NEW HAVEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
FOREIGN LANGUAGE VISION STATEMENT

The ability to communicate is of primary importance in the human experience. Students must be prepared to communicate in a pluralistic American society and in a shrinking world. New Haven's Foreign Language Program is committed to the ideal of preparing citizens who are proficient in at least one language besides English. We believe that competence in more than one language and culture will enable people to participate in the global community and marketplace, to communicate with a greater variety of people, and to gain access to new bodies of knowledge. Further, familiarity with another language and culture helps one to re-examine one's own language and culture with new eyes. It makes one focus on language as language, with increased awareness. Students who study languages learn the ways in which language itself is a manifestation of culture.

All students can achieve success and multiple benefits from the study of other languages and cultures, if they are given the opportunity as an integrated part of their school experience. Language and culture education is a central part of the core curriculum, ideally beginning as early as possible, in pre-K or Kindergarten. Students will, however, acquire proficiency at varied rates, and with varied responses to different approaches and settings.

Students who pursue another language gain not only access to the new language and related cultures, but also enhanced basic communication skills in their first language, improved higher-order thinking skills, and the habit of discipline which is necessary for learning. Research studies indicate that the very process of studying another language may give students a cognitive boost which enables them to perform at higher levels in other subjects. Students whose native language is not English deserve to build upon their proficiency in that language, in classes geared to the native speaker. Similarly, a strong English curriculum and program for native speakers of English will enhance their foreign language study. In the brain, there is a strong connection across languages, and between language and thought.

New Haven's Foreign Language Program endorses the "5 C's" of the Major Goals in the National Standards for Foreign Language Learning. They are:

• Communication--Communicate in Languages Other than English
• Cultures--Gain Knowledge and Understanding of Other Cultures
• Connections--Connect with Other Disciplines and Acquire Information
• Comparisons--Develop Insight into the Nature of Language and Culture
• Communities--Participate in Multilingual Communities at Home and Around the World

To achieve these goals, both instruction and assessment in the foreign language classroom should be linked, to the extent possible, to real world meaning and communication. Grammar and textbooks are part of the Foreign Language curriculum, but

should not drive the whole program. Students who complete a multi-year sequence of Foreign Language study should graduate from high school with communication skills and cultural attitudes that enhance their personal, academic and professional lives.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE INTRODUCTION

Like the state and national frameworks, the following performance standards are based on an ideal progression of second language learning from preschool through grade 12. However, since language is acquired through experience, the level of language performance for an individual may not always correlate to age or grade level. There are many exceptions. Some students may not begin learning a second language until middle school or high school. Some may enter elementary school as speakers of a language other than English. Others may lack literacy skills in the language, although they speak it fluently. Home experience, travel, cultural exposure, the length and frequency of language classes -- all are variables which influence performance standards at any given level.

For this reason, the New Haven Foreign Language Standards are sequenced not only by grade level, but also by proficiency level. In each section of this document, standards for Pre-K - 4 correspond roughly to a beginning level of second language proficiency; grades 5- 8 correspond roughly to an intermediate level; and grades 9-12 correspond to an advanced or -- ideally--native speaker level. Although grade level and proficiency clearly do not always correlate, the two systems are parallel in this document for the sake of design.

Another modification of the state frameworks made in this document is the regrouping of performance standards according to language skills--listening, speaking, reading and writing. These regrouped standards are listed under subheadings for easy reference, Skills within performance standards may overlap in some instances, as when students work together in groups (listening to each other, responding, writing down ideas), but whenever possible listening and speaking skills are listed first, with reading and writing standards following.

Lastly, the New Haven Foreign Language Standards have sought to minimize areas of duplication by condensing lengthy performance standards and highlighting the key words in each list. (i.e. Standard 1.1 C for grades 5-8: Students will express opinions about people, activities and events in their personal lives or communities.) In other aspects, the New Haven Standards adhere to the general format of goals and standards set forth in the Connecticut World Languages Curriculum Framework.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE STANDARDS

The New Haven Foreign Language Standards are based the National Standards for Foreign Language Learning, and the Connecticut World Languages Curriculum Framework.

