PURPOSE, OVERVIEW AND RATIONALE

The purpose of the program in modern languages K-12 in North Carolina is to enable students to develop the ability to communicate directly and effectively with people from other cultures who speak other languages. Therefore, the focus of the curriculum is the progressive development of the skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing in the second language within the context of the cultures in which the language is spoken. Students communicate orally and in writing while learning about the customs and life-styles of other peoples and their contributions to the world in which they live.

The developmental nature of language learning requires daily language use in a long, unbroken sequence that permits students to develop communicative competence in the second language in as natural a manner as in the first language. It begins with the listening and speaking skills followed later by the integration of reading and writing. Vocabulary and grammar are not studied in isolation but are incorporated into the development of all the communication skills.

Renewed interest in the study of a second language has been on the rise throughout the United States since the late 1970's. The concern for the monolingualism of Americans, "Tongue-Tied Americans" as they were called by Senator Paul Simon of Illinois, was expressed strongly by the President's Commission on Foreign Languages and International Studies in 1979 in its report entitled STRENGTH THROUGH WISDOM:

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With the adoption of the of the Basic Education Program and the STANDARD COURSE OF STUDY ( 1985), North Carolina led the nation in declaring that second languages should be part of a basic education for all.   Students in grades K-5 would be required to study a second language and would have the opportunity to continue the study of that language in grades 6-12. Many reasons can be cited to support the importance of second language study for all children in our state. In examining the economic future of North Carolina and our country, we note that  we are becoming increasingly dependent on foreign investment and international trade. Recent trade agreements hold the promise of greatly increased trade with Canada and Mexico. As we look toward expanding our share of the world market, we know that we will need to be able to sell our goods in the language of the customer in

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order to be competitive. In addition, many of us may be employed by foreign owned companies and we will be better able to work for and with people from other countries if we know their language and understand their culture.

Secondly, North Carolina is becoming the home for more and more individuals whose first language is not English. According to the 1990 Census, the number of Hispanics living in the state increased 35% in the decade. The numbers of Asians and Pacific Islanders have also jumped sharply. Although North Carolina is ranked 38th in terms of total immigration, communities across the state are feeling the impact. Individuals of limited English proficiency are no longer concentrated in the large cities but are moving to many small towns and rural areas from the mountains to the coast. Communities throughout the state are being called upon to provide services for the immigrant populations in the schools, hospitals, businesses, and social and governmental agencies.

Finally, one of the most important benefits of second language study is that it often leads to improvement in the first language. For example, various studies of students in partial immersion or total immersion second language programs where students are taught basic skills through another language show that they usually achieve at higher levels than their piers who are taught only in English, even when testing is done in English. A study conducted Louisiana in 1986 showed that third, fourth, and fifth graders studying French for thirty minutes per day achieved significantly higher scores on the 1985 Basic Skills Language Arts Test than did a similar group of students who had no instruction in French. In addition, by the fifth grade, scores of those in the French program were higher in mathematics as well. Moreover, according to a variety of research conducted by Thomas Cooper, the study of a second language had a direct correlation with scores on the SAT-Verbal according to the number of years of that study- longer sequences correlated with higher scores. In addition, the verbal scores of students who had taken four or five years of foreign language were higher than the verbal scores of students who had taken four or five years of any other subject.

PROGRAM OUTCOMES The K-12 program in second language studies is designed to provide students in the North Carolina public schools with the opportunity to acquire communicative competence in a second language and to develop an understanding of

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other cultures to help prepare them to meet the challenges of our global society. It can be divided into five major areas: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and culture. All of these areas are interdependent and interrelated. At each stage of learning throughout the K-12 sequence, a student should exhibit progressive development of proficiency in each area as follows:

THE INTERRELATIONSHIP OF PROFICIENCY, GRAMMAR, VOCABULARY, AND CULTURE

Proficiency is the organizing principle for much of the instruction in the modern foreign languages and refers to the ability to communicate directly and effectively in the second language. The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines ( 1986) form the basis for the North Carolina second language curriculum. They describe the various stages of language development from novice to superior in the four skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The Proficiency Guidelines are not a prescribed methodology but they do have implications for curriculum, instruction, and assessment with their emphasis on the functional use of oral and written language in authentic settings with native speakers. Because proficiency-based curriculum and instruction focus on teaching

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for communication, grammar and vocabulary are not treated as specific objectives. As students acquire language naturally, they increase their knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. Grammatical concepts are taught and applied in context and vocabulary is imbedded within activities that are designed to guide students to master the functional objectives. The grammar and vocabulary that are presented to pupils should be situational, contextual, and directly related to curricular, academic, social, and survival concepts that students have mastered, as well as to experiences they have had and are having both in and out of school. Culture should be integrated throughout the second language curriculum. It should be presented within the situational context in which students are acquiring and using language and not in discrete-item format. As pupils develop the four language skills, the teacher incorporates cultural components that may include the culture's contributions to the advancement of civilization and the patterns of daily behaviors in countries or regions where the language is spoken. Materials and activities need to be appropriate to the objectives of a lesson at the grade level and interest level of the students. Thus, students are consistently and systematically provided with opportunities to gain cultural knowledge while developing an increasingly greater ability to use all four language skills to communicate.

