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Writing Excellence Initiative First Flight Year-‐End Report

2013-‐2014

Department: World Languages and Cultures Degree(s) addressed: Spanish and French Writing Excellence Collaborative Fellows: Olivia Choplin and Ketevan Kupatadze

1. Writing Outcomes for Graduates (QEP Phase 1A) Please describe process used to define the outcomes and attach the outcomes or paste them in below. Defining overarching curricular goals and learning outcomes is part of our department’s five-‐year plan. We started working on this task during the academic year of 2012-‐13. By the end of the spring semester of 2013 our department approved the document, which defined the curricular goals for students at diverse levels of linguistic proficiency, intercultural competence and critical thinking abilities. The matrix adopted by our department in 2013 incorporated overarching curricular goals for diverse levels, among them Benchmark through Aspirant Benchmark (122-‐222), Milestone 1 and 2 (300-‐level courses through the completion of a minor); Capstone (completion of a major). In the fall of 2013, we were selected as one of the first-‐flight departments to design (and refine) the writing goals for graduating majors. Our department agreed that although we would focus on the development of writing goals for graduating majors, all language sections including those that currently did not have a major (and in some cases, even minor) would take an active part in the process, as we considered scaffolding to be an essential part of our curricular trajectory. We used the curricular goals and learning outcomes document adopted during the previous academic year as a guide, focusing again on three areas: linguistic proficiency, intercultural competency and critical thinking ability. Our goal when defining writing outcomes was to have them fully integrated with our curricular goals, as well as overall departmental and university-‐wide mission of preparing responsible global citizens. The Writing Goals and Outcomes document, adopted and approved by the department of World Languages and Cultures is attached (WEI_WLC_DI 1). It outlines the department’s mission, followed by the description of two major assignments to be completed by our majors. Through the two assignments students will be able to demonstrate their achievement of the departmental goals of linguistic proficiency, intercultural competency and critical thinking ability in the target language. 2. Description of Current Practices (QEP Phase 1B) Please describe the process used to map the current writing assignments and instruction for majors, provide the resulting map, and report the main points from the department’s discussion of the results. In order to map the current writing assignments and instruction for majors, Spanish and French sections of the Department of World Languages and Cultures met several times during the fall of 2013. We identified the courses that are currently required for all majors and, consequently, are taught on a regular basis. We looked at courses offered at different levels (upper and lower 300, and

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400/Capstone), looked at the learning goals and outcomes stated in the syllabi and compared them with the newly adopted writing goals and outcomes. We also looked at the assignments that were used to measure the achievement of course and departmental writing goals. Our overall impression was that while our current practices supported the development of students’ writing proficiency in the target language, the development of students’ intercultural competency as well as critical thinking ability could and should be addressed more efficiently and methodically. Faculty felt that while some assignments were geared towards the achievement of these goals, they were somewhat sporadic and inconsistent. We also lacked a culminating assignment that would showcase our graduating majors’ achievement of intercultural competency goal and designed a sequence of assignments (pre-‐, during and post-‐ study abroad experience, to be followed by a multimedia presentation) that would measure student’s’ understanding of the target culture, as well as their ability to view critically, from the point of view of an outsider, their own.

For a detailed description of our current curriculum, as well as the map and analysis of the concrete courses and written assignments, please, see attached document (WEI_WLC_DI 2). 3. Assessment of Effectiveness of Current Practices at Achieving Writing Outcomes (QEP Phase

1C) Please describe or attach the rubric or other criteria used, describe the assignment(s) assessed, describe or attach the assessment results, and report the main points from department discussion of results. In order to assess the effectiveness of current practices, the department collaboratively developed a rubric that would assess one (out of two) major assignments completed by our graduating majors: the research paper written in the target language. The rubric was developed based on the writing goals and outcomes document approved by the department during the fall of 2013. Both the Spanish and French sections assessed the assignments completed by the students as part of the Capstone experience. These were research papers written in the target language and based on the topic chosen by the students. The faculty of Spanish and French sections met to assess the sample research papers. Spanish faculty assessed three papers written by the three graduating seniors1. French faculty assessed four research papers written by four graduating seniors. The Spanish majors wrote their papers in the context of their senior seminar. Each French major wrote hers as the final paper from her 499 individual research conducted with a faculty mentor.

The rubric developed and used to assess students’ research papers is attached (WEI_WLC_DI 4). Below is the rubric with the data gathered as a result of the assessment, with Spanish in BLUE and French in RED.

Thresholds: Met expectations Did not meet expectations Author must take a critical stance regarding one or more primary cultural products.

Yes (4) NO (3)

Research paper must have a minimum of 4500 words, not including bibliography

YES (3) Yes (4)

1 We chose to assess only this year’s research papers since the Senior Seminar format has been changed this year. We plan to continue our assessment of seniors during the 2014-‐15 academic year.

2

Research paper must cite 12 scholarly sources, out of which at least 8 should be in the language of student’s major. If a student decides to analyze an original text with limited scholarly research, exceptions can be made to the number of scholarly sources required in the target language.

Yes (3) No (4)2

Research paper must follow disciplinary standards using MLA style.

Yes (3) Yes (4)

Research paper must be turned in on or before the time requested by the instructor.

Yes (3) Yes (3) No (1)

RESEARCH PAPER Points Accomplish

ed / Exemplary

Proficient/ Adequate

Developing/

Insufficient

Critical Thinking and Research in Action 60%

Identification of Issue: 3, 3

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A. Author identifies the issue within the primary cultural product to be researched (be it literary text, film, historical text, journalistic text, visual art, etc.)

