Resisting a deep-seated technical perspective of education, I attend to the notion of attunement as a key concept with which to imagine curriculum as a complicated conversation. As fully appreciating the meaning and potential of attunement requires an embodied sense of the word that is deployed by working from within our bodily, social, and…

Historically and as a developing country, the Sultanate of Oman has always been culturally dependent on Britain to plan and implement its English Language Teaching (ELT) and in-service teacher education. This dependency has negatively affected preparing English language teachers with a new global professional identity capable of introducing change…

This article reflects on the epistemological steamrolling that the 2021 Ofsted Curriculum Research Review (OCRR) accomplishes: in part, by the positioning of the problem and solution through highly selective cherry-picking (omitting key causal factors); in part, through the discursive move of acknowledging complexity before offering simple and…

Within the spirit of conspiration, this article brings together contributions from participants of the PhD-led UCL Reading and React Group 'Colonialism(s), Neoliberalism(s) and Language Teaching and Learning', which ran in 2019/20. Weaving together various perspectives, the article centres on the dialogic nature of the decolonial enterprise and…

I begin this article by briefly explaining why I think CercleS should encourage university language centres to align their courses and assessment with the proficiency levels of the "Common European Framework of Reference for Languages" (CEFR) and why they should use a version of the European Language Portfolio (ELP) to support the…

The launch of "Sputnik" in 1957 sparked a crisis in American education. Suddenly threatened by superior Soviet technology, progressive educators' concern for children's preferences, health, and adjustment in school yielded to public demands for more basic learning and academic skills. Congress soon passed the National Defense Education Act,…

Two recent reports offer some paradigm-shifting proposals regarding the teaching of world languages in general at the undergraduate level. The Modern Language Association's (MLA's) "Foreign Languages and Higher Education: New Structures for a Changed World" and "Report to the Teagle Foundation on the Undergraduate Major in Language and Literature"…

Michael Woolf's article, "Come and See the Poor People: The Pursuit of Exotica," is a provocative critique of what he calls the "new orthodoxy" of promoting study abroad in non-traditional destinations. Woolf's underlying point is that the current emphasis on promoting student mobility to non-traditional, i.e. non-European, destinations "is…

Comments on the decision of the Parliament of Europe to stress foreign language teaching in the member countries, and on the Council of Europe's efforts in curriculum planning ("threshold" and "waystage" level). Sees many problems appearing in the individual countries in forming teaching plans for their school systems. (IFS/WGA)

Discusses "Adaptation of 'A Threshold Level' for School Situations" (Strasbourg, 1978), comparing the original version (for adult education) with the school version. Finds that the latter requires a supplementary "threshold level," adapted to teaching and learning conditions at the elementary and secondary levels. (IFS/WGA)

The essay recommends the incorporation of contemporary works in third-year courses at college level based on the redesign of two courses, "Advanced Conversation and Composition" and "GermanMedia." Curricular connections across the German studies major and focus on literacy skills can be enhanced through the systematic integration of recent…

A close examination of two scenarios, one optimistic and the other pessimistic, reveals that the future of foreign language teaching in the United States is very much in the hands of the profession. Even if an external factor such as inflation does become serious, the profession must show unity and demonstrate its ability to realize optimistic…

Examines three curriculum models for teaching second languages. Each model represents a particular form of teaching, either analytic "skill-getting" (microlanguage learning), experiential "skill-using" (macrolanguage use), or a combination of the two. (57 references) (GLR)

Teachers are encouraged to participate personally in the curriculum development process by drawing on experience and consulting with colleagues in creating curricula specifically for their classes. The underlying concept and one practical strategy are outlined. Dialectic processes of curriculum development are viewed as conducive to spontaneous…

Discusses the concept of "faculty development," focusing on such areas where it could play a role as curriculum and staff hiring decisions and tenure. It is concluded that staff development depends on consensus building, both within and without the department. (VWL)