We\u2019ve long since abandoned any notion that language proficiency consists of memorizing forms, having now recognized the importance of identifying patterns, predicting outcomes, and applying rules across contexts. If you can agree with that sentiment, then arguably, language is basically just math with words instead of numbers! Verb conjugations aren\u2019t all that different from a formula; a sentence structure isn\u2019t so far from an equation. My best language students, the nerdiest ones, test what happens when they change one element, observe the result, and refine their understanding. Again, pattern recognition, systems thinking. All computational-style nerding out.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s pivot to science and engineering next: in the same vein, every attempt to communicate is a test case\u2013an experiment, if you will. Students try something, get feedback\u2014sometimes explicit, sometimes just a confused look\u2014and adjust. I make sure to avoid directly correcting them, because in most real-life applications, people could respond with a wide variety of reactions, only one of them being a corrected<\/em> reiteration of their interlocutor\u2019s message. So, the student rephrases, simplifies, expands, and tries again. It\u2019s the \u201cbuild, test, revise\u201d approach. It\u2019s the engineering design process, just happening in conversation instead of a lab.<\/p>\n In a live conversation, students are processing input, selecting structures, generating output, and adapting on the fly. I love when a student gets nervous in a recording and wants to hit pause in between sentences: there\u2019s no pause button! No debugger! When something breaks, speakers of a language must patch it in real time\u2014switching vocabulary, restructuring sentences, leaning on verbal and nonverbal context. Utilizing a language (especially not one\u2019s first or native tongue) is live processing under pressure, and it demands both precision and flexibility.<\/p>\n You can see this most clearly in a classroom when a student hits a wall mid-sentence. They pause, pivot, and rebuild the idea with the tools they have. They naturally ask me for a solution, but I\u2019ll often refuse to give them a word, so they have to describe around it. Maybe the structure of their intended communication collapses, so they\u2019re forced to simplify and try again. And then, on a good day, I get to see the moment it clicks. The idea lands and \u201ccommunication\u201d happens.<\/p>\n So yes, if I ran the educational word, I\u2019d toss out the tired acronym of STEM and offer MELTS.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n If we can get behind language learning as a system, then we should assess it the way we assess other complex skills\u2014not by what students remember, but by what they can do. In STEM classrooms, we don\u2019t stop at definitions or formulas; we ask students to apply them, to test them, to use them to solve problems. And that\u2019s how I run my classes; my quizzes have long since left behind simple vocabulary matching, and rely very little on fill-in-the-blank exercises; even at early levels, my assessments are built around tasks, prompts, and real-life scenarios.<\/p>\n Performance-based assessments like the AAPPL operate in that same space. They don\u2019t ask students to recall isolated rules; they ask students to apply language in context\u2014interpreting meaning, engaging in conversation, and communicating ideas in ways that resemble real-world use. The question shifts from \u201cWhat do you know?\u201d<\/em> to \u201cWhat can you do?\u201d <\/em>Earning the Seal of Biliteracy serves as a kind of certification\u2014not one saying they\u2019ve completed a sequence of courses, but one that proves they can operate within that system across languages. I like to think of it as a demonstration of applied skill, not just accumulated knowledge.<\/p>\n I think that hiding underneath all of this, there’s also an access question. When language programs are treated as optional or secondary, in the sad way that music and arts so often get the axe, fewer students stick with them long enough to reach real proficiency. The result is that multilingualism\u2014one of the most valuable skills in a global economy\u2014becomes something reserved for a smaller group of students, rather than a core outcome for all. And above all, I\u2019d argue that students in the United States are among the greatest victims of this pernicious situation.<\/p>\n If we\u2019re serious about preparing students for the future, we can\u2019t afford to treat communication across languages as a luxury, or look down on them as some kind of frivolous hobby.<\/em> <\/strong>Language proficiency belongs alongside the very skills we\u2019ve already decided to prioritize when we continue to perpetuate the importance of STEM. And yet, despite all of this, language programs continue to be treated like electives\u2014flexible, compressible, sometimes even expendable when schedules get tight, while STEM courses are protected, prioritized, and resourced. Language courses are too often asked to fit in around the edges.<\/p>\n But maybe the issue isn\u2019t that language doesn\u2019t belong in STEM; maybe it\u2019s that we\u2019ve been defining STEM too narrowly. Because when students are recognizing patterns, testing hypotheses, solving problems in real time, and applying a complex system to communicate across cultures, they\u2019re not just learning a language. They\u2019re engaging in the kind of thinking we claim to value most. What scientists, engineers, and mathematicians do, language learners do too\u2014just in another language.<\/p>\n Bring AAPPL to your school and district today. Contact us<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sources:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Collective Learning. \u201cWhy is learning world languages essential for global education?\u201d https:\/\/www.collectivelearning.info\/blog\/world-language-learning-global-education<\/a>.<\/p>\n Espinal, D., Fuchs L. \u201cThe Effects of Language Instruction on Math Development.\u201d National Library of Medicine. https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC9053617<\/a>.<\/p>\n Kennedy Krieger. \u201cHow do Language Skills Impact Math Learning?\u201d https:\/\/www.kennedykrieger.org\/stories\/linking-research-classrooms-blog\/how-do-language-skills-impact-math-learning<\/a><\/p>\n Social Studies. \u201cLiteracy Across the Social Studies Disciplines: A Framework to Support Your Classroom.\u201d https:\/\/www.socialstudies.com\/blog\/literacy-across-the-social-studies-disciplines-a-framework-to-support-your-classroom<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe Case for Testing Differently<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Equity for Language Learning<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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