This article describes a pedagogical initiative that identifies opportunities for increased efficiency and functionality in the teaching and learning of Spanish in the context of the United States. At the core of this initiative is the reformulation of curricular and programmatic approaches in terms of current social, cultural, and linguistic…

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,…