Dissemination

Developing Multiple Literacies

Curriculum Development, Educating Graduate Students as Teachers, Pedagogies, and Assessment
Internal Dissemination and Record Keeping

A significant number of documents have been created in conjunction with this project. By far the majority of these are internal documents, among them

  • the original proposal approved by the Department in February 1997
  • documents prepared in conjunction with faculty workshops
  • general statements that pertain to the entire curriculum, e.g., for the development of writing and speaking abilities
  • level-specific documents, such as syllabi, or level-appropriate assessment specifications
  • tabulation of the genre, written and oral, that occur in the sequenced courses of the curriculum, in textual materials as well as in pedagogical tasks, part of a teacher-researcher Spencer grant
  • proposals regarding the selection of materials for the five curricular levels, but particularly for levels IV and V, the latter part of a teacher-researcher Spencer grant
  • general assessment policies for the department
  • documents pertaining to the development and assessment of writing ability across the curricular levels I – IV
  • documents pertaining to the assessment of speaking abilities across the curricular levels I – IV
  • documents pertaining to the responsibilities of all members of the department with regard to the education of graduate students as teachers
  • documents created to trace the development of graduate students as future professionals within a content-oriented, task-based curriculum, part or a teacher-researcher Spencer grant
  • documents pertaining to responsibilities of all members of the department with regard to continued curriculum enhancement
  • amended faculty merit guidelines during the three-year implementation phase of the curriculum reform, to include a category “curriculum reform”.
  • These documents are readily available to the entire teaching staff through a shared computer drive that serves both as repository and as resource for continued enhancement of the curriculum.
  • External Dissemination

In addition, the Department has provided information about the project to the profession at large in the hope of spurring additional curricular and pedagogical innovations in language departments, particularly at the college level.

  • The web site contains a sampling of those materials deemed to be of greatest interest to a larger public.
  • In addition, faculty and graduate students have presented and also published on diverse aspects of the curriculum renewal project, including its effect on graduate student socialization into the profession as future faculty members engaged in teaching.

The following listing arranges these activities according to three areas:

  • curriculum and pedagogy,
  • the development of graduate students as teachers, and
  • assessment.

Each category lists both presentations and publications. Presentations are chronologically arranged, publications are listed alphabetically by authors.

