World Languages
The World Languages Department at SHS fosters students’ understanding and appreciation of diverse cultures. When students study a foreign language as well as other cultures, they become contributing global citizens and responsible members of pluralistic American society.
The World Languages Department provides challenging academic opportunities for the study of foreign language, extracurricular opportunities, foreign travel, and field trips. The department encourages respect for other cultures and for our own. Foreign travel provides opportunities for our students to interact with students and citizens of other countries and experience different cultures first-hand.
The organizing principle of the department’s foreign language curriculum is communication — the ability to communicate in meaningful and appropriate ways with speakers of other languages. Instruction is proficiency-based as students learn to communicate spontaneously in the target language in unpredictable situations.
Language learning is cooperative in nature as it requires that students communicate with each other daily. There is an obvious need to continue growth and refinement of language skills; to proceed from elementary to advanced, from non-fluency to fluency, from cultural ignorance to cultural awareness and sensitivity.
