According to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), students who have begun the study of a second language in kindergarten through grade 4 in a program that meets a minimum of 3 times a week for thirty minutes, and continue the study of that language through middle school in a program that meets 5 times a week for forty minutes, should meet the following cumulative progress indicators by the end of grade 8.

Strands with Cumulative Progress Indicators

A. Interpretive Mode (understanding and interpretation of spoken or written communication)

1. Demonstrate comprehension of oral and written instructions connected to daily activities through appropriate responses.
2. Compare and contrast the use of verbal and non-verbal etiquette in the target culture with their own culture in the use of gestures, intonation, and other visual and auditory clues.
   • Eye contact and interpersonal social distance
   • Table manners and telephone practices
3. Discuss people, places, objects, and daily activities based on oral or written descriptions.
   • Grade level appropriate social studies topics (e.g., famous historical and contemporary personalities from the target culture; regions, cities, historical and cultural sites in the target country; events from U.S. history and target culture history from a specific era)
4. Comprehend conversations and written information on a variety of topics.
   • Academic and social interests
   • Current or past issues and events at home or in the target country
5. Apply knowledge and skills gained in other core content areas to the learning of the target language.
   • Grade level appropriate social studies topics (e.g., converting maps into appropriate graphics to display geographical information about the target culture country)
   • Grade level appropriate health topics (e.g., comparing and contrasting health concerns that occur during adolescence in the target culture with their own culture)
   • Grade level appropriate mathematics concepts (e.g., selecting and using appropriate units of metric measurement to solve real-life problems)
   • Grade level appropriate science concepts (e.g., evaluating authentic weather reports from different regions of the target country to predict weather conditions)
6. Identify the main idea and theme, and describe the main characters and setting in readings from age-appropriate, culturally authentic selections.
7. Compare and contrast unique linguistic elements in English and the target language.
   • Grade level appropriate language arts literacy topics/concepts (e.g., time and tense relationships; commonly used words and phrases; idiomatic expressions)

B. Interpersonal Mode (direct spoken or written communication)

1. Give and follow a series of oral and written directions, commands, and requests for participating in age-appropriate classroom and cultural activities.
2. Use appropriate gestures, intonation and common idiomatic expressions of the target culture in familiar situations.
3. Ask and respond to factual and interpretive questions of a personal nature or on school-related topics.
   • Reactions to an incident occurring in school or an event taking place in the school, community, or world
   • Grade level appropriate science topics (e.g., characteristics and shared characteristics of major categories of organisms)
   • Grade level appropriate social studies concepts (e.g., the role of the target culture country in colonization and exploration of the Americas or in the American Revolution)
4. Engage in short conversations about personal experiences or events, and/or topics studied in other core content areas.
   • Grade level social studies topics (e.g., family celebrations and coming of age customs)
5. Describe the main characters, setting, and important events from age-appropriate, culturally authentic selections both orally and in writing.
6. Identify professions and careers that require proficiency in a language other than English
   • Career preparation skills needed to engage in these professions

C. Presentational Mode (spoken or written communication for an audience)

1. Present student-created and/or authentic short plays, skits, poems, songs, stories or reports.
   • Grade level appropriate visual and performing arts, language arts and career education (e.g., staging a dramatic presentation of a significant aspect of the life of an important person in the target culture; doing an oral presentation on a famous person, place, or event from target culture supported by research obtained in the target language; creating a visual representation of region or country supported by technological resources and other media)
2. Use language creatively in writing to response to a variety of oral or visual prompts.
   • Grade level appropriate language arts literacy topics and career education skills (e.g., writing short, well-organized essays on personal and school-related topics; writing letters in response to ads in local or target language newspapers)
3. Engage in a variety of oral and written tasks using age-appropriate culturally authentic selections.
   • Grade level appropriate language arts literacy topics (e.g., summary of the plot and characters; dramatization of principal scenes in the text; role-playing a film critic to express opinions about the text)
4. Describe orally, in writing, or through simulation, similarities and differences among products and practices found in the target culture with their own.
   • Grade level appropriate language arts literacy and social studies topics (e.g., origin and development of a product or practice; physical characteristics of the product; use of the product within the culture; role-playing cultural practices)

NJPEP: Virtual Academy, NJ Department of Education, 100 Riverview Plaza, Trenton, NJ 08625-0500
Voice: 609.292.9069 Fax: 609-943-5202
For information, you can contact us at: NJPEP@doe.state.nj.us