The goals of the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania school district's fourth- through sixth-grade Latin program are to extend the English verbal capabilities of children, broaden their cultural horizons, enable students to understand and speak Latin within an appropriate cultural context, and stimulate interest in the study of modern and classical foreign…

An experimental program to individualize intermediate French instruction through specific, personalized work emphasizes oral language in the classroom, and reading, listening, and writing in its individualized portion. (MSE)

The administrative and pedagogical difficulties of implementing a communicative approach in a university French program are outlined, including student language needs and expectations, program organization and content, and implementing appropriate situations and practices. The question of whether a student can attain bilingualism at this level…

One of the problems that continues to plague teachers of foreign languages at the secondary and university levels is the students' use of a "pony," or literal translation, to assist them in completing their translation assignments. Due to the wide availability of such translations and the tendency for students to choose the path of least…

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)

Reports on survey conducted with support from the U.S. Department of Education to describe supply and demand for foreign language teachers in secondary schools, pre- and in-service teacher preparation, teacher workload, curriculum and instruction, professional responsibility and personal characteristics, as well as to derive policy advice for…

Describes an advanced, nonliterary Spanish course which can be adapted to high school classes. (EKN)

Techniques and lesson types used in foreign language courseware on the PLATO IV system at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign are outlined. The emphasis is on developing reading, writing, and listening skills to the extent possible on a computer, and on using existing courseware to develop new techniques and materials. (Author/MSE)

Issues in the foreign language placement of college students are discussed: the necessity of a placement test for all incoming students, selection of such a test from the available options, decline of student performance in the last 20 years, and articulation courses from high school to college. (MSE)

Optional interdisciplinary courses taught by foreign language teachers to college sophomores are described. The courses are English Word Power, Classical Mythology, Afro-French Literature in Translation, and two courses in law in literature. The emphasis was on integrating a humanities concept with a foreign language-foreign culture orientation.…

Describes pedagogical experiment with emphasis on the student and his/her specific needs and motivations. Involves self- and group work with teacher support. Individual work alternates with group work, focusing on production of a project or task corresponding to objectives defined by members of group. (Author/BK)

St. Anselm College's new core humanities program includes as a language requirement a special culture and civilization segment. The Native Speaker Program is described. Students meet once a week with native speakers. The textbooks contain magazine articles from the countries under study. (MLW)

Overviews the numbers and kinds of students taking college-level Japanese courses currently, their motivations and challenges, and some of the ways in which Japanese is different from the more commonly taught languages. Notes that for the first time in United States history the study of a language outside the Indo-European family, i.e., Japanese…

Examines the strengths and weaknesses of various English language acquisition programs that are used to speed refugees' transition into Canadian society. The study focuses specifically on those refugees who qualify for federal government settlement assistance and reside in St. John's, Newfoundland. (eight references) (GLR)

Offers some insights for college language department chairs regarding effective teaching strategies. The Maturiry and Leadership Scales of Hersey, Blanchard, and Hambleton teach faculty to use management skills at four levels (tell, sell, participate, and delegate) according to students' maturity levels. (CB)