Course: AP Chinese Language and Composition

Dates: July 18-21, 2016

Instructor: Dali Tan, Northern Virginia Community College, Alexandria, VA, email - dalit6250@gmail.com

Dr. Dali Tan is the assistant Professor of Chinese and China Coordinator at the Northern Virginia Community College. She received her PhD in comparative literature from the University of Maryland in 1997. She has extensive experience teaching Chinese at secondary schools as well as college and university levels.
Dr. Tan is a consultant for the College Board and served on the College Board SAT II Chinese Committee and the AP Chinese Committees. She has also served as the advisor for a group of College Board guest teachers from China. She has conducted numerous AP Chinese workshops and AP summer institutes for College Board both in the United States and in People's Republic of China since 2006. She serves currently as the President of CLASS (the Chinese Language Association of Secondary and Elementary Schools). She served as a director of NECTFL (The Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages). She currently co-chairs the Chinese K-16 performance standards project. She has also served on STARTALK Taskforce for Curriculum Development, National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012. She worked as STARTALK Site Visitor Team Leader from 2008 to 2015.
Her publication includes "Leader Notes--2007 AP Chinese Special Focus in Chinese: Reading Lu Xun's Short Story through a Variety of Scaffolding Activities," "Study Abroad in China: Transformation of Students' Perspectives on the World and Themselves," Study Abroad in the Chinese Context, Peking University Press, 2008, "Criteria to Guide Textbook Decisions: Reflections from a Classroom Teacher and Teacher Trainer" inTeaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, Nanjing University Press, April, 2011. She is also the co-author of the following "Exploring the potential of high school homestays as a context for local engagement and negotiation of difference--Americans in China." in Social and Cultural Aspects of Language Learning in Study Abroad, John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2013 and "Contextualized Language Practices as Sites for Learning: Mealtime Talk in Short-Term Chinese Homestays." Applied Linguistics. Oxford University Press (2014): 1-26 as well as Step Up with Chinese (A Chinese textbook for middle school and high school students), Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, Cengage Learning, 2011 and 2013 and 2015.
Dr. Tan was the 2003 recipient of the Teacher Recognition Award issued by U.S. Department of Education when her student Raleigh Martin, Maryland Presidential Scholar in 2003 nominated her as his "most influential teacher." 

 Course Description:

This course will focus on the AP Chinese Language and Culture course and exam in relation to the Common Core State Standards and 21st Century Skills. Consultant and participants will share best practices and classroom strategies in improving student performance in all three modes of communications (interpersonal, interpretive and presentational) and will carefully examine effective instructional resources.

 Topics will include the following:

· Examination of sample student answers from free response sections of an actual AP exam as well as released scoring guidelines for these sections

· Best practices and classroom strategies in improving student performance

· Integration of the Common Core State Standards and the ACTFL World Readiness Standards into instruction and assessment

· Cultural integration into the AP course

· Integrating 21st Century skills into communication modes

· Authentic materials, immersion environment and differentiated instruction

 Included:

· College Board Workshop Handbook

· Curriculum Materials and Activities

· Sample Textbooks

· Activities and Files

· Flash drive

· Lunch & Snacks

 Things to Bring:

· Textbooks you are currently using, student work samples, your sample assessments as well as your syllabus

· Your favorite thematic unit

· Authentic materials you have used in your classes

· Any other items you think might be helpful for discussions and exchanges

· A list of technology tools and apps you have used

· Your laptop or IPAD

• Daily Agenda: 

  • Monday

    • Session 1:

      • Introduction

      • Review the agenda for the AP Chinese Summer Institute

      • Discuss the College Board's Equity Statement

      • Development of the AP Chinese Course and Exam

    • Session 2:

      • World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages

      • The three modes of communication and the integration of four skills

    • Session 3: AP Chinese Language and Culture Course Guidelines

    • Session 4: Review of the Free-Response Section on AP Exam 2016

  • Tuesday

    • Session 1: Reading and Scoring Process and Sample of Student Responses

    • Session 2: AP Course Audit and Developing a Syllabus for the AP Chinese class

    • Session 3: Using Authentic Materials and Hands-on Lesson Planning

    • Session 4: Resources for Chinese language and culture - AP Chinese and Instructional Technology

  • Wednesday

    • Session 1:

      • Effective Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learners

      • Deepening the Impact of Our Activities

    • Session 2: Listening and Speaking Strategies and Practice

    • Session 3: Reading and Writing Strategies and Practice

    • Session 4: Teaching Cultural Perspective - Beyond Product and Practice

  • Thursday

    • Session 1: ACTFL's Integrated Performance Assessments

    • Session 2: Integrating Authentic Materials

    • Session 3: Lesson Plan (student-centered activities) Presentation and Sharing