Other Languages, Societies, and Cultures Commons^™

The Impact Of Teacher Empowerment On Burnout And Intent To Quit In High School World Language Teachers, Jessica Wallis Mcconnell, Peter Swanson

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

The burnout and attrition of teachers is a critical issue both in the United States and internationally. However, there is insufficient empirical research addressing these concerns among world language teachers. This paper reports the results of surveying high school world language teachers across all regions of the United States (N= 313) to investigate the relationship between three constructs: burnout, intent to quit, and teacher empowerment. The results of descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis suggest that teacher empowerment significantly impacts levels of burnout and intent to quit. More specifically, higher levels of professional growth, self-efficacy, and autonomy may predict lower …

Operationalizing The Human Condition, Cultures, And Societies Outcome Through The National Character And Leadership Symposium, Peter Swanson, Rouven Steeves, Michele Johnson

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

This paper focuses on the Human Condition, Cultures, and Societies institutional outcome at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) and highlights the connection between the outcome and the 2024 National Character and Leadership Symposium (NCLS) theme. Each year, the symposium provides the USAFA community and visitors the opportunity to learn from and engage with nationally recognized speakers. Interactions allow participants to contemplate not only the importance of valuing the human condition but also engage concertedly and compassionately with others. Every four years, the NCLS theme is rooted in the institutional outcome of the Human Condition, Cultures, and Societies. This …

Removing Barriers To Wl Teacher Certification: A Closer Look At Edtpa Ratings, Francis John Troyan, Peter Swanson, Victoria Russell

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

Both within the field of world language (WL) teacher education and across teacher education in other disciplines, critiques of the edTPA have increased over the past several years. In WL language education, scholars have identified issues related to raters' use of edTPA rubrics and a serious lack of transparency about rater expertise. To better understand this issue, this study examined the problematic WL edTPA rubrics 8, 9, and 12 to compare the official performance ratings of eight candidates in one WL education program in the Southeastern United States with their performance as determined by three experts using detailed content analyses …

A Return To Local Governance Of World Language Teacher Preparation Is Needed, Peter Swanson, Jean W. Leloup

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

Given the call by Krashen (2012) and others advocating for shorter, easier to digest research papers, we provide a shorter than usual summary of the World Language edTPA via empirical findings from the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity and researchers in the field. We argue in favor of abandoning the World Language edTPA for manifold reasons in favor of placing world language teacher preparation and subsequent teacher candidate recommendation for certification and licensure where it belongs—in the competent hands of the teacher educators who prepare these individuals.

The World Language Shortage Can Be Solved, Peter Swanson

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Language Teachers’ Sense Of Efficacy During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Peter Swanson

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

To say that the COVID-19 global pandemic quickly changed the educational landscape in an understatement. The pandemic added another challenging hurdle for educators and students alike as they had to pivot almost immediately from one week to another from traditional face-to-face teaching practices to unfamiliar remote, online environments. Research shows that few teacher education programs in the United States of America (USA) prepared pre-service teachers to deliver instruction remotely (Archambault et al., 2016). In an effort to explore world language teachers’ sense of efficacy during the pandemic, the author surveyed in-service world language teachers (N = 497) in the …

Communicative Online Language Teaching In Disruptive Times: A Redesign Of The Introductory Spanish Curriculum, Peter Swanson, Victoria Russell

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

In this article, the authors describe the redesign of a first-semester Spanish course at the United States Air Force Academy due to the COVID-19 crisis and the subsequent transition from traditional, face-to-face instruction to fully online language teaching during the fall of 2020. More than 200 cadets were enrolled across 11 course sections that were taught by eight different instructors who were required to use the same syllabus, learning platforms, lesson plans, and assessments under the supervision of a course director. The developers integrated a series of pedagogical interventions—such as online integrated performance assessments, lessons and content that were infused …

Proficiency Benchmarking In Spanish, Peter Swanson, Jean-Philippe Peltier, Jean W. Leloup, Darin Earnest, Margaret E. Malone

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

The Language Flagship programs were established at the turn of the century with the goal of creating programs that would move language learners to advanced levels of proficiency in a select number of critical languages (Winke & Gass, 2019). Later, the Flagships called for institutions of higher education to create a viable process to assess proficiency learning in high quality, well-established academic language programs. To answer that call, the present study examines outcomes via end of year proficiency testing in Spanish at the first and second levels of Spanish instruction at the United States Air Force Academy using the Adaptive …

