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Curricular Integration and Faculty Development: Teaching Language-Based Content Across the Foreign Language Curriculum

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Transforming Postsecondary Foreign Language Teaching in the United States

Part of the book series: Educational Linguistics ((EDUL,volume 21))

Abstract

Maxim’s chapter reports on one foreign language (FL) department’s ongoing efforts to overcome the division between so-called language courses at the lower levels and content courses at the upper levels, an issue that characterizes many FL departments. Central to this endeavor has been close collaboration between linguists and literary/cultural studies scholars within the department to (a) identify appropriate content-based speaking and writing tasks; (b) specify the linguistic features needed to realize these tasks; and (c) integrate the explicit instruction of these features into all courses in an articulated manner. The author illustrates ways that this undertaking affected not only the configuration of course offerings but also the degree of meta-level linguistic awareness among all faculty members, thereby equipping them theoretically and pedagogically to carry out curricular integration. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how other departments might undertake similar programs to implement language-based content instruction across the undergraduate curriculum.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    An analogous language trajectory has also been presented in Chap. 6 of Swaffar et al. (1991).

  2. 2.

    Faculty who worked on the curriculum reform did not receive any additional compensation directly, but their contribution was acknowledged in their annual review that served as the basis for merit-based pay raises.

  3. 3.

    See Maxim et al. (2013) for an overview of the content foci for all curricular levels.

  4. 4.

    The rubrics developed by Hammer and Swaffar (2012) for assessing cultural competency (MACC) serve as models for what the German Studies Department is working toward.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of German Studies, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Hiram H. Maxim

Authors
  1. Hiram H. Maxim
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hiram H. Maxim .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Germanic Studies, C3300, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA

    Janet Swaffar

  2. Germanic Studies, C3300, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA

    Per Urlaub

Appendices

Appendix A: Assignment Sheet for Genre-Based Writing Task Märchen: “Eine Reise”

Genre: Märchen

Dieses Semester haben Sie drei Märchen gelesen, die sich mit den Themen Familie, Natur und Reisen beschäftigen. Nun schreiben Sie Ihr eigenes Märchen zum Thema „Reisen“ und konzentrieren Sie sich dabei auf den Einfluss der Reise auf das Erwachsenwerden der Hauptfigur(en). Wie wir im Unterricht besprochen haben, enthält ein Märchen folgende Teile:

  • Titel

  • Einleitung/Orientierung

  • Anlass/Auslösung zum Reisen

  • Problem/Aufgabe/Kampf

  • Lösung/Sieg

  • Schluss/Moral

Ein Märchen wird normalerweise in der 3. Person geschrieben. Schreiben Sie ca. 3 Seiten.

Inhalt

Besprechen Sie die folgenden Themen in diesem Märchen:

  • Einleitung: Wo beginnt das Märchen? Welche Figuren kommen vor? Was für Menschen sind diese Figuren? Wie verstehen sich die verschiedenen Figuren? Welche positiven Eigenschaften hat der Protagonist? Haben die anderen Figuren besondere magische Eigenschaften? In welcher Jahreszeit spielt das Märchen?;

  • Auslösung: Warum unternimmt die Hauptfigur eine Reise? Was muss gemacht werden? Wohin fährt er/sie? Kommen andere Figuren/Tiere vor?

  • Problem: Was passiert während der Reise? Was muss die Hauptfigur machen/bekämpfen/überwinden? Kommen neue Figuren vor? Warum? Wie ist der Ort jetzt anders? Wiederholt sich und/oder steigert sich die Handlung?

  • Lösung: Wie wird das Problem gelöst? Muss der Protagonist gerettet werden? Wer rettet den Protagonisten und aus welchem Grund? Findet ein Wunder statt? Wodurch zeigt die Hauptfigur ihr Erwachsenwerden?

  • Schluss: Wie kommt das Märchen zu Ende? Was für einen guten Ausgang hat das Märchen?

Sprachliche Schwerpunkte

  • Wortstellung

  • Verbform: Konjugation, Vergangenheitsformen (Präteritum, Perfekt)

  • Temporalphrasen

  • Genus und Kasus (besonders nach Präpositionen)

  • Adjektivendungen

  • Infinitivsätze

  • Rechtschreibung, Kommasetzung

  • Hilfreiches Vokabular aus den Texten

  • Stilistische Merkmale eines Märchens: Es war einmal, Wiederholung, Steigerung der Herausforderung, Kontraste (gut/böse), ein Wunder, magische Figur

Benotungskriterien

Die Kategorien Aufgabe, Inhalt und sprachlicher Fokus werden äquivalent gewertet. Die Gesamtnote ergibt sich aus den Teilnoten. In der revidierten Version können Sie Ihre Note um maximal 2 “Stufen” verbessern (sehr gute Korrektur: Verbesserung um 2 Stufen; gute Korrektur: 1 Stufe, mittelmäßige bis schwache Korrektur: keine Verbesserung der Note). Abgabetermin: Erste Version am Montag, den 10. Dezember fällig.

