STANDARD COURSE OF STUDY

SECOND LANGUAGES :: 2004 :: PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Introduction

The North Carolina K-12 program in modern foreign language studies is designed to afford students the opportunity to develop communicative competence in another language and cultural appreciation of cultures speaking that language. The Second Language Standard Course of Study establishes the competency goals and objectives needed to achieve these aims. It is designed to address the study of languages such as French, German, Spanish along with other less commonly taught languages, and Japanese with some adaptation.

The Latin and Spanish for Native Speakers Standard Course of Study are addressed separately in this document.

Program Goals

The Standard Course of Study is organized in seven overarching goals adapted from the Standards for Foreign Language Learning: Preparing for the 21st Century. The goals are not listed in order of importance; however, the goal of communication plays a central role since it is through communication that the other goals can be met. Language is used to talk about content, it is used in the community, it is used to compare with one's own language and is used to "gain knowledge and understanding of the cultures that use that language" (SFFLL, p. 27). Therefore, it is impossible to address one goal without connecting to another one.

At each grade level or course throughout the entire sequence, students should exhibit increased proficiency in the following areas.

Goal 1: Interpersonal Communication - The learner will engage in conversations and exchange information and opinions orally and in writing in the target language.

Goal 2: Interpretive Communication - The learner will understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics in the target language.

Goal 3: Presentational Communication - The learner will present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics in the target language.

Goal 4: Cultures - The learner will gain knowledge and demonstrate understanding of the relationship among practices, products, and perspectives of cultures other than his/her own.

Goal 5: Comparisons - The learner will develop insight into the nature of language and culture by comparing his/her own language(s) and culture(s) to others.

Goal 6: Connections - The learner will acquire, reinforce, and further his/her knowledge of other disciplines through the foreign language.

Goal 7: Communities - The learner will use language and/or demonstrate cultural knowledge and understanding within and beyond the school setting for personal, educational, and professional growth and enrichment.

Communication

Communication is at the heart of foreign language study. The ability to communicate is increasingly important in a global world.

For American students, the ability to function directly in at least one language other than English will become increasingly important in the rapidly shrinking, interdependent world of the twenty-first century... They must be able to participate appropriately in face-to-face interaction with members of other societies, and they must also be able to interpret the concepts, ideas, and opinions expressed by members of these societies through their media and their literatures. (SFFLL, p. 35).

To be communicatively competent in a foreign language, a student must convey and receive messages successfully by combining the knowledge of the language system with the knowledge of the cultural conventions. For this reason, culture and language are closely intertwined.

The Standards for Foreign Language Learning characterize communication in three communicative modes that place primary emphasis on the context and purpose of the communication (Brecht & Walton, 1994). The three modes are:

  1. The Interpersonal Mode
  2. The Interpretive Mode
  3. The Presentational Mode

Framework of Communicative Modes (SFFLL, p. 33)

 INTERPERSONALINTERPRETIVEPRESENTATIONAL
D
E
F
I
N
I
T
I
O
N
S		 Direct oral communication (e.g., face-to-face or telephonic) between individuals who are in personal contacth class="chart" Direct written communication between individuals who come into personal contact Receptive communication of oral or written messages

Mediated communication via print and non-print materials

Listener, viewer, reader works with visual or recorded materials whose creator is absent		 Productive communication using oral or written language

Spoken or written communication for people (an audience) with whom there is not immediate personal contact or which take place in a one-to-many mode

Author or creator of visual or recorded material not known personally to listener
P
A
T
H
S		 Productive abilities: speaking, writing

Receptive abilities: listening, reading		 Primarily receptive abilities: listening, reading, viewing Primarily productive abilities: speaking, writing, showing
C K
U N
L O
T W
U L
R E
A D
L G
    E		 Knowledge of cultural perspectives governing interactions between individuals of different ages, statuses, backgrounds

Ability to recognize that languages use different practices to communicate

Ability to recognize that cultures use different patterns of interaction		 Knowledge of how cultural perspectives are embedded in products (literary and artistic)