SECOND LANGUAGES AND THE TOTAL CURRICULUM In 1993, the Department of Public Instruction set two primary goals for education in North Carolina:

GOAL l: Every child should be proficient in the enabling skills of reading, writing, mathematics, and thinking at levels sufficient to ensure success at the next level of schooling.

GOAL 2: Every student should receive a high school diploma that reflects attainment of proficiencies sufficient for the technological needs and jobs of the future.

The second language program supports both of these goals. The integration of other areas of the curriculum lends itself well to second language acquisition since it enables students to use prior skills and knowledge and involve them in active learning, making language really comprehensible and manageably producible.

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The focus of the study of a second language is communication. All of the aspects of communicative competence- the gathering of information, concept clarification, thought organization, clear conveyance of meaning, analysis, synthesis, integration, and evaluation- form an integral part of second language acquisition. The same functions that one may perform in the native language can be performed in the second language. Research suggests that students learn to read once and that reading proficiency transfers from one language to another. Students who develop confidence in their ability to comprehend literal meaning and to infer implied meaning in a piece of writing carry that strength to new learning contexts. Strengths build upon strengths. A student who can determine a main idea from a written passage in French can do so in English. Similar transfer occurs in writing. A student who can express a personal point of view may have developed that skill in English but can transfer it to Spanish, multiplying by many millions those who can understand and appreciate that point-of view.

Mathematics has been defined as a study of patterns. The skills and processes required in mathematics are similar to those used to recognize, identify, and use learned patterns in the second language. Moreover, mathematics activities often provide the perfect vehicle for second language practice. In the elementary classroom, second Language teachers can reinforce the mathematical concepts as they teach numbers, shapes, qualification, and comparisons. In the upper grades, teachers can use the mathematical concepts already mastered to provide a framework for second language activities. In addition, the second language program provides a culturally authentic context for teaching the metric system. Although not considered essential for life in the United States, it is an integral part of the economic system for the rest of the world.

The entire process of second language acquisition calls upon students to utilize a variety of thinking skills. As they learn the second language, they will relate it to the first language and be called upon to transfer skills from the first to the second language and from the second language back to the first. Successful second language learners develop an awareness of their own thinking and continuously make connections with previously acquired skills and knowledge. They often compare, classify, order, identify relationships, predict, elaborate, and verify. Effective second language teachers infuse

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problem solving, decision making, and invention into their classroom activities as they help students develop communicative competence. Listening, speaking, reading, and writing in the second language, just like the first language, enable learners to clarify their thinking, to investigate, and to increase knowledge in many areas.

The second language can be the vehicle for instruction in other subject areas of the curriculum as well. Second language study is closely aligned with social studies. It is impossible to learn a language without studying its culture. The second language program helps students recognize cross-cultural similarities and cross-cultural differences and to understand how other cultures influence their own. Efforts should be made to reinforce social studies objectives at each grade level through second language instruction. Science can also be integrated in second language instruction. Scientific processes are observable and therefore lend themselves to second language acquisition. In addition, scientific terms are similar in many languages and can provide the context for teaching any of the communication skills. Music, visual arts, dance, and theater provide a cultural framework for second language instruction and give students other means of communication which support communication in the second language. Physical education activities can be conducted readily in the second language and health concerns can provide the context for discussion.

The ability to communicate in a second language will be a valuable skill for students as they prepare for the jobs of the future. Our interconnected world, as well as the changing demographics in the state and the nation, suggest that a great many students will find their work situation either dependent upon or greatly enhanced by a second language proficiency whether working abroad or home. In this technological age when information is abundant and communication instantaneous, it is insufficient to develop faster faxes without understanding the language in which they are written.

ORGANIZATION OF THE CURRICULUM The Revised Second Language Curriculum is designed to address the needs of all students engaged in the study of a modern second language, regardless of the language they study or the grade level at which they begin that study. It recognizes that all students start acquiring a second language in the same way

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and therefore pass through the same stages of language development, although they may participate in different learning activities which are appropriate for their ages, interests, and experiences.

The Goals and Objectives of the Curriculum were developed and reviewed by teachers and other second language educators of French, German and Spanish and can be applied equally to all three languages. The Curriculum can also serve as a guide for teachers of the less-commonly taught languages such as Japanese, Chinese, Russian and Arabic. However, some adaptations will most likely need to be made, particularly in the areas of reading and writing, since those languages are written in very different alphabets and have different language structures. In addition, although the stages of language development apply, native English-speaking students learning one of the less- commonly taught languages may require more time at each stage to develop communicative competence.

The Curriculum is organized around five goals which correspond to the program outcomes:

Listening: To understand language in context when spoken by an educated native speaker.

Speaking: To speak the language so as to be understood by a native speaker of that language.

Reading: To understand the written language in context from print and nonprint materials in the target language

Writing: To write so as to be understood by a native of the target culture.

Culture: To gain knowledge and understanding of other peoples and the ability to use language and behavior characteristic of real-life situations in the cultures in which the language is spoken