Examined study habits in foreign-language courses. Low performers reported that: they frequently include irrelevant information in their notes; when they have difficulty, they do not seek help; they put their notes away after tests and never consult them again; they have to be in the mood before studying; they doodle/daydream when studying; and…

Study in language, literature, and culture has long been a defining feature of education in the liberal arts. Speaking, reading, and writing have traditionally stood at the heart of education because the arts of language and the tools of literacy are key qualifications for full participation in social, political, economic, and cultural life. Today…

A study investigated the relationships among vocabulary size, depth of vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension in English as a second language (ESL). Subjects were 74 native Chinese- and Korean-speaking students in intensive academic ESL courses in two Ontario universities. They were administered questionnaires to gather demographic and…

This report presents the findings of a longitudinal study of English as a Second Language (ESL) students at the City College of San Francisco (CCSF) conducted during the summer of 2007. The study used College records to track all students who first enrolled in CCSF's credit and non-credit ESL programs in 1998, 1999, and 2000 for seven years …

Discusses the very successful study abroad program, in which approximately 85 percent of every graduating class since 1963-64 have participated. Lists some of the areas, such as cost, credit transfer, and declining college enrollments that will probably affect study abroad in the future. (EKN)

This paper describes the evolution of African language instruction at the University of Wisconsin, examining how faculty and staff have utilized state and federal funding to promote the national capacity in African language proficiency. Six sections describe the program's evolution: "Language Instruction at Wisconsin"; "Origins of…

Discusses the organization of a college German club and gives ideas for social, cultural, and educational activities for a club to sponsor. (EKN)

Considers some of the most common cliches and their implications about foreign language requirements. (EKN)

Strategies for strengthening foreign language departments involve gathering information about proficiency levels, course evaluations, language requirements for entrance, clarifying both student and institutional needs, developing resources, and, sometimes, changing institutional policies. The ways in which these steps may be accomplished are…

Explores factors affecting the successful maintenance of a college-level Portuguese language program, focusing on expansion of course offerings, cooperation with other foreign language programs, responding to student interests, and hiring and retaining instructional staff. (CB)

Explores the concept and goals of a "full-service" college foreign language department, which would offer a wide variety of courses and programs, reach out to a broad segment of the academic community, and attempt to develop collaborative, mutually beneficial programs with other departments. (CB)

Considers where English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) programs belong and presents responses from several ESL faculty members. Among the topics are ESL in its own department, housed in several departments, outside the departmental structure, within the English department, and within a modern language department. (GLR)

Describes the Foreign Language Center at the European University Viadrina in Germany, asserting the necessity of foreign language training for Europeanization and globalization. Also discusses several ways of structuring foreign language programs. (EV)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe how and why Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMUQ) has developed a system aiming to effectively place students in freshman and developmental English programs. The placement system includes: triangulating data from external test scores, with scores from a panel-marked hand-written essay (HWE),…

The present study expands the design of Warschauer (1996) surveying freshman foreign language students at a Turkish university. Motivating aspects of computer assisted instruction in terms of writing and e-mailing are explored through an exploratory factor analysis conducted on the survey developed by Warschauer (1996). Findings suggest that…