Knowledge of how meaning is encoded in products

Ability to analyze content, compare it to information available in own language and assess linguistic and cultural differences

Ability to analyze and compare content in one culture to interpret U.S. culture		 Knowledge of cultural perspectives governing interactions between a speaker and his/her audience and a writer and his/her reader

Ability to present cross-cultural information based on background of the audience

Ability to recognize that cultures use different patterns of interaction
KNOWLEDGE OF THE LINGUISTIC SYSTEM
The use of grammatical, lexical, phonological, semantic, pragmatic, and discourse features necessary for participation in the Communicative Modes

Figure 6. Modes of Communication

Interpersonal Mode

The learner will engage in conversation, express and exchange information and opinions orally and in writing in the target language.

The Interpersonal Mode is characterized by active negotiation of meaning among individuals. Participants observe and monitor one another to see how their meanings and intentions are being communicated. Adjustments and clarifications can be made accordingly. As a result, there is a higher responsibility of ultimately achieving the goal of successful communication in this mode than in the other two modes. The Interpersonal Mode is most obvious in conversation, but both the interpersonal and negotiated dimensions can be realized through reading and writing, such as the exchange of personal letters or of electronic mail (E-mail) messages (SFFLL, p. 32).

Interpretive Mode

The learner will understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics in the target language.

In the interpretive mode the listener, viewer, or reader works with visual or aural materials whose creator is absent. In this mode, there is no opportunity to negotiate meaning and to interact with the author of the text.

The Interpretive Mode is focused on the appropriate cultural interpretation of meanings that occur in written and spoken form where there is no recourse to the active negotiation of meaning with the writer or the speaker. Such instances of "one-way" reading or listening include the cultural interpretation of texts, movies, radio and television broadcasts, and speeches (SFFLL, p. 32).

Since the Interpretive Mode does not allow for active negotiation between the reader and the writer or the listener and the speaker, it requires a much more profound knowledge of culture from the outset. The more one knows about the other language and culture, the greater the chances of creating the appropriate cultural interpretation of a written or spoken text (SFFLL, p. 33).

Presentational Mode

The learner will present information, concepts and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics in the target language.

The Presentational Mode refers to the creation of messages in a manner that facilitates interpretation by members of the other culture where no direct opportunity for the active negotiation of meaning between members of the two cultures exists. Examples include the writing of reports and articles or the presentation of speeches. These examples of "oneway" writing and speaking require a substantial knowledge of the language and culture from the outset, since the goal is Second Languages 2004 Modern Foreign Languages 27 to make sure that members of the other culture, the audience, will be successful in reading and listening between the lines"(SFFLL, p. 34).

Cultures The learner will gain knowledge and demonstrate understanding of the relationship among practices, products, and perspectives of cultures other than his/her own. The study of another language enables students to understand a different culture on its own terms. The exquisite connections between the culture that is lived and the language that is spoken can only be realized by those who possess a knowledge of both. American students need to develop an awareness of other people's views, of their unique way of life, and of the patterns of behavior which order their world, as well as learn about contributions of other cultures to the world at large and the solution they offer to the common problems of humankind (SFFLL, p. 43). In this document, culture is perceived as being composed of the perspectives (the way people perceive things: their beliefs, attitudes, values, ideas), the practices (what people do: their patterns of social interactions), and the products (what people create: their books, tools, laws, foods, etc.), both tangible and intangible, of a society. These three components are closely interrelated. Just as the perspectives of a society influence the social practices and the products created by that society, often the practices and products are interrelated and influence one another.

 

Figure 7: Relationship among perspectives, practices, and products

Figure 7. Relationship among perspectives, practices, and products

This goal concerns itself with what has been commonly referred as Culture with a "Big C" e.g., the arts, music, architecture, literature, and culture with a "little c" e.g., daily customs, way of life, realia, gestures. Students should be able to know what to say, when to say it, and to whom in any given situation. For this reason, knowledge and understanding of the formal high culture (Big C) and the popular deep culture (little c) are essential if students are to interact effectively with native speakers of another culture.

