Creating and Assessing Podcastbased Interpretive Listening Tasks

1
Creating and Assessing Podcast-based Interpretive
Listening Tasks

• Donna Shelton, PhD
• Northeastern State University
• AATSP August 2007

2
Todays topics

• A brief podcasting primer
• Where can you find them?
• How do you make them?
• Assessing interpretive listening tasks
• The ACTFL IPA
• Interpretive listening criteria
• Creating interpretive listening tasks
• Several examples
• Intermediate and Advanced tasks

Some information contained herein was also
presented at ACTFL 2006 and SWCOLT 2007.
3
A brief podcasting primer

• Digital audio files available online for
  downloading or subscription
• Subscription capability necessary for true
  podcasts
• RSS application makes subscription possible
• Listen on a computer or an iPod or other MP3
  player
• Podcasting software such as iTunes needed to
  subscribe
• Online directories list podcasts available in
  many languages
• Podcast or digital audio file creation is simple
  and inexpensive

4
A brief podcasting primer

• Tremendous growth in Spanish-language podcasting
• Useful content not easy to find
• Various categories
• Language lessons created by other instructors or
  businesses
• Audio files intended for target language
  audiences
• Vodcasts intended for target language audiences

5
A brief podcasting primer

• Podcasts created specifically for Spanish
  language students
• Spanish Proficiency Exercises, http//www.laits.ut
  exas.edu/spe/
• Español podcast, http//www.spanishpodcast.org/
• Notes in Spanish, http//www.notesinspanish.com/
• Coffee Break Spanish, http//www.radiolingua.com/c
  bs/home.html
• Some sites charge for access or
  particularservices

6
A brief podcasting primer

• Searchable directories
• Yahoo! Podcasts, http//podcasts.yahoo.com/
• PodcastDirectory.com, http//www.podcastdirectory.
  com/
• Education Podcast Network, http//epnweb.org
• Podcasting News, http//www.podcastingnews.com/
• Podcast.net, http//www.podcast.net
• Podcast Alley, http//www.podcastalley.com
• The Podcast Network, http//www.thepodcastnetwork.
  com
• iTunes Podcasts, www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts
• Podcastellano, http//www.podcastellano.com/
• Podfeed.net, http//www.podfeed.net/
• Odeo, www.odeo.com

7
A brief podcasting primer

• You may not have considered
• YouTube, www.youtube.com
• AOL Video, http//video.aol.com/
• Search carefully and find hidden treasures!
• Video may make content more accessible to
  students
• YouTube has a subscription capability

8
A brief podcasting primer

• Creating your own audio files
• Instructors
• Community members
• International students or heritage speakers
• Campus visitors
• Instructor-created files
• Culturally appropriate
• Authentic or simulated authentic materials
• Encourage real-world use of interpretive
  listening skills

9
A brief podcasting primer

• Making your own audio files
• Your PC
• Windows Movie Maker, part of the Windows XP
• A microphone that plugs into the computer
• For Apple computers
• Apple-compatible recording application like
  Garageband
• Upload file directly to website or course
  management system
• For podcasts with a subscription capability
• Convert the WMA to MP3 format with iTunes or
  other software
• RSS software needed

10
A brief podcasting primer

• File size
• Audio and video files can be very large
• iTunes can compress audio files
• Windows Movie Maker can compress video files
• Student access to files
• Consider the nature of your campus and student
  body
• Residential or commuter campus?
• Originating site, website or course management
  system?
• Dial-up or broadband?
• iPods / other MP3 players or computers?

11
Assessing listening tasks

• Sources of assessment criteria for podcast-based
  tasks
• ACTFL Performance Guidelines for K-12 Learners,
  1998
• ACTFL Program Standards for the Preparation of
  Foreign Language Teachers, 2002
• ACTFL Integrated Performance Assessment Manual,
  2003

12
Assessing listening tasks

• Expectations for interpretive listening as
  defined by ACTFL/NCATE for language teacher
  candidates
• Candidates must comprehend and interpret oral
  messages including face-to-face and telephone
  conversations, news broadcasts, narratives and
  descriptions in various time frames, speeches,
  and debates. (ACTFL Program Standards, 4)

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign
Language. ACTFL Program Standards for the
Preparation of Foreign Language Teachers. ACTFL,
2002.
13
Assessing listening tasks

• Overview of ACTFL IPAs (Integrated Performance
  Assessments)
• Series of three authentic or real-world tasks to
  assess language performance
• Interpretive, Interpersonal, Presentational
• All tasks grow out of a single, overarching theme
  or framework
• One key element is feedback to students after
  each task

