ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Thanks to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

These definitions are intended to be context-specific to the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines and to the Foreign Language Standards of Learning for Virginia Public Schools and are not intended to be comprehensive or exhaustive. abstract language Expression that signifies a concept, quality, or idea rather than material or physical reality. (Opposite of concrete language) aspect A verbal category that refers to some characteristic of the activity or state of a verb. It indicates whether an action or state is viewed as completed or in progress (I went/I was going), instantaneous or enduring (The sun came out/ The sun was shining), momentary or habitual (They vacationed at the shore/ They used to vacation at the shore). Aspect is often indicated by prefixes, suffixes, infixes, phonetic changes in the root verb, and the use of auxiliaries. authentic materials Also “culturally authentic materials, ” meaning materials that have been created for and by native speakers of the language and that have been derived from the culture itself. authentic text Oral and written communication produced by native language users and directed to an audience of native language users in the target culture, such as