Language Standards：An International Perspective，Part 1

by Penny McKay, Paolo Coppari, Alister Cumming, Kathleen Graves, 

Lucilla Lopriore, and Deborah Short

Editor's note: Part 1 of this discussion introduces standards, the reasons for their development, and the way they are developed, based on the experience of the five colloquium presenters. Part 2, in the next issue of TM, will look at successes and challenges in implementing standards and assessing their impact.

Language standards (also called benchmarks, bandscales, or curriculum frameworks) have been developed around the world to both guide and measure language learning. This article grew out of a colloquium organized by Kathleen Graves at the 34th Annual TESOL conference in Vancouver, Canada, in March 2000. Penny McKay from Australia, Paolo Coppari and Lucilla Lopriore from Italy, Alister Cumming from Canada, and Deborah Short from the United States described examples of language standards for secondary-level students from their countries, and discussed issues underlying the conceptualization, construction, and use of these standards.

Why Are Language Standards Developed?

Language standards provide a comprehensive description of what language learners know and are able to do in the target language at various levels of proficiency, at various grade levels, or both. Standards have been developed for a continuum of reasons ranging broadly from professional development and teaching guidance (pedagogical purposes) to curriculum direction and ac

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