The IMSA Foreign Language team agrees with the direction of these standards. National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project, page 28. These unifying concepts and processes serve to connect the central ideas identified in the IMSA Foreign Language Content Standards and act as organizers in the curriculum development process. Since there is no hierarchy to these unifying concepts and processes, it is best to visualize them as five interconnecting circles. It is speaking, listening, writing, and reading.
Communication is grounded in culture.
It is through the study of other languages that students gain a knowledge and understanding of the cultures that use that language. When students begin to function effectively in the cultural contexts in which the language occurs, they become better communicators. Connections represent the content and the vehicles of communication. Connections are the result of acquiring information and reinforcing and furthering knowledge through other disciplines. Comparisons involve the process of discovering different patterns among language systems and cultures, thereby allowing the student to gain insight into the nature of language, the communicative functions of language in society, and the complexity of the interaction between language and culture.