;
· send, receive, and print e-mail attachments;
· paste text into an e-mail attachment;
· download and complete forms online;
· create and save files;
· copy, move, and delete file;
· perform general and specialized searches;
· bookmark useful web sites;
· load and use software and courseware;
· participate in a chatroom;
· create and maintain a web page;
· use clip art;
· use a scanner;
· do a power point presentation.
Tentative Course/Assignment Schedule
Note: the reflections will always be due on the e-mail list by midnight
of the Monday before class in order to allow your colleagues to read them
so they can be discussed in class.. Print out two copies, one to give to
the instructor and one to use to make notes during class. There will also
be a case study to read every week on the Webpage.
|August 23||Introductions and OverviewRoberta Snelling—the PRAXIS Looking at ourselves
as teachers and learners of a
second languageStudent aiding
|August 30||Understanding the role of contextualized input, output, and interaction in language learning||Shrum/Glisan Ch. 1 Reflection p. 18 TH Terry website|
|September 6||Discussion of case study and learning theoriesPresentation of PACE lesson plan||Case study chat
Lesson plan based on PACE
Visions at ACTFL website
|September 13||Connecting language learning to the elementary school curriculum||Shrum/Glisan Ch. 4
Reflection p. 97
|September 20||Discussion of language learning in the elementary school||Case study chat|
|September 27||Presentation of lesson for elementary school||Lesson plan for elementary school|
|October 4||Using technology and technology-enhanced language learning (TELL)||Shrum/Glisan Ch. 12
Reflection, p. 354 TH
|October 11||Class held in War Memorial 222 for a tutorial on electronic portfolios||Case study chat
New Jersey Frameworks
Web sites 356 TH
|October 18||Presentation of modules lesson plan||Modules lesson plan|
|October 25||Contextualizing language instruction to address goals of the Standards for Foreign Language Learning||Shrum/Glisan Ch. 2
Reflection, p. 45 TH
New Jersey Frameworks
|November 1||Preliminary presentation of electronic portfolio||Electronic portfolio|
|November 8||Presentation of Standards lesson plan||Unit plan based on Standards
|November 15||Class held at ACTFL, Boston||Case study chat|
|November 22||Thanksgiving Break|
|November 29||Integrating language study in the middle school curriculum||Shrum/Glisan Ch. 5
Reflection, p. 114
|December 6||Lesson plan for middle school||Lesson plan for middle school|
|December 8||Electronic portfolio presentation||Electronic portfolio|