By 2060, the United States population will be nearly 30% Hispanic, making Hispanism vital to students' engagement with the full breadth of their own societal fabric (Colby and Ortman 2015: 9). To replace current "reductionist" valuations of foreign language (FL) study as the depositor of career-enhancing skills, we argue for a four-year…

The goal of this short-form article is to provide an overview of the opportunities and benefits for faculty and students who are considering the implementation of Virtual Exchange (VE) learning experiences to globalize the curriculum and their classrooms. The essay describes the benefits of students developing global competence, improving…

This article analyzes the growing trend among US higher education institutions to replace four-semester, proficiency-oriented language requirement models with shorter exposure-oriented sequences frequently restricting exemptions and aimed at bringing languages into distribution requirement structures. By contrasting the history, strengths, and…

A possible model for future graduate education, the Spanish for the Professions, Master of Science program, which some may consider a terminal degree, was designed to meet the growing need for employees with a high-level of Spanish language proficiency and cultural competency. This exploration of the fully online Spanish for the Professions…

This current study suggests that future secondary Spanish language teachers must be more like athletic coaches to ensure student success and score a so-called win in the classroom. Teachers must retool and redesign outdated and ineffectual curricula and instructional strategies to improve student performance. Focusing on language proficiency,…

Most collegiate departments where one can find Spanish, French, German, and other non-English disciplines are referred to as "language departments," either formally or informally. Such designations are interesting as they suggest to the outsider (i.e., non-language person) that these departments consist of experts in language. In this…

The year 2017 saw the publication of one of the strongest endorsements of language education on record: "America's Languages: Investing in Language Education for the 21st Century" (henceforth "America's Languages"). Commissioned by a bipartisan group of members of Congress and authored by the Commission on Language Learning of…

This small-scale study investigates the effects of community service learning (CSL) projects or a cultural presentation on the development of the cultural understanding of low- and high-intermediate L2 students. Fifty-two learners in four sections of two Spanish classes in Canada participated in the study. The participants also completed pre- and…

Critiques current second language courseware in view of recent trends increasing emphasis on oral proficiency. Suggests changes in the content of instructional computer programs that could be used to improve conversational proficiency. (LMO)

Glendale Community College's (AZ) Spanish-language education program includes priorities in the following areas: four skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and culture; counseling students; and use of technology for teaching and assessing language use and for professional development. (LB)