Many scholars have argued that an intercultural approach to foreign language instruction best reflects the inherent interconnectedness of language and culture. However, abundant evidence of the effectiveness of such an approach is lacking, particularly at the secondary level. This two-year curricular experiment, which took place in two public high…

The present study examined the impact of a service learning activity on students' perceptions of language, identity, and community in an advanced Spanish for the Health Professions course. Forty-five advanced Spanish heritage learners (SHLs) participated in health fairs as assistants to health-care providers as part of the curriculum requirements.…

Describes a flexible strategy for associating Spanish with the daily English language newspaper interests of junior and senior high school students. The strategy is adaptable to other languages, is especially suitable for classes with students of different levels, and is one which allows all students to be adequately challenged. (EKN)

"Juegos comunicativos," a software program designed for use with the Apple IIe, IIc, or II+, emphasizes "communicative" computer-assisted Spanish language learning through five educational games. The program uses Spanish vocabulary and structures to solve "problems" rather than the standard drill-and-practice format.…

This article focuses on a qualitative teacher research project with a fourth-semester university Spanish class that emphasized inquiry-based learning. One of the primary objectives of the class was to increase learner autonomy through self-selected inquiries, self-directed learning activities, and curricular negotiation. Multiple data sources were…

Presents activities designed to help the language teacher, teacher candidate, and language student learn to use metric measurement. A pretest/post-test is provided in English. Metric vocabulary is given in French, Spanish, and German. A list of sources of metric information and teaching aids is appended. (Author/AM)

Three examples of conversation and composition courses that work well because of a large amount of preparation and coordination are outlined in this article. Courses in German, French, and Spanish are included that are concrete examples. (JL)

Bulletin boards in language classrooms can be highly motivating learning activities. Examples are given here of several activities used successfully at beginning and intermediate levels of Spanish in secondary schools. (CHK)

Provides sample listening comprehension and oral production activities in Spanish that teachers can use to help students develop sociolinguistic competence and skills. The exercises highlight native speakers' linguistic choices in different situations and focus on their use of deference markers. (Author/CB)

Describes several successful learning activities implemented in a six-credit undergraduate commercial Spanish course at Marywood College (Pennsylvania), including descriptions of supplementary materials and an example of a file of original student correspondence.(Author/CB)

Describes the "International Potpourri" two-week residential summer enrichment program for gifted and talented ninth and tenth grade students. The program combined the best elements of foreign language camps and international festivals through a variety of activities including beginning conversation, songs, dances, crafts and food…

Recent research has recommended increased use of the target language; the use of cognitive, metacognitive, and prosocial strategies; and cooperative learning to help achieve oral proficiency and communication within the classroom. This paper describes a 21-day research action project involving 2 Spanish 2 honors classes and several cooperative…

A description of the twenty learning center units for advanced classes developed by the French and Spanish teacher-participants. Learning centers permit students to work independently at well-defined tasks. The units deal with housing, shopping, cooking, transportation, sports, fiestas, literature, history, architecture, painting, and music.…