This session will focus on two main areas: 1) Best practices in the Pre-AP® Chinese Language and Culture classroom; 2) improving student performance on written presentational tasks using Understanding by Design in the AP® Chinese classroom. Participants will explore appropriate pre-AP activities that can be incorporated into lower-level Chinese language classes to effectively acquaint students with and prepare them for the goals and expectations of the AP Chinese Language and Culture course. Moreover, based on the concepts of Understanding by Design, participants will learn how to develop effective instructional strategies for written presentational tasks and how to assess students’ written responses in order to improve overall students performance in the AP Chinese classroom. The session will also invite interaction with attendees and will conclude with a question-and-answer period. Speaker: Lisa Podbilski is the World Language Department Chair and Upper School Chinese teacher at Louisville Collegiate School in Kentucky. She is in her 15th year of teaching Chinese and is the co-chair of the AP Chinese Language and Culture Development Committee. She is also currently servicing on the Board of Directors for the Chinese Language Association of Secondary-Elementary Schools (CLASS). Lili Wong: As the first Chinese teacher in Central California since 1991, Lili has strong commitment to promoting Chinese language in the Central Valley of California and bringing forth the interest and attention of Chinese culture to her community. Lili earned her B.A. in English from Fu-Jen University in Taiwan and M.A. in Linguistics from California State University, Fresno. She has a Professional Clear Single Subject Credential in Chinese, a Professional Clear Multiple Subject Credential, a SDAIE Certificate (Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English), and a CLAD Certificate (Cross-cultural Language And Academic Development). Lili has been a teacher in Clovis West High School, Buchanan High School and Clovis Community College in California since 1991. Lili has also served as one of the Scoring Leaders in AP Reading since the launch of AP Chinese Exam in 2006. She is currently a Member of AP Chinese Language and Culture Committee.

1. AP® Chinese Language and
Culture: Pre- AP® Instructional
Strategies and Written
Presentational Tasks
National Chinese Language
Conference
Atlanta April 16-18, 2015
Lisa Podbilski
Louisville Collegiate School
Lili Tsai Wong
Clovis West High School/Buchanan High School

2. AP Chinese Language and Culture
Development Committee
2014-2015
Committee members:
2 co-chairs: 1 High School and
1 Higher Education
2 Higher Ed teachers
2 High School Teachers
AP Chinese Chief Reader
College Board Advisor

3. AP Chinese Language and
Culture Development Committee
2014-2015
•Lisa Podbilski, Louisville Collegiate
School, oulisha@hotmail.com
•Lili Tsai Wong, Clovis West High School
/Buchanan High School, CA,
lilitsaiwong@cusd.com

4. Focal Points & Objectives
AP Chinese Course Overview:
Goals and Expectations
AP Chinese Examination:
Objectives and Format
Pre-AP® Strategies
Written Presentational Tasks

5. I. AP Chinese Course
Overview

6. AP Chinese Course Overview
• AP“… is a collaborative effort
between motivated students;
dedicated teachers; and
committed high schools,
colleges and universities.”
• AP Chinese course is designed
to be comparable to 4th
semester/250 hours of college
level instruction
What is AP
Chinese?
• Preparing students to be
proficient in Chinese
across the three
communicative modes
• Connecting students to
college success
• Contributing to college
credits
Why AP
Chinese?

7. AP Chinese Learning Objectives:
Students are expected to…
Engage in spoken
interpersonal
communication
Engage in written
interpersonal
communication
Comprehend
information from a
variety of audio and
visual resources
Comprehend
information from a
variety of written
and print resources
Plan, produce and
present spoken
presentational
communications
Plan and produce
written
presentational
communications
apcentral.collegeboard.com

8. Real-life situations Vocabulary usage
Language control Communication strategies
EMPHASIZE
Communication:
Understanding and
being understood

9. AP Chinese Course: Explore Culture
Products:
Books, music,
tools, etc.
Perspectives:
Values,
assumptions,
attitudes
Practices
Social
interactions
within a culture
Develop student
awareness and
appreciation of
the 3 P’s

10. AP Central
apcentral.collegeboard.com

11. II. Objectives and
format of the AP
Chinese Exam

12. AP Chinese Examination
Objectives & Focus
Test knowledge of Chinese language and culture
(contemporary and historical)
Test ability to communicate in Chinese in
linguistically, culturally and socially appropriate ways.
Test ability to interact with authentic materials
Focus on interpersonal, interpretive and
presentational communication using the four skills

