The general overview of each unit provides learners (and instructors) with information about the goals of the unit. It begins with a list of all lessons included in the unit, allowing users to see how the broader unit topic is broken down into lesson-level subthemes. The overview also outlines the goals of the unit, describing what learners are expected to be able to do by the end of the unit. In addition, it provides concise summaries of the grammar structures and vocabulary areas that are developed across the unit (see example: Unit 4).
TEXTBOOK MATERIAL AND ACTFL CAN-DO STATEMENTS
The textbook material was created by following the ACTFL (2017) Can-Do Statements, including the section on intercultural communication. Statements from Intermediate Low (IL), Intermediate Mid (IM), Intermediate High (IH), and partially Advance Low (AL) levels were used as learning outcomes to develop the curriculum’s tasks through backward design. Some Can-do statements that were deemed less useful for learners were omitted. Some statements were also eliminated if they closely resembled ones already included. The statements covered the following areas: presentational communication, interpretative communication, intercultural communication, and interpersonal communication. Below are some examples from the textbook for each type of communication.
PRESENTATIONAL COMMUNICATION
- I can tell a story about my life, activities, events and other social experiences
- I can give straightforward presentations on a variety of familiar topics and some concrete topics I have researched
- I can present a comparison between the roles of family members in my own and other cultures
- I can present a review of an artwork or song and give specific reasons to support my point of view
- I can present and justify my point of view on current event topics such as recycling, energy conservation, or extreme weather events
INTERPRETATIVE COMMUNICATION
- I can identify the order of key events from a simple story read aloud
- can understand a conversation by peers talking about a local event
- I can understand a simple everyday action movie scene
- I can identify some specific, predictable actions from a segment of an audio book
- I can identify the sequence of events in a story
- I can follow a conversation friends have about what they are wearing for an occasion
- I can identify the sequence of events in a story
INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
- I can use learned behaviors when visiting someone’s home or business and notice when I make a cultural mistake
- I can talk about similarities and differences between art and music festivals with a peer from another culture
- I can demonstrate culturally appropriate behaviors as I discuss and try unfamiliar food and drink
- I can respond in an appropriate informal and formal manner in familiar family situation
- I can exchange information with a peer in another culture about their preferred technology for communicating
INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
- I can exchange information to create a poster to promote recycling and the benefits of it
- I can participate in a conversation with a partner to identify the information we need to plan a trip
- I can respond to other people’s posts about ways to stay healthy
- I can discuss information about career pathways
- I can exchange ideas about sports in schools in the US vs. other countries
- I can interact to share ideas about where I would prefer to live and why
Instructors interested in learning more about communication skills are encouraged to read World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages and ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines.