An Introduction to the Revised AP Spanish Language and Culture Course
Juan Carlos Morales, The College BoardKen Stewart, Chapel Hill High School, NCLaura Zinke, McClintock High School, AZ
Copyright © 2012 The College BoardThese materials may be used for educational non-commercial purposes. All other uses require permission from the College Board. www.collegeboard.org
AP courses are regularly updatedensure ongoing alignment with parallel college
coursesdifferences across AP world language exams
can lead to misunderstandings credit or placement often not equivalent to
the proficiency of AP world language students’experience
Project Rationale
Project GoalsEnsure that the AP world language courses: Embody a coherent conceptual organization Develop language proficiency across the three modes of
communication (Interpersonal, Interpretive and Presentational) Reflect a standards-based curriculum Align with the best practices of college and university teaching Maintain the continued validity of AP to colleges and
universities Advance the availability and access to AP world language
courses for a diverse range of prepared students Prepare students for success in subsequent college-level
courses
AP Course and Exam UpdateDate ActivityOctober 2011 Official announcement of new AP Spanish Language and Culture
course to take effect in 2013-14 academic yearOctober 2011 Publication of AP Spanish Language and Culture Curriculum
Framework including sample itemsSummer 2012 AP Summer Institutes with main focus on the current course, but
also with information on the new courseFebruary 2013 Publication of AP Spanish Language and Culture Course and Exam
Description and Publication of Course Audit materialsMarch 2013 Course Audit begins; course syllabi to be submitted by 1/31/14
June 2013 Publication of a complete and secure Practice ExamSummer and Fall 2013
AP Summer Institutes and one-day Workshops will focus on the new course
May 2014 First administration of new AP Spanish Language and Culture exam
Curriculum Framework Released in October 2011, the Curriculum Framework includes:
• Learning Objectives and Achievement Level Descriptions
• Themes, Recommended Contexts and Essential Questions
• Preview Sample Questions including:
• Four representative task models from the Multiple Choice Section
• Full Free Response Question Set
Overarching Premise When communicating, AP Spanish Language and Culture students demonstrate an understanding of the culture(s), incorporate interdisciplinary topics (Connections), make comparisons between the native language and the target language and between cultures (Comparisons), and use the target language in real-life settings (Communities).
Critical Revisions
The focus of the course is the development of students’ proficiencies in Interpersonal, Interpretive and Presentational Communication.
The course has a thematic approach.The course includes a focus on culture as
described in the standards: cultural products, practices, and perspectives.
Critical Revisions
AP CourseIntermediate Pre-AdvancedNovice
ACTFL Performance Guidelines for K-12 Learners
ACTFL Performance Guidelines
Curriculum FrameworkLearning Objectives
clear, detailed and finite articulations of what AP students know and are able to do
Each mode of communication reflects its own set of learning objectives in 6 categories:
Spoken Interpersonal CommunicationWritten Interpersonal CommunicationAudio, Visual and Audiovisual Interpretive CommunicationWritten and Print Interpretive CommunicationSpoken Presentational CommunicationWritten Presentational Communication
Curriculum Framework Achievement Level Descriptions
specific statements that articulate how student performance meets the learning objectives across the modes of communicationALDs:
• provide AP teachers with instructional feedback based on student performance
• represent progression along the target language learning trajectory• allow colleges and universities to better place AP students
•initiate, maintain and close conversations on familiar topics in a culturally appropriate manner most of the time; use a variety of simple and compound sentences, and some complex sentences on familiar topics
•initiate, maintain, and close conversations on familiar topics; use simple and compound sentences, and a few complex sentences with some accuracy
•initiate, maintain, and close conversations on familiar topics; narrations and descriptions are characterized by strings of simple sentences and a few compound sentences with the most accuracy in the present time and some accuracy in other time frames
•initiate and close conversations on topics of personal interest and maintain them by making basic statements; communication often requires intervention from others to attain comprehensibility; simple sentences with some accuracy in the present time
5 4 3 2
Achievement Level Descriptions: Interpersonal Spoken Communication
Comprehension Check
How does the Spanish Language and Culture Curriculum Framework drive instruction in the classroom?
Implications for InstructionThematic Approach
• integration of language, content and cultureRecommended Contexts
• consider historical, contemporary and future perspectives• complete flexibility for teachers in resource selection and
instructional exploration of themes• suggestions for addressing the themes
Overarching Essential Questions• motivate learners and guide classroom investigations, learning
activities, and performance assessments
Curriculum FrameworkThematic Approach
Integration of language, content, and culture
used to plan a brief unit of study, a comprehensive unit spanning a greater period of time, or to connect with AP courses in other disciplines
Curriculum FrameworkCourse Themes
Global Challenges / Los desafíos mundiales
Science andTechnology / La
ciencia y la tecnología
Contemporary Life / La vida contemporánea
Personal and Public Identities / Las
identidades personales y públicas
Families and Communities /
Las familias y las comunidades
Beauty and Aesthetics /La
belleza y la estética
Think-Pair-Share
Turn to the person next to you and share with them the topic of a current unit that you already teach successfully. Into what theme(s) does it fit?
