Aausc 2016 Volume - Issues in Language Program Direction ― The Interconnected Language Curriculum: Critical Transitions and Interfaces in Articulated K-16 Contexts

Many foreign language departments have developed innovative curricula with the goal of overcoming two-tiered structures that often separate language instruction at the lower levels from upper division content coursework. However, language departments rarely extend their articulation efforts to include pre-collegiate experiences even though recent educational reforms have significantly altered not only the skill sets, but also needs and expectations of students entering college. In addition to attending to vertical interfaces, successful language curricula integrate horizontally with academic and professional units outside the language department. This volume furthers the existing knowledge base on the collegiate foreign language curriculum by providing a K-20 perspective on the achievement of curricular coherence. It is intended for a broad audience, but in particular language program directors, to help them address the critical transitions that language learners face during their progression from public schools through undergraduate programs and into graduate education.