This article briefly reviews the social, political, and economic context that explains the present status of elementary language education in the United States and addresses the challenges identified by recent reports on the state of language education in the United States. Different curricular models of world language education--exploratory,…

The research on text-based synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC), while generally acknowledging the potential benefits afforded by the medium's capacity for extensive self-repair, has done little in the way of exploration of the nature of such text. Indeed, until quite recently, output logs have been favored almost exclusively at the…

Project-based learning (PBL) is described as a student-centered approach to learning in which students collaborate on sequential authentic tasks and develop a final project. Through opportunities to integrate both language and content learning, PBL practitioners suggest that meaningful language use and purposeful communication are fostered…

This guide for language teachers offers a developmental approach to curriculum design for second language learning. The approach suggests a progression of tasks at various difficulty levels, geared to the gradual development of language knowledge, concepts, skills, and attitudes. Ten levels of attainment, or stages of learner development, are…