ARENAISSANCE in reading and language acquisition is occurring throughout the world, especially in Puerto Rico. In our Education Secretary’s message he notes that “current research findings have brought about a new understanding and new view of how students learn to read, how they learn another language and how they learn to speak." Here in Puerto Rico, your English Program is developing curriculum, implementing instructional materials, and providing teacher training to meet the new research findings.
    Excellence in education, particularly in the teaching of` English, is paramount to the future of our children and our island. The primary goal of the English Program is to ensure that our students become literate, communicatively competent, critical thinkers, and problem solvers. In other words, our aim is to prepare our students to be articulate and productive citizens in the technologically advanced 21st century. The Puerto Rico educational system is and will continue to he one of the best in the world.
    The general goal of the English Program is to develop in our students oral and written communication skills so that they are communicatively competent. In our quest to successfully reach our goals, we have adopted three different teaching methodologies in our English Program: the Natural Approach, the Communicative Approach, and the Whole "Language Philosophy. These three approaches or methods meet the diverse teaching and learning styles in all our classrooms. Utilized alone or in combination, these methods will guide us as we strive to achieve our instructional goals and objectives as outlined in this curriculum guide.
    The English Program Curriculum Guide is exemplary of how we are achieving our goals and addressing new trends. It is not designed as the one magic formula for teaching reading and language acquisition in our classrooms. But rather, it is a flexible model, a map that will guide educators as they make informed choices and decisions related to methods, techniques and strategies to use with our students.
    This English Program Curriculum Guide is the result of the collaboration of many educators: central level technicians, general supervisors, district level supervisors, classroom teachers, students, parents, university professors, and other professionals with expertise in education. I wish to thank them for their patience during the numerous revisions and editing stages that this curriculum guide underwent. A document such as this must continue to undergo revisions and constant fine-tuning to meet the changing needs of our students. Therefore, I hope to have your ongoing suggestions, ideas and comments.
    Thank you for helping us bring our English Program Curriculum Guide to realization.