Appendix B—Second and Final Iterations of Task Description for Summary Assignment

Version 2

A summary describes in one’s own words what happens in a text in terms of both the events as well as the perspectives, thoughts, and emotions of the main characters. It is thus important to identify the argumentative structure of the text. A summary is not only about what the narrator says but also how s/he describes a situation and why s/he says what s/he says in that situation.

Write in the present tense except for references to previous events

Structure

  • Introduction

    • Author, title, time, and place of the plot

    • Text genre (drama, lyric, prose)

    • Main characters, perspective

    • General thrust and focus of the piece

  • Main section

    • Synopsis of main events or sections

    • Accurate chronology of events

    • Connection between events

    • Thoughts and emotions of characters

    • Important passages with textual examples

    Concrete textual passages are welcome but should include a page reference and an explanation.

    Avoid repetition and focus on one theme or event per paragraph

  • Conclusion

    • Unanswered questions

    • Effect on the reader

    • Brief evaluation of the work

2.1 Helpful Vocabulary and Transitions

Introduction

(title) is a novel by (author)

(title) was written by (author)

The story is about (topic)

(title) tells the story of (hero) who …

(title) by (author) places the reader in (time/place)

(title) takes place in the time of (event)

Content

At the beginning of the story …

During …/When …

Because …

Precisely at that moment …

After …/Before …

Not long/shortly thereafter …

One day/evening …

On the next day …/Some time later …

Hours/months/years later …

Until the morning/next day when …

In the meantime …/However …

Once again …

At that point …

To his surprise …

What makes the situation worse is that …

Finally …

Version 3:

Genre: Summary

A summary describes in one’s own words what happens in a text in terms of both the events as well as the perspectives, thoughts, and emotions of the main characters. It is thus important to identify the argumentative structure of the text. A summary is not only about what the narrator says but also how s/he describes a situation and why s/he says what s/he says in that situation. A summary consists of the following three sections: Introduction, Main section, and Conclusion.

Content

  • Introduction

    • Author, title, time, and place of the plot

    • Text genre (drama, lyric, prose)

    • Main characters, perspective

    • General thrust and focus of the piece

  • Main section

    • Synopsis of main events or sections

    • Accurate chronology of events

    • Connection between events

    • Thoughts and emotions of characters

    • Important passages with textual examples

  • Concrete textual passages are welcome but should include a page reference and an explanation.

  • Avoid repetition and focus on one theme or event per paragraph

  • Conclusion

    • Unanswered questions

    • Effect on the reader

    • Brief evaluation of the work

Language

  • Rhetorical and discursive devices for a summary (see attached sheet)

  • Present tense

  • Indirect discourse when quoting a character

  • Passive voice (in the introduction)

  • Action and sensing verbs in the main section

  • Sentences in the main section that begin with …

    • Temporal phrases to establish the chronology

    • Summative nouns and nominalizations to capture/summarize elements (e.g., these conditions …/because of her decision …)

    • Adverbs that portray the physical or mental state of characters or scenes (e.g., Despairingly, s/he goes home/Hunted by the villagers, s/he …)

Rhetorical Devices for a Summary

  • To introduce a work

    • (title) is a novel by (author)

      (title) was written by (author)

      The story is about (topic)

      (title) tells the story of (hero) who …

      (title) by (author) places the reader in (time/place)

      (title) takes place in the time of (event)

  • To introduce characters

    • In the center of the story is …

      Additional characters are …

      The main characters are …

  • To arrange/order events

    • At the beginning of the story …

      First … After that … Finally.

      During …/As soon as …

      When …/After …/Before …

      Precisely at that moment …

      Not long/shortly thereafter …

      One day/evening …

      On the next day …/Some time later …

      Hours/months/years later …

      Until the morning/next day when …

      In the meantime …/At that point …

  • To elaborate about a text passage

    • In addition/furthermore/moreover

      In the process

      At the same time

      To make matters worse

  • To indicate causality

    • Therefore/thus/thereby

      As a result/for this reason

      Because …/because of …

  • To contrast/compare characters

    • In contrast/On the contrary/nevertheless/however

      In comparison with …

      In contrast with …

  • To discuss the effect on the reader

    • The novel shows …

      The story has a disturbing/distancing effect on the reader

      Through this character the author shows

Appendix C—Targeted Genres for Each Curricular Level

Table 3
Full size table

Appendix D—Feedback form for Summary Writing Assignment

Table 4
Full size table

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Maxim, H. (2014). Curricular Integration and Faculty Development: Teaching Language-Based Content Across the Foreign Language Curriculum. In: Swaffar, J., Urlaub, P. (eds) Transforming Postsecondary Foreign Language Teaching in the United States. Educational Linguistics, vol 21. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9159-5_4

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