Model Standards for Curriculum Development and Assessment Based on Japanese and Russian Examples

Goal One: Communication

Goal: Students communicate in the target language.

Standard: Students function in sustained communicative exchanges with listening, reading, writing, and speaking on everyday topics to meet life needs.

Definition:

• Students socialize at an appropriate register with peers
• Students seek and exchange necessary oral and written information to meet needs of daily life
• Students get things done in the target language community
• Students express and elicit attitudes
• Students organize and maintain communication

Examples:

• able to ask and answer questions, give directions, describe, express, convey and discuss information on a variety of topics within appropriate registers;
• interpret and present information, e.g., introductions, directions, descriptions (geography, physical appearance, character traits, etc.), intentions, and gift giving
• communicate appropriately with increasing accuracy and self-correction of errors.

Assumption: This model assumes four to five years of continuous, successful student study and learning as demonstrated by student progression in authentic assessment in the classroom.

Assessment: Assessments for skill-getting (discrete) and skill-using (integrative) in appropriate contexts.

Goal Two: Socio-Cultural

Goal: Students engage in aspects of life in the target language community.

Standard: Understand and demonstrate knowledge of social conventions, practices, and products in everyday life.

Definition:

• Students modify verbal and non-verbal language and behavior to accommodate the target language and the culture's patterns.
• Students discuss attributes of the target language culture.

Examples:

• appropriate forms of address
• greetings
• age, class, and gender roles
• behavioral expectations in a variety of settings
• kinship
• aesthetics
• spatial relationships
• attitudes toward religion
• attitudes toward work
• attitudes toward children
• sense of personal space in a variety of contexts
• commercial transactions (stores, restaurants, markets, etc.)
• some knowledge of geography, history and literature

Assumption: This model assumes four to five years of continuous, successful student study and learning as demonstrated by student progression in authentic assessment in the classroom.

Assessment: Authentic assessment of cultural understanding in cultural situations. Use of English may be necessary depending on what is being assessed, particularly in understanding of literature and history.

Goal Three: Learning How to Learn

Goal: Students commit to high levels of attainment in language learning.

Standard: Students understand their own role in the process of language learning.

Definition:

• Students are able to articulate their own rationale for studying a foreign language.
• Students see a connection between the study of a target language and opportunities in life.
• Students plan for and set realistic short and long term goals.
• Students make critical assessments of their own progress on a regular basis.
• Students understand that learning is an individual responsibility and continue to learn outside the classroom.
• Students seek and use outside content resources.
• Students use own learning style to maximize opportunities to learn.
• Students generalize about patterns in the target language beyond taught materials.
• Students predict syntactic and phonological patterns from their understanding of the target language system.

Examples:

• students understand and use learning strategies appropriate to modality
• monitor own progress
• use tools to find information related to language learning
• recognize and act on the differences between modalities
• know when to ask for guidance (what and whom)
• recognize the relationship of the first language to the second in learning

Assumption: This model assumes four to five years of continuous, successful student study and learning as demonstrated by student progression in authentic assessment in the classroom.

Assessment: Students apply strategies both within and outside the classroom and are assessed through self-assessment, including diaries, checklists, and think-aloud procedures.

Goal Four: Language and Culture

Goal: Students discern the interaction of the target language with target culture.

Standard: Students integrate the language system with the culture as the fabric that supports it.

Definition:

• Students compare/contrast the first language and culture with the target language and culture to enrich their knowledge of both.
• Students comprehend and acquire discourse protocols and rituals appropriate for written and oral exchanges.

Examples:

• students acquire information and perspectives that are only available through the target language and culture.
• understand the relationship of language and culture in age, social position, and forms of address
• use cultural expressions of politeness, sympathy, surprise, etc.
• use situational and age appropriate expressions, including slang
• understand the relationship of the first language to the target language through borrowed vocabulary and cultural practices.

Assumption: This model assumes four to five years of continuous, successful student study and learning as demonstrated by student progression in authentic assessment in the classroom.

Assessment: Students demonstrate culturally appropriate discourse patterns and communication rituals and etiquettes.

Goal Five: General Knowledge

Goal: Students acquire broader experience as world citizens through the study of another language and culture.

Standard: Students gain access to knowledge about how different societies address similar needs.

Definition:

• Students compare/contrast the first language and culture with the target language and culture to enrich their knowledge of other world languages and cultures.
• Students deduce from the study of another language and culture how societies are organized based on their physical geography and social experience.
• Students recognize a range of empathetic and tolerant attitudes toward other cultures.

Examples:

• basic needs (food, clothing, shelter)
• relationship to nature
• individual and society
• spirituality
• governance

Assumption: This model assumes four to five years of continuous, successful student study and learning as demonstrated by student progression in authentic assessment in the classroom.

Assessment: Students display their knowledge of issues by representing all relevant dimensions through written and/or oral means.