Because language and culture are so closely interconnected and because language influences and is influenced by the products, practices, and perspectives of a society, it is hoped that the target language will be used to illustrate and discuss the perspectives, practices and products of that society. However, there may be times when the complexity of the concepts to be discussed may warrant the use of English especially in the earlier stages of language learning.

Comparisons

The learner will develop insight into the nature of language and culture by comparing his/her own language(s) and culture(s) to others.

Students benefit from language by discovering different patterns among language systems and cultures. Through the study of a new language system and the way such a system expresses meanings in culturally appropriate ways, students gain insights into the nature of language, linguistic and grammatical concepts, and the communicative functions of language in society, as well as the complexity of the interaction between the language and culture (SFFLL, p. 53).

There is a commonly held notion that learning another language is beneficial to the understanding of one's own language and culture. It is when students are faced with learning different concepts, different word order, different ways of communicating the same idea that they begin to understand that all languages and cultures are not like their own. By comparing their own language and culture to the one they are learning, they gain some insights into languages and cultures in general. They "cease to make naive assumptions about other languages and cultures solely based upon knowledge of their own" (SFFLL, p. 53).

Connections

The learner will acquire, reinforce and further his/her knowledge of other disciplines through the foreign language. Foreign language learning expands the educational experience of all students by connecting with other disciplines in the school curriculum either formally or informally...The conscious effort to connect the foreign language curriculum with other parts of students' academic lives opens doors to information and experiences which enrich the students' entire school and life experience. Those connections flow from other areas to the foreign language classroom and also originate in the foreign language classroom to add unique experiences and insights to the rest of the curriculum (SFFLL, p. 49).

In real life, learning is interdisciplinary and does not occur in isolation. Similarly, students involved in the study of another language need to talk and/or write about some content. The foreign language class, at all levels of the curriculum, is the appropriate forum for the reinforcement of concepts and information introduced in other disciplines. Interdisciplinary reinforcement serves several purposes:

  • It allows students to expand and deepen their understanding of other areas of the curriculum.
  • It makes the foreign language relevant.
  • It engages and motivates students.
  • It validates what the students already know.
  • It contributes to the entire educational experience of students.
  • In immersion and/or content-based programs, students develop language skills by using the language as a medium to learn other subjects. In these programs, the curriculum of that discipline determines the kind of language to be introduced.

Communities

The learner will use language and/or demonstrate cultural knowledge and understanding within and beyond the school setting for personal, educational, and professional growth and enrichment.

This goal focuses on the application of the language within and outside the school setting throughout a person's life. The foreign language becomes more motivating and meaningful when students have the opportunity to experience it in the real world.

They find that their ability to communicate in other languages better prepares them for school and community service projects, enables them to expand their employment opportunities both at home and abroad, and allows them to pursue their own interests for personal benefit. Ultimately, as a result of their ability to communicate in other languages, students realize the interdependence of people throughout the world (SFFLL, p. 59).

North Carolina is a very diverse state actively recruiting business from international firms. Also, the number of limited Englishproficient students in our schools is growing at a fast rate. Therefore, there are many opportunities to draw on the resources within the state. In addition, modern technology can aid students in this endeavor. The Internet, e-mail, and satellite broadcasts are just of few of the options available to students for practicing their language outside of the school setting.

Strands

Traditionally, foreign language study was broken down into the teaching of listening, speaking, reading, writing, and culture. Students progressed from one skill to the other in sometimes contrived activities structured to address one skill at a time. While these skills remain important, they rarely take place in isolation in real life but instead are interrelated as communication takes place - people communicate with an audience for a purpose, they listen to speeches or presentations, they participate in conversations, they react to what they read or hear and they write what they hear. Also, as they engage in these activities they are aware of the conventions of language and culture.

The listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills run through each one of the seven goals and are needed to accomplish the individual objectives listed under those goals. The skills evolve progressively according to language acquisition theory since, in order to become effective communicators, students need to "develop increasing control of the language and its convention" (NC English Language Arts Standard Course of Study , 1999) when they listen, speak, read, and write. For this reason, it is important to ensure that classroom activities correspond to the level of language of the students, as well as to their cognitive development, and that they take place within a communicative context with an audience and a purpose.

The way the four skills are addressed in this document differs from previous documents because of:

  • the interconnectedness of all four skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing)
  • the application of the listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills within an interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational context.
    Listening

The listening skill is a receptive skill present in the interpersonal and interpretive modes. It is mostly subsumed in the interpersonal mode where students must understand what they hear in order to make sense of it and respond as needed. However, it plays an important part in the interpretive mode where students are involved in "oneway" listening and where they interpret or "listen between the lines" of the text they hear.

According to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Guidelines, novice learners of the language are able to understand short and some sentence-length utterances from familiar materials. They can comprehend words and phrases from simple questions, statements, high frequency commands and courtesy formulae, and pick out main ideas and key words from familiar materials such as conversations, dialogs, short narratives, songs, rhymes, games, advertisements, simple stories and literary texts.

As their listening skills expand, intermediate students are able to understand simple questions and answers, simple statements and simple face-to-face interaction, and understand main ideas and some supporting details from a variety of texts including simple face-toface conversations, radio/television broadcasts, announcements, simple instructions, and simple lectures.

Advanced learners are able to get main ideas and most supporting details of connected discourse on a variety of topics beyond the immediacy of the situation. They can understand abstract topics in a familiar context and face-to-face speech in standard dialects with some repetition. They listen to texts which include interviews, oneway communications such as radio/television broadcasts, announcements, instructions and directions, reports primarily dealing with factual information, narratives, and short lectures on familiar topics.

Speaking

The speaking skill is a productive skill present in both the interpersonal and the presentational modes. The interpersonal mode, where active negotiation of meaning among individuals prevails, differs from the presentational mode which is characterized by "oneway" speaking where the ultimate goal is to ensure that the audience can interpret the messages they hear.

At the beginning level, the novice learners can communicate minimally to satisfy basic requirements. They produce isolated words and learned phrases and ask questions or make statements involving learned material. They do so in basic conversations, interviews, and short presentations.

At the continuing level, the intermediate learners create with the language by combining and recombining learned elements. They initiate and minimally sustain communicative tasks, and ask and answer questions. They are engaged in conversations, story telling, plays, skits, short reports, and poetry.

Second Languages 2004 Modern Foreign Languages 32 At the advanced level, the learners converse in clearly participatory fashion, initiate, sustain and bring to closure a variety of communicative tasks, and satisfy the requirements of school and work situations. They can narrate and describe in the present, past, and future time. They take part in conversations both face-to-face and on the telephone. They might be involved in debates, surveys, polls, and interviews. They present speeches, reports, and presentations.

Reading

The reading skill is a receptive skill found in the interpersonal and in the interpretive modes. In the interpersonal mode, the learners make sense of written communication exchanged between individuals who come into personal contact and ask for clarification of meaning when the message they read is not clear. The interpretive mode involves the receptive communication of written messages communicated via print and non-print materials.

The novice learners identify isolated words and/or major phrases when strongly supported by context. They can pick out main ideas from familiar materials. They are able to read for instructional and directional purposes standardized messages, phrases and expressions, menus, schedules, time tables, maps, signs, forms, ads, and correspondence.

The intermediate learners at the continuing level understand main ideas and/or some supporting details from texts dealing with a variety of personal and social needs. Some possible texts may include newspapers, maps, simple instructions, memos and messages with social purposes, simple labels and postcards, ads and labels, public announcements, instructions, descriptions of persons, places, and things.

The advanced readers are able to read longer prose of several paragraphs in length. They understand the main idea and supporting facts and details and can understand abstract topics in a familiar context. Some texts may include short narratives, simple short stories, news items, bibliographical information, personal correspondence, routine reports, literary works, and academic texts.

