World Languages Goals

The CHS World Languages Department provides students of French, German, Italian, and Spanish the opportunity to develop language and cultural competency in the target language. The goal of studying world languages at CHS is to prepare students to understand and to interact with people from diverse cultures. At CHS world languages classes are conducted primarily in the target language.  Even in the first year of the language, teachers will model the target language and students will have ample opportunities to use the target language as the major means of communication.  

Developing cultural competency is crucial to linguistic proficiency. All world languages students become culturally competent by being exposed to the target language in a natural, culturally appropriate, and real-life context.  Cultural readings and interactions with native speakers provide authentic opportunities for students to understand the target culture.  French, German, Italian, and Spanish students become proficient in the target language through receptive tasks like listening and reading, and through expressive or productive tasks, like writing and speaking.  Our proficiency goals are consistent with the standards set forth in the Massachusetts Foreign Languages Curriculum Framework and the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).  All courses have proficiency targets and students have opportunities to progress from novice level to advanced level proficiency in our programming.

CHS students are encouraged to study at least one world language for their entire four years of their high school career so that they become truly proficient in the language. It is also recommended that students study additional world languages to become globally competent. World languages students have access to and use a range of technologies, such a digital language laboratory, to aid them in developing proficiency at each level of language study. The overarching goals of the World Languages Department is for students to communicate effectively, to understand the target language and culture, and to respond appropriately and respectfully to cultural differences. In a global community, it is essential for students to be able to understand and interact with people from all cultures.