B. Author proposes a clear, precise, and defendable thesis. 2, 3 1, 1

Critical Treatment of Issue:

A. Author presents the issue/problem from more than one perspective. 1 1 3, 2

B. Author integrates and synthesizes sources coherently into his/her analysis.

3 3 1

C. Author critically evaluates (and, when appropriate, questions) the viewpoints expressed by the experts.

2 3, 2

D. Author’s own analysis convey(s) a deep understanding of complex ideas.

2 1 3, 1

E. Author’s conclusion(s) synthesize(s) sources and his/her own analysis.

3

Organization and Disciplinary Standards.

A. Research paper is well organized. 3, 3 1

B. Author selects credible, comprehensive and relevant sources. 3, 2 1 1

Intercultural Competency 20%

Author explores cultural (historical, political, social, stylistic, economical, OR religious) dimensions of the problem.

3, 2 1 1

Author’s analysis shows his/her understanding of cultural differences revealed in vocabulary and syntax imbedded in the text(s).

2 3, 1 1

Language Use 20%

A. Author narrates, describes, and substantiates opinions in detail in all major time frames with good control of major grammatical structures and syntax.

2, 3 1, 1

B. Author uses a variety of cohesive devices and strategies for logical connected discourse.

2, 3 1, 1

2 This number of sources was not required of French majors in 2013. They were asked to use at least 8 sources, 6 of which were in French.

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RESEARCH PAPER Points

Accomplished /

Exemplary

Proficient/ Adequate

Developing/

Insufficient

C. Author employs a range of vocabulary that is both topic and register appropriate.

2, 2 1, 1 1

D. Author’s style demonstrates an integration of the target language’s idiomatic structures vs. reliance on English-language structures.

2, 2 1, 2

TOTAL

While we thought that students’ research papers showed their achievement of linguistic proficiency in terms of writing, their ability to structure their paper well, to identify reliable scholarly sources, and to build an argument, our main concern assessing this assignment was that some students stayed away from close analysis/reading of texts. Those students were relying on secondary sources to construct the argument, while being unable (or unwilling) to engage with the original text and draw conclusions from it. As a result of the assessment, we adapted the rubric, agreeing that author’s taking a critical stance regarding one or more primary cultural products had to be one of the thresholds of the research paper. Another issue that we identified, as something to be addressed more consistently in the future was students’ engagement with difference. We think that students need to have a better understanding of text and textual analysis as a way to better understand a culture, to access different ways of thinking, and being. We thought that adopting a “genre-‐based” approach to teaching the analysis of and writing about texts can help develop students’ ability to view texts as gateways to different culture(s). These two major gaps identified as a result of the assessment of students’ final research papers form part of our department’s future plan for further developing students’ writing abilities. 4. Plan for Progressive Development of Students’ Writing Abilities (QEP Phase 2)

a. Describe overall plan in a general way

Please describe the courses or groups of courses to be involved and what each will contribute to the students’ progressive development.

In the Department of World Languages and Cultures, our overarching curricular goals are to help students develop their linguistic proficiency, their intercultural competency, and their critical thinking skills in the target language(s) and culture(s). Writing, in the target language and in English, can be used both to help students develop the above skills and also as a means of assessing their acquisition of them [see QEP goals of “Writing to learn” and “Writing in the Disciplines”]. Our analysis of student writing produced by our current majors revealed the continued need to help students develop the ability to establish connections between claims and evidence. As a department, we have decided to focus on scaffolding this ability throughout our curriculum over the course of the QEP. Our department offers two majors (French and Spanish), but we also teach Arabic, Chinese, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, and Latin. While the latter languages offer fewer upper-‐level courses than the two major languages, we have created a goal matrix for our curricular aims that applies to all of the courses we teach. The goal matrix defines explicit aims of our curriculum at every level: Benchmark (through 122); Aspirant Benchmark (through 222), Milestone 1 (through 1-‐2 300-‐level courses); Milestone 2 (through the completion of a minor); Capstone (through the completion of a major). Currently, French and Spanish are the only languages that can

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anticipate “Capstone” achievement, but as other languages grow and develop, the same scaffolding will apply.

b. Describe specific steps to be taken next year to begin pilot implementation (QEP Phase 3)

Over the course of next year, we will collaborate both within each language section and as a department in order to assure that we are progressively building students’ capacity to substantiate claims with evidence as they relate to texts written in the target language. Developing this skill should help students feel more comfortable approaching both primary and secondary texts: a) they should better understand how to create their own arguments based on the close reading of a primary text; b) they should better be able to integrate and synthesize secondary texts within the context of their own argument. For some courses, this will involve writing in English about texts written in the target language; for others this will involve writing in the target language about those texts. Thanks to our workshop with Dr. Hiram Maxim from Emory University (a field expert in second-‐language writing and curriculum development), we have agreed that a genre-‐based approach to teaching writing can be very useful for helping students to understand textual conventions. Our plan is to proceed as follows:

a) Before the August Planning Week meeting, each section will have a discussion about its own articulation throughout the curriculum of skills related to claims and evidence. In what courses and at what levels are different members of the department currently focusing on those particular skills, and how? (Much of this has already been done by French and Spanish in their overall mapping of student writing within the major. The scaffolding leading up to the major courses (from 121-‐222) has not yet been analyzed. The understanding of our current scaffolding at the beginning and intermediate levels will be essential for the non-‐major languages and very useful for the major languages as well.)

b) At the August Planning Week meeting, share ideas about assignments at the 100-‐, 200-‐, lower-‐300-‐, upper-‐300-‐, and 400-‐ levels that can serve as building blocks. Discuss the following questions: What genres are most appropriate at each level? How can they be used to help students understand claims/evidence in the target language? What are the rhetorical moves that students need to understand in order to arrive at a complex understanding of texts? How can those moves be broken down at various levels of the curriculum?