13. Format of AP Examination
Examination
length
Approximately 2
hours and 15
minutes in length
70 multiple choice
questions and 4
free-response tasks
Examination
categories
Section I: multiple-
choice questions.
• Part A: Listening
• Part B: Reading
Section II: free-
response tasks
requiring written
and spoken
responses.
• Part A:Writing
• Part B: Speaking
Grade
distribution:
By communicative
modes:
Interpretive -- 40%
Interpersonal -- 30 %
Presentational -- 30 %
By language modality:
• Listening -- 25 %
• Reading -- 25 %
• Writing – 25%
• Speaking -- 25 %
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com

14. Scoring Criteria for Free
Response Items
Task
completion
Response to
the prompts,
organization
and text type
Delivery
Pace,
pronunciation,
register
Language
use
Vocabulary
and
grammatical
structure
No. Verbal Grade
Description
6 Excellent Demonstrates
excellence
5 Very good Suggests excellence
4 good Demonstrates
competence
3 Adequate Suggests competence
2 Weak Suggests lack of
competence
1 Very Weak Demonstrates lack of
competence
0 Unacceptable Contains nothing that
earns credit
Rubrics-based holistic assessment of students’ responses

15. III. Pre-AP and
AP Chinese
Strategies

16. 1. Vertical Teaming
 FIRST STEP: Collaborate with Chinese language
colleagues! It take a team to make an AP Chinese
language and Culture course successful.

17. AP Central Pre-AP for World Languages
and Cultures Teachers Corner
apcentral.collegeboard.com

18. College Board Resources
College Board Store: AP VerticalTeams Guide for
World Languages and Culture
store.collegeboard.org

19. College Board Workshops and
Summer Institutes
Pre-AP® Strategies:APVerticalTeams®
inWorld Languages and Culture
professionals.collegeboard.com
1. Two-day workshops for middle and high school
teachers who will be forming and/or strengthening an
AP Vertical Team.
2. Develop standards-based instructional strategies

20. College Board Workshops and
Summer Institutes
professionals.collegeboard.com

21. AP Chinese Language and Culture
Teacher Community
apcommunity.collegeboard.org/web/apchinese/

22. 2. Proficiency Skills
 SECOND STEP: Building proficiency begins at the
lowest levels and works it way upwards.
What does proficiency mean?
• The quality of having great facility
and competence
• Skillfulness in the command of
fundamentals deriving from practice

23. Skills based instruction
ACTFL Proficiency guidelines
Use of rubrics
Can-do statements
Student self-reflection
Empowers students to have control of their own
learning- Let them see their progress overtime!

24. 24
ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines
What can students DO with
language, in terms of
speaking, writing, listening
and reading in REAL
WORLD situations; in NON
REHEARSED and
SPONTANEOUS context.
What are some examples?
What activities can you do in
a Pre-AP classroom and/or
AP classroom?
http://www.actfl.org/publications/guidelines-and-manuals/actfl-
proficiency-guidelines-2012/chinese

25. Focus on Proficiency
http://paintingtoproficiency.wikispaces.com/Proficiency+Primer

26. 26
Can- Do Statements
They help students identify what they
CAN DO (what they need to do) in
order to function at a specific level of
proficiency.

27. 27
Chinese IAP Chinese Level

28. 28
AP Chinese Scoring Guidelines
Scoring Guidelines
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com

29. Develop goals and do proficiency checks throughout the
year!

30. Skills based instruction
Integration of the 5 C’s:
Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, Communities
and Communication
3 Modes of Communication:
Interpersonal, Presentational, and Interpretive

31. 31
5C’s and 3 Modes of Communication
Teach your students about the 5C’s and the
Modes of Communication! Teach students to
speak our “teacher” language!

32. 3. Best Classroom Practices
 THIRD STEP: Create thematic units that purposefully
incorporate proficiency skills, the 5C’s and the 3 modes:
Student Centered Learning!
Backwards Design and Thematic Units
Design curriculum by setting goals before choosing
what materials you are going to use and types of
assessment:
1. What is your end goal for each thematic unit?
2. What do you want your students to DO with the
language?
3. What do they need to know?

33. 4. Classroom Strategies
FOURTH STEP: Develop proficiency based activities
for all four skill areas:
Reading
Writing
Listening
Speaking

34. Classroom Strategies: Reading
Reading with a purpose
Think about when you read something….there is
usually a purpose or reason behind
it; you usually know why you are
going to read it:
1. Text message
2. Email
3. News article
4. Novel
5. Magazine
NOW… think about your own classroom. What are
some pre-reading and post-reading strategies you have
used in your class?

35. Classroom Strategies: Listening
Listening with a purpose
Same thing about listening….there is usually a purpose
or reason behind it:
1. Voice message
2. Transportation announcement
3. Radio broadcast
4. Podcast
5. School intercom announcement
What are some pre-listening
and post-listening strategies
you have used in your class?

