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Kathy Shelton is a World Language Education Program Specialist for the Ohio Department of Education.  She has 25 years of experience teaching French in traditional and online programs.

Using an IPA to guide instruction

Does anything strike more fear into world language students than having to answer comprehension questions based on an authentic video or audio?   The speed of the language, the random vocabulary, the unfamiliar accent—that overwhelming feeling of not understanding anything is enough to intimidate even the most confident student.

Using an IPA to guide instruction can help reduce the fear-factor of listening to authentic language.  Guided by the learning goals for the unit, the teacher develops IPA tasks that will provide evidence that students have achieved the desired communicative goals. The teacher then uses the IPA to plan the learning experiences for the entire unit.  Information on creating an IPA can be found here.

Step One:  Finding appropriate authentic resources

When searching for authentic resources, several factors will be considered:

1.     Is the resource age-, level- and context-appropriate? Is it well-organized, with contextual support or visuals?   
Use resources that have already been vetted by educators: the Ohio Department of Education’s Model  Curriculum has authentic resources submitted by world language teachers, organized by target language. Other language websites such as Pinterest and FL Teach also offer lists of authentic resources.
 
2.     Is it real-world and interesting to students?
Choose online resources that appeal to your student population: radio broadcasts, commercials, tourist ads, music videos, news clips, game shows, films, movie trailers, or television programs.
 
3.     Could the resource be used across many levels of learners?
Use excerpts from the resource: for novice learners, focus on getting the gist of a segment that contains cognates, slower speech or familiar content.  Use longer or more difficult excerpts for intermediate learners.

Step  Two: Creating listening tasks for the IPA

Listening comprehension questions will go beyond a “fact-finding mission” and push students to use higher-level thinking skills.  Based on the ACTFL  interpretive tasks template (2013), comprehension questions can include literal comprehension (key words, main idea, supporting details) and interpretive comprehension (organization, meaning from context, inferences, author’s perspective, cultural perspective). Guidance for developing IPA interpretive tasks can be found here.

Step Three:  Scaffolding listening comprehension during formative practice

The summative listening task in the IPA informs the type of formative practice the students will do throughout the unit.  The formative assessments will be similar to what the students are expected to do for the IPA. For example, if the IPA listening comprehension is based on a publicity video for Disneyland Paris, then the formative practice might entail watching promotional videos for other French amusement parks or tourist attractions.  Other ideas for meaningful listening tasks can be found here.

To help students develop their listening skills, teachers can scaffold the listening process by first pre-assessing students’ prior knowledge of a topic and then gradually requiring more in-depth comprehension  as they watch or listen to a resource several times. The process would be streamlined as the students become more advanced in their listening skills.  This listening activity for Level 1, created by Spanish teacher Sherri Higgins, shows how to scaffold the listening process while viewing a promotional music video for the city of Valencia, Spain.

By using an IPA to guide instruction, develop formative tasks and assess listening comprehension, teachers can successfully help students continue to move along the proficiency continuum.

References:

Adair, Glisan, Troyan. Implementing Integrated Performance Assessments.  American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, 2013

Ohio Department of Education Model Curriculum for World Languages, 2014:  http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Ohio-s-New-Learning-Standards/Foreign-Language/World-Languages-Model-Curriculum/World-Languages-Model-Curriculum-Framework

Shelton, Kathleen & Higgins, Sherri (2014, April). “Cultures…the Other Standard!  Integrating authentic cultural resources into your communicative activities.”  Presented at the Ohio Foreign Language Association Annual Conference, Columbus, Ohio.