In an effort to emphasize the importance and the nature of global societies, the new name for those studying the languages and cultures other than those spoken/written in  their home and school environments is World Languages.

              Fordson High School has a comprehensive course of study in three World Languages: French, Spanish, and Arabic, as a Foreign Language.  Each language has up to four years of sequential study available.  In addition, a one year course is offered in American Sign Language.  Placement in the sequence is determined by classroom teacher assessment and requires a student to be at his/her learning level.  

              All students in World Languages classes are learning life skills in communication and some are also preparing to meet college entrance requirements. Most liberal arts colleges require a minimum of two/three years of the same world language credit on high school transcripts before admission to undergrad programs. Highlighting the importance of World Languages studies is also the colleges’ practice of including it as the only high school elective used to calculate the Academic GPA, the refiguring of high school grades using only final grades earned in English, Math, Science, Social Studies, and World Languages (see websites at the end of this article). Research has shown that students who have taken at least two years of world languages classes at high school level earn significantly higher scores on the ACT and SAT tests respectively.

              World Languages students engage in a variety of learning activities during each class period.  The National Standards include what are known as the 5 C’s:  Communication, Cultures, Connection, Comparisons, and Communities.  Teachers and students focus on these standards and incorporate them into conversational settings, written practice, and cultural overlays.  The emphasis is on functional learning combined with the goal of using the target language for future enrichment and/or employment purposes.