An explanation of the French educational system and of projects intended to reform it. The main objective of the reform is to encourage universities to develop diversified programs and thus reduce the number of dropouts. Eighty percent of university professors see little value in the reform. (Text is in French.) (AMH)

Traces the reasons for development, the characteristics of the new French programs, the premises underlying their development, organization of the resulting curriculum guides, and implications of the revised curriculum. Summarizes program offerings across Canada, program costs and anticipated outcomes. (Author/MES)

A French curriculum development and research project at Erindale College (Canada), established in 1985, studies and initiates incorporation of computer technology into the University of Toronto French program. Specific objectives include evaluation and adaptation of existing software, development of an undergraduate course in computer applications…

Comments on the basic elements found in all individualized programs and the need for curriculum designers to be aware of their integral relationships. (RL)

Simon Fraser University's program of English language support for Indonesian graduate students is described. The program's special features include team teaching, extended planning time, and focus on students' specialized academic needs. Recommendations for other similar programs are given. (Author/MSE)

A project at Indiana University of Pennsylvania to improve the speaking skills of 36 secondary school French and Spanish teachers is described. The project consisted of a total immersion workshop for strengthening oral skills, learning classroom techniques, and developing innovative curricula, and teacher projects to incorporate innovations into…

Discusses recent changes in objectives of second language education including development of a more comprehensive theory, a set of communicative teaching strategies, and an increasing interest in the needs of the learner in the context of English as a second language project underway in the Modern Language Center of the Ontario Institute for…

The need for qualified teachers of French as a second language and ways of renewing teacher education programs to meet the need are discussed. Preservice and inservice teacher education are considered. (27 references) (Author/MSE)

Outlines ways in which school administrators can facilitate the teaching of second language in their schools. Includes comments on attitude and interest, scheduling, knowledge of techniques, variety of languages, language use courses and activities, professional development, knowledge of the language, curriculum development, evaluation of…

Directions in second-language curriculum development in Australia are discussed in the context of three contemporary educational value systems or ideologies: classical humanism, reconstructionism, and progressivism. (MSE)

The influence of the communicative approach in determining the direction of curriculum in English as a second language is examined at three levels (theory, materials, and implementation), revealing that the dominance of the communicative approach may be only apparent. (MSE)

The National Core French Study, a four-year curriculum project sponsored by the Canadian Association of Language Teachers and government-funded, resulted in the recommendation of a multidimensional curriculum model based on a communicative/experiential approach. The model and its implications for professional development, program design, and…

Errors in the spoken French of immersion students, reflecting a fossilized interlanguage and language transfer, are attributed to an erroneous assumption underlying immersion instruction: that students acquire the second language in the same way they acquire their native language. An improved syllabus aimed at second-language learners is…

The components of British Columbia's new curriculum for secondary level Asian language programs, which are designed around communicative acts rather than grammar, are described and the implications for material development, evaluation, methodology, and teacher education are discussed. (MSE)

Examines changes in language department structure and program content at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Clemson University (South Carolina) as a result of new programs in Business French. The programs were developed in cooperation with the business schools to stem declining language enrollments. (MSE)