Foreign Language Evaluation for Baccalaureate Degree

www.palmbeachstate.edu/Programs/Baccalaureate-Degree/Foreign-Language-Requirements

Baccalaureate students must meet the provision of Florida Statute 1007.262 regarding the statewide foreign language requirement as an exit requirement. Students must have completed two sequential foreign language courses in high school or at the postsecondary level. American Sign Language I and II is an approved sequence per Florida Statute 1007.2615.

Florida Statute 1007.262 Foreign language competence; equivalence determinations.]

The Department of Education shall identify the competencies demonstrated by students upon the successful completion of 2 credits of sequential high school foreign language instruction. For the purpose of determining postsecondary equivalence, the department shall develop rules through which community colleges correlate such competencies to the competencies required of students in the colleges’ respective courses. Based on this correlation, each community college shall identify the minimum number of postsecondary credits that students must earn in order to demonstrate a level of competence in a foreign language at least equivalent to that of students who have completed 2 credits of such instruction in high school. The department may also specify alternative means by which students can demonstrate equivalent foreign language competence, including means by which a student whose native language is not English may demonstrate proficiency in the native language. A student who demonstrates proficiency in a native language other than English is exempt from a requirement of completing foreign language courses at the secondary or community college level.

History.—s. 353, ch. 2002-387; s. 117, ch. 2007-217.

1Note.—Section 21, ch. 2010-70, directs the Division of Statutory Revision to prepare a reviser’s bill to substitute the term “Florida College System institution” for the terms “Florida college,” “community college,” and “junior college” where those terms appear in the Florida K-20 Education Code.

Florida Administrative Code - 6A-10.02412 Foreign Language Competence and Equivalence

The provisions herein shall be used by Florida College System institutions to determine equivalency, pursuant to Section 1007.262, F.S., between two (2) credits in one (1) foreign language at the secondary level and the equivalent at the postsecondary level.

The competence to be demonstrated by students upon successful completion of two (2) credits of secondary instruction in one (1) foreign language is:
1. Modern languages.
  1. The ability to understand, with some repetition, simple questions and statements.
  2. The ability to read and understand the information presented in a simple paragraph.
  3. The ability to pronounce the language well enough to be intelligible to native speakers.
  4. The ability to ask and answer questions and maintain a simple conversation in areas of immediate need on very familiar topics.
  5. The ability to deal with everyday situations such as greetings, leave-takings, buying food, and asking directions.
  6. The ability to write a short paragraph on a familiar topic.
  7. The ability to demonstrate limited social competence in the foreign culture by showing comprehension of common rules of etiquette, customs and sensitivities, and a knowledge of contributions to the arts and humanities by the people who speak the target language.
2. Classical languages.
  1. The ability to read and understand materials ranging from low to medium levels of difficulty; that is, adapted text.
  2. The ability to give a reasonably accurate account of the contents of the reading material by answering questions, paraphrasing, translating, or summarizing.
  3. The ability to demonstrate knowledge of history, culture, and contributions to the arts and humanities of ancient civilizations.
Completion of a postsecondary course at the elementary 2 level in one (1) foreign language or American Sign Language (ASL) shall be considered to produce the competence specified in subsection (1) herein.
Students may demonstrate completion of the competencies specified in subsection (1) herein by other means as determined by the Florida College System institution.

Rulemaking Authority 1001.02(1), 1007.262 FS. Law Implemented 1001.02, 1007.262 FS. History–New 2-23-88, Amended 10-17-89, 11-13-90, 10-4-93, 11-21-05, 6-25-14.

Procedure for Determining Proficiency in a Foreign Language (other than two years of High School Instruction or one year of College Instruction in a Foreign Language).

For Students who are proficient in a foreign language through means other than high school or college instruction, the student may choose to show proficiency through a faculty evaluation of a student’s native language. The faculty member must be a native speaker of the language to be evaluated.

Student downloads the Faculty Evaluation of Students Native Language form at: Faculty Evaluation of Students Native Language form and submits the form to the Bachelor’s Degree Office.
Bachelor’s degree programs office identifies a native speaker of the language. If a native speaker cannot be located among Palm Beach State College Faculty, the student cannot use this procedure.
Faculty member assess the student’s writing, reading, speaking and listening skills and completes the evaluation form.
The faculty member submits the form to the Bachelor’s Degree Office.
If the faculty member has certified the highest-level ability on all four categories on the form, the Bachelor’s Degree office will update the student’s records that the foreign language requirement has been satisfied and the form will be scanned to the student’s electronic file.

Enacted July 2011; revised July 2014; reviewed July 2019