Mandarin III
Course Name: Mandarin III Prerequisite: Mandarin II
Course Code #: H5342 (Accelerated) and H5341 (Academic) Year: 5X Credits: 5
Course Description: This course is designed for students who have experienced achievement in their study of Mandarin II, and who have demonstrated language proficiency at least at the Novice Mid Reaching through Novice High Developing range. In the Mandarin III course, students will continue to expand their cultural and global understandings through the study of a non-Western language and culture within various thematic contexts such as school and home life, health and nutrition, travel, visual arts, communication and media, academics and career readiness, technology, or global challenges. Students will build upon their previous experience in Mandarin and will continue to hone their interpretive listening and reading skills, as well as their interpersonal and presentational speaking and writing skills. To gain proficiency, students are expected to take more risks and be more creative and spontaneous with the language. At this level, a greater emphasis is placed on accuracy in written and oral expression through a more intensive study of grammatical functions. Thematic units focus on the integration of culture and language and will provide students with opportunities to apply communication skills to real-life situational contexts. Classes are conducted primarily in the target language and students are expected to use the target language for communication within the classroom. Students in both levels will experience the same content, however, the depth of study and expected proficiency in each mode of communication, increases with each level.
Course Proficiencies: Students who successfully complete this course will have developed the ability to communicate at the novice-high and intermediate-low proficiencies level in three modes of communication:
● Interpretive - the ability to understand spoken and written communication within appropriate cultural contexts;
● Interpersonal - the ability to engage in direct oral and/or written communication with others; and
● Presentational - the ability to present, orally and/or in writing, information, concepts and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers with whom there is no immediate interaction.
In addition, students will have developed Intercultural Communication skills at the Novice and Intermediate proficiency levels. The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages has defined this these novice and intermediate skills in terms of “Can-Do” statements. In this course students will target the following “Can-Do” statements for Intercultural Communication:
● In my own and other cultures, I can identify products and practices to help me understand perspectives. (Novice)
● I can interact at a survival level in some familiar everyday contexts. (Novice)
● In my own and other cultures, I can make comparisons between products and practices to help me understand perspectives. (Intermediate)
● I can interact at a functional level in some familiar contexts. (Intermediate)
Lastly, students will acquire language skills in the five areas outlined in the National Standards for Learning Languages: Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities, also known as The Five C’s of world language education.
Alignment to New Jersey Student Learning Standards:
The New Jersey Student Learning Standards include Preschool Teaching and Learning Standards, as well as nine K-12 standards for the following content areas. These areas include: 21st Century Life and Careers, Comprehensive Health and Physical Education, English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Technology, Visual and Performing Arts and World Languages. The standard for language learning in New Jersey reinforces the reading, writing, speaking and listening skills that are targeted across the standards for each content area.
The 2014 New Jersey Student Learning Standard for World Languages is as follows:
7.1 All students will be able to use a world language in addition to English to engage in meaningful conversation, to understand and interpret spoken and written language, and to present information, concepts, and ideas, while also gaining an understanding of the perspectives of other cultures. Through language study, they will make connections with other content areas, compare the language and culture studied with their own, and participate in home and global communities.
This standard is further divided into proficiency levels and three strands, one for each mode of communication. The proficiency levels are in line with the national performance descriptors as released by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign languages. These guidelines indicate six different levels of proficiency that can be expected at the K-12 level of language learning. Throughout the course, students will be working to demonstrate proficiency at the Novice High and Intermediate Low levels in all three modes of communication including: interpretive communication, interpersonal communication and presentational communication. The specific standards for this course are outlined below within in each mode of communication.
