Personal satisfaction through the ability to communicate across languages and cultures. The primary goal of a world language program is effective communication. The experience of communicating in other languages makes this discipline unique. Students will be able to use the languages they have studied in meaningful ways because they experience the language in authentic situations. The focus is upon what students can do with the language rather than what they know about it.
Effective communication is a dynamic rather than a static concept.
It depends on the interaction and negotiation of meaning between two or more persons who share to some degree the same symbolic systems of written and spoken language. Effective communication takes place in a variety of situations, and success depends on the student's understanding of context, building on prior experience of a similar kind. All students should be able to communicate in at least one language in addition to English. The process of learning another language provides an opportunity for all students to think in a different way and to learn to appreciate differences among people. World language teachers can best encourage such respectful attitudes if their students also represent different backgrounds and experiences.