STANDARD 7: World Languages

Standard 7: World Languages

STANDARD 7.1 (COMMUNICATION) ALL STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE IN AT LEAST ONE WORLD LANGUAGE IN ADDITION TO ENGLISH. THEY WILL USE LANGUAGE TO ENGAGE IN CONVERSATION, UNDERSTAND AND INTERPRET SPOKEN AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE, PRESENT INFORMATION, CONCEPTS, AND IDEAS WHILE MAKING CONNECTIONS WITH OTHER DISCIPLINES, AND COMPARE THE LANGUAGE/CULTURE STUDIED WITH THEIR OWN.

Descriptive Statement: The ability to communicate is at the heart of knowing another language. Communication can be characterized in many different ways. The approach used within the New Jersey and national standards is to recognize three communicative modes that place primary emphasis on the context and purpose of the communication. The three modes are:

The Interpretive Mode. Students understand and interpret within the appropriate cultural context spoken and written communication. Examples of “one-way” reading or listening include the cultural interpretation of texts, movies, radio and television broadcasts, and speeches. Interpretation differs from comprehension because it implies the ability to read or listen “between the lines.”

The Interpersonal Mode. Students engage in direct oral and/or written communication. Examples involving “two-way”, interactive communication are conversing face-to-face, or exchanging personal letters or e-mail messages.

The Presentational Mode. Students present, through oral and/or written communications, information, concepts and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers with whom there is no immediate personal contact. Examples of this “one-to-many” mode of communication are making a presentation to a group or writing an article for the school newspaper.

The Communicative Modes and the Study of Classical Languages. Students and teachers of classical languages, such as Latin and ancient Greek, are primarily concerned with the interpretation of texts and historical/cultural understanding and therefore concentrate their study in the interpretive mode. They may occasionally give some attention to the oral dimensions of the classical languages, or may ask students to make presentations in the language they study as a way of strengthening language knowledge and use.

The Communicative Modes and the Study of Non-European Languages. Students engaging in conversations and negotiations (interpersonal mode), interpreting speeches, texts or films (interpretive mode), or making oral and written presentations (presentational mode) in non-European languages must incorporate a high degree of cultural knowledge to achieve the modes of communication in the communication standard. The amount of cultural knowledge required thus presents a stronger challenge for these students than for English speakers who study European languages.

The Communicative Modes and Heritage Language Speakers. Heritage language students may be newly-arrived immigrants to the United States, first-generation students whose home language is not English and who have been schooled primarily in the United States, or second- or third- generation students who have learned some aspects of the heritage language at home. These students have varying abilities and proficiencies in their heritage language; often they can carry on fluent and idiomatic conversation (interpersonal mode), but require instruction that will allow them to develop strengths in reading (interpretive mode) and formal speaking and writing (presentational mode). These students are held to the same standards for world languages as their English speaking peers and should be provided with opportunities for developing skills in their native language that are both developmentally supportive and rigorous. Designing curriculum to maintain and further develop native-language skills ensures that such skills will not erode over time as English becomes the dominant language for these students.

Intermediate-Low Learner Range

According to ACTFL, students who have begun the study of a second language in kindergarten through grade 4 in a program that meets a minimum of 3 times a week for thirty minutes, and continue the study of that language through middle school in a program that meets 5 times a week for forty minutes, should meet the following cumulative progress indicators by the end of grade 8.

A. Interpretive Mode (understanding and interpretation of spoken or written communication)

1. Demonstrate comprehension of oral and written instructions connected to daily activities through appropriate responses.

2. Compare and contrast the use of verbal and non-verbal etiquette in the target culture with their own culture in the use of gestures, intonation, and other visual and auditory clues.

● Eye contact and interpersonal social distance

● Table manners and telephone practices

3. Discuss people, places, objects, and daily activities based on oral or written descriptions.

● Grade level appropriate social studies topics (e.g., famous historical and contemporary personalities from the target culture; regions, cities, historical and cultural sites in the target country; events from U.S. history and target culture history from a specific era)

4. Comprehend conversations and written information on a variety of topics.

● Academic and social interests

● Current or past issues and events at home or in the target country

5. Apply knowledge and skills gained in other core content areas to the learning of the target language.

● Grade level appropriate social studies topics (e.g., converting maps into appropriate graphics to display geographical information about the target culture country)

● Grade level appropriate health topics (e.g., comparing and contrasting health concerns that occur during adolescence in the target culture with their own culture)

● Grade level appropriate mathematics concepts (e.g., selecting and using appropriate units of metric measurement to solve real-life problems)

● Grade level appropriate science concepts (e.g., evaluating authentic weather reports from different regions of the target country to predict weather conditions)

6. Identify the main idea and theme, and describe the main characters and setting in readings from age-appropriate, culturally authentic selections.

7. Compare and contrast unique linguistic elements in English and the target language.

● Grade level appropriate language arts literacy topics/concepts (e.g., time and tense relationships; commonly used words and phrases; idiomatic expressions)

B. Interpersonal Mode (direct spoken or written communication)

1. Give and follow a series of oral and written directions, commands, and requests for participating in age-appropriate classroom and cultural activities.

