Weber State University   

Foreign Languages & Literature

Results of Assessment

2005-2006 (submitted 02/23/07)

This year a total of 52 majors graduated in French, German or Spanish and completed the assessment process. These students were assessed on five outcomes and the data for each follows. Outcomes 1 and 3 are rated using the ACTFL Proficiency Scale. The national standard prescribed by NCATE/ACTFL for foreign language majors is the Advanced Low level.

Since not every student completed all of the assessments, some of the outcome totals do not sum to 52.

Outcome 1: Students demonstrate speaking and listening proficiency in the language they are studying.

72% of the graduating majors who completed the oral assessment for outcome 1 met the standard of Advanced Low.

Outcome 2: Students demonstrate the ability to write in different styles.

Students were asked to submit written work that represented at least two different writing styles or genres. A summary of the documents submitted follows. All of the majors were able to produce at least two different styles.

* Documents submitted other than those listed included poetry, short plays, advertisements, and resumes.

Outcome 3: Students demonstrate a command of grammar, mechanics and the ability to use a variety of sentence structures to express their ideas.

The writing samples submitted by the students were analyzed for their language usage and grammatical accuracy using the ratings from the ACTFL Proficiency Scale.

83% of the graduating majors were judged by the faculty with at least a rating of Advanced Low on their use of grammar in the foreign language.

Outcome 4: Students read and understand popular and literary texts in the language; analyze literary works and discern moral, cultural and aesthetic values.

Graduating majors were asked to submit at least one document in which they had analyzed a literary text. Faculty then reviewed the documents to discern whether or not they included any of the following components.

Outcome 5: Students demonstrate an awareness of the similarities and the differences among the cultures of the language being studied as they compare to other cultures.

Students were asked to submit a piece of written work that demonstrated their awareness of culture. In reviewing the portfolios, faculty simply judged whether or not such awareness was manifested.

(Submitted by Tom Mathews, Feb. 22, 2007)

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