1. Guiding Principles
Integration of language, literature, culture at ALL levels
Committed to intellectually and theoretically grounded view of language as social and cultural practice; inseparability of “skill” and “knowledge.”
Culture is not an “add-on”; not a “5th skill,” but reflected and constructed by language.
Topic organized syllabi fostering cultural literacy
Language learned best through content; dependent on social context.
Proficiency is not simply “ability to communicate”; it is the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately in specific social and professional contexts.
Sequencing and spiraling of material
Expansion and deepening of previously gained knowledge / skills / perspectives (recycling, spiraling), while adding new ones; considers order of language acquisition.
Builds on K-12 “Standards”, connects to upper division courses.
Multiple Assessment Measures
Class participation, oral and written performance, exams, projects/portfolios.