Background Information
Written by Diane J. Tedick
Concerned that large numbers of students were not persisting
with language study and that too few students were achieving
high levels of proficiency in world languages, the Minnesota
Coalition for the Articulation of Language Learning, a consortium
of language professionals representing the University of
Minnesota, the Minnesota Private College Council, the Minnesota
State University and Community College Systems, the Minnesota
Department of Children, Families, and Learning (MNDCFL),
and the Minnesota Council on the Teaching of Languages and
Cultures (MCTLC), began plans for establishing the Minnesota
Articulation Project (Metcalf, 1995).
Under the leadership of Michael Metcalf, professor and director
of the Institute for International Studies and Programs
at the University of Minnesota, Dale L. Lange, professor
of Second Languages and Cultures Education and former director
of the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition
(CARLA) at the University of Minnesota, and Suzanne Jebe,
then world languages and cultures specialist at MNDCFL,
the Minnesota Articulation Project was launched in 1993
with major support from the Fund for the Improvement of
Post secondary Education (FIPSE) and the National Endowment
for the Humanities (NEH).
The Minnesota Articulation Project (MNAP) was dedicated
to the concept that the learning of languages other than
English is essential in preparing students to participate
in the global community. Its work revolved around two core
values: continuity and persistence. Students learn another
language best when their language study has continuity,
i.e. when they pursue an uninterrupted course of study from
their very first class in the language. Students also need
to persist in their language studies so that they are able
to attain high levels of proficiency. MNAP leaders believed
that as the need for high levels of proficiency became recognized
in the state and across the nation, the need for coordinated
and continuous language learning beginning in elementary
school and continuing in middle school, high school, and
college would follow.
The Minnesota Articulation Project benefited from the commitment
and efforts of over fifty language professionals representing
twenty-three private and public post-secondary institutions
and junior high and high schools from across the state.
A complete list of the Project members appears with the
Acknowledgments.
The work of MNAP, led by co-directors Michael Metcalf and
Barbara Swanson of MNDCFL, was divided among three teams
that have been responsible form carrying out a portion of
the project’s goals: the assessment team, them political
action team, and the curriculum team. The Project also enjoyed
the support of Karin Larson and other CARLA staff, as well
as key faculty from the University of Minnesota. Headed
by Micheline Chaloub-Deville, the assessment team developed
large scale proficiency-oriented assessments in speaking,
reading, and writing in French, German, and Spanish to be
used with graduating high school seniors who plan to enter
postsecondary institutions. The Minnesota Language Proficiency
Assessments target the Intermediate-Low level of the ACTFL
Proficiency Guidelines 1 (American Council on the Teaching
of Foreign Languages, 1986). More information about the
assessments is available on the CARLA website at website
at: http://www.carla.umn.edu/assessment.html.
The second team represented the political interests of the
project and was led by Ray Wakefield from 1995-1996 and
then by Phyllis Van Buren. With a project of this magnitude,
it was imperative to establishclear lines of communication
and that representatives of the project actively workedas
liaisons with key constituencies such as state institutions
(MCTLC, MNDCFL), national organizations (ACTFL, AATSP, AATF,
AATG), high school and college teachers, counselors, and
administrators, etc. Directed by Diane Tedick, the third
team was in charge of curriculum development. The primary
goal of the curriculum team was to develop a process for
helping teachers to consider changes in curriculum and instruction
to provide students with the kinds of experiences they will
need to achieve higher levels of proficiency and to succeed
with the assessments developed by MNAP’s assessment
team. The Handbook wasthe result of our efforts.
A Process of Evolution and Transformation
The Handbook is far from complete—indeed it will never
be complete in the full sense of the word, because language
and culture are dynamic, ever-changing entities that require
perpetual rethinking. Just as language and culture—and
our understanding of language and culture learning and teaching—constantly
evolve, so too must the Handbook. With that in mind, we
originally published the background materials and collection
of tasks/unitsin a three-ring binder intentionally to encourage
teachers to contribute to its evolution..
In the spirit of promoting the ongoing nature of the Handbook,
it was reprinted in 2002. Diane Tedick added significantly
to the foundational chapter entitled “Proficiency-Oriented
Language Instruction and Assessment: Standards, Philosophies,
and Considerations for Assessment” for the 2002 version
of the Handbook and care was taken to update references
to web addresses and other resources throughout.
The Handbook Goes into Cyberspace
The next logical step for us to take in sharing the great
work of the Minnesota Articulation Project was to put the
Handbook online. All the materials are included
on this website and we urge you to use them in your classrooms
to move your students toward the goal of proficiency.
The end goal of the Minnesota Articulation Project—enhancing
students’ proficiency levels “...so that they
might communicate across linguistic and cultural boundaries”
(Tedick et al., 1993, p. 44)—can only be accomplished
by teachers as they begin the process of transforming language
education. We hope that the Handbook (in print and in the
online form) continues to guide teachers in that process.
Multiple copies of the supplementary materials that accompany
the tasks and units (e.g., the authentic texts, song lyrics,
handouts and exercises, peer review forms, rubrics for assessment,
etc.) can be made for classroom use—in fact, we encourage
it! The other materials in the Handbook (e.g., task and
unit descriptions, preliminary section that focuses on standards,
philosophies and assessment procedures, etc.) are protected
by copyright. Permission to copy these materials must be
obtained by the Regents of the University of Minnesota and
can be sought through the CARLA office. Copyright permission
for other materials in the Handbook must be obtained by
contacting the respective copyright owners.
References
American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. (1986).
ACTFL
proficiency guidelines. Yonkers, NY: American Council
on the Teaching of
Foreign Languages.
American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. (1999).
ACTFL
proficiency guidelines—Speaking, Revised, 1999.
Yonkers, NY: American
Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. (1986).
Preliminary
ACTFL proficiency guidelines—Writing, Revised,
2001. Yonkers, NY: American
Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
Heilenman, L.K., & Kaplan, I.M. (1985). Proficiency
in practice: The foreign
language curriculum. In C.J. James (Ed.), Foreign language
proficiency in
the classroom and beyond (pp. 55-77). ACTFL Foreign Language
Education
Series, vol. 16. Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook Co.
Metcalf, M.F. (1995). Articulating the teaching of foreign
languages: The
Minnesota Project. ADFL Bulletin, 26(3), 52-54.
National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project
(1996). Standards
for foreign language learning: Preparing for the 21st century.
Yonkers, NY:
ACTFL.
Tedick, D. J., Walker, C. L., Lange, D. L., Paige, M., &
Jorstad, H. L.
(1993). Second language education in tomorrow’s schools. In G. Gunterman (Ed.), Developing language teachers for a changing world (pp. 43-75). ACTFL Foreign Language Education Series. Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook Company.
