- Curriculum Introduction -

The World Language Curriculum represents the most current thinking and research in the field with an emphasis on communicative competency. It reflects the goals and content objectives of the National Standards of Foreign Language Learning, and the Connecticut World Language Curriculum Framework.

The core curriculum content; goals, content standards, performance standards, sample student learning activities, exemplars of students’ work, and prototype assessments, directly reflects the Connecticut World Language Curriculum Framework. In addition, grade and language specific learning activities, and student exemplars, are represented by Bridgeport’s World Language students. This format will precede every language in the World Language Curriculum: Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese, and Chinese.

The World Language Curriculum is student-centered. It describes the goals for learning language not in terms of what teachers or textbooks will do or can put into the learning process, but rather what students should know and be able to do, and at what level of skill and sophistication, at various ages and proficiency stages along the language learning continuum.

Bridgeport’s students are comprised of a very high percentage of speakers of other languages; as a result, this curriculum includes social and cultural performance standards as well as, content standards. It recognizes that learning a second language is a challenging and complex process. Thus, this curriculum serves as a valuable tool that will assist teachers in facilitating the learning process for second language acquisition, which will prepare our students to be future bilingual leaders, business people and citizens who can function successfully in languages other than English.