Writing

The writing skill is a productive skill found both in the interpersonal and the presentational modes. In the interpersonal mode, writing involves direct communication between individuals who come into personal contact whereas in the presentational mode, it addresses productive communication with an audience with whom there is no immediate personal contact.

The novice learners are able to copy and transcribe simple materials. They can list, identify and label. They can supply basic biographical information on simple forms and documents. They can write simple phrases and sentences using familiar materials. Students can write cards, simple letters, and e-mail messages. They can fill in forms and write simple captions.

The intermediate learners can meet practical needs and limited social demands. They can take notes, write simple letters or e-mail messages, brief summaries, and paragraphs.

The advanced learners can write routine and more formal social correspondence. They can write discourse of several paragraphs, summaries, narratives and descriptions of a factual nature. They are involved in the writing of correspondence, notes, résumés, reports, dialogue journals, and poems.

Communications and Language Learning Strategies

Learning another language is a process requiring active mental engagement. "Research shows that effective language learners use specific strategies to enhance their learning, retention, and application of the language" (SFFLL, p. 30). However, students do not necessarily have access to a large repertoire of communications and language learning strategies. For this reason, foreign language teachers may consider the teaching and modeling of strategies such as previewing, skimming, scanning, asking for clarification, deriving meaning from context, making inferences, and predicting within their classroom.

Learning strategies benefit all students since even those who use some strategies effectively can be taught additional ones. Students are also able to apply effectively these strategies to learning tasks in other disciplines. Broadening the scope of language learning strategies is an integral part of the language programs. Students are able to apply the strategies that work best long after they leave the classroom for a lifetime of learning (SFFLL, p. 31).

The Role of Grammar

In the study of a foreign language, mastery of grammar used to equate to success in language ability. It was thought that if students knew the grammar, they would automatically be able to transfer this knowledge to the speaking and writing skills and to apply it to a communicative setting. Too often, grammar practiced in drills and unrelated exercises became the focus of instruction. However, in the 1980's the proficiency movement challenged the notion of grammar for its own sake and reinforced the idea that breaking down and analyzing language components at any stage does not lead to effective language production.

The main goal of foreign language instruction is to develop communicative proficiency. Grammar provides the essential framework for supporting meaning and communication. Without grammar it would be difficult to make sense of the words. Grammar dictates the word order and therefore influences the meaning. The challenge is to keep grammar contextualized. In the foreign language classroom, the context determines the grammatical elements which need attention.

While students develop as speakers and writers, their competence to manipulate the language and to create more complex and sophisticated sentences increases. This ability is inherently tied to the interaction students have with those around them and to their attempt to understand the world. Their language is tailored to the specific audiences. In this manner, grammar and communication become mutually inclusive.

The Role of Technology

Technology has revolutionized the way we live. Traditionally, foreign language teachers use a variety of technology resources (e.g., audio/video tapes, language labs, radio/TV, transparencies) to facilitate teaching and learning. Today, foreign language teachers have an array of technology tools (e.g., tool software, Internet, PDA's, wireless computers, cable/satellite broadcasts, digital cameras, video/web conferencing, mobile phones) to facilitate teaching and learning by providing real-time access to native speakers and foreign language media resources.

Teachers and students can use tool software (e.g., word processing, database, spreadsheet, multimedia, telecommunications) to collect, organize, analyze, present and share ideas/information with audiences near and far. As stated in the national standards for effective use of technology:

  • allows teachers and students to communicate orally and in writing with other speakers of the language outside of the confines of the classroom
  • opens the classroom to other cultures
  • provides unlimited access to a vast array of primary and secondary source materials

The challenge for foreign language teachers is to create an environment which engages the student in authentic, culturallyappropriate, and meaningful experiences designed to stimulate the development of proficiency. In doing so, technology serves the instructional program, motivates students and allows them to apply many of the skills they have developed.

The role of technology is addressed at greater length in the document Technology - The Common Language which is a guide for the integration of technology within the foreign language class. This document is available from the NC Department of Public Instruction.

 

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