In the UK, Latin is often seen as an elitist subject taught largely at fee-paying schools. Over the past generation, however, great strides have been made in opening up the subject to students from all backgrounds. A major hindrance to widening access to Latin at university level is that the language can often prove challenging for students. Data…

The adoption of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in Spain has affected educational spending and introduced modifications in learning and assessment procedures for students. While positive effects are noticeable in terms of language learning, evidence concerning the impact on non-linguistic subject areas has been less forthcoming.…

This study examines the impact of CLIL on the English language competence achieved by students in primary and secondary education in the monolingual autonomous community of Extremadura (Spain) and extends investigation to a year after the end of the secondary CLIL programme when students were finishing their first year of "bachillerato."…

This paper reviews research to date into the foreign language (FL) gains made by the large number of FL students from the UK who undertake a period of residence abroad (RA) as a component of their degree. It examines in detail the efficacy of the most common form of RA undertaken by UK students, namely the study year at a foreign university (URA).…

This article reports on an action research case study conducted at a university in Japan, which explored how student identity-development can be made visible in potentially assessable ways through materials design in intercultural communicative competence (ICC)-oriented foreign language education. It suggests that identity-development can be…

Vocabulary is an essential component of language. It is central to reading ability, writing ability and listening ability, and the most important aspect of second-language (L2) knowledge for academic achievement. The aim of this paper is to investigate quantitatively some of the factors that make some L2 words more difficult to learn and retain…

This paper describes and evaluates an action research project carried out by a teacher in an English comprehensive school, where a class of 13- to 14-year-olds was taught personal, social and health education and German through content-language integrated learning (CLIL) over a six-week period. The purpose of the study was to explore how CLIL…

In this article I describe how a survey instrument was constructed to elicit from Year 7 learners their strategies for reading in French as a foreign language. The rationale for this project entails a brief review of the status of foreign language reading in England since the advent of the GCSE and the National Curriculum for Modern Foreign…

Describes an experience of introducing a "Records of Achievement" scheme in university extramural language courses. The article discusses the effectiveness of existing teaching/learning styles and examines the way in which records of achievement could foster autonomous learning. Student reaction to recording progress as a means of sustaining…

Analyzes results obtained at GCSE by students involved in a joint languages diversification scheme in which they studied two languages in parallel for three years. Comparisons are made across languages, with other subjects, and with results achieved by the previous year group, which entered before diversification. Findings reveal various issues…

Presents an academic achievement assessment program undertaken at an English comprehensive school. The assessment had three functions: (1) to ascertain the extent to which teaching and learning objectives are being met; (2) to identify pupils' strengths and weaknesses; and (3) to motivate pupils by giving them a regular sense of achievement. (CK)

Reviews several teaching methodologies in terms of negative affect. Findings indicate that in those situations where students have little incentive to do well or admit that they wish to do poorly, increased negative affect can motivate them to function at a level of operational tension and achieve optimum learning and performance. (36 references)…

Examines students' views of an Initial Teacher (IT) Training component of a modern language course and their resulting attitudes toward the use of computers in the language classroom. Most of the students developed a positive attitude towards this use of computers and intended to use them in their future posts. (eight references) (CK)

A co-educational comprehensive school in North Yorkshire, concerned at the gap between boys' and girls' performance in French and German at GCSE, opted to teach Year 8 languages classes as single-sex groups. 2003-04 was to be a pilot year, at the end of which pupils' performance, motivation and attitude, as well as the experiences and views of…

Examines factors having a bearing on boy/girl performance in second-language classes in the United Kingdom. Findings indicate that boys attach less importance to learning a foreign language than girls do; girls are more conscientious about their schoolwork than boys are; expectations for boys and girls are different; and students value the…