Presents results of two studies using integrated approach to teaching service English at university level to show how this approach might improve students' general academic performance and attitude toward English classes. (Author/BK)

Attempts to explain the high rate of student attrition in first-year language courses. The author gained insight into the problem when he enrolled in a Chinese course, which he eventually dropped because of lack of incentive. He concludes that awareness of the need for language learning will curb attrition rates. (Author/PJM)

A three-stage program is described that a secondary school teacher can follow to establish and maintain contact with a nearby college language department. The program would facilitate articulation between secondary school and college. (Author/AMH)

The Self-Instructional Language Program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro is described. Students transcribe their own set of lessons from master tapes and are expected to study at least two hours daily. Each week they converse in small groups with native speaker "drill instructors." (MLW)

A survey of 166 4-year colleges and universities examined pre-college and within-college foreign language requirements, foreign language petitioning processes, foreign language waiver/course substitutions, teaching methods, and instructional alternatives. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for students with learning…

Describes the goals and responsibilities of the Institute of Latin American Studies at Liverpool University, including brief biographical sketches of staff members and a listing of research in progress. (CB)

The special needs of college students with learning disabilities are often challenging because of the variety of disabilities and accommodations. An alternative, parallel Spanish course at Old Dominion is described in the larger context of postsecondary foreign-language requirements. (Contains 25 references.) (Author/LB)

Student attitudes toward the study of literature in a foreign language were examined, based on a survey of introduction to literature courses in French and Spanish. Most students revealed positive attitudes. A review of previous research and the survey instrument are included. (38 references) (LB)

A brief review of the effectiveness of the writing mode chosen for the writing component of second language instruction precedes a description of one university's program for incorporating the teaching of writing in French to improve writing skills, language mastery, critical thinking, and higher-level cognitive thinking. (18 references) (CB)

Advocates alternative approach to teaching of Arabic as a foreign language, which is based on integration of a spoken Arabic dialect and Modern Standard Arabic in a single course of instruction. This proposal is designed to alleviate some of the problems currently faced by Arabic programs in preparing students for the complex sociolinguistic…

Provides guidelines suggested by the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages for the administration of foreign language departments. (Author/VWL)

Discusses a policy at Baylor University for accommodating students with language learning disabilities so they can meet the university's foreign language (FL) requirements. Explains how language-based learning disabilities are diagnosed and how they are related to FL learning, the legal obligations of an institution, and how universities cope with…

Reports results of the Modern Language Association's survey of foreign language enrollment in colleges and universities across the United States. Questionnaires were sent to registrars of 2,836 2- and 4-year institutions, soliciting information on credit-bearing registrations for fall 1998 registration in all language courses other than English.…

Recent years have seen the emergence of Web2.0, in which users are not only passive recipients of the featured content, but actively engaged in constructing it. Sites such as "Facebook" and "Myspace" are typical examples of this, as are blogs that allow users to present themselves online, to write about their daily lives or even to establish…

Although the relationship between research and language teaching is often discussed among applied linguists, the views of language teachers are often reported anecdotally, if at all. Our article explores how language teaching colleagues in a Canadian university view this relationship as expressed in open-ended questionnaire responses and…