The United States is undergoing a political tug-of-war between globalism and nationalism with world language education caught in the middle of this sociopolitical debate. The current political trend towards nationalism and isolationism is rendering world language education vulnerable to further cuts. This article discusses why it is vital for the…

In 2016 the University of Padova and its Language Centre ("Centro Linguistico di Ateneo" -- CLA) became involved in the two-year "Cultura e accoglienza" Project (see Dalziel and Piazzoli in this volume), the aim of which was to encourage around 30 refugees and asylum seekers to pursue university studies by means of a…

A research report from the University of Cambridge and RAND Europe shows that investing in languages education in the UK could return more than the investment cost. Researchers explored a gap in the evidence relating to the economic benefits of extending languages education and found that an increase in secondary-school pupils learning one of four…

Both of the participants in this dialogue are professors of German, and both were involved in recent efforts to develop Global Studies programs at their institutions. While one teaches at a small, private, liberal arts college and the other at a large, urban, public research university, both participated in these projects with the pragmatic desire…

This article describes a significant revision of an existing upper-division German course to include more global perspectives of the long 19th century. The revision was undertaken in collaboration with an advanced undergraduate student. The course provides an important opportunity to upend preconceptions students might have about German-speaking…

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…

In this conversation, two U.S.-trained German language and culture educators discuss their approaches to intercultural communicative competence (ICC). Working in different educational settings -- in a German and Global Studies program at a public university in the U.S., and at the Institute for Intercultural Communication of a German university…

Changing public demands and decreasing enrollment numbers have challenged the traditional concept of teaching languages, cultures, and literatures in the U.S. Although nationwide enrollment numbers in German programs have been declining, "global" German Studies programs such as the ones at the University of Connecticut and the University…

The Intercultural Competency (ICC) Program is a structured program that has been developed at the University of Adelaide's English Language Centre (ELC) to create opportunities for students to connect in a global context. This stand-alone and easily transferable program aims to create meaningful opportunities for mixed-language-ability learners to…

From previous research on second language acquisition and early language learning, educators know that young children have a cognitive advantage to learning a foreign language over other age groups (e.g., Garcia-Sierra et al.; Hyltenstam and Abrahamsson; Singleton and Ryan; Werker et al.). More recently, an increase in functional benefits for…

In the 21st century, global flows politically, socially, economically, and environmentally are creating widespread movements of people around the world and giving rise to increased resettlements of immigrants and refugees internationally. The reality in most countries worldwide is that contemporary populations are multifaceted, multicultural,…

Considerable attention has been given to written corrective feedback (WCF) in second language writing (L2) over the past several decades. One of the central questions has focused on the appropriateness of its use in L2 writing. In these academic discussions, scholars frequently describe how WCF is utilized in the classroom. However, many of these…

Portal: Your Door to World Languages and Cultures was a series of public cultural events, in a variety of formats, created through a new partnership between the credit and continuing education (noncredit) foreign language programs at the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC). Portal was designed to cultivate interest in foreign languages…

Teaching English became a professional and academic field from a half century ago. Many researches for teacher education and teacher training have been conducted in order to raise the English as well as the foreign language trainers' knowledge and capabilities in carrying out effective lessons in classroom. During second millennium of speedily…

In recent years there has been greater emphasis placed on second language acquisition in schools. To be prepared for life in the 21st century, to function within an increasingly interdependent world society, to be free from the petty biases that hinder understanding and from the larger hatreds that lead to confrontation, children will need to…