World Language Pedagogy (PRAXIS 5841)

A world-languages teacher of students at the beginning level introduces a cultural reading of several paragraphs from their workbook. The vocabulary, length of the reading, and sentence complexity are challenging for the students. Which of the following class activities for meeting students' needs as beginning readers is the most appropriate to use next?

Highlighting cognates, newly acquired vocabulary from the unit, and unknown words in different colors.

The teacher of an advanced foreign-language class is preparing a lesson on the influence of pop culture on adolescents in the target culture. Which of the following resources would give students the best opportunity to communicate in the target language?

Invite a young native speaker to give a guest lecture on the topic, with time for audience questions.

From a pedagogical perspective, which of the following statements best describes the primary benefit of including foreign-language education in the school curriculum?

Knowing more than one language improves children's cognitive abilities.

Students watch a video of target-language youth being interviewed about their everyday efforts to be environmentally responsible. As they watch, students use a checklist to keep track of the new vocabulary and structures specific to expressing one's views that the target-language speakers being interviewed are using.

Listening comprehension is the targeted skill for the second activity because students are required to listen to and understand youth speaking in the target language.

A foreign-language teacher wants to make a geography connection between a country that speaks the target language and the students' home country. The classroom is equipped with a world map that is color-coded by country and written in the target language. Which of the following is the best choice of activity for a third grade, first-year language class?

Looking at an outline of the countries on paper, finding the countries on the map by name, then writing the name of the countries on the outline.

According to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Performance Guidelines, which of the following reading tasks would best be assigned to superior-level learners?

Making inferences about the text.

Students debate on key issues addressed in the article and interview.

Oral expression is the targeted skill for the third activity because students are required to engage in an interpersonal speaking activity while applying what they have understood and learned from reading and listening to target-language stimuli.

Students read a magazine article about sustainable business practices in the target country to acquire new vocabulary.

Reading comprehension is the targeted skill for the first activity because students are required to interpret written text in the target language.

Which of the following reading activities is an instructional strategy that involves students skimming text to understand the theme of a passage?

Reading the title, subheadings, and first sentence of each paragraph of an article in the travel section of a newspaper

A foreign-language learner is staying with a host family during a study-abroad term. While in residence, he recognizes and uses the target language appropriately, following the norms of the target culture. Which of the following best describes the type of competence shown?

Sociolinguistic competence

Ms. Dunn is planning a lesson focusing on improving her advanced world-language students' interpersonal skills. Which of the following strategies would be best suited to meet Ms. Dunn's instructional goal?

Students discuss in the target language the best place to hold their 10-year class reunion and come to a final agreement.

The foreign-language teacher of a novice-level class wants to encourage extemporaneous speaking early on so that students become comfortable with the target language. Which of the following would be the most appropriate activity to foster the concept?

Students practice and speak a dialogue in the target language about a unit studied in class, using vocabulary prompts on the board.

Ms. Larra has designed a series of color-coded charts to help novice-level students conjugate verbs without the need for explicit directives. Students explore the language, proposing their own changes when mistakes are made. Which of the following approaches best fits this instructional strategy?

The Silent Way

Which of the following activities would most likely require students to use the highest level of Bloom's taxonomy?

Writing a short story about a famous historical figure from the target culture

Students summarize what they learned from the unit in an essay, presenting a clear point of view on the topic and addressing key points.

Written expression is the targeted skill for the fourth activity because students are required to complete a presentational writing task based on their understanding of the reading and listening stimuli.

A teacher in an advanced world-language class gave his students the following two-part assignment: 1. read and report on a story from a newspaper of the target culture that is written in the target language; and 2. read a similar story written in English from an American newspaper and discuss the differences and similarities between the two stories. Which of the following standards best summarizes the teacher's strategy?

B. Standard 4.2: Students demonstrate understanding of the concepts of culture through comparisons of the culture studied and their own.

A foreign-language teacher wants to encourage students to improve their conversational skills through role-play activities and scenarios but notices that many students have difficulty keeping the dialogue going. How can the teacher best modify the role-play to attain full student participation?

By providing students with sentence-builders, phrases, and expressions to help them construct complete sentences

Which of the following is an example of a reflective practice that fosters professional growth and improves teaching and learning?

Comparing lesson plans that succeeded with those that failed to reach the stated objective.

Mr. Gibson is teaching a beginning foreign-language class. His students have a problem understanding the target language as it is spoken by native speakers in authentic settings. Which of the following would best help Mr. Gibson's students develop the necessary skills to understand the spoken language?

Doing listening comprehension exercises based on recorded conversations of native speakers.

Which of the following statements is true about the Natural Approach?

Function is more important than form in beginning levels of instruction; therefore, learning activities in the classroom should be designed to promote communication.

A beginning world-languages teacher wants to select reading materials for her early-intermediate-level classes that will prepare them for further academic study. Which of the following literature choices most appropriately meets this objective?

Abridged narratives of classic works from the target culture.

A foreign-language teacher would like to immerse high school students in the target language from the outset. Which of the following activities would be the most appropriate for beginning-level students on the first day of class?

Asking students to respond to basic commands and gestures after the teacher first models them.

Which of the following would be the most appropriate means for a foreign-language teacher to encourage a high school intermediate-level foreign-language class to gain insights into the target culture?

Assigning the reading of short blogs about the lives of young people from various countries where the target language is spoken