Addressing the underrepresentation of films by female directors in Spanish language and culture classes, this work proposes the inclusion of two films, Chus Gutiérrez's "Retorno a Hansala" (2008) and Icíar Bollaín's "También la lluvia" (2010), in the curriculum of advanced or upper-level Spanish courses. Both films expand…

This paper presents the prototype of a Mobile Language Learning Environment (MLLE) allowing learners of German at a Japanese university to map classroom learning content onto the pathways of their everyday lives, turning places they come by into mnemonic "loci", and thus changing their daily commute into a learning trail. Even though the…

The Applied Language Centre at University College Dublin offers foreign language modules to students in ten languages at CEFR [Common European Framework of Reference for Languages] levels ranging from A1 to B2. Efforts have been underway in the Centre to standardise the assessment components across languages to ensure parity between module credits…

This article analyzes the findings of a pilot project conducted in 2008-2009 as a partnership between University Studies, Portland State University's interdisciplinary general education program, and the University's Russian Flagship Language Partner Program. The project proposes a new approach of integrating non-English speakers' language skills,…

Ensuring that students spend time preparing for class has always been one of the challenges of teaching. Indeed, when students are given an assignment that they are required to do before coming to the next lecture--whether it be written exercises or just studying--one wonders how often they are actually doing it. There are many ways in which…

A successful advanced college-level French conversation course using French theater as a basis for students to learn oral skills has six phases: an overview of the history of French theater, reading, adaptation of the text, rehearsal-readings, final rehearsals, and performance. (MSE)

The use of three new handbooks to study Russian classics in advanced college Russian classes is described. The handbooks are an effort to help students with vocabulary, cultural information, and idioms found in the original texts. (MSE)

Characteristics of a communicative program are offered from the perspective of a college level program in Montreal. Discussion of syllabus design, materials, and methodology resulted in the realization that truly authentic communication in the classroom requires the careful design of the learning environment. Within the learning environment a…

The oral translation courses at the University of Northern Iowa are described and suggestions are given for applying the approach to other university language courses and to secondary school language courses. After the initial organizational periods, each eighty-minute class period consists of translating an interview that was recorded in the…

Describes a summer intensive advanced German language program at the University of Texas at Arlington that has been conducted since 1975. Discusses course organization, teaching methods, class activities, testing, and the success of the program in terms of increasingly higher achievement ratings. (MES)

Among the justifications for using games in foreign language teaching, one finds the theory that games play an important role in the instructional and learning processes and that they can be designed to develop linguistic skills and communicative abilities. A review of several authors not only suggests the value of games and game-like activities…

Communication-based teaching techniques are described that lead German language students from input to output in a stimulating and motivating learning environment. Input activities are most useful for presenting speech acts, vocabulary, and grammar; output activities, for fine-tuning those areas as well as for expanding students' productive…

An innovative curriculum at New York University (NYU) for teaching business Japanese is described. Theoretical foundations for the approach used are reviewed, including research on language simplification and comprehensible input for classroom learning, the concept of importing the real world into classroom interaction, the role of specific tasks…

This paper describes Hawaiian language courses that incorporate computer technology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. In the past decade, enrollments in all types of Hawaiian language programs have increased rapidly. The University of Hawaii is committed to extending Hawaiian language education, especially the full development of Hawaiian…

Six computer programs were used for English as a foreign language classes at Sana's University (Yemen) to stimulate whole-class activities (as opposed to small group or individualized activities commonly associated with use of computers). The software, involving spelling, repetition, spoken discourse, games, and map work, was merged into more…