LANGUAGE B PHILOSOPHY
The language B curriculum reflects current knowledge about second language learning, learner-centred teaching and cross-curricular integration. It is based on the premise that students acquire language knowledge, skills and attitudes over a period of time and that over time their ability to communicate grows.
Students learn to communicate through the processes of comprehension, production and negotiation. Comprehension involves deriving meaning or significance form an oral or written text. Production is expressing meaning by creating oral or written texts driven by a context and a communicative intent, and designed to suit a particular audience. Negotiation involves an interactive process whereby participants interpret the meaning of the message and create new messages in reaction to this interpretation. Integral to these three processes are the communicative functions (e.g. requesting information, providing information) and the real-life communicative tasks to be carried out. The task indicates which language skill is being used (i.e. Listening Comprehension, Reading Comprehension, Oral Production, Written Production) and for what communicative function.
The primary aim of language B is to encourage students to gain competence in a modern language other than their mother tongue, with the long-term goal of balanced bilingualism.
Learning additional languages greatly contributes to the holistic development of students. Proficiency in a second language gives students access to a broader range of input, experiences and perspectives, and is believed to raise achievement in other subject areas, as well as giving the student the enjoyment of being able to communicate in a language other than their mother tongue. The study of language B aims to encourage in the student a respect for and understanding of other languages and cultures, and to provide a skills base to facilitate further language learning.
This curriculum aims to promote in students:
• a desire to learn French or Indonesian for personal benefit,
• a desire to develop communicative skills in French or Indonesian,
• a willingness to experiment with a second language,
• a willingness to participate in a variety of learning experiences in French or Indonesian,
• an acceptance and appreciation of French or Indonesian language learning as one of the many subjects area experiences in which they engage,
• a recognition that learning French or Indonesian supports and reinforces knowledge and skills acquired in other subject areas,
• the acquisition of learning strategies that are also applicable to English language arts and other subject areas,
• the acquisition of language learning strategies that can be transferred to the acquisition of other languages,
• an awareness that the French or Indonesian language is used outside the classroom as a medium for learning and communication, and
• respect for cultural and linguistic diversity.
STRUCTURE OF THE LANGUAGE B CURRICULUM
Indonesian B is offered at three levels at BIS:
B Foundation- primarily for beginners in this language
B Standard- for students who have a reasonable mastery of the language
B Advanced- for students who have near native mastery of the language.
Language B is organized into four curriculum standards which are outlined below. Different types of media will be used for both viewing in the receptive skills (reading and listening) and presenting in the productive skills (speaking and writing) in Language B. The following are the outcomes students can achieve through their study of Language B in each curriculum standard. Students will learn about how meaning is made through making linguistic connections and learning about grammar, through the teaching of these four skills. Students will acquire an appreciation of cultural diversity and a raised awareness of the interdependence of language and culture, through the study of these four skills.
Curriculum Standard 1 - Reading
Students will demonstrate the interest and ability to read appropriate materials fluently, with understanding and appreciation.
Curriculum Standard 2 - Writing
Students will demonstrate the interest and ability to write effectively for a variety of purposes and audiences.
Curriculum Standard 3 - Speaking
Students will demonstrate the interest and ability to speak purposefully and articulately.
Curriculum Standard 4 - Listening
Students will demonstrate the interest and ability to listen attentively and critically.
TEACHING AND LEARNING METHODOLOGY
Children's language develops when they are engaged in authentic language tasks for a variety of purposes that are clear to them. Teachers have a dual responsibility for planning situations and activities to facilitate this development while being flexible enough to capitalize on opportunities as they arise incidentally during the day to capture the "teachable moments".
Learning for students can be enriched by planning to connect content across learning areas. Integrating parts of the curriculum by drawing together content in various combinations enhances students’ skills, values and understandings: for example, there could be a connection from the language B learning area to the Health and Physical Education learning area through focusing on ways to cooperate with others in planning and contributing to achieve a goal, cultural factors that might affect food choices and nutrition, and ways to participate competently and confidently in games, dance and other activities. In order to facilitate this, teachers are expected to provide a language-rich environment that exposes children to a wide range of resources.
