It is late at night, after working all day on her postdoctoral research Laura Colombo is trying to wind down while drawing and jotting down thoughts in her notebook. She is in the living room/office of her apartment in Buenos Aires, the city where she was born and left when she was 26 years old to pursue her graduate studies in the United States…

Illustrates the potential of simulation techniques for the teaching of German as a foreign language at the beginner's level. Reviews arguments for the use of simulations in language teaching, suggests a step-by-step procedure for using simulations, and presents a set of ready-to-apply simulation scripts on the topic of eating and drinking in a…

Presents French culture studies as an example of possible directions in graduate culture studies. Refers to a model based largely on the culture and civilization graduate concentration at Penn State University, which evolved alongside literature and language over the past 15 years. (Author/VWL)

Offers a personal portrait of graduate training and compares it to that of today. Discussing the appearance of polarization between research and teaching, emphasizes the importance of both in whatever the institutional setting and argues that the discovery of new knowledge should underlie the work of all postsecondary teachers. (Author/VWL)

Examines graduate education and the constricted job market PhDs have encountered during the last decade. Addresses the mismatch between the kinds of positions available and the research agenda of graduate programs. Urges departments to keep a vision of a student-oriented program, articulated in a series of "ever-broadening contexts" through…

Compares information gleaned from the Modern Language Association's "MLA Job Information List" seeking language program directors in 1996 and provides an overview of changes in the profession during that time. (Author/VWL)

One English-as-a-Second-language teacher living in Brazil offers insight into the acculturation process through letters written to friends and colleagues. (Author/VWL)

Investigates how the continuing oversupply of PhDs in relation to the number of academic positions available in colleges and universities affects graduate education. Summarizes opinions about the meaning of professionalization and the roles that institutions, departments, and graduate students themselves share in the development of…

Discusses the use of student journals as a means of assessing the intellectual journey taken by students through a postgraduate course in critical language awareness. Shows how students construct their multiple identities in their journals and how these identities are transformed or conserved as they enter a new discourse community. (Author/VWL)

Summarizes the perceived needs and areas of concern to nonnative (NNS) speaking teachers and teachers-in-preparation. Presents a rationale for addressing the perceived needs and concerns of NNS teachers-in-preparation in U.S.-Based Teaching English as a Second or Other Language master's programs. Describes how one program has redesigned its…

This book addresses the problem of the future of Germanics as a field of study at colleges and universities in the United States. It is noted that the study of Germanics has been losing tens of thousands of students for the past 25 years, that this slide downward is no longer attracting enough attention from the Germanics community, and if it…

Advocates broadening of professional development options for graduate students to take into account the disciplinary expertise and teaching practice needed for courses beyond the beginning and intermediate language sequence. Concludes that readings, workshops, and discussions with faculty allow graduate students to gain experience with the range…

Discusses the focus of foreign-language graduate programs on preparing students for their careers. The article argues that the spread of teaching-methods courses and the interest in the utility of education has transformed these programs into hybrids that lack intellectual discipline. The article concludes graduate programs in foreign languages…

Provides an overview of the academic job market for PhDs in terms of skills and qualifications needed by job candidates and demonstrates how graduate students can begin to focus their educational efforts in the most relevant ways. Career development, placement options for departments, faculty, and students are also discussed. (Author/VWL)

Outlines how a Web site for a three-term German literature course at Oregon State University was created and used. Assesses the teaching of the Web-dependent version of the course, evaluates how the Internet enhances the course, and concludes by reporting on the response to the Web site. (Author/VWL)