Proposed Draft of the New York State World Languages Learning Standards

Introduction to the New York State World Languages Standards

The mission of the New York State Education Department’s (NYSED) Office of Bilingual Education and World Languages (OBEWL) is to ensure that all New York State (NYS) students attain the highest level of academic success and language proficiency. To this mission, the proposed NYS World Languages Standards add the goal of intercultural competence. We strive to ensure that all students’ individual educational paths and socio-emotional needs are met in multiple languages, leading them to college, career, and civic readiness.

Therefore, the purpose of instruction in world languages is for learners to:

•     communicate effectively in the target language in order to function in a variety of intercultural contexts and for multiple purposes; and

•     use the target language to identify, describe, compare, and explain the practices, products, and perspectives of the cultures studied.

Learners accomplish these standards within the contexts of making connections with, comparisons to, and through interactions within the languages and cultures of local and global communities.

The proposed World Languages Standards are divided into Modern Languages and Classical Languages.  Click here to download a PDF of the proposed standards, themes, topics and proficiency levels.

Proposed Revisions to the NYS Learning Standards in LOTE (Modern Languages)

Modern languages include any language that has living, native speakers. Modern languages are contrasted with Classical languages, which include Latin, ancient Greek, ancient Hebrew, and others from earlier time periods in human history.

Anchor Standard: Communication - Learners communicate effectively in the target language in order to function in a variety of contexts and for multiple purposes.

• Standard 1: Interpretive Communication - Learners understand, interpret, and analyze what is heard, read, received*, or viewed on a variety of topics, using a range of diverse texts, including authentic resources.
• Standard 2: Interpersonal Communication - Learners interact and negotiate meaning in spontaneous, spoken, visual*, or written communication to exchange information and express feelings, preferences, and opinions.
• Standard 3: Presentational Communication - Learners present information and ideas on a variety of topics adapted to various audiences of listeners, readers, or viewers* to describe, inform, narrate, explain, or persuade.

Anchor Standard: Cultures - Learners use the target language to identify, describe, compare, and explain the practices, products, and perspectives of the cultures studied.

• Standard 4: Relating Cultural Practices and Products to Perspectives - Learners use the target language to identify, describe, and explain the practices and products of the cultures studied as well as the cultural perspectives they suggest.
• Standard 5: Cultural Comparisons - Learners use the target language to compare the products and practices of the cultures studied and their own.

*Denotes a term specific to American Sign Language

 

Proposed Revisions to the NYS Learning Standards in LOTE (Classical Languages)

Classical languages include Latin, ancient Greek, ancient Hebrew, and others from earlier time periods in human history.

Anchor Standard: Communication - Learners communicate effectively in classical languages by using a variety of texts and resources for multiple purposes, while making interdisciplinary language connections.

• Standard 1: Interpretive Communication - Learners understand, interpret, and analyze what is heard, read, or viewed on a variety of topics, drawing on a range of diverse texts, including authentic resources.
• Standard 2: Presentational Communication - Learners present information and ideas on a variety of topics adapted to various audiences of listeners, readers, or viewers to describe, inform, narrate, explain, and persuade.
• Standard 3: Interpersonal Communication - Learners interact and negotiate meaning in spoken or written conversations to exchange information and express feelings, preferences, and opinions.

 

Anchor Standard: Cultures - Learners use knowledge of classical languages to identify, describe, compare, and explain the practices, products and perspectives of ancient and other cultures.

• Standard 4: Relating Cultural Practices and Products to Perspectives - Learners use knowledge of classical languages to identify, describe, and explain the practices and products of the cultures studied as well as the cultural perspectives they suggest.
• Standard 5: Cultural Comparisons - Learners use knowledge of classical languages to compare the products and practices of the cultures studied and their own.

 

Proposed Themes & Topics for Modern Languages

This World Languages Curriculum Guide presents four overarching themes and 17 associated topics for use by teachers and curriculum designers in instructional planning. The themes serve as unifying ideas, while topics identify specific foci for teaching and learning within the themes. Themes are addressed at all Checkpoints (A, B, C), while the topics are aligned to specific Checkpoints. Together, themes and topics serve as the meaningful contexts of communication and promote the development of proficiency as learning spirals through the ACTFL Proficiency Pyramid.

Topics appropriate for Novice learners at Checkpoint A specifically relate to communicating about their everyday experiences. As learners advance through Checkpoints B and C, they communicate about topics beyond their own immediate experiences. This guide serves as an instrument to ensure that the themes and topics are addressed for each Checkpoint.

This guide supports teachers to think broadly as they create engaging thematic units that show relationships among topics in meaningful ways. High frequency topics are addressed in multiple contexts to promote retention. Teachers and curriculum designers have the flexibility to integrate topics from several theme groups to develop a larger overarching theme.

This guide facilitates the exploration of the Connections goal area of the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages (2015). The wide breadth and range of the themes and topics enable teachers of different types of programs to include interdisciplinary content viewed through many lenses. This encourages the design of learning experiences which allow learners to "build, reinforce, and expand their knowledge of other disciplines while using the language to develop critical thinking and to solve problems creatively" (3.1); and to "access and evaluate information and diverse perspectives that are available through the language and its cultures." (3.2)

Teachers familiar with Modern Languages for Communication (1986) and Learning Standards for Languages Other Than English (1996) will note that those topics are still represented in this guide. New topics are included, and former subtopics are expanded. It is important that those designing benchmark assessments for each Checkpoint keep these topics in mind, as they provide teachers and learners with a guideline to prepare students for proficiency-based assessments.

Performance Indicators for Modern Languages

Performance Indicators for Modern Languages are identified for each Standard at each checkpoint and aligned with the target proficiency level of that checkpoint. These performance indicators are adapted from the 2017 NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements, the result of collaboration between the National Council of State Supervisors for Languages (NCSSFL) and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), and aligned to ACTFL proficiency sublevels: Novice Mid-High (Checkpoint A); Intermediate Low-Mid (Checkpoint B); and Intermediate Mid-High (Checkpoint C) as illustrated in the chart on the right. More specifically, the Performance Indicators are aligned with the target range identified for each checkpoint, so all learners are appropriately challenged. However, it should also be noted that the developmental and spiraled nature of the Can-Do Statements, consistent with ACTFL’s Proficiency Pyramid (see page 20), makes differentiation manageable. This can be achieved through the use of proficiency-oriented analytic rubrics that contain qualitative and constructive feedback to accommodate a range of performance levels.

These performance indicators are written as instructional targets in order to accommodate the range of abilities represented in classes of learners at each checkpoint. They target the upper level of the range of proficiency that point to success at the end of each checkpoint. In planning instruction, teachers can differentiate both instructional tasks and evaluation criteria to accommodate the range of abilities and achievement in any given group of learners. Successful growth is represented within a range of proficiency levels for each checkpoint. The goal is that all learners make continuous progress through each checkpoint and experience success that is only made possible in an extended sequence of learning opportunities.

Teachers can create unit and lesson learning targets aligned with these performance indicators using the same language functions to describe student performance. Unit and lesson learning targets can then be written in language that is easily understood by learners. While the learning targets written for students may sometimes look similar among checkpoints, the proficiency level expectation becomes progressively more challenging in terms of expected level of control of discourse type, function, context and accuracy. These expectations are best explained using well-crafted analytic rubrics to provide feedback on performance and proficiency assessment tasks.

The World Language Content Advisory Panel is currently working on developing Performance Target Ranges for both Classical Languages and Category 3 and 4 Languages (those that use a non-Roman alphabet).