The purpose of this document is to describe a common design and curriculum development process to help in developing language-specific curricula for Foundation to Year 10 as part of the Australian Curriculum. The document is also used in the development of the Framework for Aboriginal Languages and Torres Strait Islander Languages. 

The document is intended for use by the language-specific writing teams and the Languages Advisory Groups established to contribute to the ACARA curriculum development process. Curriculum developers, pre-service and in-service teacher educators and teachers in the Languages learning area will also find it of interest and value. 

The document is divided into four major sections: 

Section 1: Context and orientation describes the context and conceptual framing of the curriculum design. 

Section 2: Overview gives an overview of the design document: its key features, how it is to be used and the relationship between key elements. It lists important ACARA curriculum design policy documents that inform the development of curriculum for specific languages. 

Section 3: Curriculum structure and design specifications sets out the overall structure and design features to be used in the development of each Languages curriculum, looking in detail at the organisation, structure and sequences of learning from Foundation to Year 10, and at the system of interrelated strands and sub-strands used to specify and elaborate curriculum content. 

Section 4: Language-specific curriculum development sets out the sequence of steps and considerations to be followed in developing each language-specific curriculum. Although the steps are set out sequentially, the process of development is necessarily iterative.