World languages and cultures

The ability to communicate effectively with speakers of languages other than English is an essential skill in today's world, fostering greater cultural awareness and understanding. The team builds on and develops the student's confidence and enthusiasm for other languages and focuses on the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing through functions in culturally based discrete contexts.

The middle school world languages program offers a range of courses in French, Spanish and Chinese for students in Grades 5-8. Classes are conducted in the target language, as appropriate to the students' level of proficiency, and are designed to develop listening, speaking, reading and writing skills.

Beginners courses are aimed at students who were not in a yearlong world languages program during the previous school year. If a student successfully completes a beginners course, they enter a continuers course the following year. Continuers courses are for students who have successfully completed at least one full year of an academic program in their chosen language.

Our language program is guided by the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages, developed by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and adopted by ASL]s K–12 world language department. These standards focus on five key goal areas: communication, cultures, connections, comparisons and communities. Together, these areas support the development of global competence and the practical application of language skills in real-world contexts.

We use the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines to assess and report students’' language abilities. These guidelines describe mastery levels across four domains: listening, speaking, reading, and writing, providing a clear framework for measuring progress and setting goals in language learning.

Communication:
Students develop the ability to communicate effectively by engaging in conversations, interpreting spoken, written, or visual texts, and presenting ideas across a range of topics. They learn to share information, express feelings and opinions, and adapt their communication to suit different audiences and formats.

Cultures:
Students gain knowledge and demonstrate understanding of the relationships among practices, products and perspectives of cultures other than their own.

Comparisons:
Students develop insight into the nature of language and culture by comparing their own languages and cultures with those of others.

Connections:
Students acquire, reinforce and further their knowledge of other disciplines through their world languages studies, and recognize the ways information acquired in world languages classes, and in other classes, relate to and reinforce one another.

Communities:
Students use language and/or demonstrate cultural knowledge and understanding within and beyond the school setting for personal, educational, and professional growth and enrichment.