Page 14 - THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 9–12 | Classical Studies and International Languages

THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 9–12 | Classical Studies and International Languages
Language and culture are intertwined. It is impossible to separate one from the other. Developing cultural knowledge and skills is a lifelong process. When cultural knowledge is incorporated in language learning and related to students’ own culture and language, students develop a heightened awareness and knowledge of both the new language and culture and their own. A student who has learned a language from an action-oriented and intercultural perspective is one who can effectively manage communication in both familiar and new contexts with sensitivity and openness. The portrait that emerges of today’s and tomorrow’s language learners depicts people who are sensitive to intercultural perspectives and open to the ongoing language and cultural changes that life and work require.
In the international languages program, each of four interconnected strands include expectations that deal with the development of intercultural understanding. Students learn about and make connections between diverse communities that use the target language, and society as a whole. Intercultural awareness and understanding, from the level of the local school and community to the national level and beyond, are key aspects of becoming a member of the global community. Global citizenship is rooted in this kind of understanding.
In the classical studies program, intercultural understanding has its own strand in the classical language courses and is incorporated throughout the Grade 12 Classical Civilization course. The Greek and Roman civilizations are the roots of many aspects of the Western world today, so studying what remains of their cultures can deepen students’ understanding of everything from drama to law to science and beyond.
Critical and Creative Thinking Skills and Metacognition
To thrive in the knowledge era, people need higher-order thinking skills; the ability to critically analyse and solve problems; the ability to think logically, creatively, and critically; and the ability to apply metacognition.
There is a great deal of evidence to suggest that learning a second or additional language not only improves grammatical skills in one’s first language but also enhances one’s overall thinking skills and abilities. Language learning increases the ability to conceptualize and think abstractly, and improves mental flexibility, creativity, the ability to explore multiple solutions to a problem, and the ability to think about the use of language.
Critical and creative thinking skills and problem-solving skills are an integral part of learning and interacting in a second language – students apply these skills constantly
as they make sense of what they are hearing, reading, and viewing, and as they try to communicate their messages clearly. Their critical thinking abilities develop as they compare their own linguistic and cultural systems with those of the target language.
As they learn about the linguistic elements of a new language (e.g., cognates, idiomatic expressions, formal and informal forms of language, sound and writing systems), students develop hypotheses about the structure and use of languages. As they expand their knowledge of the target culture, they engage in a reflective process about cultural systems, comparing, contrasting, analysing, and hypothesizing about types of interactions, patterns of verbal and non-verbal behaviour, gestures, cultural resources, and other relationships between the target culture and their own.
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