In World Languages and Literature, students analyze literature while contemplating how culture influences the author and the written or spoken word. 

The goal of the World Languages and Literature curriculum is threefold: 1) to develop each student’s strengths as a reader, writer, researcher, listener, speaker, and collaborator; 2) to emphasize the ever-evolving beauty of words, both written and spoken; and 3) to demonstrate the centrality of language to the human story examined in the Spiral Curriculum.

As students become familiar with the applications of reading and writing processes, they learn how to monitor their own learning and growth. Whether working on an oral presentation, a research report, a literature log, or an essay, students document the steps followed to complete the project. Teachers assess both the final product and the process undertaken in developing understanding. In this way, Ross students not only demonstrate mastery of content, but also gain knowledge about their own processing skills, an essential component of their continued success as lifelong learners. In addition to communication and expression in the English language, the program also trains students to express themselves in Mandarin Chinese, while gaining an awareness of other cultures and perspectives.

As students progress from novice to intermediate levels of proficiency, their language develops from concrete to more abstract forms of expression. Students then engage in functional language use with activities that are personalized, experiential, and interdisciplinary. Music, visuals, movement, simulation, and gaming permit an intensified experience of language and help to integrate the domain into the broader cultural and historical foci of the Ross curriculum.