The Standards Connection - A National Perspective

What should students know and be able to do as a result of studying 
another language and culture?   

The National Standards for Foreign Language Learning
The National Standards for Foreign Language Learning were developed in 1993 by a coalition of four national organizations (the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, the American Association of Teachers of French, The American Association of Teachers of German, and the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese). The development team represented all levels and languages in the profession.

During the development of the standards, extensive input from the field as well as from business and government leaders was solicited nationally. That process has resulted in standards that are universally accepted in the United States as the definitive description of what students should know and be able to do in a second language as a result of K-12 classroom instruction. 

"This document represents an unprecedented consensus among educators, business leaders, government and the community on the definition and role of foreign language instruction in American."
From the Executive Summary -  The Standards for Foreign Language Learning:  Preparing for the 21^st Century     

• They are Content Standards
  They describe what students should know and be able to do as a result of studying another language and culture.
  
• They are Generic
  They suggest types of curricular experiences needed to enable students to achieve the goals of the standards. They are general guidelines intended to be used with state and local standards and curriculum frameworks to make them useable for the classroom teacher. 
  

• They Are Not Performance Descriptors
  They do not tell us how much of the content students should know or how well they should be able to use the language.  That is left for the ACTFL Performance Guidelines for K-12 Learners.
• They Are Not A Curriculum Guide
  They do not describe or recommend specific course content, materials, or a specific sequence of study.
  

Where Do I Find the Standards?

The Executive Summary of the National Standards may be downloaded from www.actfl.org . It contains sample progress indicators for each national standard as well as sample learning scenarios.  The Standards document itself has sample progress indicators  for grades 4, 8 and 12 that describe the benchmarks students will reach as they progress toward meeting each standard.

Note:  Latin Teachers - the standards for Classical Language Learning are available from the American Classical League at http://www.aclclassics.org

What are the Five Goals of Language Learning?

The Five "C's" are:

Communication

Cultures

Connections

Comparisons

Communities

The complete set of standards are available from http://www.actfl.org

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