36. Pre-Reading and Pre-Listening
Strategies
1. Use an advanced organizer teaching aide that
prepares students for what is to come. Helps connect
incoming information and prior knowledge.
2. Provide guided questions for the students to follow.
3. Provide a few vocabulary words that are new
4. Scaffolding authentic resources

37. Classroom Strategies: Writing
Writing with a purpose
See the trend… students need a reason to do
something; a purpose:
1. Text message reply
2. Email reply
3. Letter
4. Invitation
5. Note
At the lower levels, give them a template to follow-
model for them so the students know what to do.

38. Classroom Strategies: Speaking
Speaking with a purpose
1. Conversation with peers
2. Introductions
3. Directions
4. Ordering food
5. Making plans
6. Descriptions
Get students speaking in Chinese, even if it is not 100%
correct! Make them feel comfortable trying to express
themselves in class.
Use authentic visuals to get students speaking!

39. Visual Prompts

40. Visual Prompts

41. Classroom Activities and Strategies
Teachers need…
Help students develop high order thinking skills
Help students build and retain vocabulary
Use authentic materials
Stay in the target language using gestures and visuals
Be a model and guide to students
Use a variety of materials in class to keep students
engaged!
Teach students….
Circumlocution
To guess and derive meaning from context clues
Reflect on their learning
Study skills beyond classroom
Self advocate

42. IV. Written
Presentational
Tasks

43. What is “Backward Design”?
(based on “Understanding by Design” by Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe, 2005)
什么是“反向教学设计”？
为什么要 “反向”？
我们一般教学惯用的程序是：
1. 授课内容
2. 各种与本课内容有关的练习活动
3. 作业练习
4. 测验与考试

44. “反向教学设计”的迷思：
测验与考试 作业练习
 各种与本课内容有关的练习
活动 授课内容 ? ? ?
当然不是！

45. 1. 决定学习目标 2. 检验学习结果 3. 设计教学内容
三个教学顺序：

46. Learning outcomes describe the
knowledge, skills, and attitudes that
learners should have after
successfully completing a learning
experience or program.
终极目的：在整个教学过程中，学生学习成果是否达到
我们预定的教学目标？

47. Assignment
The four pictures present a story. Imagine you are writing the story to a fri
complete story as suggested by the pictures. Give your story a beginning, a

48. Stage 1: Identify desired goals –
1. Students will “narrate” the story to someone.
2. Students will give a beginning, a middle and
an end in the story.
3. Students will use at least three “transition words”
in the story.
4. Students will use “connection words”.

49. aka “Assessment”
Apply the AP Scoring Guidelines
Stage 3: Plan Learning Activities and Instructions
Worksheet of “Transition Words”
Teach and Practice
Stage 2: Determine acceptable evidence

50. Student Sample #1
對不起, 大家, 我遲到了. 今天早上, 我晚醒了. 然後,
我急急忙忙地準備, 以便在火車走以前可以叫計程車
去火車站. 可是,一輛計程車來以前, 我在第三街
等了好久.
計程車來了, 我就去了火車站. 可是, 我快搭車的時候,
就發現我忘了帶我的車票, 我忽然記得把車票留在
計程車裡. 車幸虧還在.
儘管我很快進火車站, 可是我發現火車已經走了.
所以我遲到是因為我必須等到下個火車來. 我很抱歉.

51. Student Sample #2
有一天，一个姑娘需要去北京，但是她住在离北京
很远的地方。她不但得坐火车到北京，而且得搭出
租车带她到火车站。虽然坐飞机比坐火车快得多，
可是她没有那么多钱坐飞机。她下了出租车以后，
去火车站排队等火车。列车员检查人有没有火车票。
她发现她的车票还在出租车里面。她很高兴，她写了
出租车的电话，她给开出租车的人打电话。开车的人
告诉姑娘在火车站的入口见面。她跑步跑得很快
回火车站去。无论做什么都不够，她太晚上火车了。

52. Student Sample #3
你好, 小美, 今天我很不好, 因為今天是我朋友的生日,
可是我不去她的生日會.晚上七點的時候我坐計程車,
再一個小時, 我需要去地下鐵. 因為八點地下鐵離開.
我不但遲到了而且路上有塞車. 要是我不去我的朋友
會發火. 在地下鐵的入口, 我跑步. 儘管我不遲到了,
可是我忘記了我的車票. 我說, 天啊! 不可能.
我找了很多的地方, 現在是七點五十五分了.
我發現我的車票在計程車裡. 我跑去地下鐵的出口.
即使我跑步, 我也遲到了, 地下鐵以經離開了. 今天
我很不好.
你的好朋友
李賢莉

53. Please provide your feedback about the
workshop using your smart phone or tablet:
Participant Feedback
谢谢大家！
Lisa Podbilski oulisha@hotmail.com
Lili Tsai Wong lilitsaiwong@cusd.com