2.a What is the Teaching and Learning Cycle (TLC)?

This manual adopts a version of a teaching and learning cycle (TLC) inspired by the work of Beverly Derewianka (see  victesol.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/A-Teaching-and-Learning-Cycle.pdf). This TLC has five steps (which will appear capitalized in this document for easy identification): Building Knowledge of the Topic, Guided Reading, Deconstruction, Joint Construction, and Independent Construction. Where Steps 1 and 2 focus on learning objectives related to decoding meaning/accessing content, Step 3 focuses on objectives associated with understanding genre and its purpose and how this purpose is realized through language. Steps 4 and 5 are centered on creating meaning/content.

Table 2. The Text-based Task (TLC) and Learning Objectives

At the core of this cycle is the continuous assessment of learners’ global comprehension and progress (represented by the star in the middle of the image in Figure 1, below). This continuous assessment could be done in a variety of ways, depending on the step on which you are working (more on this will be provided shortly, in Section II.2.d.)

Figure 1. The Teaching and Learning Cycle for a Text-based Approach

Even if the work is recursive, for pedagogical purposes, we describe the steps linearly, starting with the three steps that stress interpretation, followed by steps that stress production. For the first three steps, the starting point of all activities is the chosen text. To illustrate the steps, we are using a text-based task for a third-semester Italian L2 class. The task and chosen text have been translated into English to make the approach clear to instructors of any language (you can read and download the complete task in this Repository [textbasedtasks.commons.gc.cuny.edu/2024/05/10/biography-genre-task-english-l2-nh-im-tinto]):

• Genre | biographical recount (a text that tells, in chronological order, the facts of someone’s life)
• Text | short biography of an Italian Renaissance artist (Tintoretto, taken from kids.britannica.com/students/article/Tintoretto/277365 and pasted below for reference)

Tintoretto
(1518?–94). The energy and excitement of the Renaissance radiate from the paintings of the Italian master Tintoretto. Dramatic composition and the bold use of changing light make his work unique.

Little is known of Tintoretto’s life. He was born Jacopo Robusti in Venice in about 1518. His father worked as a tintore, or dyer of cloth, so Jacopo became known as Tintoretto, “little tintore.” Tradition says his heroes were the painters Michelangelo and Titian, but Tintoretto early developed a distinctive style.

His treatment of light and shade was as vivid as lightning flashing amid storm clouds. His skill in composition created images of vast space crossed with strong curves and angles with subjects arranged in ways unusual for the period. For example, in The Last Supper, Jesus, the apostles, and angels are all present; however, the figures that are prominent in the foreground are humble serving people and domestic animals who seem unaware of the religious significance of the event.

At first Tintoretto had difficulty finding work, but gradually his reputation grew. In 1547 he was commissioned to paint scenes from the life of St. Mark, the patron saint of Venice. The first of these is the exuberant St. Mark Freeing the Slave, which made him a center of attention. By 1555 he was famous and quite popular. He began a decade of work in the decoration of the church of the Madonna dell’Orto.

In order to compete for work in the school of St. Roch, Tintoretto secretly mounted his sample on a ceiling of the school and unveiled it as if it were a finished product. He won the competition and began two decades of work in the school.

Tintoretto painted not only religious subjects but also portraits and scenes from myth and fable. Among his finest works are Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple (1552), Cana Wedding (1561), and Crucifixion (1565). Tintoretto died in Venice on May 31, 1594.

2.b The five steps of the Teaching and Learning Cycle (TLC)

STEP 1 | BUILDING KNOWLEDGE OF THE TOPIC
During this step, the instructor works with learners in a series of preparatory tasks that familiarize learners with the topic and key vocabulary to ensure that all learners can collaboratively participate in the discussions that are at the core of Steps 2, 3 and 4. In this example (the short biography of an Italian Renaissance painter), Step 1 entails first introducing the learners to the topic of Renaissance art, as well as providing some vocabulary to talk about it.

Learning objective | After working on this step, learners will be able to recall, select, and label background information and vocabulary related to the model text topic. 
How it’s done | A topic introduction typically proceeds from more general to more specific information. In the case of this text, this process starts with getting learners acquainted with the Renaissance period of history, then the Italian Renaissance, then the work of the specific artist who is the focus of the selected text. Depending on the learners’ proficiency level and previous knowledge of the topic, this portion of the cycle takes advantage of the learners’ bilingual range by switching back and forth from dominant to target language. Sample tasks for introducing learners to the field are:

• Lecture supported by visuals
• Timelines 
• Matching images to words
• Matching descriptive sentences to images
• Creating conceptual maps

STEP 2 | GUIDED READING
During this step, the instructor works with learners on reading comprehension of the selected text, introducing them to strategies for understanding a text they might find in or outside the classroom. Depending on the learners’ level(s), this step includes contextualizing the text (such as explaining where it was published or produced).