Interpretive Mode
Students will develop the ability to:
1. Recognize familiar words and phrases, understand the main idea, and infer the meaning of some highly contextualized, unfamiliar spoken or written words; Identify the main idea and most supporting details contained in culturally authentic materials using electronic information and other sources related to targeted themes such as health and nutrition, travel, visual arts, communication and media, academics and career readiness, technology, or global challenges. (7.1.NH.A.1, 7.1.IL.A.1)
2. Demonstrate comprehension of a series of oral and written directions, commands, requests, and/or of instructions connected to daily activities and instructional tasks, through appropriate physical response. (7.1NH.A.2, 7.1.IL.A.2)
3. Recognize some common gestures and cultural practices associated with the target culture(s), and/or compare and contrast the use of verbal and non-verbal etiquette (i.e., the use of gestures, intonation, and cultural practices) in the target culture(s) and in one’s own culture. (7.1.NH.A.3, 7.1.IL.A.3)
4. Identify people, places, objects, and activities in daily life based on oral or written descriptions; use the target language to describe people, places, objects, and daily
activities learned about through oral or authentic written descriptions. (7.1.NH.A.4, 7.1.IL.A.4)
5. Demonstrate comprehension of conversations and written messages on familiar topics related to health and nutrition, travel, visual arts, communication and media, academics and career readiness, technology, or global challenges. (7.1.NH.A.5, 7.1.IL.A.5)
6. Identify some unique linguistic elements in English and the target language; infer the meaning of a few unfamiliar words in some new contexts. (7.1.NH.A.7, 7.1.IL.A.7)
7. Compare and contrast unique linguistic elements in English and the target language. (7.1.IL.A.8)
Interpersonal Mode
Students will develop the ability to:
1. Use digital tools to exchange basic information by recombining memorized words, phrases, and sentences on topics related to self and targeted themes, or to participate in short conversations and to exchange information related to targeted themes such as health and nutrition, travel, visual arts, communication and media, academics and career readiness, technology, or global challenges. (7.1.NH.B.1, 7.1.IL.B.1)
2. Give and follow a series of simple, and more complex oral and written directions, commands, and requests for participating in age- and level- appropriate classroom and cultural activities; (7.1.NH.B.2, 7.1.IL.B.2)
3. Imitate and use appropriate gestures, intonation, and common idiomatic expressions of the target culture(s)/language during daily interactions and in familiar situations. (7.1.NH.B.3, 7.1.IL.B.3)
4. Ask and respond to questions, make requests, and express preferences in various social situations; ask and respond to factual and interpretive questions of a personal nature or on school-related topics. (7.1.NH.B.4, 7.1.IL.B.4)
5. Converse on a variety of familiar topics and/or topics studied in other content areas and/or engage in short conversations about personal experiences or events and/or topics studied in other content areas that may be related to health and nutrition, travel, visual arts, communication and media, academics and career readiness, technology, or global challenges. (7.1.NH.B.5, 7.1.IL.B.5)
Presentational Mode
Students will develop the ability to:
1. Recombine basic information at the word and sentence level related to self and targeted themes to create a multimedia-rich presentation to be shared virtually with a target language audience; Use knowledge about cultural products and cultural practices to create a multimedia-rich presentation on targeted themes such as health and nutrition, travel, visual arts, communication and media, academics and career readiness, technology, or global challenges, to be shared virtually with a target language audience. (7.1.NH.C.1, 7.1.IL.C.1)
2. Create and present brief messages, poems, rhymes, songs, short plays, or role-plays using familiar vocabulary orally or in writing; present student-created and/or authentic short plays, skits, poems, songs, stories, or reports related to targeted themes such as school and home life, health and nutrition, travel, visual arts, communication and media, academics and career readiness, technology, or global challenges. (7.1.NH.C.2, 7.1.IL.C.2)
3. Describe in writing people and things from the home and school environment; Use language creatively to respond in writing to a variety of oral or visual prompts within the contexts of school and home life, health and nutrition, travel, visual arts, communication and media, academics and career readiness, technology, or global challenges (7.1.NH.C.3, 7.1.IL.C.3)
4. Tell or retell stories from age- and level-appropriate, culturally authentic materials orally or in writing; compare and contrast age- and level-appropriate culturally authentic materials orally and in writing. (7.1.NH.C.4, 7.1.IL.C.4)
5. Tell or write about cultural products associated with the target culture(s) and identify how the products and practices are derived from the cultural perspectives; Explain the cultural perspective associated with a few cultural products and cultural practices from the target culture (s) and one’s own culture. (7.1.NH.C.5; 7.1.IL.C.5)
6. Summarize requirements for professions/careers that require proficiency in a language other than English based on exploration of the 16 Career Clusters. (7.1.IL.C.6)
Educational Technology (NSLS 8):
8.1.12.D.1 Demonstrate appropriate application of copyright, fair use and/or Creative Commons to an original work.
8.1.12.D.2 Evaluate consequences of unauthorized electronic access (e.g., hacking) and disclosure, and on dissemination of personal information.
8.1.12.A.2 Produce and edit a multi-page digital document for a commercial or professional audience and present it to peers and/or professionals in that related area for review.
8.1.12.A.3 Collaborate in online courses, learning communities, social networks or virtual worlds to discuss a resolution to a problem or issue.
8.1.12.F.1 Evaluate the strengths and limitations of emerging technologies and their impact on educational, career, personal and or social needs.
21st Century Life and Careers (NJSLS 9):
9.2.12.C.5 Research career opportunities in the United States and abroad that require knowledge of world languages and diverse cultures.
NJ Career Readiness Practices:
CRP1. Act as a responsible and contributing citizen and employee. CRP2. Apply appropriate academic and technical skills.
CRP4. Communicate clearly and effectively and with reason. CRP6. Demonstrate creativity and innovation.
CRP8. Utilize critical thinking to make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. CRP11. Use technology to enhance productivity.
CRP12. Work productively in teams while using cultural global competence.
Assessment Criteria: Teachers utilize student observation checklists, formative assessments, daily participation, tests, quizzes, homework, interpretive, interpersonal and presentational tasks and assessments, projects, integrated performance assessments, student self-assessments and peer assessments to evaluate the progress and/or achievement of the above stated proficiencies.