What does “Novice Mid” or “Novice High” performance or proficiency mean? Why do we use this system?
When I (Sr. Wilkins) began learning Spanish in high school, the types of assessments we would do in class [primarily focused on rote memorization and translation. You may remember the verb conjugation charts, fill-in-the-blank-conjugation worksheets, or “choose the best word” exercises. Language teachers realized that these could be useful exercises for reinforcement and practice, but they did not really tell us how or how well we could use the language.
South Carolina’s Department of Education also recognized that it was difficult to compare language ability in two different classrooms, different languages, from one school to another and across districts. What is more, students did not really practice with real-life situations that language learners always encounter. South Carolina adopted a proficiency-based system for language learning to help solve these problems, and to align World Language classrooms with the real communicative and intercultural needs of our communities, colleges, and industry.
The South Carolina Department of Education has put together a list of expectations – or targets – for our students and how they should be able to use the language. There’s a thorough list of these descriptors here: https://ed.sc.gov/index.cfm?LinkServID=B8AC450D-A4FC-F1FE-B849764B7BCFB347 (2019 SC World Language Standard)
(The link above changes from time to time. If it is not active, try searching for "South Carolina World Language Standard" for a direct link.)
Using Proficiency Descriptors
Below is an example of a “Novice High” indicator for Interpretive Reading. Interpretive Reading is the foreign language skill of gathering information from a text.
* I can understand familiar words, phrases, and sentences within short and simple texts related to everyday life.
And real-life applications of this descriptor would be, for example,
* I can identify information from a movie description or poster, or
* I can understand simple information in a text message from a friend.
When we assess these skills in class, the students will have rubrics that describe how to show mastery of these skills. Students, school administrators and parents/guardians always have access to these rubrics. We will talk a lot about proficiency expectations, but please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.
I will be honest, moving from a rote-memorization system to a proficiency-based system was difficult for me at first, but now that I use it, I am convinced of its immense value.
If you would like a more in-depth and specific examples of these descriptors, see the ACTFL guidelines in the link below. The SC framework is based on the ACTFL guidelines:
https://www.actfl.org/publications/guidelines-and-manuals/actfl-proficiency-guidelines-2012/spanish
Students, you can rate yourself too. How does your use of Spanish compare to the English of the speakers below?
* This speaker is an example of a Novice High level learner of English: https://youtu.be/JGk9NKuT10s
* This is an example of an Intermediate learner of English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG1eMBGZsXM