Learning objective | After working on this step, learners will be able to (i) access the selected text’s meaning (in this example, the short biography) and (ii) apply strategies for understanding similar texts. 

How it’s done | Typically, two tasks build up to this meaning-comprehension step: 

• First, learners are guided toward gaining global comprehension of the text’s content—the basic who, what, when, and where of the text’s content. For instance, in this case of the biographical recount of an Italian Renaissance painter, this might mean understanding who the biography is about, what is discussed, what time period it refers to, and where the events are taking place. 
• Second, the instructor may choose to employ tasks to deepen comprehension and, depending on the language proficiency level and background knowledge of the learners, provide more opportunities for exposure to the topic and targeted vocabulary. Some of these tasks could include skimming the text, scanning for specific information, or summarizing content.

STEP 3 | DECONSTRUCTION
During this task, the instructor guides the learners through identifying the purpose of the selected text and how this purpose is achieved through language, shifting from focus on the text’s content (or field, Steps 1 and 2). This is a hallmark of any genre-based model, and notably different from what is typically done in more well-known models of L2 instruction. Because of that, this description of Step 3 includes more detail than was provided for Steps 1 and 2. 

Learning objective | After working on this step, learners will be able to identify and talk about (i) the purpose of the model text, and (ii.a) the organizational features and (ii.b) the textual features through which this purpose is realized.  

How it’s done:

1.  Genre and purpose: First, the instructor discusses with learners what genre the model text belongs to and what the purpose is in using this genre. For instance, in the case of the model text “Tintoretto,” this text is a short biographical recount that is typically used to get a quick (not in-depth) acquaintance with a historical figure, like might happen in an encyclopedia entry designed for readers looking to obtain quick facts. The use of Socratic questions (“guiding questions”) is a valuable pedagogical tool here; for instance, “What do you think this text is intending to do/be used for?” “What makes you think this?” “Who might find this text useful, and why?”
2. Genre stages (or “parts”): Second, the instructor guides learners in identifying the genre stages and what each of these stages is achieving (purpose). Since genres by definition are “staged,” it takes several “moves” to reach a goal and learners are going to work to identify those moves/stages. While names for stages have been proposed by specialists in genre theory (see Table 1 in Section II.1.c) it is advisable not to impose the names of stages on learners (for example, the Orientation which sets the stage by recounting birth, family, and early life, followed by the Life stages which includes the more “famed” events of the person’s life). Instead, while guiding them toward a discovery of what the text is doing; allow them, as a group, to propose the names that best identify the stages. Table 3, below, shows an example of such learner decisions that have been entered collaboratively into a checklist created by the instructor and students during the Deconstruction step.  
3. Textual features: Third, and once learners have a clear idea of the general structure of the text, the instructor guides learners through uncovering the language choices made by the text’s author. The features are typically preselected by instructors because it is not usually possible or advisable to look at all the features used in the selected text. Selection will depend on learners’ proficiency level. A few features that can be identified in the short Tintoretto recount are: the use of time markers to organize events (typical of all types of stories), the use of the historic present to convey perfective actions, and the use of descriptive words to characterize the particular painter style. As with genre stages, a helpful pedagogical strategy is to collaboratively organize the features uncovered in a checklist such as the one below in Table 4. 

Table 3. Genre stages checklist of the text Tintoretto

Table 4. Textual features checklist of the text Tintoretto

The advantage of constructing checklists like these is that they will be easily available to learners for the next steps (Step 4, Joint Construction, and Step 5, Independent Construction), during which they will be asked to create texts. With a few modifications, these can be converted to a checklist for the learners’ writing tasks (Steps 4 and 5), and additionally, will function as a rubric for assessing the writers’ work after Step 5.

During this step, learners will also develop the shared metalanguage necessary to talk about the text (how to name the genre, the different stages, and the features). This metalanguage does not need to come from any text or textbook—you can choose terms that work for you. The goal is for the terminology of the metalanguage to be grasped and retained by both you and your learners.

On a final note, if time permits, learners benefit from deconstructing more than one model text on the same topic and genre, and with a focus on similar textual features, before moving to Steps 4 and 5.

STEP 4 | JOINT CONSTRUCTION
During this step, learners and the instructor collaboratively create a text in the same genre as the one for the deconstructed text.

