World language classrooms in the United States have been significantly impacted by the physical and ideological disruptions experienced in recent history. Such disruptive times call for the reform of pedagogical practices to raise awareness of social justice issues and ignite real change both in and out of language classrooms. This essay outlines…

Integration of Francophone culture into the language curriculum rests on a suggested three-step approach, involving extensive student research. Goals are (1) recognition of the geography of French-speaking regions; (2) sensitivity to cultural components (e.g., music, art); and (3) familiarity with at least one significant political, historical,…

Examines the role of songs in Arabic as a foreign language university courses. It is argued that songs can be effectively used to impart knowledge of, as well as about, the target language in its standard and nonstandard forms and can help to place the target language in its cultural context. (10 references) (GLR)

Lessons learned in the development and implementation of an English language training (ELT) project for Indonesian Civil Service workers are discussed. The project, designed to focus on development of English communication skills, was undertaken in cooperation with the state administration agency. Issues and difficulties discussed include:…

Integration of extracurricular activities into the second language curriculum is supported in the context of culturally oriented communicative second language teaching. After methodological approaches in the literature are analyzed, various extracurricular program provided at the University of Toronto are described. (MSE)

The design and content of a required, fourth-year course in Soviet culture are proposed. The course has three distinguishing characteristics: basis in a broader, social sciences definition of culture; the Soviet Union as a frame of reference; and instruction in Russian. Its objectives are both cultural knowledge and language proficiency. (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)

In this article, I discuss how the administrators and local teachers in a Turkish university English language centre perceive others in the institution. I present interview data to illustrate processes of "Othering", whereby a group constructs a shared, Us-Them representation of another group. The data show that administrators and local…

Techniques for teaching marketing to students of business Spanish are discussed, including an examination and classification of marketing concepts, analysis of the significant and growing United States Hispanic market, and English- and Spanish-language samples of computer-assisted instructional (CAI) materials used in two colleges (Youngstown…

This discussion of bilingual education in the United States begins with a review of the historical and political context in which it has evolved since the late 1800s. Policy issues and some research are examined here. It then outlines the theoretical and conceptual debate, focusing on four major theoretical frameworks used to justify bilingual…

A method of combining second language learning and cultural education at the advanced level is described. In a third-year college Spanish course, the subject of post-Franco Spain is used as the context for developing reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills and also serves as content area in itself. In addition to instructional texts,…

Student experiences in an exchange program linking the University of Hawaii and the Graduate School of Business in Lyon, France illustrate the positive impact of foreign internships. The students were enrolled in internship programs in travel industry management. The reports written by the students reveal that the experiences have affected the…