The National Standards for Japanese Language Learning are a set of Japanese-specific standards (descriptions of what students should know and be able to do) that supplement the National Standards for Foreign Language Education that were compiled and published in 1999 for teachers of all foreign languages. The National Standards (informally known as the “Five C’s”) describe what students of foreign languages should know and be able to do in the areas of Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisions, and Communities.

The document reproduced here is the manuscript draft of the Japanese Standards that was produced in the mid-1990s by a group of educators representing all levels of instruction. After revision and updating, they were published as a section of National Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century, which is now in its third edition and is available for ordering through the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) (www.actfl.org). A public-domain Executive Summary of the National Standards volume can be downloaded here.

The seven sections of the manuscript draft of the Japanese Standards are available here:
Introduction
Communication
Cultures
Connections
Comparisons
Communities
Learning Scenarios