This paper describes a peer-mentoring program in a large language department. Experienced Teaching Associates (TAs) served as peer mentors to novice TAs, providing the type of individualized guidance that new TAs need. The peer mentoring model has several advantages over the supervision-only model, including one-on-one help, multiple classroom…

During 1978-79, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) conducted a career education project. During this year, the project staff developed several products which would be employed by workshop directors and their audiences as they attempt to demonstrate and implement the incorporation process of the career education…

The fourth annual report of the National Advisory Council on Bilingual Education summarizes the condition of bilingual education in the United States and describes the administration and operation of Title VII. The Council recommendations include the following: (1) that the Commission on Foreign Languages collaborate and coordinate its effort with…

Discusses the role of qualified native speakers of Spanish beginning work as teaching assistants in the University of Virginia's intermediate Spanish civilization course. The course focuses on Latino culture and civilization and offers American students the chance to interact with a "real" Latin American. (CB)

The "teaching spectacle" approach (where the teacher is the major and only character involved in teaching and learning) often observed in university-level English as a second language classes in Indonesia must be abandoned in favor of a "learning festival" approach, which encourages complete involvement of both teachers and…

The University of Oregon offers summer institutes designed to help secondary school teachers of foreign languages to gain new perspectives on the interdependence of humanistic disciplines and lead to much-needed curriculuar changes in the schools. The summer programs offer interdisciplinary study in foreign languages, literature, and history. (CB)

First-year students of French at the University of Wisconsin at Madison had 50-minute classes five days a week, meeting in large groups with a professor twice a week, and in small groups with teaching assistants three times a week. The team-taught model helped reduce problems experienced in teaching load and class size. (CB)

The English section of the Canadian government's advanced language training program uses andragogy through such activities as an authentic weekly review and planning meeting, where French-speaking managers and professionals practice their language skills while participating in the management of their own learning. (Author/CB)

Describes advantages and disadvantages of computer-assisted foreign language testing, including unique capabilities of the computer, types of tests possible, limitations, problems, and language skill testing. The Spanish Computer Adaptive Placement Examination, developed at Brigham Young University (Utah), is described. (CB)

A midwestern college's foreign language program restructured some of its courses to address students' interests in learning to read a foreign language for graduate school or other purposes. The description of a class in theological German illustrates the varied cultural, professional, and personal reasons students may have for choosing such…

Utah State University changed its "potentially...boring and probably...useless" French civilization course (taught in French and required of majors) to an English-taught course for French majors and majors in business, economics, political science, and prelaw. The new course focuses on stereotypes, cultural differences, and current…

Describes an evaluation study of a special English-as-a-second-language program developed for a group of 18 to 21 year olds with a severe gap in their schooling due to political upheaval and war. The five stages of the study, its recommendations, and its outcomes are outlined. (Author/SED)

A study of the English language needs and attitudes of students and faculty in Kuwait University's College of Petroleum and Engineering is reported. The objective was to create a basis for assessing the relevance of the institution's current English second language program. Data were gathered through: (1) interviews with faculty, teaching…

A cooperative program of the economics and foreign languages departments offers three undergraduate majors: an economics B.A., with two foreign languages; a B.A. double major of economics and either French or Spanish, complemented by a second language; and a B.S. in business administration, individually designed, with one modern foreign language.…

A restructured core curriculum at Saint Anselm College includes an interdisciplinary humanities program incorporating a required foreign language sequence. Introductory courses use native speakers in weekly informal conversation sessions to prepare students for a later required culture and civilization course taught in the foreign language. (MSE)