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

Cultures

• Relating Cultural Practices to Perspectives
• Relating Cultural Products to Perspectives

Connections

• Making Connections
• Acquiring Information and Diverse Perspectives

Comparisons

• Language Comparisons
• Cultural Comparisons

Communities

• School and Global Communities
• Lifelong 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