Performing While Black: Disrupting Gender And Sexuality From Trinidad To Norway The Artivism Of Thomas Prestø, Gladys M. Francis

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

In this interview, artistic director and choreographer Thomas Prestø speaks with cultural studies scholar Dr. Gladys M. Francis about his personal journey as a hyper visible black boy who grew up in a Norwegian region known as the hub for neo-Nazi groups that subjected him to various forms of torture. Prestø discusses how these experiences shaped his politics of arts when he founded the Tabanka Dance company to promote “a sustainable black identity” that converges both Caribbean and African movement aesthetics to tell the stories of blacks in Norway. Prestø presents how is body of work informs Black Diaspora studies …

Remapping Disability Through Contested Urban Landscapes And Embodied Performances, Gladys M. Francis

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

Through the themes of disability, fear of contamination, displacement, and race, this article provokes a critical conversation on the political implications and mechanisms of socialization that form Blackness within the fields of cultural, Francophone, and postcolonial studies. An exploration of unchoreographed movements, dance, and textual representations of dance provides new forms of understanding and visibility to socially sanctioned Afro-Diasporic movements in contested urban spaces. Are also revealed the ways in which black bodies and their “alter kinetic aesthetics” are othered within racialized biologics and inscribed in politics of transfiguration. Are explored: 1) the racialized misappropriations and epidemiological implications that link …

The 4 R’S Of Edtpa: Rationale, Roadblocks, Remediation, And Recommendations, Peter Swanson

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

In use in 954 educator preparation programs in 41 states and the District of Columbia (American Association for Colleges of Teacher Education, 2021), edTPA seeks to measure beginning teacher effectiveness. While used by many states to inform teacher licensure or certification decisions, this high-stakes assessment is highly problematic. In this article, the authors provide an overview of the World Language edTPA and Communicative Language Teaching approaches, on which the World Language edTPA is based, before specifically noting its shortcomings as an effective instrument to measure novice teacher prowess. Citing longitudinal national data, the authors call attention to the Stanford Center …

Quality Videos And Integrated Performance Assessments Are Essential In The World Language Edtpa, Peter Swanson, Jean W. Leloup

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

For more than 60 years, educational reform in the United States of America has been driven by four major questions revolving around teacher attributes, effectiveness, knowledge, and outcomes. Today, outcomes for not only students but also for those who teach them have become a focal point. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the World Language edTPA—a performance-based, subject-specific assessment for pre-service teachers in 27 content areas that is now in place in 41 states and the District of Columbia. The authors begin by highlighting educational policy and best practices in teaching languages before providing research-based suggestions regarding the …

Variations In Rating Scale Functioning In Assessing Pragmatic Performance In L2 Chinese, Shuai Li, Naoko Taguchi, Feng Xiao

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

Adopting Linacre’s guidelines for evaluating rating scale effectiveness, we examined whether and how a six-point rating scale functioned differently across raters, speech acts, and second language (L2) proficiency levels. We developed a 12-item Computerized Oral Discourse Completion Task (CODCT) for assessing the production of requests, refusals, and compliment responses among 109 examinees of L2 Chinese. Their oral productions were evaluated by two L1 Chinese raters based on a holistic rating scale simultaneously tapping communicative function, situational appropriateness, and grammaticality. Rating scale functioning differed across raters, speech acts, and proficiency levels. Such variations were caused by multiple factors: (1) the two …

Cognitive Approaches In L2 Pragmatics Research, Shuai Li

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

This chapter reviews L2 pragmatics research informed by cognitive SLA theories. Following R. Ellis’s (2008) classification, the chapter first introduces two theories — the two-dimensional model, and the skill acquisition theory or ACT-R, which focus on the mental representation of L2 knowledge and then reviews empirical evidence in L2 pragmatics under these theories. The chapter then shifts to the Noticing Hypothesis that concerns cognitive processes that can lead to changes in mental representation of L2 knowledge. Suggestions for future research under each of the three cognitive SLA theorizations are provided. This chapter ends with a call for more studies that …

Contextual Variations Of Mitigations In Chinese Requests, Shuai Li

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

This study investigates contextual variations in mitigation production (consisting of internal and external modifications) in idealistic Chinese request-making (i.e., what native Chinese speakers consider appropriate to say in hypothetical scenarios). The participants were 22 native Chinese speakers recruited from a university in China. They completed a 20-item Oral Discourse Completion Test (ODCT) tapping two contextual variables: power and imposition. The results show that: (1) both power and imposition exerted significant influence on the frequency of producing internal and external modifications, (2) the various internal and external modifiers were differentially associated with the two contextual variables, and (3) the preferred sequential …

