Language Learning Framework

Russian Language Programs in the United States

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If we look at the act of communication itself, we can see that each of the
five goal areas of the Standards represents a focus on a particular aspect of
communication and the knowledge and settings that attend it. Figure 2.2
attempts to capture this.

IMAGE imgs/Printing24.jpg

Setting = Community

Figure 2.2 Communication and its setting

In words, this simplified schema suggests that an act of communication involves
some "piece" of knowledge as it is reflected in L₂. This piece of knowledge
comes from the context of a large knowledge base which is composed of a wide
variety of information, which can only be broken down into the kind of list
presented in this figure in the most superficial terms.¹³In addition to the
immediate context of a particular communication act, all communication takes
place withinbroader linguistic communities. The numbers in the figure suggest
that the goal areas of the Standards represent the most prominent components
of the communication act and its broad setting.

While both the ACTFL documents and this one are couched in strongly
non-normative terms, there is a substantial difference in the specificity of the
recommendations contained in each. Where ACTFL strives for a level of
generality that will allow it address a wide range of languages, this framework is
intended to address issues in the national language learning system of a single
foreign language. Assuming a communicative theoretical base, this framework
delineates with precision impossible in the ACTFL standards a description of

13_{We are leaving out issues of encoding and decoding the sake of simplicity, leaving}everything couched in generic terms.


If we look at the act of communication itself, we can see that each of the five goal areas of the Standards represents a focus on a particular aspect of communication and the knowledge and settings that attend it. Figure 2.2 attempts to capture this.


			Setting = Community
		Figure 2.2 Communication and its setting
	In words, this simplified schema suggests that an act of communication involves some "piece" of knowledge as it is reflected in L₂. This piece of knowledge comes from the context of a large knowledge base which is composed of a wide variety of information, which can only be broken down into the kind of list presented in this figure in the most superficial terms.¹³In addition to the immediate context of a particular communication act, all communication takes place withinbroader linguistic communities. The numbers in the figure suggest that the goal areas of the Standards represent the most prominent components of the communication act and its broad setting. While both the ACTFL documents and this one are couched in strongly non-normative terms, there is a substantial difference in the specificity of the recommendations contained in each. Where ACTFL strives for a level of generality that will allow it address a wide range of languages, this framework is intended to address issues in the national language learning system of a single foreign language. Assuming a communicative theoretical base, this framework delineates with precision impossible in the ACTFL standards a description of 13_{We are leaving out issues of encoding and decoding the sake of simplicity, leaving}everything couched in generic terms.