I. Curriculum and Pedagogy
Presentations
  • Byrnes, H, Eigler, F., Sprang, K. (2003). 3-hour preconference workshop at ACTFL/AATG, Philadelphia, Nov. 20, 2003: Teaching toward literacy: In texts, through genres, with tasks.
  • Maxim, H., Weigert, A., Sprang K. (2003). Session at ACTFL/AATG, Philadelphia, Nov. 22, 2003. Contextualizing vocabulary acquisition in the intermediate and advanced FL classroom. Maxim: Expanding FL learners’ vocabulary through textual borrowing. Weigert: No more lists: Vocabulary acquisition in Business German. Sprang: Vocabulary acquisition: Can you define that for me, please?
  • Pfeiffer, P., Rinner S., Weigert, A. (2003). Session at ACTFL/AATG, Philadelphia, Nov. 22, 2003. Language for all purposes: From literature to business via genre. Pfeiffer: The case for integrating FL programs. Rinner: Teaching the language of criticism: Film reviews in an advanced literature course. Weigert: Book reviews in business language courses.
  • Maxim, H., Crane, C., Rinner, S. (2002). Session organized by Maxim: Toward an understanding of advanced-level language learning. ACTFL/AATG conference, Salt Lake City, UT: November 23, 2002. Maxim: Student and instructor perceptions of the advanced language learner; Crane: Genre analysis: A step toward understanding the different stages of advanced language instruction; Rinner: Developing materials for the different levels of advanced language learning.
  • Byrnes, H. (2002). “Task-based writing in a curricular context: Specifying goals, pedagogies, and assessment criteria.” ACTFL/AATG conference, Salt Lake City, UT: November 23, 2002.
  • Byrnes, H. (2002). “From content-based instruction to content-oriented curriculum: A proposal for collegiate FL departments.” Lecture at the UCLA Language Resource Program. Workshop: “Considering content-based curriculum construction in a collegiate FL context.” Los Angeles, CA, May 17, 2002.
  • Weigert, A. (2002). “More than vocabulary: Literacy and genre in Business language courses.” CIBER 2002. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, March 15, 2002.
  • Frawley, T., Hebel, S., Rinner S., Weigert, A. (2002).: “Linking content and language acquisition: Perspectives on materials development for upper-level content courses.” Presentation in the German Department Research Seminar. March 12, 2002.
  • Crane, C., Galvanek, J., Liamkina, O., Ryshina-Pankova, R. (2002). “Genre: Where art thou. Tracing the role of genre in a foreign language curriculum.” Session at the UC Conference on Language Learning: Theoretical and Pedagogical Perspectives. University of California, Irvine, March 8-9, 2002.
  • Byrnes, H. (2002). “What no methods course means: Toward an ethnography of foreign languages in higher education.” Keynote at the UC Conference on Language Learning: Theoretical and Pedagogical Perspectives. University of California, Irvine, March 8-9, 2002.
  • Hebel, S., Rinner S., Weigert. A. (2001). Session: Content courses as advanced language learning courses: Principles and practices for materials development. Hebel: Materials choices for linking content and advanced language learning: Foundational considerations; Rinner: From scratch? Linking content and language acquisition in a task-based literature course for the advanced learner of German; Weigert: What’s Business got to do with it? Text selection and sequencing in a business-oriented course. AATG convention, Washington, DC: November 16, 2001.
  • Byrnes, H. (2001). “Authorial stance and the ‘reader-in-the text’: Advanced L2 learning as emerging heteroglossia.” Paper in session Language in Literature. MLA conference, New Orleans, 2001.
  • Pfeiffer, P., Byrnes, H., Maxim, H., Sprang, K., &Weigert, A. (2001). Presentation in the Faculty Development Series of the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics. Pfeiffer: Providing a curricular frame for faculty development; Byrnes: The curriculum in its structures and implications for teaching; Weigert: The curriculum as a frame for acquiring language for special purposes: the Business German course; Sprang: Linking text and task for advanced language learning; Maxim: Enhancing writing abilities in a curricular context. Georgetown University, October 5, 2001.
  • Byrnes, H. (2001).White Paper for the Summit Conference on the Future of Language Learning: Curriculum Construction at the Post-Secondary Level, sponsored by FIPSE, Organized by ACTR in cooperation with the NFLC. April 18, 2001.
  • Byrnes, H. (2001). Discussion Paper for the Border-Crossing Session Roundtable: “An integrated curriculum for the foreign language classroom. Association for Asian Studies Annual Meeting, March 22-25, 2001. Chicago, IL.
