School Administrative District #4

Unity of purpose

FOREIGN LANGUAGE PHILOSOPHY, K-12

The study of foreign language, K-12, is an experience which broadens students' awareness of a different culture, while it strengthens their intellectual processes, develops their skills in communication, and enables them to live in a multi-cultural, multi-lingual world. Because the world is shrinking and because nations are becoming increasingly interdependent, it is critical that students learn to appreciate the languages and cultures of their global neighbors.

Foreign-language study should begin early and should include five skill areas: Listening, speaking, reading, writing, and cultural awareness. These areas should be taught at increasing levels of difficulty throughout the grades so that, over time, students develop the ability to use the target language to obtain information, accomplish a task, and express a point of view.

The major purpose of developing fluency in a foreign language is to make sense of the world and to communicate that sense to others. Students develop language skills by engaging in listening activities (e.g., listening to the teacher, to picture books or short stories read aloud, to videos, etc.) They develop speaking skills by engaging in activities such as open-ended questions and answers, pair and group work, interviews, role-playing, cooperative learning, discussions, opportunities to teach other students, etc. Maximum and consistent use of the foreign language in different situations by both teacher and students is of utmost importance in the development of oral/aural skills. Equal focus should be placed on the content and accuracy of the message. Students, therefore, need to accept responsibility for their own learning and must be actively involved in hands-on, group, and conversation-based activities designed to help them master the language.

Reading and writing are critical components of the foreign-language program. Students should read for information and for pleasure. When designing reading comprehension activities, teachers need to think about the purposes for which their students read and the reading stages through which they go in order to achieve their goals. As in the other skill areas, writing should be linked to a communicative purpose: to inform, question, persuade, and/or express feelings. By using language-experience exercises; writing newspaper articles, letters to pen pals and compositions; rewriting children's story books; designing posters; etc., writing can become a real and a meaningful activity.

Reading is popularly divided into three phases of instruction: developmental (process reading), functional, and recreational. In cases where developmental