ACTFL World Readiness Standards for Learning Languages
The American Council’ for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) has developed five goal areas, commonly referred to as the “5 C’s”. This goal areas focus on language learning beyond the classroom and aim to prepare students for gaining the skills that will help them achieve global competence proficiency of the target language. These skills can be measured by the standards set by ACTFL for each goal. In addition to having specific standards, each goal has important specific sub-goals related to the way in which it helps students accomplish global competence.
The “5 C’s” are:
Communication
- Interpersonal Communication
- Interpretive Communication
- Presentational Communication
These language learning standards ensure that a student knows how to communicate in all realms.
Cultures
- Relating Cultural Practices to Perspectives
- Relating Cultural Products to Perspectives
Both aspects form a people’s culture, and can be very interesting to learn about.
Connections
- Making Connections
- Acquiring Information and Diverse Perspectives
It’s important for students to form connections and learn how to learn about language. It’s common to have the native language be entirely intuitive, but learning a second language can assist in an overall understanding.
Comparisons
- Language Comparisons
- Cultural Comparisons
Forming comparisons shows that a child is thinking about the language and culture outside of their classroom. Classroom time isn’t nearly enough time for a student to reach proficiency. But if the language becomes an everyday part of a student’s life, fluency isn’t far behind.
Communities
- School and Global Communities
- Lifelong Learning
Learn how Language Kids thinks about education. Our growing community of learners tackle language learning entirely intuitive to a child. The process of full immersion allows a student to hit all 5 C’s of language learning.
The table below shows ACTFL’s “5 C’s” and their standards for language learning:
Sources:
- https://www.actfl.org/sites/default/files/publications/standards/World-ReadinessStandardsforLearningLanguages.pdf
- https://www.actfl.org/publications/all/world-readiness-standards-learning-languages/standards-summary
Founder and Director of Education at Language Kids.
M. Ed.
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