Currently, the United States is one of four countries (Australia, Eritrea, United Kingdom are the others) without an official language. The second largest country of Spanish speakers in the world is the United States, and the original constitution for the state of California was written in two languages: Spanish and English. 

Meanwhile, globalization and the internet have made the world and communication infinitely more accessible. Prior to 1974’s Lau v Nichols decision by the Supreme Court, the most competent work done on language acquisition in the United States was carried out by the United States Military. The next thirty years would see limited growth in our understanding of this extremely complex field for a wide variety of reasons. 

Despite the overall views of the ineffectiveness of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), NCLB is partially responsible for the explosion and exponential growth in the field for language acquisition. In 2009, the first foreign language standards are created in California. In 2017, the English Language Learner Roadmap is unanimously approved by the state board of education which reverses the effects of 1998’s prop 227, and specifically calls on the importance of schools and educators to value the diverse languages and cultures spoken by Californian students and their families. 

In 2018, State Superintendent of School’s Tom Torlakson unveiled the auspicious Global California 2030, which has the robust goal that half of all students in California will be working towards proficiency in a second language by the year 2030. More ambitiously, it espouses that by 2040, 75% of students will earn the state seal of biliteracy.  

As our understanding of language acquisition continues to grow, we see significant shifts arrive as new World Language standards are adopted by the state in 2019 and a new World Language Framework is adopted by the state in 2020.  

As you navigate our pages, you’ll see we’ve looked to model the site after the framework’s three Cs: Communication, Culture and Connections.