Efforts to expand the generic language proficiency guidelines of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) to the less commonly taught languages (LCTLs) began when developers realized that the ACTFL guidelines were too Eurocentric; the guidelines included grammatical categories specific to Western European languages and…

Modeled after the pioneering French immersion programs developed in Canada in the 1960s, foreign language immersion programs in the United States are designed to enrich the education of native-English-speaking students by teaching them all of their academic subjects in a second language. The goal is for students to become proficient in the second…

Project-based learning is an instructional approach that contextualizes learning by presenting learners with problems to solve or products to develop. For example, learners may research adult education resources in their community and create a handbook to share with other language learners in their program, or they might interview local employers…

This digest provides an overview of the methodological foundations underlying the lexical approach to language teaching and the pedagogical implications suggested by them. The lexical approach has received interest in recent years as an alternative to grammar-based approaches. It concentrates on developing learners' proficiency with lexis, or…

Second language (L2) computer-adaptive testing (CAT) is a technologically advanced method of assessment in which the computer selects and presents test items to examinees according to the estimated level of the examinee's language ability. The basic notion of an adaptive test is to mimic automatically what a wise examiner would normally do.…

Interest in elementary school foreign language programs has resurfaced in recent years, and the number of programs is increasing. Many states are requiring foreign language study at the elementary level. For a local school or community seeking to implement elementary school language programs, it is important that a rationale be developed to meet…

This digest summarizes a longer document with the same title that discusses the problem of using, training, and assessing international teaching assistants (ITAs) in undergraduate education. Legislative mandates have appeared to assess and improve language and pedagogical skills of ITAs, and academies have likewise responded with workshops and…

The typical route to certification for beginning foreign language teachers requires the candidate to complete an approved program of teacher education in a four-year institution, have a certain minimum grade point average, and have completed a specified number of foreign language credit hours. Notable trends in foreign language teacher…

By 1992, according to a study by the Council of Chief State School Officers, more than 3.5 million computers were in U.S. elementary and secondary schools--a ratio of one computer for every 13 students. In addition, 99 percent of all schools across the country reported that they provide their students with some access to computers. Sometimes…