testing proficiency

[Conor Quinn]

Count me in for wanting to know more on this topic, too!


On Mon, Jan 20, 2014 at 2:41 PM, Monica Macaulay <mmacaula at wisc.edu> wrote:

> I’ll forward the messages I forwarded to Ron Corn (Menominee)…  but I
> think I’ll forward them just to you, Mary Ann, so that the whole list
> doesn’t have to see them all again.  If anyone else wants to see them,
> though, just let me know.
>
> - Monica
>
>
> On Jan 20, 2014, at 1:36 PM, Mary Ann Corbiere <mcorbiere at usudbury.ca>
> wrote:
>
> Hello Monica et al.
>
> I received the following query last week: " I'm ... from Walpole Island.
> I am a member of our Language Taskforce and we are running a teacher
> training program to produce certified language teachers. Some of our
> students' sponsors and ourselves would like to know if you are aware of a
> standard tool for measuring the degree of fluency that is available?"
>
> Did anything ever emerge from the query Monica sent out a while back
> regarding the same matter as it pertains to another Algonquian language? If
> so, please let me know so I can give the task force member some hopefully
> useful leads. I'll also ask the person if he's amenable to me forwarding
> his note to you.
>
> Gchi-miigwech.
>
> MAC
>
>
> >>> Monica Macaulay <mmacaula at WISC.EDU> 11/14/13 10:20 AM >>>
> Wow, thanks everybody!  It will take me some time to work through all the
> information you've given me, but I can see that it's really going to help.
>  And Mike, it's Ronco who asked me about this!!!  I'll remind him that he
> has yours already.  :-)
> - Monica
>
> On Nov 13, 2013, at 11:36 AM, Mary Ann Corbiere <mcorbiere at usudbury.ca>
> wrote:
>
> Aanii Monica,
>
> The comments by Michael, Conor and Meg are totally in line with my sense
> of the best approach to take. Adeptness at 'spitting out' various
> inflections spontaneously and in expressing thoughts in ways that sound
> entirely 'natural' and not contrived are more meaningful indicators of
> proficiency. Breadth of vocabulary -- while some basic level is important
> -- is not as critical for a teacher to have. 'Fluent' speakers would be
> able to incorporate any term they just learned (e.g. the verb n'giigdin or
> the noun jiikaan) readily into their speech and if a noun's gender is not
> readily surmised by them, they would nonetheless deploy inflections in a
> fashion consistent with what they assume its gender to be -- for example,
> saying upon learning what a jiikaan is, "Aaniish enaandek niwin jiikaanan?"
> versus "Aaniish enaazat giwi jiikaanan?" (I notice the occasional mother
> tongue speaker of Nishnaabemwin who still uses the language much or most of
> the time making missteps like "Aapji go gii-mnopgodoon giwi bkwezhgaansak"
> quite regularly.)
>
> Being able to demonstrate grammatical consistency by doing such things as
> using verbs and inflections that agree with noun gender are the sorts of
> skills that seem would be the more critical. In this regard, I agree with
> the comments that conversations and role-playing would serve as good ways
> of gauging that sort of proficiency.
>
> M. Corbiere
>
> >>> Monica Macaulay <mmacaula at WISC.EDU> 11/13/13 11:15 PM >>>
> Good morning,
> I was talking to some of the people who work on Menominee language
> revitalization last week, and they were talking about how they need some
> sort of tool for testing the proficiency of their teachers.  Since this is
> way out of my area of expertise, I said I'd ask around.  Do any of you know
> anything about this?
>
> It would seem to me that any such tool would have to be specialized to
> work for Algonquian languages (and more specifically in this case tailored
> for Menominee).  I mean, you would have to know whether or not to test
> things like conjunct order, right?
>
> And one further point:  such an evaluation would ideally (I would think)
> be tied to a curriculum - another thing they're working on.  But is it
> possible to do any kind of testing without that?
>
> Thanks for any leads or hints you can give me.
>
> - Monica
>
> Monica Macaulay
> Department of Linguistics
> University of Wisconsin
> 1168 Van Hise Hall
> 1220 Linden Drive
> Madison, WI  53706
> phone (608) 262-2292
> fax (608) 265-3193
> http://monicamacaulay.com/
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Monica Macaulay
> University of Wisconsin
> Department of Linguistics
> 1164 Van Hise; 1220 Linden Dr.
> Madison, WI  53706
>
>
>
>


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