Communicative Proficiency & Intercultural Competency: the World Language Mission
Newton’s World Language program seeks to promote communicative proficiency and intercultural competency while cultivating a love of and enthusiasm for the target language and culture. We believe that a “world view" is best established through the learning of another language in the way that it connects us with and fosters an understanding of “the other”. The development of communicative proficiency in the language empowers students to access the world in a broader context; the development of intercultural competency fosters respect for differences by guiding students to see the world not as a place confined by difference, but as one open society defined by the unique.
Students will be challenged to develop their proficiency in language in an interactive environment that emphasizes both oral and written expression. This environment will be wide-ranging in its linguistic and cultural spectrum, incorporating a number of literary texts, cultural practices and products, and themes that inform every day life in the modern world. Students will sequentially advance their skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing within the context of real-life situations and authentic texts in the target language. Through the use of a variety of resources and methodologies, students will see that language has many voices in its diverse expressions, and in its many authors. Proficiency will be further advanced by offering students contact with local and international language communities, including opportunities to travel and study abroad.
The study of world languages is an interdisciplinary pursuit that inherently compels students to consider their own language and culture in a new light as well as make connections with other disciplines. Consequently, students will develop a capacity to understand and interact with the world more completely both as adolescents and in their adult lives. As members of a global community, they will be able contributors to the promotion of communication and understanding across borders.
