The World  Language Department offers a four-year or five-year sequential curriculum in French, Latin, and Spanish. World language programs are structured to develop the standards of the Foreign Languages Curriculum Frameworks as promulgated by the  Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), and the American Classical League’s Standards for Classical Language Learning:  Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons and Communities. The study of a world language is a cumulative task, demanding daily oral practice, motivation, and a constant review of vocabulary and verb forms.  Most colleges recommend at least two years of credit within one world language, but more selective universities prefer three to five years of sequential world language study. The ACTFL designations that accompany each course title indicate the targeted exit proficiency expectations for the course.  For additional details, please consult the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines for performance descriptors available at www.actfl.org.

The major goals of the world language curriculum are to develop within the student:

• an understanding and interpretation of written and spoken language

• knowledge and understanding of other cultures

• proficiency-based skills for purposeful communication

• the ability to use the language for personal enjoyment and enrichment

• attitudes and ideas that promote multicultural appreciation

• the desire to participate in the multilingual interdependent communities of the 21st century