I co-authored the Integrating EFL Standards Into Chinese Classroom Settings Series, described below.
[from TESOL.org] The four books in this series were written to inspire and support all Chinese English-language educators. They combine the best of traditional Chinese teaching with the Ministry of Education’s call for new and creative approaches to instruction.
Features, in Chinese and English:
- Learner and teacher performance standards developed specifically for this series
- Stories that show how standards for learning and teaching may be woven into actual classroom experience in China
- Lesson outlines and graphic organizers
- Glossary of useful teaching techniques for Chinese teachers of school-age learners
- Reflection and action worksheets for putting techniques into practice
These features offer Chinese teachers, administrators, and supervisors a dynamic approach to good teaching.
The complete series includes:
Integrating EFL Standards Into Chinese Classroom Settings
- Primary Level, Grades 3-6 (ISBN 0-07-293341-0)
- Junior Level, Grades 7-9 (ISBN 0-07-293344-5)
- Senior Level, Grades 10-12 (ISBN 0-07-293346-1)
Portfolio-Based Professional Development and Appraisal
- Teachers’ Handbook (ISBN 0-07-293343-7)
Background of China English as a Foreign Language Standards (CEFLS) Project
CEFLS was a 30-month standards-development, materials writing, and teacher education project. Three organizations collaborated on this project: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), with headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, in the United States; The McGraw-Hill Companies, with headquarters in New York City, New York, in the United States; and National Foreign Language Teaching and Research Association (NFLTRA), with headquarters in Beijing, China.
Teacher Performance Standards (PDF)
The CEFLS project’s teacher performance standards are built around eight domains. These domains are derived from research into previously published standards as well as the reflections of CEFLS writers, reviewers, and associates on the characteristics of good teaching.
To create these teacher performance standards, CEFLS participants consulted the Chinese Ministry of Education’s (MOE) English Curriculum Standards (2003). CEFLS was specifically inspired by the stated desire to “change the formal teaching methods that emphasize grammar and vocabulary teaching and ignore the cultivation of language use” (MOE, 2003, p. 1). CEFLS continues the curriculum’s emphasis on learner and teacher attitudes, engaging the students’ interests, task-based learning, and performance objectives.
Learner Content Standards (PDF)
The CEFLS Project’s learner content standards correlate to the Chinese Ministry of Education’s (MOE) English Curriculum Standards (2003) and form a harmonious overlay with the MOE’s standards. These content standards for learners provide a concise, clear, and complete statement of the outcomes toward which Chinese EFL teachers may guide their students. They offer teachers a supportive structure along with the freedom to pursue the outcomes in their own creative ways and though whatever resources are at their disposal.
Virtual Tour of the National Museum of Language
Funded by a grant under the Bureau of Indian Education’s 6111 grant to support the development of an Alternate Definition of Adequate Yearly Progress in Choctaw, The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians developed and approved a set of Choctaw Language Learning Standards in 2012. These are based on the ACTFL “Five Cs” in that they include the three types of communication (Interpersonal, Interpretive, and Presentational) in addition to Culture, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities. The presenters were members of a team developing Choctaw Language Learning Standards, ensuring they are horizontally and vertically aligned and reflect the traditions and cultural heritage of the Tribe.
Following completion of the standards, the presenters assisted in the development of a Choctaw Language Learning Standards-based model oral Choctaw Language Assessment for Grade 2. The process of developing assessments was initiated through workshops with Choctaw Assistant Teachers to identify domains of language use by students, consultation with an Assessment Development Team to identify speaking tasks, and consultation with a graphics artist to develop visual stimuli for the assessment. Development and translation of the administrator training manual and the structure of the pilot test administrator workshop is also discussed.
Pilot testing and subsequent analysis and revision of the standards-based assessment are addressed in this poster. An oral summary will explain the importance of choosing culturally relevant assessment tasks; aspects of the oral assessment administration; and the role of assessments in native language revitalization programs.
The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, led by Chief Phyliss J. Anderson, operates the largest unified Reservation school system in the United States. The Choctaw Tribal School System has six elementary schools, one middle school and one boarding high school on the Choctaw Indian Reservation in east central Mississippi. The Choctaw schools are scattered over a four-county area and serve more than 1,700 students.