Create a template for assignments that can be used for all department members to help them identify what types of skills the assignments address. Many assignments and genres can be used across languages. c) During the fall semester, teach courses (at every level) with at least one assignment aimed at increasing students’ ability to substantiate claims about a target-‐language text with evidence (either in English or in the target language, depending on the course and level). Schedule opportunities for discussion and to share successes and failures with colleagues at the end of the semester. Establish working groups to discuss assignments at different levels and to tweak those that can be improved. d) During the spring semester, make all successful assignments available to colleagues in English translation using the template created in b). For any new spring semester courses, be sure to incorporate at least one assignment aimed at increasing students’ ability to substantiate claims about a target-‐language text (as in c), above). At spring retreat in May, discuss assessment of successes and failures. Have we created a series of level-‐appropriate assignments that scaffold to the senior capstone critical thinking goals related to claims and evidence? What remains to be done? What can be improved?

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e) At the spring retreat in May, identify another critical area of difficulty for our student writers and make a plan for addressing that issue in 2015-‐16.

5. Additional Writing Excellence Initiative Activities Please describe activities supporting the Writing Excellence Initiative that are not covered above. 1. With the support of WEI grant, the Department of WLC invited Dr. Hiram Maxim to conduct a

full-‐day workshop with our faculty as well as deliver a public lecture. Dr. Hiram H. Maxim is Professor and Chair in the German Studies Department, Director of the Emory College Language Center, and a Core Faculty Member in the Linguistics Program at Emory University. He delivered the talk titled: “Re-‐visioning Writing as Textual Thinking”, as well as conducted the workshop on the topic of genre-‐based writing in foreign language.

2. With the support of WEI grant, our department ordered books on the topic of writing in the second/foreign language for the departmental library collection. These titles are now freely available to the faculty within and outside our department.

3. Several of our faculty members delivered presentations at international writing conferences throughout the academic year.

4. Professors Donna Van Bodegraven and Nina Namaste wrote up the course proposal for the 3-‐semester pre-‐, during-‐ and post-‐study abroad course, the culmination of which will be the production of our Student Writing Outcome #2.

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Appendix A.1

Graduation-‐Level Writing Outcome Integrated with the Programs’ Other Graduation-‐Level Outcomes

NOTE: Appendix A.2 presents an annotated version of these outcomes.

Department of World Languages and Cultures Mission: In support of Elon University's commitment to diversity, global engagement, and the preparation of responsible global citizens, the mission of the Department of World Languages and Cultures is to provide students with the indispensable cultural and linguistic tools that permit them to understand and evaluate complex ideas from intercultural perspectives. We strive to cultivate in our students a lifelong commitment to active and responsible membership in their communities: local, national, and global.

To this end, at all levels of our curriculum students will progressively develop the skills necessary to achieve the three major departmental goals of intercultural competency, critical thinking ability, and linguistic proficiency (including writing abilities) in the target language.

Writing Goals and Outcomes for our Majors By the time of graduation students will be able to:

1. Write a research paper in the target language intended for specialists in the field that will extend the field’s knowledge and that employs their critical thinking abilities. Students will follow the linguistic, rhetorical, stylistic, and mechanical conventions of the types of research papers they are writing and will analyze primary texts in the target language. Students will also integrate intercultural competencies from the list below.

2. Create a multimedia presentation and write an essay in the target language addressed to a general audience interested in the field. The multimedia presentation and the written analysis will result from students’ pre-, during and post- study abroad experience. All steps of this experience will be guided by a faculty member in the department of WLC in order to provide key interventions and help students process their experiences and gain a richer understanding of them. Through the presentation and the analysis essay, students will help the audience understand the target culture in relation to their own, by demonstrating the intercultural competencies and linguistic proficiencies described below.

Through these assignments students will demonstrate their achievement of the following departmental goals:

In terms of Intercultural Competency students will: a. Demonstrate a nuanced understanding of the complexity of elements important

to members of another culture in relation to its history, values, politics, communication styles, economy, or beliefs and practices

b. Articulate insights into their own cultural rules, judgments, and biases learned through their interactions with culturally different others.

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c. Articulate a detailed understanding of cultural differences apparent in verbal and nonverbal communication.

d. Demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of and ability to ask complex questions about cultural perspectives revealed by differences in vocabulary and syntax.

e. Be able to manage appropriately some cultural conventions within a variety of contexts.

In terms of Critical Thinking ability students will: a. Conduct in-depth research in the target language, following field-appropriate

disciplinary standards. Identify core issues of given topics (based on cultural products, such as literature, film, historical texts, journalistic texts, visual art), research those issues and engage in substantive analysis.

b. Critically consider the issue/problem being researched. Demonstrate sophistication in the analysis of different sides of an issue and use appropriate, relevant and compelling content that conveys a deep understanding of complex ideas.

c. Use credible and relevant sources to develop a sophisticated and coherent analysis and synthesis. Critically evaluate and thoroughly question the viewpoints expressed by the experts in those sources.

d. Independently connect and interrelate their learning to previous studies within and outside the discipline.

In terms of linguistic proficiency in the target language students will: a. Prepare a range of written communications associated with social, professional,

and/or academic situations. b. Narrate, describe, and substantiate opinions in detail in all major time frames

with good control of aspect and other major grammatical structures. c. Use a variety of cohesive devices and strategies for logical connected discourse. d. Control the target-language syntactic structures. e. Employ a range of vocabulary that is both topic and register appropriate.

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Appendix A.2 Graduation-‐Level Writing Outcome

Integrated with the Programs’ Other Graduation-‐Level Outcomes NOTE: The annotations in this appendix show how the World Languages and Cultures Department achieved the four goals for presenting Writing Excellence Initiative Writing outcomes.

• The Writing outcomes are clearly specified in terms of genre, reader, and the use the reader will make of the communication.

• The goals are prefaced by a statement of the department’s general goals and aspirations with respect to writing that create a broad context for the outcomes.

