A. PERSON-TO-PERSON COMMUNICATION
Students will develop communication skills for direct conversation and written correspondence. In conversation or brief written exchanges with family members, friends, or classmates, students will have the skill and confidence to converse and write about familiar topics and events,to ask and answer questions, and to compare and contrast people, things, or events using strings of short sentences. Students will be able to:
SECONDARY GRADES
1. Compare and contrast people, things, and events by using strings of sentences.
2. Clarify and ask for clarification in conversation or brief written exchanges.
3. Present and exchange information about current, past, and future events regarding issues of personal interest.
EXAMPLES
Tape a conversation with a classmate, in which they discuss the previous summer vacation, the current school year, and their plans for the coming months.
Pretend to tape a message on a famous person's answering machine, asking several pertinent questions, and have another student answer the questions.
B. READING, LISTENING, AND VIEWING FOR UNDERSTANDING
Students will develop reading, listening, and viewing skills so they can obtain and interpret information. Students will be able to use a second language to obtain information from "authentic" resources such as newspapers, letters, literature, newscasts, videos, or musical recordings and to acquire new knowledge about people, events, and cultures. Students will be able to:
SECONDARY GRADES
1. Demonstrate comprehension of selected short samples of spoken language.
2. Demonstrate understanding of the main ideas of non-fiction oral presentations such as newscasts and documentaries.
3. Demonstrate comprehension of short written texts that contain some unfamiliar content.
4. Identify the main ideas and supporting details of an informational text such as a letter, story, poem, or newspaper.
5. Demonstrate understanding of the main ideas and supporting details of brief discussions and presentations about familiar topics.
6. In the study of Latin or ancient Greek, recognize the grammatical structures essential to understanding a short narrative or reading passage.
7. In the study of Latin or ancient Greek, translate a narrative into English.
EXAMPLES
Read a short story (in the second language) about a personal experience or event and then rewrite the story in that language using their own words.
View a short video segment (e.g., music video) in the second language and then paraphrase the content.
C. ORAL AND WRITTEN PRESENTATIONS
Students will develop skills in oral and written presentation for one-way communication with an individual or a group. Students will use writing and oral presentation skills to address a broader range of topics in a wider variety of situations than found in person-to-person communication. Writing and speaking for presentation allows more time for careful planning and editing, so students can pay closer attention to such aspects of the structure and appropriate use of the language as pronunciation, vocabulary, spelling, grammar, and style in their finished work. Students will be able to:
SECONDARY GRADES
1. Use short paragraphs to summarize the content of simple articles, documents, or oral texts written in the second language.
2. Write effective letters for various purposes.
3. Write an explanation supporting an opinion on a topic of personal importance.
4. Describe past, present, or future events in areas of public interest.
5. Give directions for carrying out a multi-step task.
6. Plan and deliver a report on a self-selected topic.
7. Use paraphrasing, predictions of what comes next, or other techniques to demonstrate their understanding of selected examples of authentic spoken language.
EXAMPLES
Play the role of a city tour guide, describing various buildings, monuments, and other sights in the city being studied.
Write autobiographies, highlighting the main events and people in their lives.
Prepare a report about contemporary entertainers of a country where the second language is spoken.
D. WORKINGS OF LANGUAGE
Students will gain a deeper understanding of both their native language and of the way language works by discovering patterns among language systems. They will be able to compare and contrast elements of the structure and use of English and the second language, and to increase their awareness of the nature of language, the influences of other languages on English, and the strategies used to communicate meaning. Students will be able to:
SECONDARY GRADES
1. Demonstrate awareness that there are phrases, idioms, and words that do not translate directly from one language to another.*
2. Recognize noun and verb forms and how they function in the second language in relation to comparable elements in English.*
3. Compare variations of meanings of words, gestures, and intonation in the second language and English.*
4. Demonstrate knowledge of the relationship between grammatical structure (e.g., word order, verb tenses, noun cases, and number) and meaning.*
5. Demonstrate understanding of the processes of derivation and word borrowing from one language to another (e.g., soufflé from French, caucus from Algonquian, labor from Latin).*
EXAMPLES
Identify phrases in ancient Greek that cannot be translated word for word into English.*
Compare the way noun plurals are formed in both the first and second languages, using reading passages in each language.*
Show with examples how word order and meaning are connected, in the second language, based on reading or hearing a passage in that language.*
Cite and use examples of words that are borrowed from the second language by the first language.*
Compare and contrast the use of word order and word endings in English and a second language.*
E. CULTURAL PRACTICES, PRODUCTS, AND PERSPECTIVES
Students will gain insight into another culture through an understanding of its social practices, products, and perspectives. Social practices describe the way people behave toward one another. Products include tangible things like food, tools, or a piece of art, and intangible things like laws, music, or rituals. Perspectives include ideas, attitudes, and values. Students will develop an awareness of other people's world views, their unique way of life, and the patterns of behavior which order their world. Students will be able to communicate more effectively through speech and behavior. Students will be able to:
SECONDARY GRADES
1. Experience (read, listen to, view, perform) the arts of another culture (e.g., stories, poetry, music, film, sculpture, dance, drama, myth, legend) and discuss their meaning to that cultural community.*
2. Engage in everyday activities of another culture (e.g., eating, shopping, entertaining, telephoning), using appropriate nonverbal cues and verbal cues in the second language.*
3. Identify and discuss connections between cultural values and socially approved behaviors of another culture.*
4. Identify and discuss social, political, and economic issues that affect youth or the community in the culture studied (e.g., legal rights, political organizing, employment opportunities).*
EXAMPLES
Write a short essay in the second language describing the educational system in a country where that language is spoken and then compare it with his/her own.
Write and perform a skit, in the second language, about shopping for food in grocery stores in a country where that language is spoken, using appropriate language and gestures.
Act out the three forms of the Roman marriage ceremony and explain how each represented the social status of the participants.*
F. CROSS-CULTURAL CONNECTIONS AND COMPARISONS
Students will recognize the connections that link people, countries, and historical periods such as cultural and religious traditions, historical events, political thought, or geography. Students will become aware of the contributions of another culture to their own and further their knowledge of other disciplines through the second language. Students will be able to:
SECONDARY GRADES
1. Acquire information from a variety of sources written in the second language about topics being studied in other school subjects, such as political and historical issues, worldwide health problems, and environmental concerns.
2. Present written or oral reports on topics being studied in other classes.
3. Compare information on a specific topic, gathered from a variety of sources in the second language, to information, written in English, on the same topic.*
4. Demonstrate an awareness of the relationship between cultural practices (e.g., rituals, work habits, sports, leisure activities) and values by comparing selected practices from another culture with their own.*
5. Demonstrate an understanding of the way tangible products (e.g., food, tools, artwork) and intangible products (e.g., laws, educational systems) define a culture and how they influence other cultures.*
EXAMPLES
Summarize the main opinions presented in a short editorial from a newspaper written in the second language.*
Write a letter or send an e-mail message to a second language pen-pal, describing a film on a pertinent topic and their reactions to it.
Combine information about environmental concerns from science and social studies classes with information available in the second language in order to make an oral presentation in that language.
Make a collage representing both tangible and intangible products from a culture where the second language is spoken and explain how those products reflect certain cultural perspectives.*
Make a video presentation which shows how American architecture has been influenced by the architecture of the country where the second language was/is spoken (e.g., Greek and Roman, German Bauhaus).