The Indiana Foreign Language Generic Competencies for Levels 1-4 define language-learning outcomes in terms of communicative competencies within generic cultural contexts. Nine cultural contexts (travel/transportation, the "world" of the target language, school and education, family and home, leisure time, meeting personal needs, world of work, fine arts, and politics and history) are more precisely defined by specific cultural situations. The communicative competency for each cultural context and within each specific cultural situation is a short description of what students should be able to do at the end of the level of instruction. The basic task is also defined with a list of language skills necessary to achieve the competency, the linguistic content (necessary grammar and vocabulary), and a suggested evaluation schema. Five existing proficiency rating scales simplified for classroom use and one new scale were developed in four areas: comprehensibility, amount of relevant information, structural accuracy, and level of performance. The competencies are used to develop culturally-oriented, competency-based lesson plans for classroom instruction and are intended to be tested and evaluated throughout the year. The paper includes examples of competencies for each level of instruction and an example of lesson-planning elements for the Level One competency of Food and Meals from the generic cultural context of Travel and Transportation. (MSE)