1. Pre-Ap: Strategies in World
Languages and CulturesBuilding Proficiency
Ed Weiss
Haverford Township School District

2. What is Proficiency?
Pro-fi-cien-cy - 1: the quality of having
great facility and competence
 2: skillfulness in the command of
fundamentals deriving from practice
and familiarity; "practice greatly
improves proficiency"

3. 1- Preparing students for class
Warm-up
Intensity!!
Grab their attention
Motivate them!!
Keep them focused
Let’s share…

4. 2-Meeting needs of learners
Multiple Intelligences
Heterogeneous classes
Learning styles
Tools of the trade

5. 3-Identifying proficiency
Levels of proficiency
ACTFL guidelines
Rubrics

6. 4-The 5 C’s
 Review national standards
 Know components
 Integration a must!
 Communication
 Skills - receptive & productive
 Modes - interpersonal, interpretive &
presentational

7. Cultures
Products
Practices
Perspectives

8. Connections
Inter-disciplinary opportunities
Technology

9. Comparisons
Nature of language
Concept of culture
Influence

10. Communities
Language beyond the classroom
Technology

11. 5-Skills for Interpersonal Mode
Exchange of communication between
individuals
All four skills at work
Receptive & productive skills

12. 6-Skills for Interpretive Mode
Reading, listening & viewing
Pre-reading strategies
Post-reading strategies

13. 7-Skills - Presentational Mode
Speaking, writing and showing
Variety and authenticity are the keys
It happens across curriculum!

14. 8-Helpful Pre-AP strategies
Circumlocution
Guessing & deriving meaning from
context
Building & retaining vocabulary
Developing higher order thinking skills

15. 9-Assessment
Variety of evaluations
Rubrics are useful

16. In summary…
Let’s take a vertical look at curriculum…