^{This blog as well as the other installments in this series were written by Karen Nickel. Learn more about her work here.}

Proficiency-Based Learning Part 1.1:  Proficient at what?

Proficiency-Based Learning to Communicate

Welcome to the first entry of this new blog series on proficiency-based learning! I’m Karen Nickel, here with Extempore to share what proficiency-based learning means to me based on my experience as a world language educator and consultant. 

As we dive into this, watch my blog breakdown video below. 

In Part 1.1., we'll clarify proficiency-based learning as we ask, Proficient at what? 

As a brief answer, proficiency-based learning means that learners become proficient at the standards. This requires the application of knowledge and skills and not just the reiteration of memorized facts or information. LTI explains that “Proficiency refers to the ability to perform an action or function. Language proficiency specifically describes one's ability to use a language for real-world purposes to accomplish real-world linguistic tasks across a wide range of topics and settings.”

In the context of world language education, learners become more proficient at using language to communicate their intended message for a meaningful purpose. Traditionally learner outcomes might have included such things as being able to name two ways to formulate the past tense. However proficiency-based language learning requires learners to engage in meaningful communication, which may include the knowledge and application of past tense (or any other grammatical) structures. For example, a learner might be asked to recount what they did yesterday for the purpose of finding their lost phone and in doing so they may apply their learning of past tense structures. The focus is on communicating the ideas. 

In proficiency-based language learning standards, learners are required to engage in meaningful communication.

What is communication in the context of proficiency-based learning?

Throughout this blog series we’ll use resources from ACTFL to support our understanding of proficiency-based language learning. The first standard in the national ACTFL World-Readiness Standards for Language Learning is Communication, and it is through communication that learners show evidence of learning in all 5 of the standards, commonly known as the "5 C's" (Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, Communities). 

The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines “describe how well learners [performing at various levels] use language to accomplish communication objectives...in unrehearsed or unfamiliar contexts.” The ACTFL Performance Descriptors help us understand what learners do in performances at the various stages as they are learning language. To top it off, we have the NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements, which feature specific examples of what learners can do along their language learning journey. The focus of all of these is how learners use language to communicate.

So then, let’s dive into what it means to communicate. The ACTFL standard above says learners are able to function for multiple purposes. According to Van Patten, communication involves meaning, expression, interpretation, negotiation, context, and purpose. 

We might define “communicate” as successfully interpreting and conveying meaning for a purpose. Purpose is derived from a situation. In the classroom, learners perform to complete a task in the context of a situation. When we say one is proficient, we mean they are able to use language to successfully interpret and convey meaning for a purpose in a real-word situation.  

The focus is not on how the target language works but instead on what learners can do by using target language that helps them accomplish the task.

Let's put this into context by referencing our above example of the student losing their phone. We know the purpose: the student needs to recount all the things they did yesterday to be able to find their lost phone. Successful communication, then, would mean that the student conveys enough TL information for their listener to understand this, regardless of the grammatical accuracy of the produced language. The focus is not on how the target language works but instead on what learners can do by using target language that helps them accomplish the task.

Help your students communicate and assess their proficiency on Extempore

Proficiency-based learning puts communication front and center, and so does Extempore. Language program directors and coordinators can take advantage of Extempore's diverse content library of communicative assessments to measure student performance in the target language. Plus, assessments can feature any of the three modes of communication, ensuring that learners are growing in interpersonal, presentational, and interpretive skills.

In the next post in this series, we look at the various ways learners can communicate in the target language. 

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Read part 1.2 here. 

Or return to the series overview page here.