Foreign Language

DoDEA FL Standards & Proficiency Expectations What's new in Curriculum for 2009

Courses Offered

DoDEA offers Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), French, Korean, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. Offerings vary by grade level and location.

Overview of the DoDEA Foreign Language Program

The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) Foreign Language Program prepares students to meet the challenges of an interdependent world community by enabling them to recognize the importance of learning foreign languages, to value learning about other cultures, and to develop proficiency in one or more foreign languages.

The Foreign Language Program is aligned to the National Standards in Foreign Language Education published by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). The DoDEA Foreign Language Standards and Proficiency Expectations include Kindergarten-Grade 2 and Grade 3-Grade 5 FLES Bands in the elementary school and Course Levels I-VI, including Advanced Placement, in secondary school. A minimum of 2 years in a single foreign language (high school level) is required prior to graduation.

DoDEA foreign language courses emphasize oral communication while also building proficiency in reading and writing. Students receive instruction in the target language and begin to develop communication competencies beginning in the earliest stages of study, whether in a FLES program or in a secondary school foreign language course. The goal is to build listening and reading comprehension (interpretive communication) and speaking and writing (interpersonal and presentational communication) competencies while targeting expected proficiency outcomes for the age and stage of learning.

Languages Offered

DoDEA offers Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), French, Korean, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. Some of the less-commonly-taught language courses are demographically localized to regions of the world where the language is spoken. Certain courses are taught through Distance Learning. DoDEA's students are also encouraged to study the language of the host nation in which they live, wherever possible. This allows students to take advantage of the vibrant cultural and linguistic environment surrounding them. It increases their communication skills in the language of the host country and allows them to experience the local culture for both educational purposes and personal enjoyment.

Foreign Language

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