While foreign language instruction for elementary school children is gaining attention, poor articulation is a problem that has become more complex because of the variety of foreign language program models being developed. Five main types are in use: total immersion, partial immersion, foreign languages in the elementary school (FLES),…

This report describes the use of the natural approach to second language instruction to improve the teacher training program at Purdue University (Indiana). First, the report discusses the establishment of a permanent, non-tenure-track position of Assistant Director for Beginning Levels of Spanish. Second, focus is on the improvement of the…

A consensus has emerged on many issues in communicative language teaching, but one question that needs attention is the question of what ought to constitute the appropriate starting point in the design and implementation of a second language program. Two positions to consider are the following: first, the development of communicative methodology,…

A discussion of the immersion approach to second language instruction contains: a description of the approach and its goals; a brief history of its introduction into public schools; a description of the most common immersion program designs (early total, early partial, middle or delayed, and late); a review of available information on program…

Two approaches to college second language instruction are described. One, an on-campus option, gives students a classroom opportunity that is similar to the intensive/immersion program, which is a ten-week intensive language course followed by a ten-week program in Mexico, France, or Germany. The on-campus option, called "Super," is a…

An ethnographic study of a Philadelphia elementary school program in English as a second language focused on the way children's first and second languages were used in the classroom, and how this use of language was connected to the learning process. It was found that despite teachers' claims of emphasis on communication skills, a number of…

A model for undergraduate programs designed to integrate foreign language instruction with training for an international public service occupation is outlined. The language component and professional training, taught separately at first, are brought together at the end of the program in an internship in an international public service…

It is proposed that as both bilingual education (BE) and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) programs continue to define their specific philosophies more clearly, the definitions are beginning to overlap in significant ways. In differing degrees, they are beginning to understand and appreciate the complexity of dual language learning and teaching.…

A program model designed to provide intercultural training and foster a global approach to professional education is described. The steps and components necessary to construct a foreign language intercultural course according to this model are outlined. (MSE)

A national survey investigated the extent and design of programs in which content instruction is combined with instruction in English as a Second Language (content-ESL). Findings are summarized here. Is was found that about 15 percent of all public schools, and all states, have such programs, with heaviest concentration in the south and southwest…

Since 1965, Amish children in Buchanan County, Iowa have been exempted from state requirements to attend centralized schools and, instead, are taught in small rural schools with a traditional curriculum through grade 8. More recent federal laws mandate provision of special services to limited-English-proficient (LEP) students in this group. Some…

The federally funded Piedmont International Business Program of Lynchburg College has begun offering conversational Mandarin Chinese for people whose business activities bring them into contact with Chinese speakers. The course has three phases: an 8-week fall session with an enrollment of 11 students; two 8-week sessions offered in winter and…

A discussion of foreign languages in the elementary school (FLES) begins with a brief history of the program's emergence and status in the United States, a summary of the rationale for early language study, and descriptions of the major FLES program types. An Ohio survey of elementary school foreign language instruction is reported, and the…

The foreign language education program in the department of curriculum and instruction at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville has worked with the Morgan County School System to develop a foreign language experience (FLEX) program in Spanish for that district. The program has three phases: (1) 1 year of in-service instruction in language and…

The English language teaching situation at Universitas '45, a recently opened private university in Indonesia, is described and compared to that at Hasanuddin University, a more established, public university nearby. The situation at Universitas '45 is characterized by increasingly large student numbers and a severe teacher shortage. Teachers have…