INTERLINK Curriculum Guide
Course Details CS4
The primary goal in this level is for students to refine their listening and speaking skills to the point where they can communicate comfortably and naturally in a broad range of typical informal and formal situations. Students become more aware of what they are projecting in their linguistic and paralinguistic messages and develop their understanding of the cultural factors and dimensions underlying speech acts. Emphasis is placed on using language persuasively, using language appropriate to the situation, and using language as a social tool. Improved understanding and use of complex syntactical structures allows students to communicate with more precision and subtlety. Students are exposed to non-standard dialects of English and become more adept at understanding them.
Benchmarks
of Completion of Level 4:
Demonstrate ability
to:
a. understand discussions
involving abstract notions
b. express
ideas and opinions in language that is comprehensible and reasonably accurate
Core Projects for CS 4
Project Summary: Debates are established academic activities providing opportunities for research, collaboration, planning and organization, and because they also entail the use of all skill areas, they make for an ideal Core Project. There is, however, some danger that too much focus may be placed on the end-product - the debate itself - rather than on the activities done in preparation for it. Debate is about argumentation and persuasion and the ability to project an opinion in a compelling way by means of clear, coherent organization and presentation of ideas and anticipation and rebuttal of counter-arguments. These are communication skills used every day in a variety of different contexts, and therefore the debate should be seen as a much broader activity than a formalized forensic exercise. Nevertheless, the formal aspect of the actual debate helps emphasize the importance of such non-linguistic factors such as dress, comportment, and dramatic effects as well as rhetorical strategies for winning points. As a team project the debate works well because each team member can be assigned (by the students themselves) distinct roles and responsibilities for both the research and presentation phases of the debate. Choosing the debate topic is a significant part of the project in which students get to share their views about what issues are important. Topics may be germane to students' academic interests or be matters about matters of national or international importance. Preparatory activities should not only include viewing and analysis of formal debates but games, role-plays, skits and simulations involving conflict of ideas and the expression of contrary views. A great deal of the work students contribute to this project is in the form of independent research. The debate itself is the climax of a term's work of researching the topic, organizing the presentation, and analyzing factors that might influence the shaping of the audience's opinion.
Activity Ideas: While the viewing and discussion of debates and other persuasive presentations on video are obvious activities for this project, because debating requires posturing and emphatic delivery, there are many opportunities using drama techniques involving the assumption of different roles and personae. The use of non- and extra-linguistic communicative ploys including facial expression, eye-contact, voice modulation and pauses can be as important as comprehensive research, good organization and clear, accurate language use in winning arguments and activities that expand students' awareness of and ability to exploit these skills are crucial to success.
Language Use: Listening practice includes group and class discussions, video and taped speeches and debates, interviews with informants and work with teammates while classroom discussions, team practice and presentations provide speaking opportunities. Reading editorials and other opinion pieces to learn about persuasive discourse as well as research on the debate topic offer reading opportunities. Writing is practiced in various forms from note-taking and summarizing sources to outlining and composing the debate arguments.
Cultural Elements: Controversial topics of the kind suitable for debate almost always provide opportunities to become aware of differing cultural perspectives. Aside from the topics themselves, however, the ways in which people express opinions and voice disagreement differ greatly from culture to culture. Developing awareness of such differences should be one of the objectives of the project.
Academic Elements: In this very academically oriented project, students do a great deal of research,synthesize ideas, learn to collaborate with teammates and deliver presentations.
Materials: There are many TV programs devoted to the expression of contrary views and videos containing segments of famous debates. Students themselves should be involved in identifying sources to read, view and/or listen to argumentative discourse. Some websites with videos of formal academic debates are:
http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/org/debate/nationals2004/movies/index.html
http://www.parlidebate.com/index.php
http://debate.uvm.edu/watchdebate.html
Books
that might be helpful for students and teacher include: Thank You for Arguing:
What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion;
Basic Debate; Pros and Cons: A Debater's Handbook; Speak Out! Debate and Public
Speaking in the Middle Grades
CS 4 Presentation Project: Education Exploration
Project Summary: The focus of this project is educational institutions and experiences. Students have an opportunity to learn about and compare different educational systems and practices. As part of this project, students visit (and preferably give presentations at) one or more public schools. In addition to any presentations made at public schools, students also present their comprehensive findings about education in the US in a culminating in-class report. This final presentation should include information gathered from numerous sources including interviews, surveys, personal observations, and research using books, magazines, Internet and other media. Students may choose to develop a thesis for their presentation and support it with evidence they have collected or perhaps compare education in the US and their own country. The understanding of education in the US attained through this project will be very helpful in students' later academic endeavors.
CS 4 Independent Listening Project
The specific activities and materials
for this project are determined by teacher and students, but the description
of the parameters and goals of the project should be carefully reviewed.