The Spiraling Effect
The Spiraling Effect
Grade Levels
Course, Subject
Description
Unlike other subject areas, the core curriculum for LOTE does not change as a student progresses through the discipline’s continuum. Rather, the changes that occur across grade level are keyed to the depth of knowledge and range of understanding that a student demonstrates about a given topic, situation, or function. This is referred to as the spiraling effect.
The topics, functions, and situations are equally appropriate for the 21st-century student because they are flexible enough to accommodate changes in skill levels, present-day attitudes, styles, and mores. There is, however, another dimension to language acquisition described in the syllabus that has changed the “how well” dimension that is described by proficiency levels at Checkpoints A, B, and C. At Checkpoint A, the proficiency level is measured by the Second Language Proficiency Examination.