Learners’ goal | After working on this step, learners will be able to (i) identify the steps taken to create a text, and (ii) produce a text of the same genre as the model text they previously deconstructed (in other words, a short biographical recount).
How it’s done | Learners are asked to prepare at home by gathering information on a specific topic (such as the life of Veronese, another Italian Renaissance painter). In class, with the information gathered (when Veronese was born, where he lived, etc.), and using the information about genre and features gained during Step 3, Deconstruction, which can be visualized in a checklist (see Tables 3 and 4 above), the instructor guides the learners in the construction of a new text. The instructor can scaffold the work by asking guiding questions regarding genre, stages or textual features, such as “What would we write in the ‘Early life’ stage achieve the goal of this stage?; “What features can we use to organize the events in chronological order within the Life events stage?”; “Could we say that in fewer words?”; “How about we move this sentence from there to here?” During this joint text creation, the instructor can ask learners to use the metalanguage they acquired/created, such as “What’s a more appropriate technical term for that?” and, finally, recasting as necessary (“You mean …?”)  (For more examples of guiding questions, see Derewianka, B. (1990). Exploring how texts work. Primary English Teaching Association, p. 8).

This is a great opportunity for the instructor to assess the learners’ ability to identify and apply features from the checklist. If gaps are identified, the instructor can go back to the model text as indicated by the circular representation of the teaching-learning cycle.  

STEP 5 | INDEPENDENT CONSTRUCTION
Now it is time for learners to create a text of their own, independently. 

Learning objective | After working on this step, learners will be able to apply all the resources gathered in steps 1–4 in the construction of their own text related to the selected topic (for example, the Renaissance), in the target genre (for example, a biographical recount).
How’s it’s done | Now, learners are told that they are in the driver’s seat and are going to make decisions as all writers do. They are directed to the resources they have at their disposal: Both to help them and to make them accountable, learners can use the tables created during the Deconstruction (Step 3; Tables 1, 2, 3, and 4) to guide them in this process. Aside from these tools, it is important to give learners a checklist (an example is below in Table 5), showcasing all the necessary stages and textual features the learners should consider while writing independently. These are the same features addressed during Steps 3, Deconstruction, and 4, Joint Construction. The items in the checklist are expressed in the first-person singular voice, similar to the NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-do Statements, and explained using the same metalanguage the learners created and acquired during the Deconstruction. A version of this checklist can also be used as a summative assessment rubric (see Section 2.d, below).

Table 5. Example of a checklist that the learners can use during and after writing

2.c Completing the five steps

How much time is needed to complete such a TLC depends on general contextual factors—such as curricular and programmatic goals and learners’ profiles—as well as some factors that are more specific to the task itself, such as text length and complexity (how many stages it has, what textual features are used, its level of formality, etc.). As with most literacy-oriented activities, taking time for learners to discover what the text is doing and how—instead of telling them up front—results in a more fruitful road towards development in many areas: cognitive, linguistic, and sociocultural. Furthermore, research has shown that the more texts of the same genre learners work with, the more they develop these linguistic, sociocultural, and critical skills, becoming better readers and writers.

2.d Assessing learner progress

As mentioned earlier, and as is represented in the visual diagram of the TLC (on section 2.a), assessment should be ongoing, and learners should actively participate in the process. Include a variety of assessments throughout the TLC. For instance, it makes sense to use formative assessments (generally low stakes, used to identify what is working and what is not, where learners are in terms of abilities, and to monitor their development) after steps 1–4. You can combine self-assessment and instructor-generated tools. A self-assessment tool for Step 1 (Building Knowledge of the Topic) might look like Table 6, below:

Table 6. Example of a self-assessment rubric

An instructor-generated assessment tool for step 2 (Guided Reading) might look like Table 7, below:

Table 7. Example of an instructor-generated assessment rubric for working on a text at Advanced Low-Mid level of proficiency

Summative assessments (high-stakes assessments used to evaluate learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it to a benchmark), are better left for step 5, after learners create their own text using what they developed throughout the entire task. A sample rubric for evaluating learner development is shown below in Table 8:

Table 8. Sample summative rubric for the “Tintoretto” text Teaching-Learning Cycle

One thing to note is that every learning objective identified for a TLC step must be assessable (there must be a way for learners to demonstrate if they can or cannot do what the learning objective states) and the instructor should clearly indicate to the learner how those learning objectives are being assessed.

Finally, L2 and heritage courses typically enroll learners with varied proficiency levels. Because of this, differentiating instruction is essential to avoid unfair evaluation of some of the learners.