Oral presentations are a common practice in foreign language classes, often used to assess students' speaking skills. Usually, the presentations are delivered by students in front of the class, often with PowerPoint slides or Prezi as support. However, frequently the audience does not engage with the presentation and thus, the benefits of this…

The authors illustrate models and procedures that can be applied to calculate overall composite scores in order to identify an indicator of English language proficiency, based on composite scores for English learners with 504 or individualized education plans who are missing one or more domain scores on the Assessing Comprehension and…

During and after the Financial Crisis of 2008, many institutions of higher learning have had revenue and budgetary reductions, forcing them to make severe university budget cuts and university reductions in force. Often the university cuts are preceded by a process of evaluation of academic programs where institutions determine what they stand for…

As part of a broad, campus-wide Writing Initiative designed to improve student-writing skills, Fairleigh Dickinson University opened a new campus writing center in fall 2006. Concurrently, a separate component of this initiative was launched to replace the English for General Purposes instruction offered in the traditional English as a Second…

A language program is a delicate and intricate system of interacting resources or components, which, like a biological ecology, is in a constant state of evolution and change. The interactive system making up the program's internal culture is connected ecologically to the external environment. The ecological model is introduced as a useful…

As the U.S. population grows more varied, public schools are faced with the challenge of meeting the needs of an increasing population of culturally and linguistically diverse students. Schools in the United States are often the first point of contact for new immigrant students as they work to facilitate their integration and socialization into…

Presents a model for studying the process by which students decide to continue with, or to terminate, their second language studies. Previous research in the area is discussed. (MSE)

The objective of the course described here is to provide the teaching assistants (TAs) with help, encouragement, and constructive criticism. An orientation program lasts one week and follows the following schedule: (1) On the first day, a general introduction to general university and departmental policies is given, as well as to teaching methods…

Engineering curricula are increasingly focused on developing student competencies. Many new competencies needed by engineers today are professional skills (sometimes called the "soft skills"). Among the new competencies for engineering graduates is global competence, the ability to work knowledgeably and live comfortably in a…

A report is presented of work in syllabus construction and language planning in Finland from the middle of the 1960s to the present. An introductory chapter describes Finland's parallel educational systems, which provide for speakers of the two official languages, Finnish and Swedish, and for instruction in the other national language as well as…

Emphasizes that developing a coherent sequence of instruction prekindergarten-16+ is crucial to improving education and to the future success of extended-sequence foreign language course offerings. The Collaborative Articulation and Assessment Project represents a successful model that affords opportunities for application and replication in local…

Four short-term British Council Key English Language Teaching (KELT) tertiary education projects in South India were evaluated. The resulting evaluation model incorporated four outcome criteria for success and four input indicators. Recommendations for future policy are offered. (three references) (Author/LB)

The study and appreciation of literature should retain its traditional position at the center of foreign language study. A "problem-centered" model is described for teaching literature in the undergraduate foreign language classroom using texts organized around a series of complex critical problems. (CB)

Modifications made to the Dartmouth Intensive Language Model (DILM), an intensive immersion program, resulted in its effective implementation and enhancement of a small-college foreign language program, in spite of such limitations as a very small teaching staff, inexperienced and anxious students, and decreased contact hours for the program. (CB)

Surveys factors easing foreign language students' transition from middle to high school, including the type of program, degree of success in transition, problems in achieving effective articulation, and effective articulation strategies. Findings indicate that the greater the number of articulation strategies practiced, the greater likelihood…