Glisan, Eileen W. et al. ACTFL Integrated
Performance Assessment, ACTFL, 2003
14
Assessing listening tasks

• ACTFL Performance Guidelines
• Novice, Intermediate, Preadvanced proficiency
  levels
• Describe language performance in six domains
• Comprehensibility
• Comprehension
• Language control
• Vocabulary
• Cultural awareness
• Communication strategies
• All but Comprehensibility apply to interpretive
  listening

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign
Languages. ACTFL Performance Guidelines for K-12
Learners. Yonkers, NY ACTFL, 1998.
15
Assessing listening tasks

• Assessment criteria for Intermediate level from
  IPA Interpretive Listening rubric
• At this level students are limited to a literal
  comprehension of the message
• Identification of main ideas
• Identification of some but not all supporting
  details

Glisan, Eileen W. et al. ACTFL Integrated
Performance Assessment, ACTFL, 2003. See Appendix
D.
16
Assessing listening tasks

• Assessment criteria for Preadvanced level from
  IPA Interpretive Listening rubric
• Literal comprehension and limited interpretive
  comprehension
• Identification of the main idea and most of the
  supporting details of the message
• Some ability to infer meaning of new words from
  context
• Some ability to infer authors intent and
  perspectives
• Some ability to identify cultural perspectives
• Identification of the organizational framework of
  the message

Glisan, Eileen W. et al. ACTFL Integrated
Performance Assessment, ACTFL, 2003. See Appendix
D.
17
Assessing listening tasks

• Assessment criteria for Advanced level from IPA
  Interpretive Listening rubric
• Corresponds to Exceeds Expectations
• Good literal comprehension
• Identification of main idea and supporting
  details
• More developed interpretive comprehension
• Infers meaning of new words, authors intent and
  perspective, cultural perspectives
• Identification of the organizational framework of
  the message

Glisan, Eileen W. et al. ACTFL Integrated
Performance Assessment, ACTFL, 2003. See Appendix
D.
18
Creating podcast-based tasks

• Incorporate into both language and content
  courses
• Opportunities to use all communicative modes in
  all courses
• Preparation, background building, and modeling
  are essential
• Enhance students ability to comprehend podcast
  language
• Train students in strategy use
• Tasks should cross proficiency levels
• Intermediate to Preadvanced
• Preadvanced to Advanced
• Advanced toward Superior
• Practice skills of the next level
• Interpersonal or presentational extension
  activities

19
Creating podcast-based tasks

• Three categories of tasks
• Individual podcast-based tasks
• Podcast-based tasks as the first phase of an IPA
  (Integrated Performance Assessment)
• Extended tasks involving a series of podcasts
• Intermediate to Preadvanced tasks generally use
  instructor-created audio files
• Preadvanced to Advanced tasks generally use
  published podcasts

20
Task OneIntermediate to Preadvanced

• Individual, podcast-based interpretive listening
  task
• Instructor-created (or commissioned) podcasts

Example During a unit on daily routines in a
language course, you post to your course
management system several audio files of native
or heritage speaker volunteers describing a
typical day in their lives in their home country
or hometown in the US. You divide your class
into groups and assign each group to listen to
one of the files and to complete an interpretive
listening assessment task. Students have already
listened to a comparable audio file in class and
have concentrated on the higher-level aspects of
the task, particularly the use of context to
infer the meaning of new words. After students
complete the assessment, they share what theyve
heard with their group, and then engage in a
jigsaw activity that allows them to share with
the other groups and describe their own past and
present routines.
21
Task OnePreadvanced to Advanced

• Individual, podcast-based interpretive listening
  task
• Published podcast researched by the instructor

Example During a unit over the film El
laberinto del fauno in a language or content
course, you provide students with a link to a
podcast review of the film. They go to the link
outside of class, download and listen to the
review, and complete the interpretive listening
assessment that you have created based on the
podcast. Students have previous experience
listening to other film review podcasts during
class, and they understand and have practiced the
various tasks of the assessment, especially the
identification of the authors and the cultures
perspectives. After completing the assessment,
students engage in a writing task to share their
reactions to the review. Hablemos de cine,
http//hablemosdecine.com Opinión Laberinto del
fauno, 31 March 2007
22
Task TwoIntermediate to Preadvanced

• Using a podcast or other online audio file as
  part of an IPA
• Instructor-created (or commissioned) podcasts

