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Foreign Language Program Overview
Program Philosophy and Goals
The essence of human interaction is language and communication. The world that our students will encounter as adults will be vastly different from the one we know today. The rapid development of telecommunications will make the ability to communicate in more than one language a necessity for all future employees. Therefore it is important to prepare our students for this multilingual environment by ensuring that they are able to function using the foreign language. During the learning process, they will derive the benefits of developing insight into their own language and culture as they learn to communicate with others. With the focus on performance in the language, students in Fairfax County Public Schools will exit our school system equipped with the skills, knowledge, and proficiency necessary to use the language in job, career and higher education opportunities.
The Foreign Language Program of Studies identifies essential content, progression, and skills for each level of language learning in Fairfax County Public Schools. This Program of Studies has been designed to reflect not only the latest research in language learning but also the best practices of foreign language instruction that enhance language development. Aligned with the National Standards and the Virginia Standards of Learning for Foreign Languages, this document emphasizes "real world" communication. A key component of the FCPS Foreign Language program is the Performance Assessment for Language Students (PALS) program which measures the students' performance. The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) has established proficiency guidelines which help define linguistic performance levels of language learners. FCPS students begin at ACTFL Novice-Low level and strive throughout the Foreign Language program to reach Intermediate-Mid level or beyond. These designated performance levels, along with the program of studies, assist teachers in designing lessons, establishing long-range and short-range objectives, and in guiding the students' learning process towards increasing levels of performance.
The primary goals of the Foreign Language program in Fairfax County Public Schools are to ensure that students:
- Communicate in languages other than English
- Gain knowledge and understanding of other cultures
- Connect with other disciplines and acquire information
- Develop insight into the nature of language and culture
- Participate in multicultural communities at home and around the world
These goals include a comprehensive focus for instruction that takes language learners beyond the traditional confines of the classroom. In the Foreign Language curriculum, students will not only learn to communicate with native speakers of the language, but they will do so with the cultural knowledge necessary to interact in an appropriate way.
Foreign Language Credit Program
According to the Virginia Department of Education students must successfully complete three years of one language or two years of two languages for the Advanced Studies Diploma. However, students whose native language is not English may earn foreign language credits by demonstrating oral and written proficiency in their native language.
The credit program is available with proficiency exams in Amharic, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese (Mandarin), Farsi, Hindi, Korean, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog/Pilipino, Twi, Urdu, and Vietnamese.
The proficiency exams are administered by the Foreign Language Office in November of each year. Students may also use two credits of ESL at the B1 level to fulfill two of the foreign language requirements. For more information on the Foreign Language Credit Program, click here.
Credits for graduation
High school courses taken in both 7th and 8th grade in foreign language count toward fulfilling the foreign language requirement and also toward the total number of credits needed for graduation.
Spanish for Fluent Speakers
Placement of native speakers of Spanish in regular Spanish courses continues to be problematic. Generally speaking, native Spanish speakers should not be placed in Spanish 1 classes. There are currently three levels of the course entitled "Spanish for Fluent Speakers" which was initially developed at Level 3 to prepare Hispanic students to continue to AP courses. Schools now have the option of offering Spanish for Fluent Speakers, levels 1, 2 and 3. The focus of these courses is to develop the reading and writing skills of Hispanic students while providing positive role models for them.
Elementary Foreign Language Programs
Two-Way Immersion:
Spanish and English literacy skills are the focus of the Two-Way Immersion Kindergarten program at Bailey's, Lake Anne, London Towne and Rose Hill elementary schools. The kindergarten classes enroll 50% native English speakers and 50% native Spanish speakers so that students can learn literacy skills in the students' native language as well as the second language during the other half of the full-day kindergarten program. The curriculum follows the Fairfax County Public Schools Kindergarten Program of Studies.
Partial-Immersion:
Fairfax County Public School elementary studentsare able to learn
French, German, Japanese and Spanish at thirteen elementary sites.
Students learn math, science, and health through the target language
during half the school day. Students who begin learning a second
language in elementary school through the Foreign Language Partial
Immersion Program may continue their language study in middle and
high school. There are designated middle schools that provide the
transition for these students to the high school program. Because
the focus of their language learning in the elementary school is
math, science, and health, these students' language skills are very
different from those of students in the middle/high school sequential
foreign language program. Students successfully completing the 7th
grade Immersion 1 course earn a high school credit and the same
is true for the 8th grade Immersion 2 course. The immersion students
enter high school in Level 3 of the target language in 9th grade
.
Foreign Language in the Elementary School (FLES) Programs:
This model develops students' language proficiency by providing language instruction that supports the concepts taught in the subject areas at the respective grade level. Generally, programs have ½ hour of instruction two or three times a week which is articulated through the middle school and high school. It is based on the research that shows that students are not only able to learn but are also highly engaged in learning content through the target language. In addition, the culture of the target language is integrated into instruction. This model supports the five goal areas of the national standards for foreign language (communication, culture, connections, comparisons, and communities) and is aligned with the Virginia SOL for foreign languages.
Electronic Classroom
Advanced Placement Spanish Literature is offered on the Electronic Classroom.
Cable TV: Channel Classroom 13
Online Courses
Online courses provide students, who do not have foreign language courses where they are, the opportunity to learn AP French Language, AP French Literature, Spanish I, Spanish II and AP Spanish Language. New in 2008-2009: Online Spanish 3 and AP Spanish Literature.
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