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Foreign Languages Curriculum

I. Philosophy

Foreign language instruction at The Colorado Springs School focuses on accomplishing two main goals within a fourteen-year program. The first is to nurture an appreciation of different cultures and a desire to become involved in present and future experiences that require knowledge of a foreign culture and language. It is our goal that students leave our program with a desire to continue their studies through college study or immersion experiences. The second goal is to create bilingual adults through classes conducted entirely in the target language in a low-stress environment. The foreign language program is founded on the idea that all students are capable of acquiring languages effortlessly if they are exposed to a conducive environment.

II. Performance Goals and Objectives

The goals and performance objectives for the Foreign Language Department are as follows:

  1. Students will comprehend communication in the target language at an advanced level.
  2. Students will be able to read fluently in the target language at a high intermediate level.
  3. Students will pursue ways to increase their knowledge of the target language and culture independently, demonstrating self-motivation.
  4. Students will take language courses beginning in Pre-school, and will be encouraged to continue taking languages through twelfth grade.
  5. Students will be prepared for language study at the university level and will be functional speakers of the target language in real-life situations.
  6. Students will have a varied background in cultural aspects of different Spanish-speaking and Francophone countries and will be able to compare and contrast those cultures with their own.
  7. Students will be fluent writers of the target language (100 words in 5 minutes)
  8. Students will be fluent speakers of the target language.
  9. Students will have a high level of listening skills in the target language, allowing them to understand native speech at a normal rate.

III. Instructional Strategies

The instructional strategies employed at different grade levels might include:

  1. Traditional Strategies
    1. Total Physical Response
    2. Total Physical Response Storytelling
    3. The Natural Approach
    4. Free Voluntary Reading programs
    5. Chants, songs and raps
    6. Long-term memory techniques
    7. Comprehensible input based games
  2. Experience-based Strategies
    1. Field trips, such as visits to the Fine Arts Center’s Southwest Spanish Art Exhibit
    2. Acquire vocabulary outside
    3. Immersion dinners at local restaurants
    4. Movies in the target language
    5. International ECSes to Latin America and French-speaking countries

IV. Assessment Techniques

To assure that our department and students are meeting these goals, the following assessment techniques are applied:

  1. Unannounced long-term memory vocabulary tests
  2. Reading comprehension tests
  3. Free Writing
  4. Listening comprehension tests
  5. Impromptu oral presentations
  6. Advanced Placement Exams
  7. New York Regents Exam
  8. New York Proficiency Exam

Upper School Foreign Language Courses

Spanish
Spanish I
Spanish II
Spanish III
Spanish IV
Spanish V/AP Spanish Language
Spanish Literature and Composition

French
French I
French II
French III
French IV
French V/AP French Language