Curriculum Frame and Pedagogy at URI

Proficiency-oriented Teaching and Testing

Proficiency-oriented language instruction is a general framework for organizing instruction，curriculum，and assessment，rather than a method or a theory. Language is primarily a functional tool，one for communication. Learning a language is learning how to use it，mainly for professional purposes（CARLA Website）. The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines are a description of what individuals can do with language in terms of speaking，writing，listening，and reading in real-world situations in a spontaneous and non-rehearsed context. For each skill，these guidelines identify five major levels of proficiency： Distinguished，Superior，Advanced，Intermediate，and Novice. The major levels Advanced，Inter-mediate，and Novice are subdivided into High，Mid，and Low sublevels（See Figure 1）. The levels of the ACTFL Guidelines describe the continuum of proficiency from that of the highly articulate，well-educated language user to a level of little or no functional ability（ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines，2012）. All the URI CFP students take OPI（Oral Proficiency Interview）by ACTFL certified testers，reading and listening tests created by the American Councils on International Studies following the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines. Testing results are rated by ILR system as well as ACTFL system. The corresponding levels of the two systems can be found in Appendix I.

Table 1. Assessment Tools used by CFP

Note. 1. For fall selection（March），the tests are taken in January；for spring（November），September. 2. OPIc is the computer version of Oral Proficiency Interview.

Figure 1. ACTFL Proficiency Levels

Blended Learning

URI Flagship team examined the effective language teaching/learning approaches，and found the Blended Learning fit the first year teaching well.Blended learning is an education program（formal or informal）that combines online digital media with traditional classroom methods. It requires the physical presence of both teacher and student，with some elements of student control over time，place，path，or pace（Friesen，2011；Staker & Horn，2012）.Blended courses（also known as hybrid or mixed-mode courses）are classes where a portion of the traditional face-to-face instruction is replaced by web-based online learning（Martyn，2003）.Blended learning is a term increasingly used to describe the way e-learning is being combined with traditional classroom methods and independent study to create a new，hybrid teaching methodology. It represents，in many cases，a fundamental change in the way teachers and students approach the learning experience. It has already produced an offshoot—the flipped classroom—that has quickly become a distinct approach of its own. Online and blended learning empowers students to take ownership of their own learning by giving them more choices than ever before. Some digital learning models allow students to work at their own pace. Many use terms like hybrid，mixed，or integrative to describe the same trend（Friesen，2011； Horn & Staker，2014； Tucker & Wycoff，2017）.

In 2016 Flagship summer program review，the reviewer summarized：

“I believe that URI’s Chinese program is one of the pioneers in promoting and effectively applying information technology to Chinese language teaching.Technology is substantially and effectively adopted in this program!”（Liang，2016）

CFP has set up the standard of selection of technology as simple，easy to use and free. Informational Technology serves the teaching goal，and strengthens it. Synchronous and Asynchronous computer mediated communication（Chou，2002）is used inside and outside classrooms，making learning fun and effective. Taking face-to-face communicative teaching approach，all classroom instruction is conducted in Chinese only and in natural speed from day one. Clear benchmarks are set for each level of students（Appendix Ⅱ）. Students all take standardized testing twice a year. Students who joined Flagship summer immersion（100 level）commented：

“We have classes and homework and activities every day. It’s always with you. That’s a great way to learn the language.”

“You work so hard here and then you see the results.”

One student commented，her skills went from “zero to 60 very quickly.” We named it as the “New Blended Model.”

Task-based Active Learning

Task-based language teaching（TBLT），focuses on the use of authentic language and on asking students to do meaningful tasks using the target language（Long，2015； Gass & Selinker，2008）. The role of task-based language learning is to stimulate a natural desire in learners to improve their language competence by challenging them to complete meaningful tasks（Long，1991； Selinger & Long，1983）. In active learning，students participate in the process and students participate when they are doing something besides passively listening.Active learning is a method of learning in which students are actively or experientially involved in the learning process and where there are different levels of active learning，depending on student involvement. It is a model of instruction that focuses the responsibility of learning on learners（Bonwell & Eison，1991; The Center for Research on Learning and Teaching 〔CRLT〕，2016）

Figure 2. Apps used in URI New Blended Model

Students at 200 level of CFP are in the transition from sentence level to paragraph level，and prepare for discourse level outcome. Using authentic language materials to do meaningful tasks and changing passive learning into active learning make the students take initiative and responsibility in learning the language. Different activities employed in the Task-based Active Learning in CFP teaching，such as group project，class discussion and debate，mock interview，interactive classroom and technology，Discussion Board on Sakai and so on. The real life situations and projects are preparing the students to study abroad in China in a Flagship approved program，which is usually done in the second summer when the students already achieved Intermediate Mid level of proficiency based on the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines. These students are expected to come back from China with Advanced Low Proficiency and prepare for the Capstone selection.

Content-based Instruction

Content-based instruction（CBI）is a significant approach in language education（Brinton，Snow & Wesche，1989）. CBI is designed to provide second-language learners instruction in content and language. Second language acquisition research strongly supports such content-based instruction. Delivering academic or professional instruction in the target language is a proven way to present language in natural contexts which promote learning（Curtain & Pesola，1994）. CBI also promotes deeper engagement with material，promoting higher-level thinking skills and improving recall（Anderson，1990）. They are not traditional advanced level Chinese language courses. CBI curriculum is based on a subject-matter core，uses authentic language and texts，and is appropriate to the needs of specific groups of students. All three characteristics are essential for success（Brown，2007； Stoller，2004）.