  • Byrnes, H. (2001). Organizer of three-hour invited colloquium, Constructing college foreign language curricula: Research and practice. Presenters: Peter Robinson: Correlates and component of L2 task complexity: Researching sequencing criteria for task-based syllabuses. Guadalupe Valdes, Stanford University: A Standards-based approach to curricular reform at the college level: The development of proficiency outcome statements; Graham Crookes, The University of Hawai’i at Manoa: Selected aspects of governance, structure, and faculty development for models of U.S. FL curriculum construction in a non-literature environment; Virginia Scott, Vanderbilt University: Empirical research in the literature Classroom: A study of faculty perception; Christine Brown, Director of Foreign Languages, Glastonbury Public Schools, Glastonbury, CT: Foreign language instruction K-12 in the United States – A call for research – But what kind? AAAL 2000, Vancouver, March 11-14, 2000.
  • Byrnes, H. & Kord S. (2000). Full-day workshop “Integrating curricula in college foreign language departments: Issues, principles, choices.” Language Center at Rice University: April 4, 2000.
  • Byrnes, H. (2000). Lecture: In pursuit of a new intellectual center: Perspectives on foreign language departments.” Half-day workshop “Advanced L2 acquisition: Issues of learning and teaching.” Presentation to the Foreign Language Departments at Duke University. March 3-4, 2000.
  • Byrnes, H. (1999). “Content-based instruction (cbi) and focus on form (fonf) research: the need for a curricular perspective.” Paper in the session sponsored by the Division on Applied Linguistics Language acquisition and content-based language instruction: what does research have to say? Chicago: MLA, December 1999.
  • Pfeiffer P., Byrnes, H., & Eigler, F. (1999). Session organized by Pfeiffer, Developing Multiple Literacies: A model undergraduate curriculum for German Studies. Pfeiffer: Contemporary Germany and Business German; Eigler: German stories, German histories; Byrnes: Writing our selves — Writing our times. ACTFL/AATG conference, Dallas, TX, November 20, 1999.
  • Thiel, A., Brayton, E., Weise, P. (1999). Session organized by Thiel, Content-based instruction: Theory and practice. Weise: The theory: Making the case for content-based instruction; Thiel: The basics: Making the case for content-based instruction; Brayton: Notes from the field: Putting the theory into practice. ACTFL/AATG conference, Dallas, TX, Nov. 20, 1999.
  • Kurz, A., Sprang, K., & Weigert, A. (1999). Session organized by Kurz, Business German as intellectual challenge. Kurz: “Defining a home for Business German in the academy”; Sprang: “Attending to vocabulary acquisition in a content-based learning environment”; Weigert: “Globalization: The case of Daimler Chrysler.” ACTFL/AATG conference, Dallas, TX, November 20, 1999.
  • Byrnes, H. (1999). “Content-based instruction and adult instructed L2 acquisition: A curricular perspective.” Berkeley Foreign Language Center, April 9. 1999.
  • Pfeiffer, P. (1999). “Developing multiple literacies: A model integrated German Studies Curriculum,” University of California, Irvine, February 19, 1999.
  • Byrnes, H., & Kord, S. (1999).”College foreign language acquisition within an integrated content-based curriculum: Issues, decisions, realizations.” Full-day workshop to the foreign language faculty. University of Pennsylvania, January 30, 1999.
  • Byrnes, H. (1999). “Form and meaning in context: Perspectives on college foreign language departments.” University of Pennsylvania, January 29, 1999.
  • Byrnes, H., Mifflin, D., Sprang, K., & Thiel, A. (1998). Session organized by Byrnes, Speaking in many voices: advanced undergraduate learners of German.” Sprang: “Meaning-making and vocabulary acquisition”; Mifflin: “The dialogic construction of meaning in interactive discourse”; Thiel/Byrnes: “Unpacking the multiple layers of text: A road to acquisition.” ACTFL/AATG conference, Chicago, November 20 – 22, 1998.
  • Byrnes, H. (1998). “Linking content and language acquisition in a four-year foreign language curriculum: Issues, approaches, proposals.” Presentation at the Center for Language Studies, Providence RI: Brown University, October 8, 1998.
  • Pfeiffer, P. (1998). “Content-based instruction.” ADFL Seminar West, Victoria, BC, June 1998.
  • Byrnes, H. (1998). “Developing Multiple Literacies: An integrated content-based curriculum at the college level.” Presentation at the National Foreign Language Center in conjunction with a symposium Alternatives in foreign language teaching: Responding to new needs.. Washington, DC, February 9, 1998.
  • Pfeiffer, P., Byrnes, H., & Peck, J. (1997). Session chaired by Pfeiffer, Developing Multiple Literacies: A Curricular Framework for German Programs. Byrnes: “Language learning as developing multiple literacies”; Peck: “Developing multiple literacies as part of an interdisciplinary curriculum”; Pfeiffer: “Literature and multiple literacies.” ACTFL/AATG conference, Nashville, TN, Nov. 20, 1997.
Publications
  • Byrnes, H. and Sprang, K. (2003). Fostering advanced L2 literacy: A genre-based cognitive approach, pp. 47-85. Advanced foreign language learning: A challenge to college programs, H. Byrnes & H. H. Maxim, eds. Boston: Thomson/Heinle.
