They are an in-house product in the sense that hundreds of FL teachers were involved in developing and testing them to ensure that Standards is a workable and practical document that will meet the needs of the classroom teacher. As we move forward as a profession, the standards can be the unifying thread that connects our curricula, our teaching, and our students' learning. By aligning our instruction with the standards and by sharing our ideas, activities, and learning scenarios with other colleagues, we will strengthen the position of FLs in the national educational agenda, and we will empower our language students to be lifelong learners and users. Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions. Students present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics.
Students reinforce and further their knowledge of other disciplines through the foreign language.
Students acquire information and recognize the distinctive viewpoints that are only available through the foreign language and its cultures. Students demonstrate understanding of the concept of culture through comparisons of the cultures studied and their own. Students use the language both within and beyond the school setting. National standards familiarization workshop. Presented at the annual meeting of the Northeast conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, New York.