• The writing outcomes are fully integrated with the department's other graduation-‐level outcomes

• The overall statement will be clear to Elon Faculty and students as well to external audiences who read it at the Elon website, such as prospective students, employers, graduate schools, and SACS reviewers.

This sample is not intended to provide a template for all departments but rather to show one way of presenting writing outcomes and integrating them with other graduation-‐level outcomes.

Department of World Languages and Cultures

Mission: In support of Elon University's commitment to diversity, global engagement, and the preparation of responsible global citizens, the mission of the Department of World Languages and Cultures is to provide students with the indispensable cultural and linguistic tools that permit them to understand and evaluate complex ideas from intercultural perspectives. We strive to cultivate in our students a lifelong commitment to active and responsible membership in their communities: local, national, and global. To this end, at all levels of our curriculum students will progressively develop the skills necessary to achieve the three major departmental goals of intercultural competency, critical thinking ability, and linguistic proficiency (including writing abilities) in the target language.

Writing Goals and Outcomes for our Majors By the time of graduation students will be able to:

1. Write a research paper in the target language intended for specialists in the field that will extend the field’s knowledge and that employs their critical thinking abilities. Students will follow the linguistic, rhetorical, stylistic, and mechanical conventions of the types of research papers they are writing and will analyze primary texts in the target language. Students will also integrate intercultural competencies from the list below.

2. Create a multimedia presentation and write an essay in the target language addressed to a general audience interested in the field. The multimedia presentation and the written analysis will result from students’ pre-, during and post- study abroad experience. All steps of this experience will be guided by a faculty member in the department of WLC in order to provide key interventions and help students process their experiences and gain a richer understanding of them. Through the presentation and the analysis essay, students will help the audience understand the target culture in relation to their own, by demonstrating the intercultural competencies and linguistic proficiencies described below.

Extended context for the department’s writing outcomes

Integration of the department’s writing outcomes with its other learning outcomes

Statement emphasizing that the writing outcomes are for the graduation level

Genre

Readers

Reader’s use of the communication

Genres

Reader

Reader’s use of the communication

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Through these assignments students will demonstrate their achievement of the following departmental goals:

In terms of Intercultural Competency students will: a. Demonstrate a nuanced understanding of the complexity of elements

important to members of another culture in relation to its history, values, politics, communication styles, economy, or beliefs and practices





In terms of Critical Thinking ability students will:

a. Conduct in-depth research in the target language, following field-appropriate disciplinary standards. Identify core issues of given topics (based on cultural products, such as literature, film, historical texts, journalistic texts, visual art), research those issues and engage in substantive analysis.

b. Critically consider the issue/problem being researched. Demonstrate sophistication in the analysis of different sides of an issue and use appropriate, relevant and compelling content that conveys a deep understanding of complex ideas.

c. Use credible and relevant sources to develop a sophisticated and coherent analysis and synthesis. Critically evaluate and thoroughly question the viewpoints expressed by the experts in those sources.


In terms of linguistic proficiency in the target language students will:

a. Prepare a range of written communications associated with social, professional, and/or academic situations.

b. Narrate, describe, and substantiate opinions in detail in all major time frames with good control of aspect and other major grammatical structures.

c. Use a variety of cohesive devices and strategies for logical connected discourse.

d. Control the target-language syntactic structures. e. Employ a range of vocabulary that is both topic and register appropriate.

Second statement describing the nitration of the department’s writing outcomes with its other learning outcomes

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Appendix B General Analysis of the Current Support for Student Writing by Spanish and French Majors

Based on Data Gathered from Faculty and Students

ANALYSIS OF CURRENT SUPPORT FOR STUDENT WRITING BY SPANISH MAJORS

The Spanish Section of the department of World Languages and Cultures offers the following courses that are either required or elective for Spanish majors.

List of 300 and 400 level courses that count towards the major (as they appear in 2013-‐14 Academic Catalog)

SPN 316 Advanced Practice in Spanish through Film SPN 318 Advanced Spanish and the Maya Worlds SPN 320 Reading Texts, Reading Life SPN 322 Art of Written Communication SPN 330 Today’s Spanish Speaking World through Media SPN 333 Defining Moments in Spanish Civilization SPN 334 Defining Moments in Spanish American Civilization SPN 335 Latinos in the US: Past, Present and Future SPN 341 Linguistic Grammar SPN 342 Phonetics SPN 343 Translation SPN 350 Methods: Cultural and Literary Interpretations SPN 353 Text, Culture and Media in Spain SPN 354 Text, Culture and Media in Spanish America SPN 355 Conquests, Clashes, and Transitions SPN 356 Text and Social Change SPN 371-‐79 Special Topics SPN 481 Internship SPN 485 Senior Capstone Seminar SPN 491 Independent Study

In order to properly map and analyze writing done through these courses, the Spanish section chose to look at those that are required by all majors, as well as those that are popular among students and, consequently, have been offered more than once during the past two academic years.

SPN 485 Senior Capstone Seminar is the best reflection of our students’ achievements. Students in this course complete a written research paper, which is presented to the Spanish faculty by the end of the semester. Analyzing the guidelines and rubrics for this project, we think that it shows students’ achievement of most linguistic proficiency and critical thinking goals as determined by the Departmental Goals document. The project also demonstrates intercultural competency goal a.

In order to better meet the intercultural competency goals approved by the Department of WLC, we have recently developed and proposed a course that would guide and orient students in a more focused way through the study abroad experience. All majors in our department will be required to register for this course that would comprise pre-‐departure period (with 1 s.h.), study abroad period (1 s.h.) and

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post-‐study abroad period (2 s.h.). We hope that this experience, as well as the oral media presentation, which will culminate this course, will allow students to reach the intercultural competency goals (b, c, d, and e), as well as critical thinking goal d.