  • Crane, C., Liamkina, O., Ryshina-Pankova, M. (2003). Fostering advanced-level language abilities in foreign lanuage graduate programs: Applications of genre theory, pp. 150-177. Advanced foreign language learning: A challenge to college programs, H. Byrnes & H. H. Maxim, eds. Boston: Thomson/Heinle.
  • Weigert, A. (2003). ” What’s Business got to do with it?” The unexplored potential of business language courses for advanced foreign language learning, pp. 131-146. Advanced foreign language learning: A challenge to college programs, H. Byrnes & H. H. Maxim, eds. Boston: Thomson/Heinle.
  • Byrnes, H. (2002). Toward academic-level foreign language abilities: reconsidering foundational assumptions, expanding pedagogical options, pp. 34-58. Developing professional-level language proficiency, B. L. Leaver & B. Shekhtman, eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Byrnes, H. (2002). Contexts for advanced foreign language learning: A report on an immersion institute, pp. 61-76. Developing professional-level language proficiency, B. L. Leaver & B. Shekhtman, eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Byrnes, H. (2002). Language and culture: shall ever the twain meet in foreign language departments? ADFL Bulletin 33.2:25-32.
  • Byrnes, H. (2001) Articulating foreign language programs: The need for new, curricular bases, pp. 157-180. Foreign language program articulation:current practice and future prospects. C. Gascoigne, ed. Westport, CT: Bergin and Garvey Press.
  • Byrnes, H. (2000). Languages across the curriculum – intradepartmental curriculum construction: issues and options, pp. 151-175. Languages across the curriculum: interdisciplinary structures and internationalized education. M.- R. Kecht & K. von Hammerstein, eds. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University, National East Asian Language Resource Center.
  • Byrnes, H. (1999). Meaning and form in classroom-based SLA research: Reflections from a college foreign language perspective, pp. 125-179. Meaning and form: multiple perspectives, J. F. Lee & A. Valdman, eds. Boston: Heinle & Heinle.
  • Byrnes, H. (1998), Constructing curricula in collegiate foreign language departments, pp. 262-295. Learning foreign and second languages: perspectives in research and scholarship, H. Byrnes, ed. New York: The Modern Language Association.
  • Byrnes, H. & Kord, S. (2001) Developing literacy and literary competence: Challenges for FL departments, pp. 31-69. SLA and the Literature Classroom: Fostering Dialogues. V. Scott & H. Tucker, eds. Boston: Heinle & Heinle.
  • Eigler, F. (2001). Designing a third-year German course for a content-oriented, task-based curriculum. Die Unterrichtspraxis 34.2 (Fall 2001):107-118.
  • Pfeiffer, P. (2002). The future of German: An administrative perspective, pp. 103-116. Teaching German in America: Past Progress and Future Promise. A Handbook for Teaching and Research, G. F. Peters, ed. Haddontowne, NJ: AATG.
II. Developing Graduate Students as Teachers
Presentations
  • Semler, S. (2003). A sequenced curriculum as a structured mentored environment. ACTFL/AATG conference, Philadelphia, Nov. 22, 2003. In the session Teachers teaching teachers: Collaborative projects and TA development.
  • Byrnes, H. (2002). Paper in session arranged by the Division on Teaching as a Profession, Preparing the future professoriat. Paper: “The Future Professoriat in Foreign Languages: Between Competence and Performance. ” MLA, New York, December 30, 2002.
  • Maxim, H. (2002). Paper in session arranged by the Division on Applied Linguistics, Language program direction: Preparing the future professoriat. Paper: “Preparing graduate students as teachers within a coherent departmental and curricular framework.” MLA, New York, December 28, 2002.
  • Sprang, K. (2002). “‘Awareness’ as assessment tool in teacher professional development.” Language symposium 2002. Northwestern University, May 17-18, 2002.
  • Byrnes, H. (2001). “Reconceptualizing TA education: it takes a department!” Second International Conference on Language Teacher Education, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, May 18, 2001.
  • Byrnes, H., Crane, C. & Sprang, K.A. (2000). Session Non-native teachers teaching at the advanced level: Challenges and opportunities. Byrnes: Acquiring advanced L2 literacy: From content-based language instruction to language-based content instruction.Crane: Advanced interlanguage development as discourse awareness; Sprang: Native-like fluency, native-like selection: Advanced L2 learning at the intersection of vocabulary and grammar. ACTFL/AATG conference, Boston, Nov. 17-19, 2000.
  • Mifflin, D., Sprang, K., & Taylor, J. (1999). Session organized by Mifflin: Exploring links between teaching and learning: Professional development, reflective teaching, and peer collaboration. Sprang and Taylor: Who’s teaching whom? Peer observation and reflective teaching as tools for teacher growth; Mifflin: Peer collaboration in classroom action research: Reports from the field. ACTFL/AATG conference, Dallas, TX, Nov. 20, 1999.
