The development of a national curriculum guide for Persian: Themes, genres, standards-based goals, and models

Wang (2009) has challenged foreign language scholars to “engage in rigorous discussions to develop language-specific examples and performance indicators to guide program development and decisionmaking for less commonly taught language (LCTL) instructors” (p. 284). The 2011-2012 STARTALK programs in Persian aimed to encourage such rigorous discussion through the development of a National Curriculum Guide in Persian. Persian professionals explored current theories in second language acquisition, examined curricular resources and models, and shared successful teaching materials. This article describes the rationale, procedures, and outcomes of a series of faculty development events that aimed to create a model for curriculum development for the LCTLs and, perhaps, also for other language programs in the context of higher education. The final curriculum guide produced by the program participants includes overarching themes and genres, Standards-based goals, strategies for authentic assessment, and model unit plans. 112 Mills & Minuchehr The National Security Language Initiative (NSLI), established in 2006 under the Bush administration, allocated $750 million during the 2007 to 2011 fiscal years to the teaching and learning of critical languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Turkish, and Persian. This initiative became an influential piece of legislation for national security and for the instruction of critical languages in the United States (Powell & Lowenkron, 2006). Its goal was to “increase the number of Americans learning critical need foreign languages . . . through new and expanded programs from kindergarten through university and into the workforce” (NCELA, 2008). The legislation outlined that communication in other languages, promoting understanding and respect of other cultures, and engaging with foreign governments and people are essential components of U.S. national security in the post 9/11 world. Coupled with increased national attention was an overall increase in enrollments in less commonly taught language (LCTL) courses at the post-secondary level. The MLA report (2009) Enrollments in languages other than English in the United States Institutions of Higher Education reported an aggregate gain of 20.8% from 2006-2009 in LCTL course enrollments, with a previous 31.2% gain between 2002 and 2006 and a 69.1% increase from 1998-2002. With increased student demand at the university level, the need to update and improve LCTL pedagogical teaching methods and materials moved to the forefront of professional concerns (Brown, 2009). The LCTL summit in 1996, sponsored by the University of Minnesota’s Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA), was one of the first collaborative forums for post-secondary LCTL instructors to strengthen efforts and initiate plans to further develop LCTL programs. The American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages’ (ACTFL) LCTL Special Interest Group was created in 2003 to establish professional development opportunities for LCTL instructors. Within such groups and forums, postsecondary instructors reported common challenges, such as inadequate LCTL teacher education programs, the unavailability of pedagogically sound teaching materials, and geographical and professional isolation (Brown, 2009; Johnston & Janus, 2003). Solidarity and collaboration among LCTL instructors, increased availability of teacher education opportunities, and curriculum development were mentioned, time and again, as essential to enhancing instruction within LCTL programs (Janus, 2000). Because most existing standards were based on models used in teaching Indo-European The Development of a National Curriculum 113 languages, Wang (2009) called for foreign language educators and scholars to “engage in rigorous discussions to develop language-specific examples and performance indicators to guide program development and decision making for LCTL instructors” (p. 284). Professional Development Programs in Persian During professional meetings organized by the American Association of Teachers of Persian (AATP) at the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) annual meeting and the International Society of Iranian Studies (ISIS) biannual meetings in 2009 and 2010, college instructors of Persian also highlighted the imperative need for updated teaching materials, pedagogical training, and common standards for Persian curriculum design in higher education. Several Persian instructors, who also taught commonly taught languages such as German or French, noted the discrepancy between the teaching methodologies used in commonly taught languages and the methodologies used to teach Persian in the United States. This discrepancy received increasing attention when the State Department designated Persian or Farsi as a super-critical language after 9/11. Consequently, enrollment in Persian programs almost doubled between 2002 and 2009, according to the previously referenced MLA report (2009). However, similar to other LCTLs, Persian suffered a shortage of qualified instructors in that many college instructors of Persian had a background in literature, theoretical linguistics, and/or history, and had little background in foreign language teaching methodologies and curriculum design. Furthermore, because Persian was historically taught at American research universities to graduate students in various humanities and social science disciplines who needed the language primarily for research purposes but not for active use, grammar– translation methodologies predominated. The dramatic increase in enrollment in Persian courses, however, also brought broadened learning goals, most especially an interest in using the language for oral communication, with a concomitant need for communicative teaching methodologies. The main goals of recent Persian workshops and professional training programs, supported mainly by STARTALK, the AATP, and the National Middle East Language Resource Center (NMELRC), have been to establish a working network to enhance Persian language teaching in 114 Mills & Minuchehr the United States and to answer the needs of 21 century students. To this aim, the working groups have aimed to develop Standards-based teaching materials as well as draft recommendations for beginning through advanced Persian language programs. Examples of Persian professional development programs include: Persian Curriculum Design (summer 2009); Persian Materials Development (February 2010) Standards-Based Curriculum for Persian (summer 2010); Curriculum Design for Beginning and Intermediate Persian (summer 2011); Curriculum Design for Intermediate and Advanced Persian (summer 2012); and Curriculum Design for Persian Immersion programs (summer 2013) (see “Persian Linguist,” 2012). National Curriculum Guide in Persian Despite the progress made in these professional development programs, participants in the 2009-2010 STARTALK programs continued to cite professional challenges. The 2011-2012 STARTALK programs in Persian aimed to take the discussion to the next level by developing a National Curriculum Guide in Persian. Participants in the 2011 and 2012 STARTALK programs included university professors, community instructors, and graduate students from both American and international institutions. To develop the curriculum guide, the professionals agreed that current theories in second language acquisition and curriculum design should be explored; successful materials and procedures should be shared; and resources and appropriate models should be developed. During the 2011 Persian STARTALK professional development program, twenty Persian professionals developed a curriculum guide for the beginning and intermediate-low levels of Persian focusing on the following elements: emphasizing communication through meaningful interaction; considering the consequences of real-world and culturally grounded contexts; privileging the use of authentic texts and genres; incorporating the interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational modes of communication; and ensuring the continued development of both cultural content knowledge and language knowledge. Participants in the five-day event included fourteen university professors or lecturers of Persian from the United States and abroad, three community instructors of Persian, three graduate students in Persian, and a curriculum design The Development of a National Curriculum 115 specialist. The program included presentations and workshops on curriculum design, Standards-based instruction, and the integration of authentic texts and media. Through group work and collective discussion, the program participants collectively established targeted themes, Standards-based goals, sample performance tasks, and model unit and lesson plans for Beginning and Intermediate-low Persian instruction. These materials were later revised and organized by a curriculum development committee to create the first draft of the National Curriculum Guide in Persian. Building on this foundation, the 2012 STARTALK professional development program, extended to ten days, focused on the intermediatehigh and advanced levels of Persian. Nine university professors or lecturers of Persian from American and international institutions, three community instructors of Persian, three graduate students in Persian, and a curriculum design specialist collaboratively established appropriate goals, evaluation, and learning experiences for the intermediate-high and advanced levels. Morning sessions addressed the history of foreign language teaching; genre-based instruction; the tenets of Backward Design; Standards-based curriculum planning; experiential and constructivist learning paradigms; teaching grammar in meaningful and communicative contexts; communicative tasks to enhance speaking proficiency; and multimedia technology. Afternoon sessions tended to be more hands-on in that participants collectively developed targeted themes, gen