Our Senior Capstone Seminar is of a very high standard and requires high-‐level critical and analytical thinking abilities, as well as advanced linguistic proficiency. Spanish faculty think that our curriculum at upper-‐300 level would prepare students for this level, if the courses were not consistently canceled due to low enrollment. The reason for this is that students complete most of their upper-‐300 level course requirements abroad, where they have less exposure to the type of critical thinking and intensive writing that is necessary. The Spanish section is preparing a curricular proposal that would address this issue and facilitate more seamless transition for students from lower 300-‐level to Capstone goals.1

Our program requires 44 s.h. of courses in Spanish, out of which SPN 320, SPN 322, SPN 350, and SPN 485 are required. Students also choose two courses numbered 33* to 43* (culture/civilization courses); two courses numbered 35* to 45* (literature courses) and two courses numbered 34* to 44* (linguistics/phonetics courses).

Upper 300-‐level courses: Reviewing the writing done through our upper 300-‐level courses (SPN 333, SPN 350, SPN 353, SPN 341-‐2, SPN 373, and SPN 374), Spanish faculty thought that these courses met most of the departmental writing goals. For example, most final projects required students to synthesize the study of specific topic, as well as compare and contrast their understanding of target culture with that of their native. Students in these courses are consistently asked to explain the reasons for certain target and native cultural practices. These courses also focused on the analysis of texts (close reading, identification of argument/thesis, building of argument, contextualization of the text, etc.), and all written assignments addressed linguistic proficiency goals.

Lower 300-‐level courses are the most popular and the most frequently offered by the Spanish section, since all majors and minors register for them. Among the courses we analyzed were SPN 320-‐322, SPN 330, SPN 316. We felt that that creation of a 320-‐322 sequence (one being reading intensive and the other – writing intensive course) has addressed effectively the departmental writing goals. These courses are already topic based through which students are consistently and intentionally exposed to target culture and achieve linguistic proficiency (in writing, as well as other three skills) through meaningful discussions, analysis and engagement with the topic. The faculty thought that among a variety of writing assignments, perhaps the culminating assignment common for all courses at this level should be cultural/critical analysis paper followed by a poster-‐type presentation. Presentation can be open to the public, especially students enrolled in other sections of the same level courses.

1 The new curriculum will be divided into lower 300, upper 300, lower 400 and Capstone Seminar and offer a variety of “topics” courses based on common level-‐appropriate writing objectives. There won’t be any required courses, but students will be required to take 2 courses (8 s.h.) at each level in order to assure better scaffolding for students to make progress from lower to upper level in terms of all major departmental goals.

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ANALYSIS OF CURRENT SUPPORT FOR STUDENT WRITING IN SPANISH AT BENCHMARK LEVELS

LOWER 300-‐LEVEL COURSES:

Intercultural Proficiency, Critical Thinking and Linguistic Proficiency

(Lower 300-‐level)

Addressed in the assignments

Your comments What type(s) of assignment(s) could address this skill

a. Demonstrate partial understanding of the complexity of elements important to members of another culture in relation to its history, values, politics, communication styles, economy, or beliefs and practices.

XXXXX Cultural analysis paper; critical analysis of a movie/text; Research paper on a problematic issue that concerns both: Hispanic and US population (to see the comparison; differences; etc.)

I feel like with a well thought out rubric (intentionally asking students to “recognize own cultural rules and biases”, as well as to think the differences in verbal communication style and syntax, we could achieve these intercultural competency goals with cultural / critical analysis / research papers.

b. Recognize own cultural rules, judgments and biases.

XX Critical analysis of a movie or a text;

c. Recognize many cultural differences in verbal and nonverbal communication.

I wonder if this is something we could add to the rubric, rather than have a separate assignment that would assess this goal.

d. Begin to recognize cultural perspectives revealed by differences in vocabulary and syntax.

XX

e. Begin to recognize some cultural conventions within a variety of contexts.

XXX It seems that goals B, C, and D of Intercultural competency are about comparison between one’s native and target cultures. So, I think it would be helpful to create an assignment that would specifically ask students to take one issue and view it from two different perspectives. The details related to the goals (b, c, d) can be listed in the evaluation rubric.

a. Demonstrate some understanding of the issue/problem being researched. Acknowledge and critically consider different sides of an issue and use appropriate and relevant content to develop and explore ideas.

XXXXX

b. Identify and use credible and relevant source(s) with some interpretation/ evaluation. Develop coherent analysis and synthesis. Begin to question the viewpoints expressed by experts.

XXXXX

c. Conduct simple research in the target language, developing knowledge of field-‐appropriate standards. Begin to identify core issues of given topic, with

XXXXX

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appropriate guidance researches those issues and begins analyzing them. d. Sometimes independently articulate connections and interrelates their learning to previous studies within and outside the discipline.

XXXXX Added to the rubric

a. Prepare written communications associated with social, professional, and/or academic situations.

XXXXX I also felt that all of the assignments met linguistic proficiency goals. What do we mean when we say: “written communications associated with professional situations”?

If it’s students’ profession (major/minor), how do we want to address this goal?

b. Narrate, describe, and express opinions in different time frames with some control of aspect and other major grammatical structures.

XXXXX

c. Use some cohesive devices and strategies for logical connected discourse.

XXXXX

d. Begin to use the target-‐language syntactic structures.

XXXXX

e. Use a vocabulary that is topic and register appropriate.

XXXXX

UPPER 300-‐LEVEL COURSES:

Intercultural Proficiency, Critical Thinking and Linguistic Proficiency (Upper 300-‐level)



a. Demonstrate advanced understanding of the complexity of elements important to members of another culture in relation to its history, values, politics, communication styles, economy, or beliefs and practices.