Measurement Quality And Rating Scale Functioning Of A Csl Classroom Assessment Instrument, Shuai Li, Yali Feng, Ting Wen

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

t is a wide practice that Chinese language instructors develop their own instruments for classroom assessment and make important pedagogical decisions (e.g., assigning grades) accordingly. However, the quality of such instruments has rarely been discussed in the literature. This chapter focuses on the measurement quality of an instructor-developed test used as a final written exam in an undergraduate Chinese language course in the U.S. The test was designed to assess the linguistic knowledge taught in the course and contained 37 binary-scored (0/1) items and 17 constructed-response items. Two four-category rating scales were developed to evaluate the constructed responses. Examinees were …

The Control, Content, And Consequences Of Edtpa: World Language Teacher Educators’ Perceptions, Susan A. Hildebrandt, Peter Swanson

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

Implemented in more than 870 teacher education programs across 41 states and the District of Columbia, edTPA is marketed as a content-specific, standardized portfolio assessment of beginning teacher performance. However, concerns about edTPA and its content-specificity are pervasive. To that end, the researchers surveyed teacher educators with World Language edTPA experience (N = 88) to ascertain their perceptions of the assessment, including its impact on teacher candidates, teacher education programs, and clinical placements, as well as the resources required, support experienced, and consequences perceived as a result of its implementation. Using Cochran-Smith et al.’s (2018) framework of teacher education accountability, …

Re-Examining Teacher Candidate Performance On World Language Edtpa As A Consequential Assessment, Susan A. Hildebrandt, Peter B. Swanson

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

Used by almost 800 educator preparation programs in more than 40 states and the District of Columbia, edTPA seeks to measure content-specific outcomes of beginning teachers as a high-stakes assessment. Many states also use edTPA to inform teacher licensure or certification decisions, making the assessment consequential for individual teacher candidates. The present study focuses on teacher candidates’ performance on the World Language edTPA, targeting two world language teacher education programs since the assessment became consequential for licensure in their respective states. It then compares findings to those of a previous study of the same programs’ World Language edTPA performance (Hildebrandt …

Quand L’Invisible S’Affiche Entretien Avec Fabienne Kanor: Inscrire Et Réitérer Des Identités Ouvertes, Mouvantes Et Complexes, Gladys M. Francis

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

Cet article enclot un entretien entre la cinéaste martiniquaise Fabienne Kanor et Gladys M. Francis, chercheure en études francophones et culturelles. Il examine le septième art aux Antilles dans notre ère contemporaine, la politique artistique féministe de Kanor, ainsi que les enjeux qui prennent forme dans l’acte de filmer et genre et minorité sexuelle aux Antilles. Cette entrevue met également en lumière la manière dont ses productions visuelles dérogent (aux sociétés traditionnelles/phallocentriques/impérialistes) afin de provoquer une esthétique et des représentations du corps noir novatrices.

Martinican film-maker Fabienne Kanor speaks with francophone and cultural studies scholar Dr Gladys M. Francis about …

The World Language Teacher Shortage: Taking A New Direction, Peter Swanson, Shannon Mason

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

Since the end of World War II, international leaders have made calls addressing the world language teacher shortage. For almost 70 years, such rhetoric has been advanced, yet world language teacher shortages remain in many countries such as Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In this article, the authors discuss the past and current state of affairs of the shortage before advancing ideas for language teacher recruitment and retention to which a variety of stakeholders (e.g., parents, administrators, language teacher associations) can contribute immediately in order to address the world language teacher shortage in …

Measurement Quality Of An Instructor-Developed Cfl Summative Assessment Instrument: An Exploratory Pilot Study, Shuai Li

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

This study examined the measurement quality of an instructor-developed classroom assessment instrument (i.e., a final written test) used to assess linguistic knowledge covered in an undergraduate elementary Chinese course at a U.S. university. Participants were 222 learners enrolled in the Chinese course from Fall 2011 to Fall 2013. Analyses were performed on a subset of 64 binary-scored (0/1) test items. The 64 items showed acceptable overall test reliability, test discrimination, and Rasch model fit. Meanwhile, insufficient number of difficult items, below-threshold discriminatory power of certain items, and existence of measurement redundancy were also found. Strategies for improving the measurement quality …