Example You create an IPA for a unit over
holidays and family celebrations for a language
course, and for the first phase you have several
audio files in which native or heritage speaker
volunteers share anecdotes about their favorite
holidays. Students complete readings and engage
in interpersonal speaking activities before the
assessment cycle. The unifying context for the
IPA is the following you and your team of
cinematographers (a group of students) are
creating a documentary for a Spanish-speaking
audience comparing holiday celebrations in the US
and various Hispanic countries. You begin by
listening to the recorded anecdotes. Each member
of the team listens to a different recording and
completes an interpretive assessment. After
receiving instructor feedback, you exchange the
information youve gathered via email, a
discussion board, or a blog. Your video
documentary consists of narration by team members
based on your research and interviews with
individuals from the US and other countries.
23
Task TwoPreadvanced to Advanced

• Using a podcast or other online audio file as
  part of an IPA
• Published podcasts researched by the instructor

Example You create an IPA for a unit over
environmental issues in the Hispanic world and
you find several appropriate podcasts. Before the
assessment cycle, the class completes reading and
listening assignments on the topic. The unifying
context for the IPA is the following you and
your team (a group of students) run a website
devoted to the protection of the environment.
You are researching global warming for a new
website article. As the first step in this
project, each team member listens to a different
podcast and completes an interpretive assessment.
After receiving feedback from the instructor on
your results, you move to the second phase, in
which you and your team gather to discuss what
you have learned. After your research is complete
each team member writes an article. Radiomundo
Real.fm, www.radiomundoreal.fm/rmr/ Estudio
científico vincula aumento de huracanes y
tormentas tropicales con el calentamiento
global, 30 July 2007
24
Task ThreeIntermediate to Preadvanced

• Extended interpretive listening task based on a
  series of podcasts
• Instructor-created podcasts only or in
  combination with published podcasts researched by
  the instructor

Example As part of a semester-long project in
which students research the politics, economy,
and culture of one of several instructor-selected
countries, you provide students with a
combination of native speaker volunteer and
published podcasts. They complete separate
interpretive listening assessments over each
individual audio file, and then toward the end of
the course they summarize what they have learned
in a PowerPoint presentation to the class. The
project could be supplemented by interpretive
reading tasks.
25
Task ThreePreadvanced to Advanced

• Extended interpretive listening task based on a
  series of podcasts
• Published podcasts researched by the instructor
  or by the student with instructor approval

Example In a content course you assign a
project of several weeks duration in which
individual students research a particular event
in the recent history of a Spanish-speaking
country or an event that affected the Hispanic
community in the US. The project requires that
students listen to several podcasts. Students
are responsible for finding some of the podcasts,
although the links to the files must be submitted
for approval. Students complete separate
interpretive listening assessments on each
podcast, and at the end of the course they
prepare a summary of the history of the event and
an interpretation of their view of the
consequences of the event for the country or
community affected. RadioAyohui.com,
http//www.ayohui.com/podcast/ Hugo Chávez habla
a la ONU 29 September 2006
26
Designing tasks/rubrics

• For Intermediate to Preadvanced tasks
• Intermediate Low Does Not Meet Expectations
• Intermediate Meets Expectations
• Preadvanced Exceeds Expectations
• Students describe main idea in their own words
• Comprehension of supporting details assessed
  through traditional discrete point testing
  methods
• Decide how much emphasis to place on more
  advanced tasks
• Include all or some?
• Provide an example as part of the task
• Decide whether or not to assess the language used
  to complete the assignment

27
Designing tasks/rubrics

• For Preadvanced to Advanced tasks
• Intermediate Does Not Meet Expectations
• Preadvanced Meets Expectations
• Advanced Exceeds Expectations
• Include all aspects of both literal and
  interpretive comprehension
• Task questions should be more open-ended
• Extended projects should emphasize the
  interpretation of perspectives of the author(s)
  and the culture
• IPA tasks at any level would have separate
  rubrics for each phase in the cycle

28
Presentation Resources
Assessment American Council on the Teaching of
Foreign Languages. ACTFL Performance Guidelines
for K-12 Learners. Yonkers, NY
ACTFL,1998. American Council on the Teaching of
Foreign Language. ACTFL Program Standards for the
Preparation of Foreign Language Teachers. ACTFL,
2002. Glisan, Eileen W. et al. ACTFL Integrated
Performance Assessment, ACTFL, 2003 Podcasting
Resources http//www.podcastingnews.com/articles/W
hat_is_Podcasting.html http//www.podcasting-tools
.com/what-is-podcasting.htm http//podcasts.yahoo.
com/start http//www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcas
ts.html http//abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id
724297
29
Questions? Thank you! Donna Shelton,
sheltods_at_nsuok.edu Northeastern State
University Tahlequah, OK