National Standards for Foreign Language Education

An eleven-member task force, representing a variety of languages, levels of instruction, program models, and geographic regions, undertook the task of defining content standards. They did this with the help of a three year grant provided by the US Department of Education and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The final document they created was first published in 1996 and it was called Standards for Foreign Language Learning: Preparing for the 21^st Century. The document represented an unprecedented consensus among educators, business leaders, government, and the community on the definition and role of foreign language instruction in American education. This visionary document has been used by teachers, administrators, and curriculum developers at both state and local levels to begin to improve foreign language education in our nation's schools. The NEW 3rd Edition Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century, revised including Arabic standards, is now available. There are five main standards for teaching foreign language and they are: Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities.
Communication:
Students need to communicate in Languages other than English. Students should engage in Conversations and not only speak the language but express their feelings and emotions with it too. Also students should not only speak a language on a variety of topics but also be able to read and write the language.
Cultures:
Students should gain knowledge and understanding of other cultures. Students should understand the practices and perspectives of other cultures.
Connections:
Students should be able to connect with other disciplines and acquire information. They should be able to recognize the distinctive viewpoints that are only available through the foreign language and its cultures.
Comparisons:
Students should develop insights into the nature of the  language and culture. They should demonstrate understanding of the nature of the language and the concept of its culture through the comparisons of the language and culture studied and their own.
Communities:
Students need to participate in multilingual communities at home and around the world. The students need to use the language inside the school and beyond. They show evidence of becoming life-long learners by using the language for personal enjoyment and enrichment.
On the American Council on The Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) website there is a statement of Philosophy posted before the standards of Foreign Language Learning that I though would be good to insert in this blog. Language and communication are at the heart of the human experience. The United States must educate students who are linguistically and culturally equipped to communicate successfully in a pluralistic American society and abroad. This imperative envisions a future in which ALL students will develop and maintain proficiency in English and at least one other language, modern or classical. Children who come to school from non-English backgrounds should also have opportunities to develop further proficiencies in their first language. This statement not only works for this blog but my entire blog’s purpose to spread the joy and benefits of leaning languages.