The curriculum will include opportunities for children to take an active responsibility for their language learning in a supportive environment where the teacher responds to children's needs and demonstrates how language is used. Teachers are conscious of the need to generate enthusiasm and interest in language. By approaching language sessions with enjoyment and positive expectations, teachers will help children develop positive attitudes to language learning.
Teachers have the responsibility to ensure that students are provided with a balanced program incorporating the four strands. The four stands are: listening and speaking, reading, writing, and viewing and presenting.
To highlight the importance of metacognition in learning and the explicit teaching of the ways different strategies are used to suit different purposes, language learning and communication strategies have been classified as:
• metacognitive strategies that assist students to make use of knowledge about their learning process and support planning, monitoring and evaluating in language learning;
• cognitive strategies that assist students in problem solving which requires direct analysis, transformation or synthesis of learning materials: for example, repetition, note taking, grouping, resourcing, inferencing, contextualisation and transfer; and
• social/affective strategies that assist students to interact with others and manage their emotions, feelings and motivational states through cooperation, questioning for clarification or self-talk. They assist the student to make meaning from texts, complete communication tasks and support the learning and acquisition of language.
The listening and speaking strand is facilitated when teachers provide opportunities for:
a range of formal and informal situations for students to listen and respond to others;
class and group discussions on a range of topics in all curriculum areas;
clarification of values and issues;
reflective response to own and others' contributions;
reporting, reading, retelling, news telling, interviewing, reviews;
debating and arguing;
questioning and inquiring; and
Listening for recall, analysis and appreciation purposes.
a short speech or presentation on a prescribed topic
participate in a conversation appropriate to context and culture
Teachers are expected to model appropriate modes of interpersonal listening at all times. They are also expected to acknowledge and respond positively to all students' efforts at good and appropriate listening. Teachers will use a range of technology to enhance interpersonal listening, i.e. telephone, cameras, listening post, tape recorder, television, and computer.
The reading and writing strands are facilitated when teachers provide opportunities for students to be engage in meaningful reading and writing experiences. Teachers will provide a balanced reading program incorporating the TO/WITH/BY approaches. This program will incorporate: guided reading; sustained silent reading; individualized reading; research reading; study skills; shared reading; language experience, and thematic reading. To facilitate this aspect of the reading strand, teachers are expected to:
establish a language-rich environment where print is presented in natural and meaningful contexts;
read to children regularly from a range of literature;
present children with a range of reading materials;
ensure children have the opportunity to read independently regularly;
provide opportunities for individual conferences;
model and discuss reading strategies;
teach children how to monitor the effectiveness of reading strategies;
encourage children to respond to, and reflect on texts critically;
encourage children to take risks while making meaning; and
emphasize strengths rather than weaknesses.
provide reading materials students to practice skimming and extract key points from straightforward texts, including visual material and graphics
To facilitate the writing strand teachers are expected to:
provide opportunities for students to write every day and to talk about their writing;
model the various genres of writing for different purposes and audiences;
provide regular demonstrations of the writing process;
value the writing efforts of all students;
provide time for students to edit, revise and publish, to share their products, and to reflect on the process;
encourage students to take responsibility for their writing development (including stroke development).
convey straightforward information clearly
convey some straightforward concepts clearly
organize key points into a basic overall plan
provide some supporting detail for the key points
indicate personal attitudes competently
use language generally appropriate to purpose and audience.
The viewing and presenting strand encourages teachers to plan collaboratively for regular opportunities to promote viewing and presenting skills across the curriculum. This will be facilitated by encouraging students to read a wide range of visual and dramatic texts and to use a wide range of forms when presenting and communicating work. This range could include:
Charts;
3-D shapes;
picture books;
maps;
photographs;
newspapers;
films;
drama;
advertising; and
computer.
Teachers are expected to systematically teach the skills for identifying and describing the verbal and visual features of these forms and understand the effects of such features. Teachers will particularly seek opportunities for promoting viewing and presentation in reading, publishing, art, and units of inquiry. Teachers will ensure that students get access to a range of technology and media for enhancing viewing skills and providing effective models for presenting.
