Language, Literature & Argument
Objectives
- D04.S1.11.01 Listen across differences, including accents, dialects, and viewpoints, and identify assumptions in what is said.
- D04.S1.11.02 Construct and deliver a persuasive speech that anticipates and fairly addresses counterarguments.
- D04.S2.11.01 Compare texts across languages and translations, noting how translation shapes meaning.
- D04.S2.11.02 Analyze how an author's cultural and historical position shapes a text, and read it against other perspectives.
- D04.S3.11.01 Write extended, original work — analytical, narrative, or creative — that develops a sustained idea or story.
- D04.S3.11.02 Adapt writing across languages and registers, including translation or writing in a second language where possible.
- D04.S4.11.01 Evaluate language policies, such as official languages or language in schools, for their effects on equity and inclusion.
- D04.S4.11.02 Bridge between speakers of different languages in a real setting, interpreting main ideas with accuracy and care.
Essential questions
- How do I listen across accents, dialects, and viewpoints, identify assumptions, and deliver a persuasive speech that fairly addresses counterarguments?
- How does translation shape meaning, and how does an author's cultural and historical position shape a text?
- How do I write extended original work, adapt it across languages and registers, and bridge between speakers of different languages?
Big ideas
- Listening across differences and identifying assumptions — and persuading while fairly addressing counterarguments — are the heart of reasoned speech.
- Meaning moves through translation and through an author's cultural and historical position; reading against other perspectives reveals this.
- Extended original writing, adaptation across languages and registers, and bridging between speakers are how multilingualism is practiced as wealth.
Lessons
- 1 Listening Across Accents and Dialects 55 minutes
- 2 Identifying Assumptions in What Is Said 55 minutes
- 3 Building the Persuasive Speech: Claim, Reasons, Counterargument 55 minutes
- 4 Delivering the Persuasive Speech, Fairly 55 minutes
- 5 One Text, Many Translations 55 minutes
- 6 Translation Tools and Human Judgment 55 minutes
- 7 An Author's Place: Culture and History Shape a Text 55 minutes
- 8 Reading Against Other Perspectives 55 minutes
- 9 Extended Original Work: A Sustained Idea 55 minutes
- 10 Developing the Extended Work: Structure, Voice, Revision 55 minutes
- 11 Adapting Writing Across Registers 55 minutes
- 12 Writing Across Languages: Translating Your Own Work 55 minutes
- 13 Language Policy: Whose Language Is Official? 55 minutes
- 14 Language in Schools: Equity and Inclusion 55 minutes
- 15 Bridging Between Speakers: Interpreting with Care 55 minutes
- 16 The Live Bridge: Interpreting in a Real Setting 55 minutes
Assessment plan
A cross-accent, cross-dialect listening record with identified assumptions; a delivered persuasive speech that anticipates and fairly addresses counterarguments; a cross-language and translation comparison; an author-position analysis read against other perspectives; an extended original written work developing a sustained idea or story; an across-language or across-register writing adaptation; a language-policy evaluation for equity and inclusion; and a live interpreting record bridging speakers of different languages, gathered as portfolio artifacts.
Unit 4 — Language, Literature & Argument
Overview
This unit grows from Grade 10’s criticism and craft into the multilingual, critical, and persuasive voice, building on rhetoric critique and extended reading. Learners listen across differences of accent, dialect, and viewpoint, identifying assumptions in what is said, and construct and deliver a persuasive speech that anticipates and fairly addresses counterarguments. They compare texts across languages and translations, noting how translation shapes meaning, and analyze how an author’s cultural and historical position shapes a text, reading it against other perspectives. They write extended, original work that develops a sustained idea or story, and adapt writing across languages and registers, including translation or writing in a second language where possible. They evaluate language policies — such as official languages or language in schools — for their effects on equity and inclusion, and bridge between speakers of different languages in a real setting, interpreting main ideas with accuracy and care. Always home language first, with multilingualism held as wealth.
Essential questions
- How do I listen across accents, dialects, and viewpoints, identify assumptions, and deliver a persuasive speech that fairly addresses counterarguments?
- How does translation shape meaning, and how does an author’s cultural and historical position shape a text?
- How do I write extended original work, adapt it across languages and registers, and bridge between speakers of different languages?
Lessons
| Lesson | Title | Standards |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Listening Across Accents and Dialects | D04.S1.11.01 |
| 2 | Identifying Assumptions in What Is Said | D04.S1.11.01 |
| 3 | Building the Persuasive Speech: Claim, Reasons, Counterargument | D04.S1.11.02 |
| 4 | Delivering the Persuasive Speech, Fairly | D04.S1.11.02 |
| 5 | One Text, Many Translations | D04.S2.11.01 |
| 6 | Translation Tools and Human Judgment | D04.S2.11.01 |
| 7 | An Author’s Place: Culture and History Shape a Text | D04.S2.11.02 |
| 8 | Reading Against Other Perspectives | D04.S2.11.02 |
| 9 | Extended Original Work: A Sustained Idea | D04.S3.11.01 |
| 10 | Developing the Extended Work: Structure, Voice, Revision | D04.S3.11.01 |
| 11 | Adapting Writing Across Registers | D04.S3.11.02 |
| 12 | Writing Across Languages: Translating Your Own Work | D04.S3.11.02 |
| 13 | Language Policy: Whose Language Is Official? | D04.S4.11.01 |
| 14 | Language in Schools: Equity and Inclusion | D04.S4.11.01 |
| 15 | Bridging Between Speakers: Interpreting with Care | D04.S4.11.02 |
| 16 | The Live Bridge: Interpreting in a Real Setting | D04.S4.11.02 |