Students will engage in conversation, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions and exchange opinions; they will understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics. They will present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics.

a. Students will give and follow instructions by participating in games or other activities with partners or groups.

b. Students will describe various objects and people in their everyday environment at home and school.

c. Students will express likes and dislikes regarding various objects, people and events in their everyday lives.

d. Students will use appropriate gestures to make their message comprehensible when they lack the language skills necessary to do so.

e. Students will greet others and exchange personal information, such as names, addresses, birthplaces and telephone numbers.

f. Students will converse about activities, objects, people and events.

a. Students will comprehend oral messages, such as personal anecdotes, familiar tales and other narratives based on well-known

b. Students will comprehend short conversations that they might overhear between peers or familiar adults on well-known topics,

c. Students will recognize and respond to voice inflection when listening to spoken language.

d. Students will comprehend brief written messages and short personal notes on familiar topics, including everyday activities at home

e. Students will comprehend the principal message in highly illustrated texts and will recognize cognates.

f. Students will comprehend the main ideas and identify the principal characters both in written material, such as poems, short

g. Students will identify people and objects in their environment based on oral and written descriptions.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE STANDARDS

a. Students will present simple oral reports or presentations about family members and friends, objects present in their everyday

b. Students will recite poetry, songs, proverbs or short anecdotes that are familiar to their peers in the target culture.

c. Students will create lists of items necessary to plan activities that might take place in their daily lives or in the target culture, such as

d. Students will write short, informal notes or messages in which they describe or provide information about themselves, their friends

FOREIGN LANGUAGE STANDARDS

Students will demonstrate an understanding of the traditions, practices and perspectives of the culture studied

and of the relationship between that culture and what it produces.

a. Students will understand and use appropriate gestures and oral expressions for greetings, leave-takings and common or familiar

b. Students will participate in cultural activities such as games, songs, celebrations, story telling, dramatizations or role-playing.

c. Students will observe, identify and compare aspects of everyday culture such as toys, dress, types of dwellings and typical foods.

d. Students will identify, experience, read about, and react to art forms of the culture such as visual arts, performing arts and

a. Students will identify and observe tangible products of the target culture, such as toys, clothing, types of dwellings, musical

b. Students will experience books, songs and artwork that are enjoyed or made by their peer group in the target culture.

c. Students will produce different types of crafts and artwork that are enjoyed or made by their peer group in the target culture.

d. Students will identify the influence of geography and climate on cultural products.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE STANDARDS

MAKE CONNECTIONS WITH OTHER DISCIPLINES AND ACQUIRE INFORMATION:

Students will integrate foreign language study with other disciplines and will use various sources -- print, technology, audiovisual materials, media, data services, and human resources -- to connect the classroom to the outside world.

a. Students will relate the information that they learn in other subjects to their foreign language study.

b. Students will incorporate information from the foreign language classroom into other school subjects.

a. Students will use multimedia to find information regarding the cultures being studied.

b. Students will access information from various sources, with assistance if necessary.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE STANDARDS

Students will demonstrate understanding of the nature of language and the concept of culture through comparisons

of the language and cultures studied and their own.

a. Students will give examples of words which are borrowed from one language and used in another.

b. Students will demonstrate an awareness of similarities and differences in writing systems across languages.

c. Students will understand and use simple idiomatic expressions.

a. Students will use new information and perspectives gained through foreign language study to expand their personal knowledge of

b. Students will use new information and perspectives to compare and contrast their experiences with those of their peers in the

c. Students will use new information and perspectives to recognize the differences between other cultures and their own.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE STANDARDS

Students will use the language both within and beyond the school setting; they will show evidence of becoming life-long learners by using the language for personal enjoyment and enrichment.

a. Students will exchange information with native speakers.

b. Students will identify different jobs in which the target language skills are an asset.

c. Students will become aware of other uses for the target language skills -- i.e. social, recreational and practical.

a. Students will experience materials and / or media in the language studied for their own personal enjoyment.