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functional later in adolescence, while the first is something we are ready to mas-
ter in different spheres from birth on. Our teaching must take these cognitive
and developmental factors into account.
Principle 4: The particular type of proficiency that we choose to facilitate is
procedural.21Further, the "act" knowledge that learners must acquire is the
ability to perform inacultural setting. In the case of Russian, our goal is to help
learners acquire the ability to behave appropriately in the presence of native
speakers of Russian, to move from C1 to C2 ('C' = a culture). This principle is a
clear reflection of a belief that one of the most important goals of education is to
prepare learners to participate in an increasingly international and multicultural
world.
Principle 5: A principle of any effective system of planning is that it be goal-
driven. The structure of each course within a program should be determined by
its place within the curriculum as a whole, which in turn should be established
with reference to a particular set of goals, among them the goal of articulation. If
we do exercises in class that do not address the established goals, then we are
not furthering the progress of learners in their language-learning careers. If our
curricula do not facilitate the natural entry and exit of learners, then we are
failing to meet our responsibilities.
Principle 6: If we are to achieve the goals of this framework, then assessment
and feedbackmust be sought and utilized by everyone involved in the process
and at all levels of the system. Learners must assess and seek feedback on
their progress, and teachers and institutions must do the same for their daily
lessons, courses and programs as a whole. Teachers are well aware of the role
of tests in assessing the work of students, but need to be equally aware that
learners use tests to assess what they take to be the real goals of the course (in
opposition, perhaps, to the goals the teacher has stated).
These principles are very general, but they carry with them sets of
implicationsfor each of the participants in the learning process (see figure 2.1.).
The participants include: learners, teachers, parents, department chairs, non-
specialist administrators (principals, deans...), teacher trainers (T.A. trainers,
workshop directors), and members and leaders of professional organizations.
Some of the clear implications for learners and teachers have already been
mentioned in the preceding discussion of the principles, but there are others
that are of great importance. The chairs of graduate programs in Russian/Slavic
language and literature departments and T.A. trainers must be aware of the fact
that virtually every one of their graduate students who goes on to college
teaching will be, at some point, a language teacher. Our professional
organizations need to take an active role in serving as links among different
types of programs.
21This choice is the one that we believe to be appropriate for the vast majority of
Russian language learners in the U.S. It explicitly excludes, then, for example, learners
who are interested principally--or only--in the linguistic analysis of Russian. For them,
declarative knowledge will be the principal goal.
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