Los desafíos mundiales
• Los temas económicos• Los temas del medio ambiente• El pensamiento filosófico y la religión• La población y la demografía• El bienestar social• La conciencia social
La ciencia y la tecnología
• El acceso a la tecnología• Los efectos de la tecnología en el
individuo y en la sociedad• El cuidado de la salud y la medicina • Las innovaciones tecnológicas • Los fenómenos naturales• La ciencia y la ética
La vida contemporánea
•La educación y las carreras profesionales•El entretenimiento y la diversión•Los viajes y el ocio•Los estilos de vida•Las relaciones personales•Las tradiciones y los valores sociales•El trabajo voluntario
Las identidades personales y
públicas
•La enajenación y la asimilación•Los héroes y los personajes históricos•La identidad nacional y la identidad étnica •Las creencias personales•Los intereses personales •La autoestima
Las familias y las comunidades
• Las tradiciones y los valores• Las comunidades educativas• La estructura de la familia• La ciudadanía global• La geografía humana• Las redes sociales
La belleza y la estética
• La arquitectura• Definiciones de la belleza• Definiciones de la creatividad• La moda y el diseño• El lenguaje y la literatura• Las artes visuales y escénicas
Recommended Contexts
Think-Pair-Share
Turn to the person next to you and choose one of the themes. What other contexts do you think would most interest your students in exploring this theme?
Ask yourself: “What do I really want students to know? What can they use in real life?”
An Essential Question:• is a provocative question designed to engage
student interest and guide inquiry into the important ideas in a field of study.
• does not have one “right” answer• is intended to stimulate discussion and rethinking
over time• raises other important questionsWhen using more than one, essential questions can
be differentiated to meet student needs.
Essential Questions
Overarching Essential QuestionsTheme: Global Challenges/Los desafíos mundiales
• What environmental, political, and social issues pose challenges to societies throughout the world? /
¿Cuáles son los desafíos sociales, políticos y del medio ambiente que enfrentan las sociedades delmundo?
• What are the origins of those issues? / ¿Cuáles son los orígenes de esos desafíos?
• What are possible solutions to those challenges? / ¿Cuáles son algunas posibles soluciones a esos desafíos?
Culture as part of a Language and Culture Course and Exam
Cultural knowledge will be assessed throughout the exam, not in a separate “Culture” section
• Students will be expected to demonstrate understanding of cultural information presented in print and audio resources as well as their interpretation and application of the products, practices and perspectives on the Spanish-speaking world.
• Students will not be asked isolated questions about cultural trivia
AP Course Audit Requirements
• All teachers will have to submit a new syllabus to the audit during the 2013-14 school year.
• Schools’ AP administrators renew approved courses each year.
• Syllabi will have to meet the new curricular requirements for AP Spanish Language and Culture.
• Support materials for teachers including sample syllabi and a syllabus development guide will be available via the Audit website beginning in March 2013.
• The audit will open in March 2013 and will be open to teachers until January 31, 2014.
What should a syllabus look like?• Syllabus must demonstrate use of a diverse
range of authentic materials:• Audio and video, including but not limited to: podcasts,
music, film, television• Print, including but not limited to: literature,
newspapers, magazines, maps/charts, tables, websites• Activities must target each of the three modes:
• Interpersonal• Interpretive• Presentational
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What should a syllabus look like?• Lessons must include the six themes.
• Instruction must address the six themes. You must demonstrate how resources and activities are connected to the themes.
• Themes may be addressed separately or in combination.• Activities must encourage students to explore
cultural products, practices and perspectives.• Students must have opportunities to understand cultural
and linguistic differences in the Spanish-speaking world.• Students must have opportunities to compare what they
learn about the target culture(s) with their own culture.
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Skills for the 21st Century Emphasis on culture products, practices,
and perspectives
themes and essential questions for cultural and interdisciplinary connections
Integration of technology to enhance learning
Learners as “doers” and “creators” who “share and publish” to audiences beyond their teacher
Learner-centered classroom with teacher as facilitator and collaborator
Alignment with Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century
Common Core Standards
Course and Exam Description –March 2013
Curriculum Framework
Exam Information • Description of the structure of the exam, timing and weightings of sections
Sample Exam Questions• A full exam’s worth of questions• Themes and learning objectives for all questions
Practice Exam – June 2013In addition to the information in the Course and Exam
Description:
Notes on the Exam Detailed description of how each of the sets/questions
corresponds to the Curriculum Framework (e.g., theme, description of sources, focus of questions, targeted learning objectives)
For MCQs – correct answers justified, explanations given as to why incorrect answers are wrong
For FRQs – tasks and level 5, 4, 3 responses described
Upcoming Teacher SupportNew AP Summer Institutes and one-day
workshops will provide an introduction to the new course and exam, but still focus mainly on the current exam through 2012-2013. Includes new curriculum module: Sin Fronteras (Fall workshops)
Beginning in summer 2013, APSIs and one-day workshops will focus solely on the new course and exam. Additionally, a new curriculum module: El arte: ventana y espejo (Fall 2013 workshops)
Upcoming Teacher Support Launch of the AP Online Community including
Annotated Resources that tie to thematic instruction in summer 2012
Release of 4 Course Planning and Pacing Guides (CPPGs) by Ann Mar, Cathy Soud, Brian Scott, and Clarissa Adams-Fletcher
¿Preguntas?
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Muchas gracias
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Juan Carlos Morales, The College Board [email protected] Stewart, Chapel Hill High School, [email protected] Zinke, McClintock, [email protected]