2. Use appropriate gestures, intonation and common idiomatic expressions of the target culture in familiar situations.

3. Ask and respond to factual and interpretive questions of a personal nature or on school-related topics.

● Reactions to an incident occurring in school or an event taking place in the school, community, or world

● Grade level appropriate science topics (e.g., characteristics and shared characteristics of major categories of organisms)

● Grade level appropriate social studies concepts (e.g., the role of the target culture country in colonization and exploration of the Americas or in the American Revolution)

4. Engage in short conversations about personal experiences or events, and/or topics studied in other core content areas.

● Grade level social studies topics (e.g., family celebrations and coming of age customs)

5. Describe the main characters, setting, and important events from age-appropriate, culturally authentic selections both orally and in writing.

6. Identify professions and careers that require proficiency in a language other than English

● Career preparation skills needed to engage in these professions

C. Presentational Mode (spoken or written communication for an audience)

1. Present student-created and/or authentic short plays, skits, poems, songs, stories or reports.

● Grade level appropriate visual and performing arts, language arts and career education (e.g., staging a dramatic presentation of a significant aspect of the life of an important person in the target culture; doing an oral presentation on a famous person, place, or event from target culture supported by research obtained in the target language; creating a visual representation of region or country supported by technological resources and other media)

2. Use language creatively in writing to response to a variety of oral or visual prompts.

● Grade level appropriate language arts literacy topics and career education skills (e.g., writing short, well-organized essays on personal and school-related topics; writing letters in response to ads in local or target language newspapers)

3. Engage in a variety of oral and written tasks using age-appropriate culturally authentic selections.

● Grade level appropriate language arts literacy topics (e.g., summary of the plot and characters; dramatization of principal scenes in the text; role-playing a film critic to express opinions about the text)

4. Describe orally, in writing, or through simulation, similarities and differences among products and practices found in the target culture with their own.

● Grade level appropriate language arts literacy and social studies topics (e.g., origin and development of a product or practice; physical characteristics of the product; use of the product within the culture; role-playing cultural practices)

STANDARD 7.2 (CULTURE) ALL STUDENTS WILL DEMONSTRATE AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE PERSPECTIVES OF A CULTURE(S) THROUGH EXPERIENCES WITH ITS PRODUCTS AND PRACTICES.

Descriptive Statement: With the adoption of national and state standards, a new way of conceptualizing the study of culture has been introduced into the world languages classroom. In addition to the traditional ways of learning about culture (i.e., studying the facts, events, famous people, and monuments), standards-based language instruction encompasses a fuller, more comprehensive view of culture. The anthropological concept of cultural products, practices, and perspectives provides a relatively new framework for the studying and experiencing of culture for most teachers and students, and forms the foundation for student achievement of the culture standard in this document.

Cultural Products. The products of a culture may be tangible (e.g., a painting, wedding veils, boiled peanuts, a pair of chopsticks) or intangible (e.g., street raps, a system of education, graveside eulogies). The culture standard focuses on how these cultural products reflect the perspectives (attitudes, values and beliefs) of the culture studied.

Cultural Practices. The practices of a culture refer to patterns of acceptable behaviors for interacting with members of other cultures. Two examples from the American culture of the practice of expressing congratulations would be slapping a teammate on the back after a winning touchdown, but shaking the presenter’s hand after an excellent speech. The culture standard focuses on practices derived from the perspectives (traditional ideas, attitudes, and values) of the culture studied.

Cultural Perspectives. As defined by the standards, the perspectives of a culture would include the popular beliefs, the commonly held values, the folk ideas, the shared values, and the assumptions widely held by members of a culture. The perspectives of a culture sanction the cultural practices and create a need for the products. The perspectives provide the reason for “why they do it that way” and the explanation for “how can they possibly think that?” Since practices and products not only derive from perspectives, but sometimes interact to change perspectives, this fundamental component of culture must be incorporated to meet the culture standard.

Language, as a key to culture, can tell us what is important to a group of people, what they do for work and play, what their social values are, what level of technology they enjoy, where they come from, and much more. Language and culture as such, are inseparable.

The following cumulative progress indicators for the culture standard are organized according to the three modes of communication: interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational.

Intermediate-Low Learner Range

A. Interpretive Mode (understanding and interpretation of spoken or written communication)

1. Explain how the attitudes and beliefs (perspectives) of the target culture(s) are reflected in cultural practices.

2. Investigate how geography and climate influence the lives of people in the target culture(s) country (ies).

3. Show the relationship between the cultural characteristics found in films or videos to the cultural perspectives of the target culture(s).

4. Examine tangible products of the target culture(s) and begin to infer why people produce and use them.

B. Interpersonal Mode (direct spoken and written communication)

1. Use culturally appropriate etiquette in verbal and non-verbal communication in a variety of social situations.

2. Discuss various elements of age-appropriate, culturally authentic selections and identify how they reflect certain aspects of the target culture.

3. Demonstrate and discuss in some detail observable patterns of behavior and social conventions of the peer group in the target culture(s) and make comparisons with the U.S.

4. Discuss the characteristics of the school community in the target culture and compare with those in the U.S.

5. Describe past and present issues, events, and/or trends from the target culture perspective and the U.S. perspective.

C. Presentational Mode (spoken and written communication for an audience)

1. Present the results of research showing the extent of diversity in products and practices that exist within the target language/culture(s).

2. Prepare an analysis showing how expressive products or innovations of the target culture(s) influence the global community.

Link to Standard 7 Novice-High Learner

Link to Standard 7 Pre-Advanced

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