Traditional preservice and inservice training programs have focused on specific techniques for teaching and testing specific aspects of the target language, usually grammatical structures. With proficiency as the organizing principle, both what teachers think and what they do in the classroom can and must be viewed from this new perspective. Obvious applications of the proficiency approach include student and instructor certification standards, establishing foreign language requirements for completing or entering programs, and designing curriculum articulation guidelines. But what is most salient in the approach is the orientation allowing placement of nonnative speakers, students and instructors, in a global framework for foreign language learning. It is now possible to interpret every aspect of a program, including materials, activities, and student and teacher behaviors, in a broader conceptual framework, constraining what occurs in the classroom and focusing on what learners must eventually know. The orientation clearly identifies the complementary factors of function, content, and accuracy, as well as the need to maintain balance among them at all proficiency levels. (MSE)