Content-based instruction is common in Flagship teaching. All Flagship programs offer some academic content courses in the target language. To be a global professional，one must be able to communicate effectively on specialized academic and professional topics in target language. However，due to the knowledge of different academic contents and avail-ability of qualified instructor who can teach the content in target language，the 12 Chinese Flagship Programs tried different ways to offer the CBI courses such as Academic courses in Chinese，content-infused classes taught by language faculty，the languages cross the curriculum model，domain-specific tutoring，research project directed by Chinese-speaking content course instructors，directly registered courses in China. URI offers the Advanced Technical Chinese for the STEM students，which is based on the subject of green energy. In addition there is a topic course on Chinese civilization，currently teaches Chinese language evolution，and there is a modern Chinese literature course，both use authentic Chinese materials. Because CFP students are all dual majors in Chinese and one of other 83 majors offered at URI，more content courses are needed. With limited resources and small number of students in some subjects，CBI cannot meet the needs of CFP，which decided to use Project-based Learning as supplement to CBI courses.

Project-based Learning

Project-Based Learning（PBL）is typically considered an approach to teaching in which students respond to real-world questions or challenges through an extended inquiry process. PBL often involves collaboration，a strong emphasis on critical thinking and communication skills，and interdisciplinary learning（Krajcik & Blumenfeld，2006；Markham，Larmer & Ravitz，2003）. The projects address key learning objects，and help students work associated with academic and professional disciplines. Students and teachers today are very familiar with new technology and technological tools. When deploying PBL，students are able to perform better research，collect outside information，and collaborate easier and faster with fellow students，teachers，and industry experts（Bell，2010）.

CFP started PBL systematically two years ago，all the 300 level students did research projects on their other majors. Students meet with their tutor/instructor 3-4 times a week，a clear time table and guidelines（Appendix Ⅲ）are provided. In 2017，the project becomes Honor Senior Project. Take the 2016 research projects as an example.

In 2016 Spring CHN316H，there are 14 students（Figure 3）： 6 Female，8 Male； Majors：6 IEP（International Engineering Program），4 IBP（International Business Program），2 International Relations，1 Math，1 Psychology. Language Proficiency： ACTFL OPI： 14 AL+，BYU Reading： 7 IH 7AL+，BYU Listening：6 IH 9AL+（Post-summer test 09/2015 ）. They worked with their tutor/instructor to decide the research topics（Appendix Ⅳ），follow the timeline to complete the projects，present the near completed projects in class and make final posters by the end of the semester（Appendix Ⅴ）. This project helps students to acquire basic research ability that will serve them well later in life. One student says，“The course has filled a gap in my knowledge of the research process and the use of research tools.” Another comments，“The course enables me to be successful in classes related to another major.”

Figure 3. Participants’ information

Summary and Outcome

This comprehensive curriculum can be seen in Appendix Ⅵ. This curriculum started in fall 2012 including the new Blended Model for the 100 level，Task-based Active Instruction for the 200 level and Content-based Instruction and Project-based Instruction for the 300 and 400 levels. The outcome of CFP proves the curriculum successful. The following shows the result of OPI test in 2010，2012 cohorts，pre- and post-summer in 2014 study abroad，and 2015 cohort in 2016 summer.

2012 Cohort is the first to apply this new Curriculum. Figure 4 shows the comparison of performance between Cohorts 2010 and 2012 in pre-summer test. Majority of the 2010 Cohort are at Novice Mid level，43% after first academic year，only 28.5% reached Intermediate Low level. But in 2012 cohort，70% reached Intermediate Low，and no Novice Mid.

Figure 4. Cohort 2012 and Cohort 2010 level distribution on OPIc（pre-summer）

After the summer domestic program，all the 2012 Cohort reached Intermediate level，80% reached the proficiency goal Intermediate Mid（Figure 5）. This is only the beginning of the new comprehensive curriculum.

Figure 5. Progress on OPIc from pre-summer to post-summer Cohort 2012

Figure 6 shows the result of studying abroad of the same cohort. The CFP students usually study abroad in China in Flagship approved programs in the second summer. Before summer 62.5% were at Intermediate Mid level，only 12.5% Advance Low. But after summer，75% reached Advance Low，25% Advance Mid.

Figure 6. Comparison between Pre- & Post- Summer Overseas OPI Test（2014）

Figure 7. 2015 Cohort Pre- & Post- Summer OPI Test in 2016

Figure 7 shows the pre- and post-summer result of Cohort 2015 in 2016 test result. This is the latest test result and 3 years after the new curriculum implemented. 81.25% of the students reached Intermediate Mid in the Post-summer test，12.5% Intermediate High and 6.25% even reached Advance after only one year study of Chinese. If you compare the test result of 2015 Cohort with that of the first group，2012 Cohort，the progress is obvious. In Pre-summer test，the 2012 Cohort had 28.5% at Novice level，while 2015 Cohort all reached Intermediate level，50% reached Intermediate Mid. In Post-summer test，2012 Cohort had 20% Intermediate Low，while 2015 Cohort all reached Intermediate Mid，and 12.5% reached Intermediate High，and 6.25% even Advance. The standardized test results shows effectiveness of the new comprehensive curriculum.