SPN 353 SPN 350: SPN 333 SPN 333 (II) SPN 373

It was part and parcel of the entire course Focus of course is more on process of analysis than culture, but culture is imbedded throughout the course (though not assessed directly) It was the entire focus

-‐Final creative project (they needed to synthesize the study of gender and sexuality in Spanish literature to create their own original creative piece that expressed their personal understanding of gender and sexuality; the analysis paper part of the project needed to address how it was similar or different from the Spanish exploration of gender in literature) -‐Essay exams/papers -‐Discussions in class -‐“Context” power point presentation (have to talk about the most important ideas being debated at the time in which a literary piece was written) -‐Exams and presentations that explained why certain cultural practices where the way they were in Spanish culture

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of the course! It was the entire focus of the course! It was the entire focus of the course!

-‐Creative final project (had to create an artistic expression that displayed the many facets of “Las Españas” that we had studied all semester; they also had to write an analysis of the effectiveness of their use in applying those concepts to the creative work) Exams, presentation, and final project: The main purpose was to connect current day events with the historical perspective that we developed in class, to inform current news with the background they acquired. Exams, presentation, and final project: The main purpose was to build a narrative around some culinary element and present its evolution combining their sources with the historical knowledge they had accumulated during the semester.

b. Recognize new perspectives about their own cultural rules, judgments, and biases learned through their interactions with culturally different others.

Reflections and freewrites about the fictional works Not assessed directly, but they did display it via in-‐class discussions about the cultural texts and history studied Reflections, reactions, presentations Reflections, reactions, presentations

c. Recognize cultural differences apparent in verbal and nonverbal communication.

Not assessed directly, but they did display it via in-‐class discussions about language in the texts Same as for SPN 353 (If we did it was only via discussions of the texts and only in a cursory manner) Not assessed directly, but they did display it via in-‐class discussions about language in texts, movies, etc. Not assessed directly, but they did display it via in-‐class discussions about language in

Language analysis or quote analysis Quote analysis for each literary work Language analysis based on cultural influences Language analysis based on cultural influences

15

texts, movies, etc. d. Recognize and make hypotheses about cultural perspectives revealed by differences in vocabulary and syntax.

Not assessed directly, but they did display it via in-‐class discussions about language in the texts Same as for SPN 353 (If we did it was only via discussions of the texts and only in a cursory manner) Not assessed directly, but they did display it via in-‐class discussions about language in the texts Not assessed directly, but they did display it via in-‐class discussions about language in the texts

Language analysis or quote analysis Quote analysis Language analysis based on cultural influences Language analysis based on cultural influences


No

a. Demonstrate good understanding of issue/problem being researched. Acknowledge and critically consider different sides of an issue and use appropriate, relevant and compelling content to develop and explore complex ideas.

Yes

Essay exams and traditional literary analysis papers Essay exams and prospectus Essay exams, presentations, final project Research paper, presentations, current events analysis Essays, presentations and final project

b. Use credible and relevant sources to develop a coherent analysis and synthesis. Evaluate and question the viewpoints expressed by the experts in those sources.

Yes, but in an indirect way

If we did do this it was in an indirect way

Essay exams and traditional literary analysis papers Prospectus Research paper Final paper

c. Conduct in-‐depth research in the target language, following field-‐appropriate disciplinary

Yes, but at a beginner level and not directly

Students engaged in analysis of the texts studied, but they did not do outside research

Essay exams and traditional literary analysis papers -‐Annotated bibliography entries

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standards. Identify core issues of given topics (based on cultural products, such as literature, film, historical texts, journalistic texts, visual art), research those issues and engage in analysis.

except for their presentations on some sort of cultural practice that was relevant to Spain and contemporary Spanish culture

-‐Prospectus Research paper Final paper

d. Often independently connect and interrelate their learning to previous studies within and outside the discipline.

Yes, partially

We only connected to previous studies when we talked about some of the students’ study abroad experiences With some hand-‐holding With lots of hand-‐holding

Final creative project (they brought in their primary majors to do this-‐-‐-‐my music majors composed and sang songs, my dance major choreographed and performed a dance, etc. When they choose the work for which they want to write their prospectus and decide on a frame or lens to analyze that work they are encouraged to bring in their other or primary major When they chose the topic of their final project in relation with previous experiences: other classes, study abroad, major, etc. When they chose the topic of their final project


Yes, partially

They only wrote for academic purposes Same as for SPN 353 Only academic writing

b. Narrate, describe, and substantiate opinions in all major time frames with good control of aspect and other major grammatical structures.

Yes

Essays, final project, paper, reflections Exams, freewrites, final project, prospectus, etc. Exams, essays, analysis activities, etc. Essays, final project, paper, reflections Essays, final project, paper, reflections


Yes

All written work All written work All written work Written work and presentations Written work and presentations

d. Show awareness of the target-‐language syntactic structures.

Yes


e. Often employ a vocabulary that is both topic and register appropriate.

Yes


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UPPER 300-‐LEVEL COURSES IN LINGUISTICS:

Intercultural Proficiency, Critical Thinking and Linguistic Proficiency

(Upper 300-‐level/Linguistics)




Communication styles are discussed in SPN 340 but no specific writing assignment is included.



X Specifically verbal in all. SPN 340 also treats nonverbal.

Prompts in written assignments and essay questions need to be revised.

d. Recognize and make hypotheses about cultural perspectives revealed by differences in vocabulary and syntax.

X Especially in SPN 340 and 341.

Prompts in written assignments and essay questions need to be revised.


a. Demonstrate good understanding of issue/problem being researched. Acknowledge and critically consider different sides of an issue and use appropriate, relevant and compelling content to develop and explore complex ideas.

X

b. Use credible and relevant sources to develop a coherent analysis and synthesis. Evaluate and question the viewpoints expressed by the experts in those sources.

