Standards for foreign language learning and the teaching of culture

Abstract

Standards for Foreign Language Learning were released to the U.S. public in November, 1995. The product of a collaborative effort among four major language professional associations, the standards represent a milestone in the history of education in the U.S. National standards in a number of disciplines mark the first time in the history of U.S. education that the federal government has taken a leadership role in promoting guidelines that delineate what students should know and be able to do at various points in their precollegiate schooling.

In this article, we provide information on the Standards document as well as perspectives from the U.S. and from Britain. First we explain the genesis and context of the new national standards for foreign language learning and describe the standards document. Then, more specifically, we discuss the role of culture learning within the new standards and analyse this role from a European perspective on the teaching of culture. Lastly, we provide some observations on the challenges faced by teachers in implementing new approaches to the teaching of culture.