Most foreign language teachers agree: the goal of a high school language education is to prepare students for communication in real-life situations, like navigating job markets, travelling and holding conversations. But the county curriculum doesn’t adequately emphasize in-class speaking, and this inhibits students’ progression towards communication.

At the beginning of each semester, Spanish, French and Italian teachers receive the county’s curriculum framework, which lays out course material and provides some supplemental activities. For teachers of early language levels, the curriculum outlines the material that will appear on the semester exam. From there, it’s up to the teacher to create new assignments.

The county should shrink the massive checklist of material that teachers have to cover before the final exam. Because the county curriculum is jam-packed with material, including an over-emphasis on grammar and conjugation, teachers can’t afford to spend too long on any particular topic. This often leaves students unprepared for the semester exams, Spanish teacher Michele Traficante said.

Many of the county curricula’s topics, like grammar, are overly stressed, while others aren’t stressed enough. Although having a grammar base is important, vocabulary is more essential to communication. Knowing a significant amount of vocabulary in a language allows students to get by when talking to a native speaker, while grammar concepts are less important to basic communication, Traficante said.

If the county cuts down on the volume of material in language curricula, teachers can fill the extra time with speaking practice. This semester, Spanish teachers Derrick Ryan and Pamela Garcia plan to give their level five students different scenarios that mimic real-life situations, like asking for directions from a police officer or placing an order at a restaurant, Ryan said. The best way to build fluency and understanding is to place students in situations that require them to think on their feet.

College freshmen Emma Bird and Kevin Hoogstraten (’11) said that high school language should emphasize oral communication more, since this is an important aspect of college-level language classes. Although grammar skills are important in college foreign language classes, they are not as crucial as the ability to communicate. Hoogstraten said he initially felt behind other classmates, whose high schools focused more on speaking. Spending more class time on conversational skills and speaking practice would better prepare students for language classes beyond high school.

Teachers and students alike suffer from the hefty county curriculum. The primary goal of high school language courses should be to prepare students for communication with native speakers.

Instead, the current curriculum burdens students with grammar and mechanics and skips over the most important factors in fluency: vocabulary and speaking. When it comes to high school language curricula, the best of intentions may be lost in translation.