The Alabama State Board of Education on Thursday received an update on proposed revisions to the state’s world languages course of study during its work session.
The current standards were adopted in 2017. State education officials expect to present a final draft to the board in November, followed by a vote in December. If approved, the revised course of study would take effect in fall 2028 after the state’s textbook adoption process.
Teresina Vazquez, world languages and Seal of Biliteracy education specialist for the Alabama State Department of Education, said the revisions are intended to align language education with the state’s workforce priorities while preparing students for college, careers and military service.
Among the proposed changes is the addition of “critical languages” identified by the federal government because of their importance to diplomacy and national security. Those languages include Chinese, Korean, Russian and Japanese.
“We wanted to support effective language learning by expanding our pathways, such as the Seal of Biliteracy, adding grade spans, especially from younger ages. Also, bringing language offerings as the U.S. programming identified critical languages such as Chinese, Korean, Russian and Japanese, among others,” Vazquez said.
Board members later asked whether the designation of critical languages originated with the state. Vazquez said the classifications come from the federal government.
“It is the U.S. government identifying those critical languages because of the importance in diplomacy, government and national security,” Vazquez said.
Officials also highlighted a broader shift away from traditional grammar-focused instruction toward proficiency-based learning.
“We saw a shift in the tendency from grammatical instruction to more proficiency-based instruction, so we wanted to put attention closely on those areas, such as increasing target communication, using authentic resources and also proficiency-based assessments where we can integrate technology and communication tools,” Vazquez said.
Under the proposed framework, students would focus on three modes of communication: interpretive, interpersonal and presentational. They also would develop cultural awareness and communication skills.
“Since we have a proficiency-based framework, we wanted to include that the students know how to understand the practices and perspectives of other cultures while they are speaking in other languages, but also at the same time, they are developing personal understanding,” Vazquez said.
The revised standards would continue to emphasize the “five Cs” of world language instruction: communication, cultures, connections, comparisons and communities. Vazquez said the five areas are considered college and career readiness standards.
Committee members also reorganized languages into four groups. Group A includes Romance languages such as Spanish, French and Italian. Group B consists of critical languages with different writing systems and grammatical structures, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Russian. Group C covers classical languages such as Latin and Greek. Group D includes American Sign Language.
The committee responsible for drafting the standards began its work earlier this year. A draft of the proposed standards is scheduled to be released for public review in August. In addition to accepting public comments, the department plans to seek feedback from university professors, classroom teachers and other specialists who will serve as expert reviewers.
Blake Busbin, course of study administrator for the Alabama State Department of Education, said feedback during the public comment period was welcome.
“We welcome any suggestions because the course of study process is one that the more voices, the better representative this document could be for the state as a whole,” Busbin said.
The committee is expected to review feedback in late August and September before presenting a final draft to the board in November. A two-week public comment period would follow before a final vote in December.