X

c. Conduct in-‐depth research in the target language, following field-‐appropriate disciplinary standards. Identify core issues of given topics (based on cultural products, such as literature, film, historical texts, journalistic texts, visual art), research those issues and engage in analysis.

X


X They will make connections to previous linguistic study. Some opportunities to connect within the discipline, with their use of Spanish and their understanding of their own language.


X

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X Primarily in present, occasional uses of past and future


X


X


X

400-‐LEVEL CAPSTONE:

Intercultural Proficiency, Critical Thinking and Linguistic Proficiency (Major/Capstone)



a. Demonstrate sophisticated and nuanced understanding of the complexity of elements important to members of another culture in relation to its history, values, politics, communication styles, economy, or beliefs and practices

X Especially capstone project (oral and written)


Reflection on SA


Reflection on SA


Reflection on SA


Reflection on SA

a. Critically consider issue/problem being researched. Demonstrate sophistication in the analysis of different sides of an issue and use appropriate, relevant and compelling content that conveys a deep understanding of complex ideas.


b. Use credible and relevant sources to develop a sophisticated and coherent analysis and synthesis. Critically evaluate and thoroughly question the viewpoints expressed by the experts in those sources.


c. Conduct in-‐depth research in the target language, following field-‐appropriate disciplinary standards. Identify core issues of given topics (based on cultural products, such as literature, film, historical texts, journalistic texts, visual art), research those issues and engage in substantive analysis.



Can be asked in oral presentation

a. Prepare a range of written communications X Especially capstone

19

associated with social, professional, and/or academic situations.

project (oral and written)

b. Narrate, describe, and substantiate opinions in detail in all major time frames with good control of aspect and other major grammatical structures.


c. Use a variety of cohesive devices and strategies for logical connected discourse.


d. Control the target-‐language syntactic structures. X Especially capstone project (oral and written)

e. Employ a range of vocabulary that is both topic and register appropriate.

X

ANALYSIS OF CURRENT SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS WRITING BY FRENCH MAJORS

The French Section of the Department of World Languages and Cultures offers the following courses towards the Major and Minor. The only required course on this list is FRE 350. Students must take 10 courses + FRE 499 in the current version of our major. The French section is undertaking a broad overhaul of this curriculum this semester and summer, with plans to propose to the Curriculum Committee in Fall 2014. Many of the courses listed below will have revised titles, course content, or both. See *. Courses Considered: French 321: French Conversation* French 323: Current Events in the Francophone World* French 324: Voices of Identity in French Phonetics (French 325: Advanced Grammar)* French 350: Methods: Introduction to Textual Analysis French 351: Perspectives on Early France French 352: Perspectives on Modern France French 353: The Francophone World Outside the Hexagon French 361: Defining Moments in French Civilization French 363: French Cinema French 3762: French Theater in Production French 499: Senior Capstone Research* * These courses will either have new names or will no longer exist as currently taught in the future curriculum. FRE 321 will be called “Reel Stories” and will be a course on contemporary French culture via film. FRE 323 will no longer exist; current events will be introduced in lower levels and are also included in FRE 321. FRE 325 will no longer exist. It is in parentheses because a permanent faculty member has not taught it in several years.

2 Not a permanent course number.

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General Comments: Linguistic Proficiency Goals An analysis of the writing typically assigned in these courses reveals that they are all working towards achieving our departmental goals in linguistic proficiency. Each course includes some free writing, some writing to learn, and various other assignments both creative and analytic. Longer essays are always submitted at least twice with time for revision and meeting with the professor between drafts. Students have been generally (although not universally) provided with detailed assignment descriptions and rubrics. They are also encouraged to make use of the expertise of our librarians and our tutors. Most of the assignments deal with social or academic situations, so we should perhaps consider integrating assignments for professional situations. This may be achieved by some of our anticipated curricular revisions. Critical Thinking Goals The assignment mapping also revealed that critical thinking is inherent in all of our courses, although not all of the critical thinking goals are addressed equally. The French faculty felt comfortable applying the term “In-‐depth research” only to the Capstone level and the French Civilization course (in which students undertake semester-‐long research on a historical figure), although students are encouraged to conduct research and evaluate external sources in nearly all other courses as well. All courses numbered 350-‐363 required students to write analytic essays, most of which involved the close reading and interpretation of texts (literary and/or visual). Sometimes external sources were required. Other times they were encouraged; sometimes they were discouraged in order for students to focus on developing their own interpretive skills. We were also happy to see that the interdisciplinary nature of our Civilization and Theater Production courses (in particular) encouraged students to make connections to their learning outside of French courses. There is room for improvement in the scaffolding of research skills, most particularly in the evaluation and questioning of experts’ viewpoints. Assignments asking students to summarize and evaluate the arguments of academic articles in our pre-‐capstone literature and culture courses could help students develop Critical Thinking goals a and b, particularly if the instructor exposes students to critical interpretations that disagree with each other. Intercultural Competency Goals Our intercultural competency goals are perhaps the ones that are least intuitively assessed in our writing even while being omnipresent in our course content. Our assignments frequently address goals a and d. Some elements of goal a are inherent to nearly all of our courses. Close reading and textual analysis lend themselves naturally to goal d, although it is essential that we point out to students these how vocabulary and syntax reveal cultural differences before they are able to do it themselves (scaffolding). While we felt that our courses addressed goals b, c, and e of intercultural competency, we were not necessarily always having students demonstrate those things in writing in our courses. We have discussed as a department how goals b and c, which involve interactions with culturally different others, will be addressed by the new study abroad course. We were happy to note that they have also already been addressed in our 321 and 353 courses in which Sophie had students speak with native speakers on Skype via a program called TalkAbroad; students then wrote about their experiences. This TalkAbroad experiment also allowed students to develop goal e, since they were required to come up with appropriate interview questions before speaking with their conversation partners. Students in

21

361 also wrote in a wide variety of contexts (e) for their semester-‐long research project (Sarah). Goal c is also addressed in French Theater in Production, as students have to think and write about verbal and nonverbal communication regarding their approaches to the staging of the play. In general, we need to brainstorm ways in order to guarantee that we are incorporating writing that explicitly addresses these ICC goals in our courses.

