The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year, undergraduate institution that educates and trains its students (cadets) to become future leaders in the US Army officer corps. The Department of Foreign Languages (DFL) at West Point plays an integral role in developing cadets' cultural and linguistic competencies in preparation for…

Chinese characters have been an obstacle preventing the development of Chinese proficiency for learners of Chinese whose native language does not have characters. A substantial literature review identified linguistic, pedagogical, and political factors as causes such difficulties. Tone changes represent different meanings of a word. Compound…

In the reading course, especially the so-called intensive reading course or integrative English reading course, there are some vocabulary exercises which intend to consolidate the active vocabulary emerging in the reading passages. Mostly, these exercises are in the form of blank-filling or rewriting sentences with the words given. The problem…

The objectives of this article are, first, to describe a collaborative project between teacher educators and a foreign languages (FL) department in a specialist language college and, second, to evaluate its success. The project focuses on Year 9 pupils across the ability range (in four groups) and involves staff in both institutions working…

This paper elucidates a new college English teaching mode--"ACCA" (Autonomous Cooperative Class-teaching All-round College English Teaching Mode). Integrated theories such as autonomous learning and cooperative learning into one teaching mode, "ACCA", which is being developed and advanced in practice as well, is the achievement…

An exploration of the reasons for the failure of former elementary school foreign language programs precedes the identification of issues that should be addressed to ensure the effectiveness of current and future programs. The three basic FLES program models, Foreign Language Experience (FLEX), sequential FLES, and immersion, are described. (CB)

An innovative high school curriculum in Finland is designed so that the year is divided into six 6-week periods. In an experiment begun in fall 1989, English second language instruction was provided to second-year students in the form of content-area instruction in computer science, chemistry, and physics at one of two levels. Each course lasted…

Recent writing theory, research, and pedagogy have aided in the development of several models for improving second language writing skills. Attention is focused more on writing as a process, the importance of practice in writing improvement, and the need to learn cognitive structures contributing to writing. Daily journal writing is one method of…

A discussion of the implementation of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) second language proficiency guidelines in Florida's public schools and colleges includes a brief review of literature about the guidelines, background information on the oral proficiency movement, and a description of the effects of the movement…

The outdoor and adventure education component of the program for non-native learners of English at the Bell School in Bath, England, was designed to develop learners' social attitudes and skills through a range of outdoor activities and classroom encounters. The discussion of this program component is divided into four sections. Section 1 provides…

A college second language program compared the effectiveness of traditional second language instruction and a communicative approach in second year French, German, and Spanish courses. The communicative classes used only authentic materials, thematically organized and prepared for classroom use by the instructors. Similar topics were addressed in…

A second language program developed at Wilson College (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania) with a federal grant uses the Rassias Method of theatrical, dramatic language saturation. In the first application of the program at the college, peer tutors (who would be assistant teachers in the subsequent immersion program) were trained in a three-day workshop.…

The National Association of Self-Instructional Language Programs (NASILP) offers a program option for institutions that lack the resources to develop a regular second language program but want to offer instruction in a broad range of languages for international businesses. The cost-effective, media-intensive approach consists of a controlled…

The demand for an improved international dimension in American education is a move in the right direction, and American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and Educational Testing Service efforts in defining foreign language proficiency guidelines and developing a reliable mechanism for testing oral proficiency have resulted in…

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…