Review Of The Flesh Of History Across Borders And Boundaries, By Fabienne Kanor, Gladys M. Francis

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Case Départ: Slavery In Martinique Through The Lens Of Comedy, Gladys M. Francis

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

Bearing in mind the limited number of French films on slavery that have been produced in the past decades, there is no overstatement in arguing that French filmmakers have a tendency to circumvent subjects related to slavery and colonization. Though factors underlying this trend are manifold, they nonetheless commonly involve a significant ambivalence on slavery as seen in mainstream print capitalism, history books, schoolbooks, or official discourses concerned with the construction, propaganda, or representation of the French Nation. These inconsistencies and contradictions do not, however, reflect the extensive dealings of France in the slave trade, during a period that spans …

Developing A Test Of L2 Chinese Pragmatic Comprehension Ability, Shuai Li

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

Background: This study aims to develop a test for assessing pragmatic comprehension ability in Chinese as a second language (L2). Following the framework of an argument-based approach to test validation, this study attempts to obtain backing for the Evaluation and Explanation inferences.

Methods: Test items were developed based on two sources of authentic language use (i.e., field notes and a corpus of natural language use). Following a series of piloting, 107 examinees of L2 Chinese completed the test (k = 39) in the main study. Among them, nine examinees had retrospective interviews that probed the knowledge, strategies and …

La Techni’Ka De Lénablou : Les Enjeux D’Une Syntaxe Du Bigidi, Gladys M. Francis

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

False Gods And Libertarians: Artificial Intelligence And Community In Amad `Abd Al-Salām Al-Baqqāli’S The Blue Flood And Heinlein’S The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, Ian Campbell

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

This paper examines Moroccan author Baqqāli's novel al-Ṭūfān al-'Azraq [The Blue Flood, 1976] from the perspective of its use of an artificial intelligence (AI) as a guiding force in a sequestered community. In the novel, the desert refuge for scientists is controlled by a massive computer. The protagonist becomes aware that the AI has become sentient and is planning to use nuclear weapons to destroy humanity. The analysis will compare The Blue Flood to Robert A. Heinlein's 1966 classic The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, wherein the AI leads the human colonists of Luna in a successful struggle for …

Communicative Learning Outcomes And World Language Edtpa: Characteristics Of High-Scoring Portfolios, Peter Swanson, Susan A. Hildebrandt

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

Teacher accountability continues to be at the forefront of educational policy in the United States, with the current focus on the Outcomes of K-12 teaching and teacher education (Cochran-Smith 2000). edTPA, a high-stakes assessment used in many states to make licensure or certification decisions, purports to measure those content-specific outcomes. This study investigated pre-service Spanish teachers’ performance on the World Language edTPA as it relates to planning for instruction in a communicative context. Specifically, the ave highest scoring edTPA portfolios from two large world language teacher education programs were examined, with a focus on their alignment with communicative language teaching …

Tyrannie En ‘France’: André Breton Et Gerty Dambury, Gladys M. Francis, Lynn E. Palermo

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Diagnostic Assessment Of L2 Chinese Learners’ Reading Comprehension Ability, Shuai Li, Jin Wang

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

This study explored the feasibility of applying the Rule Space Method (RSM) to diagnosing the strengths and weaknesses of reading ability among learners of Chinese based on their performance on the reading comprehension section of a standardized Chinese proficiency test, the C. Test. Combining literature review, instructor coding, and expert judgment, we finalized a set of eight attributes measured by 30 multiple-choice reading comprehension test items. Eight hundred and fifty seven (857) examinees took the above mentioned test, and their responses to the 30 test items were used for statistical analyses. The results showed that 90.54% of the examinees were …

An Exploratory Study On The Role Of Foreign Language Aptitudes In Instructed Pragmatics Learning In L2 Chinese, Shuai Li

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

This study investigated whether and how foreign language (FL) aptitudes interacted with different instructional conditions to affect pragmatic gains in L2 Chinese. Fifty American learners of Chinese were randomly assigned to an (explicit) input-based treatment group, an (explicit) output-based treatment group, and a control group. Following a metapragmatic session, the two treatment groups practiced target request-making forms through their respective computer programs, while the control group did not practice. Gains in pragmatic performance were measured by a listening judgment test and an oral production test at immediate and delayed posttests. The participants also completed three foreign language (FL) aptitude tests …