  • * Publications
  • Byrnes, H., Crane, C. & Sprang, K.A. (2002). Teachers teaching at the advanced level: Challenges and opportunities. ADFL Bulletin 33,3:25-34.
  • Byrnes, H. (2001). Toward a comprehensive conceptualization of TA education: Contents, commitments, structures. ERIC Document Center. ED 456 651; FL 026 876.
  • Byrnes, H. (2001). Reconsidering graduate students’ education as teachers: It takes a department! The Modern Language Journal 85.4: 512-530.
  • Pfeiffer, P. (2002). Preparing graduate students to teach language and literature in a foreign language department. ADFL Bulletin 34,1:11-14.
III. Assessment
Presentations
  • Crane, C., Maxim, H., and Pfeiffer, P. (2003). Session Linking curriculum-based and curriculum-independent assessment: Articulation and accountability. ACTFL/AATG conference, Philadelphia, Nov. 22, 2003. Crane: Examining frameworks for placement testing and oral assessment: Past and present practices in FL college programs. Maxim: Enhancing intradepartmental articulation: Curriculum-based placement testing. Pfeiffer: Curriculum-independent language assessment. For details regarding this session, including a bibliography, see “Manuscripts.”
  • Byrnes, H. (2002). “Task-based writing in a curricular context: Specifying goals, pedagogies, and assessment criteria.” In the session The Future of German in American Education: Focus on the Postsecondary Level. Nov. 23, 2002. AATG/ACTL Salt Lake City.
  • Maxim, H. (2002). “Developing a curriculum-based approach to oral assessment.” Annual Meeting of the German Section of the American Association of University Supervisors and Coordinators. Ann Arbor, MI. November 8-9, 2002.
  • Norris, J. M. (2001). Curricular innovation via assessment development: Educational assessment as change agent in an undergraduate foreign language program. Invited presentation for the Assessment Council, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ (October 29, 2001).
  • Norris, J. M., & Medrado, M. H. (2001). Selecting tasks for L2 performance assessment. Paper presented in the invited strand colloquium “Performance testing and evaluation: Issues concerning the TESOL 2000 Resolution on Assessment”, at the annual Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages conference (TESOL), St. Louis, Missouri, (March 1, 2001) (Colloquium conveners: Barry O’Sullivan and Thom Simmons).
  • Norris, J. M. (2001). Test purposes and test tasks: Fundamental issues in performance assessment for foreign language classrooms and programs. Invited Pedagogy Seminar workshop for the Language Teaching Center, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD (March 14, 2001).
  • Norris, J. M. (2000). Comprehensive construct validation in foreign language assessment, part 2. Invited National Foreign Language Center presentation, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC (May 17, 2000).
  • Norris, J. M. (2000). Recent developments in task-based language assessment. Invited National Foreign Language Center presentation, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC (March 22, 2000).
  • Norris, J. M. (2000). Tasks and language assessment. Paper presented in the invited colloquium “Key issues in empirical research on task-based instruction”, at the annual American Association for Applied Linguistics conference (AAAL), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (March 14, 2000) (Colloquium convener: Peter Skehan).
  • Norris, J. M. (1999). Comprehensive construct validation in foreign language assessment, part 1. Invited National Foreign Language Center presentation, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC (October 27, 1999).
Publications
  • Norris, J. M. (2004). Development and evaluation of a curriculum-based German C-test for placement purposes. The C-test: Theory, empirical research, applications. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.
  • Norris, J. M. (2004) Validity Evaluation in Curriculum-based Foreign Language Assessment. University of Hawai’i, Honolulu: Unpublished doctoral disssertation.
  • Norris, J. M., and Pfeiffer, P. (2003). Exploring the uses and usefulness of ACTFL Guidelines oral proficiency ratings and standars in college foreign language departments. Foreign Language Annals.
  • Byrnes, H. (2002). The role of task and task-based assessment in a content-oriented collegiate FL curriculum. Language Testing, 19(4).425-443. (Special issue on task-based assessment, John M. Norris, guest editor).
  • Norris, J. M. (2002). Interpretations, intended uses, and designs in task-based language assessment: Introduction to the special issue. Language Testing, 19(4). 337-346,
  • Norris, J. M. (2000). Purposeful language assessment. English Teaching Forum, 38(1), 18-23.

 

November 26, 2003; revised July 2011