The all-encompassing term "Medical Spanish" references the Spanish used by healthcare professionals. Medical Spanish courses have gained traction as the Spanish-speaking population in the U.S. continues to grow. Consequently, demand for courses in Medical Spanish and other areas of Spanish for Specific Purposes (SSP), a subfield of…

This book details a three-year, multi-stranded study of teacher education programs that prepare future teachers to work with multilingual learners. The book examines how racism and linguicism collaborate to shape the conditions under which teacher candidates learn how to teach. The analysis traces dynamic shifts in thinking and practice as…

In 2016, Dr. Martin Reinhardt and Dr. Jioanna Carjuzaa produced a series of three webinars concerning Indigenous language immersion programs. The first webinar focused on broad curriculum development ideas including core relationships, guidelines and principles for effective pedagogy, and models. The second webinar focused on the elements of…

The enrollment growth of Japanese language courses in U.S. K-12 classrooms has resulted in a strain on delivery systems due limited teacher training programs, materials, and standardized tests. A new Johns Hopkins/College Board project to develop a national curricular framework is described. (LB)

The traditional upper-level course in French civilization at Utah State University was abandoned in favor of a course entitled "France Today," taught once a year to a consistent enrollment of students majoring in a wide variety of disciplines. The content varies somewhat each year, but the class typically begins with several class…

One of a series of workplace education modules, this module includes assessment instruments and classroom activities for teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) in the workplace. First, an overview is provided, describing issues unique to teaching ESL in the workplace. Five levels of difficulty are then described for module activities (i.e.,…

This guide, "a work in progress," is one of a series designed to serve as companion documents for the New York state learning standards defined for each major curriculum area. It is intended to establish a connection between the state-mandated learning standards and classroom instruction and to further elaborate on the standards that…

The restructuring of the Romance language program at Howard University to improve oral proficiency involved modification of goals, syllabi, classroom activities, and testing. Goals were adapted to American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)/Educational Testing Service (ETS) guidelines for oral proficiency. Assessment of French…

It was found that the seemingly greatly increased oral fluency of Middlebury College seniors who had studied in college-sponsored junior year abroad programs did not carry over to written skills or to comprehensive grammatical knowledge. In the oral proficiency interview for Spanish, many returning students had no control of the subjunctive, a key…

A classroom study in two advanced Chinese language courses compared the effectiveness of two instructional strategies: (1) proficiency-based instruction through cooperative learning (Chinese 405) and (2) "prochievement," a hybrid, performance-based strategy derived from both proficiency and achievement approaches (Chinese 406). Subjects…

A study investigated: (1) the average language proficiency level as determined by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) attained by 271 college seniors majoring in 6 languages (Spanish, French, Russian, German, Japanese, Italian); (2) current and projected uses of the ACTFL OPI by…

The collaborative curriculum development process in a postsecondary language education program in Japan is described, looking specifically at the work of five curriculum development teams, or focus groups: needs assessment; curriculum aims, goals, and objectives; cognitive development and learner strategies; materials development; and learner…

The manual is designed as a reference on second language teaching and curriculum development for Peace Corps language trainers and language training coordinators. The first section, on language learning theory, introduces competency-based curriculum, describes the natural approach to language learning (the approach used throughout the manual),…

A Dutch study of the relationship between different student cognitive styles and foreign language achievement focused on the development and analysis of a grammar test for English as a second language. The test consists of ten subtests requiring the student to manipulate aspects of English syntactic, morphosyntactic, and morphological structure.…

The kit is designed to assist Peace Corps language instruction coordinators in countries around the world in understanding the principles underlying second language training and organizing instructional programs. It is intended primarily as a resource library, with materials organized to ensure flexibility of use. It consists of eleven sections…