Chart for Analysis of 300-‐level courses in French

Intercultural Proficiency, Critical Thinking and Linguistic

Proficiency (300-‐level)




351, 352, 353, 361, 363, 491

Some of our courses are doing these things through student presentations and student-‐lead class discussions (so not explicitly writing). The assignments listed here are heavily focused on final/research papers. We might consider other types of assignments that could achieve this.

351-‐final trans-‐historical research paper; 352-‐research paper; 353-‐research paper; 361-‐life portfolio; 363-‐research presentations on how films communicated about the nature of the French family and final paper; 491-‐ senior seminar research and presentation


321 & 353, 352

Students did this via journaling about their TalkAbroad Skype interactions in 321 and 353.

321 + 353-‐Journal prompts could explicitly focus on self-‐understanding + analysis. 352-‐ In-‐class essays on socio-‐economic diversity in contemporary France and the U.S. (This wasn’t done systematically; it was project-‐specific)


371, 324

In 324, students are regularly doing this in listening exercises and video exercises.

Theater course “Déclaration Artistique” Study abroad course (future) Reflection journaling about service-‐learning experiences in 321? -‐In 324, write-‐ups of the analyses of their listening and

22

video work. d. Recognize and make hypotheses about cultural perspectives revealed by differences in vocabulary and syntax.

324

This is addressed in the process of close reading in all of our lit classes, but not necessarily always written about. Prompts in many courses could make this explicit. In 324, students talked about how grammar and syntax impact phonetics.

This could be part of one or more writing prompts (reading journals?) in many courses. The goal of the assignment would have to be spelled out explicitly. -‐Written scripts for oral presentations in 324; reflection papers on which presentations might be based.


321, 353, 361

321 + 353-‐Drafting of appropriate questions for international conversation partners. 353-‐ Creation of a podcast using appropriate material from native-‐speaker interviews. 361-‐letter writing, birth and death notices based on authentic models.

a. Conduct in-‐depth research in the target language, following field-‐appropriate disciplinary standards. Identify core issues of given topics (based on cultural products, such as literature, film, historical texts, journalistic texts, visual art), research those issues and engage in analysis.

471, 324, 350, 351, 352, 353, 361

Students in all listed courses are engaging in research, but it can be considered “in depth” at the senior seminar level, and in 361 where students researched a historical figure throughout the semester.

471-‐Senior capstone research, 361-‐historical figure life portfolios.

b. Demonstrate good understanding of issue/problem being researched. Acknowledge and critically consider different sides of an issue and use appropriate, relevant and compelling content to develop and explore complex ideas.

471, 324, 350, 351, 352, 353, 361

c. Use credible and relevant sources to develop a coherent analysis and synthesis. Evaluate and question the viewpoints expressed by the experts in those sources.

471, 324, 350, 351, 352, 353, 361


471, This has not been intentionally emphasized.

Asking students when choosing research topics to link their topics to their studies from other disciplines. In future semesters, ask students to do research for their other courses with French sources;

23

ask them to bring those sources in and write up how the French-‐language source informed their research for the other course.


471

We’re heavy on the academic, but light on social and professional (at least at the 300 level). We are doing some of this at 200 level.

Research papers for presentation (academic). Letters, CVs, memos. (We anticipate several of these to be appropriate for the new Business French course next spring.) Letters to students who will be studying at Elon.


ALL


ALL


ALL

24

Appendix C Rubric Developed and Used to Assess Students’ Research Papers

Thresholds: � Author must take a critical stance regarding one or more primary cultural products. � Research paper must have a minimum of 4500 words, not including bibliography � Research paper must cite 12 scholarly sources, out of which at least 8 should be in the language of student’s major. If a student decides to analyze an original text with limited

scholarly research, exceptions can be made to the number of scholarly sources required in the target language. � Research paper must follow disciplinary standards using MLA style. � Research paper must be turned in on or before the time requested by the instructor.

RESEARCH PAPER Points Accomplished /

Exemplary Proficient/ Adequate

Developing/ Insufficient

Critical Thinking and Research in Action 60%

Identification of Issue:

A. Author identifies the issue within the primary cultural product to be researched (be it literary text, film, historical text, journalistic text, visual art, etc.)

B. Author proposes a clear, precise, and defendable thesis.

Critical Treatment of Issue:

A. Author presents the issue/problem from more than one perspective.

B. Author integrates and synthesizes sources coherently into his/her analysis.

C. Author critically evaluates (and, when appropriate, questions) the viewpoints expressed by the experts.

D. Author’s own analysis convey(s) a deep understanding of complex ideas.

E. Author’s conclusion(s) synthesize(s) sources and his/her own analysis.

Organization and Disciplinary Standards.

A. Research paper is well organized.

B. Author selects credible, comprehensive and relevant sources.

Intercultural Competency 20%

Author explores cultural (historical, political, social, stylistic, economical, OR religious) dimensions of the problem.

Author’s analysis shows his/her understanding of cultural differences revealed in vocabulary and syntax imbedded in the text(s).

Language Use 20%

A. Author narrates, describes, and substantiates opinions in detail in all major time frames with good control of major grammatical structures and syntax.

B. Author uses a variety of cohesive devices and strategies for logical connected discourse. C. Author employs a range of vocabulary that is both topic and register appropriate. D. Author’s style demonstrates an integration of the target language’s idiomatic structures vs. reliance on English-

language structures.

TOTAL

25

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