World Language

In the mid 1990’s, New Jersey began creating a new vision for world languages in the State. They composed the New Jersey World Languages Curriculum Framework. The Curriculum Framework envisions the following:

-“a well articulated K-12 world language program that prepares all students to actively and effectively participate in the dynamic global community of the 21st Century.”

- “a continuous sequence of language learning, firmly grounded in research on second language acquisition, that is integrated into the core curriculum.”

- “an instructional sequence that provides opportunities to use language through meaningful, interactive experiences, enriched by cultural authentic content, and transacted as a cumulative and spiraling process.”

Here in Rutherford we enthusiastically adopted the State’s mandate to introduce world languages into our elementary school curriculum. We carefully studied the Standards and Framework before developing our world language curriculum because we wanted to be sure that our program met all of the requirements.

As our program develops world languages become an integral part of the curriculum, children will be able to add new dimensions to what they are already learning. Math, science, social studies, health, and career awareness are all woven into the lessons. The regular classroom teacher remains in the room during the world language lesson to learn along with the children. The classroom teacher then reinforces the students’ new oral and listening skills. It is amazing to see the progress that these youngsters have made in understanding and responding in a second language.

As the New Jersey Department of Education suggests, we offer our sixth grade students a choice of either French, Latin or to continue with their study of Spanish. Currently we offer these choices again in grade seven as part of our two year, middle school, world language commitment. In ninth grade again the students will be able to decide whether to continue with the language that they have been studying or select another.

New Jersey requires that all students must take one year of a world language in order to graduate. At the high school world languages have always been a popular elective with two thirds of our students studying either French, Latin or Spanish. Our program is strong. Students in French 4AP/ 5AP and Spanish 4AP/ 5AP can earn three college credits from Fairleigh Dickinson University which is a wonderful opportunity to help defray some tuition costs.

As our world language program continues to evolve, we will strive to offer our students the best program possible.