The focus of effective world language education in New Jersey schools is standards-based and performance-based instruction using the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century, ACTFL Performance Guidelines for K-12 Learners, and the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards.

Both sets of standards support each other in second language learning and together can be used to effectively guide world language program development and instruction. The content standards tell us "what" should be learned, and performance guidelines tell us "how well" students have learned based on assessment of student performance on carefully designed activities and tasks.

The Five Cs make the content (the "what") of world language education clear, but it is equally important to determine "how well" students are communicating in the second language. For this purpose, the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) developed ACTFL Performance Guidelines for K-12 Learners (1998) that describe the "how well" of world language learning. These guidelines identify areas for use as a basis for performance assessment in the second language and asks questions such as:

• How well is the student understood?
• How well does the student understand?
• How accurate is the student's language?
• How well does the student use vocabulary?
• How well does the student use cultural knowledge when using the second language?
• How well does the student maintain communication?