21st Century skills map: World languages.

Matthew Hill

IL

Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2011).  21st Century skills map: World languages.  Retrieved Oct. 26, 2016, from https://www.actfl.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/21stCenturySkillsMap/p21_worldlanguagesmap.pdf

Summary:

This is less an article than a "map," or an articulation of how so-called "21st-century skills" should manifest themselves and be evaluated in the foreign language classroom.  It appears on the webpage of American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) though it is not an ACTFL-published document.  The map goes through the different aspects of 21st-century skills and gives broad process goals for each aspect and sample activities that can be done that put those goals and skills to use for novice, intermediate, and advanced language learners.

Evaluation:

It is interesting to see the specific articulation of 21st-century skills as it relates to foreign language teaching, though the skill definitions seemed abstract and not rooted in learning a foreign language; rather, they seemed to be very general and could be applied to any field of knowledge instead of specific content or a specific discipline.  One thing that I found simplistic and an example of inaccurate hyperbole was the "Then and Now" section, especially the condescending and arrogant proposal that before 21st-century skills, "Students learned about the language (grammar)" whereas now, in the progressive and enlightened 21st century, "Students learn to use the language," as if no one ever learned a language in times past to an acceptable level due to antiquated and inadequate teaching strategies.  I am living proof that that assertion is false.