[ola] Re: assessing native speaker ability
- From: Andrew Daitsman <adaitsman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: ola@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 15:58:00 -0400
Emily,
I'm way behind on my email, but I hope this is still helpful to you a
couple of weeks later. I would expect a native speaker high school student
to perform no higher than the advanced level, so I would first try to
establish a floor at the intermediate level. Does the student create with
the language, forming original sentences to express themselves about
aspects of daily life? Can they be understood by a sympathetic native
speaker? After establishing that floor, I would probe to see if they
produce at the advanced level. Can they narrate in the major temporal
frames (past, present, future)? Do they have good control of aspect in the
past? Can they speak in oral paragraphs about topics of general interest?
I would not expect high school students to perform at the superior level,
because the degree of abstraction needed at that level generally requires
more education than high school students have received. If you can
establish a floor at advanced, you might want to probe at superior, in
particular by asking them hypothetical questions, but remember that not all
university-educated native speakers will reach that level.
Andy Daitsman
World Languages Department
Plymouth North High School
adaitsman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Thu, Sep 5, 2013 at 7:57 PM, Emily Gerstner <emilygerstner@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
> Hola!
>
> I have many native Spanish speakers in my classes. At my school we are
> working to put students in the correct classes to begin with, but even so,
> I struggle when it comes to getting a good read on their language level,
> especially trying to rate them using ACTFL.
> I think what is missing is being able to ask the questions that will help
> me find the threshold of what is difficult for them. Even a solid
> open-ended question like "Describe where you live and your opinions of your
> neighborhood" doesn't necessarily show me the full range of what they can
> do.
>
> So, any ideas for good questions that would help me find out where their
> language starts to break down? My ideas so far are asking questions that
> invite the use of the subjunctive, or asking them about what they're
> learning in history class which would require some high-level vocab. I
> would also appreciate hearing about your experiences with native Spanish
> speakers in your classroom. Thanks!
>
> Emily
>
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