No one teaching method or approach is likely to be effective for every student. Teachers are expected to cater for the needs of their students through a wide range of learning experiences. The teacher will provide daily opportunities for engagement and enjoyment of language in all its varieties. They will enable children to take an increasing responsibility for their own learning. Teachers will facilitate understanding, response to, and use of oral, written and visual language across the curriculum.
Assessment IN LANGUAGE B
Assessment should be based on a variety of types of activity since no one task will cover all of the objectives of language B. Projects, exhibitions, oral presentations, performances and demonstrations as well as written papers or essays all provide evidence for the assessment of student learning. The tasks set, however, should stem from learning activities and ideally will be learning experiences themselves. Tasks can be designed to allow the assessment of different objectives against relevant criteria.
Assessment in the language B is an integral part of teaching and learning. The use of assessment in a formative sense, to judge regularly the effectiveness of both teaching and learning processes, is essential in allowing teachers and students to identify strengths and weaknesses. The purpose and means of assessment should be clearly explained to the students.
Formative assessment is an integral part of the learning experience and should not be an artificial “add-on”. The objectives addressed by specific assessment tasks should be shared with students, with feedback taking place as soon as possible.
Summative assessment is the judgment made by the teacher of the standard of achievement reached by each student at the end of each stage of the program. Assessment tasks should reflect the objectives and assessment criteria of the program. They must be carefully chosen to measure the achievement level expected for the relevant age group.
The forms of assessment and reporting to parents and students will vary from one school to another.
Formative and summative assessment should:
• allow both the student and teacher to assess what the student can do, and how he/she can use knowledge, concepts and skills
• measure the application of knowledge, concepts and skills rather than the mere recall of facts
• reflect achievement against the criteria for the subject
• involve student participation and reflection; for example, students should know the assessment criteria for a given task and, on occasion, help devise an assessment grid (rubric) to measure various aspects of their performance
• provide students with an opportunity to analyze their own learning and to recognize what areas need improvement
• be based on agreed standards of performance for a particular year group, with expectations set by teams of classroom teachers and clearly communicated to students and parents
• be informative for students, parents and teachers, and provide direction for future instruction
• provide equal opportunities for all students regardless of gender, culture and special needs.
Depending on circumstances, students will reach the objectives at different times and in different ways.
Students may experience various levels of support in assessment tasks, since peer-conferencing, teacher-conferencing, editing and correcting are all essential learning tools. Teachers should use a range of formal and informal approaches to assessment to take account of students’ varying learning needs and styles. These include:
ongoing, continuous assessment which provides immediate feedback;
self-assessment, which enables students to monitor their own progress against specific objectives;
peer assessment, which helps to improve learning and to develop social and cooperative skills; and
teacher assessment, in which progress and strengths are recognized, difficulties diagnosed, and strategies to overcome them planned;
At Bali International School the study of Indonesian provides opportunities for students to be more respectful of the host country, become more accepting of diversity, and more aware of their place in the international community. It is also one of the regulations from Indonesian Department of Education for International Schools in Indonesia.
Learning Indonesian contributes materially to the universal purposes of schooling and to the development of skills in thinking and reflection. It supports the moral, social and economic initiation of young people into the culture and wider civilization that surrounds them. Learning Indonesian nurtures reflective, deep and creative thinking in specific ways, cultivates culturally distinctive fields of knowledge, and stimulates awareness of intellectual functioning. In unique ways, languages require learners to engage in self-reflection because effective communication in a new language requires the learner to move outside the norms, practices and acquired behaviors of their first language.
The rich linguistic and cultural diversity of Indonesia contributes and provides an educational environment where the study of other languages and cultures is valued as a unique and integral part of the curriculum. The satisfaction of engaging with the study of Indonesian and of developing communication skills in the language will contribute to a student’s intellectual enrichment.
Indonesia’s rich and diverse culture reflects its long history at the commercial and cultural crossroads of South-East Asia. The study of the Indonesian language provides access to an important part of the rich cultural tradition of South-East Asia and provides insights into the art, music, customs, beliefs and ways of thinking of the people of the Indonesian archipelago. The study of Indonesian provides students with opportunities for continued learning and future employment, both domestically and internationally, in areas such as commerce, tourism, hospitality and international relations.