The globalisation of higher education and the resultant increase in the cultural and linguistic diversity of the student body has cast the spotlight on English language proficiency as never before. How universities best assess applicants' linguistic suitability for their future degree studies, set appropriate proficiency thresholds, and put in…

A number of reports in the US have highlighted the country's need for improved second language skills for both national security and economic competitiveness. The Language Flagship program, launched in 2002, aims to raise expectations regarding language proficiency levels at the post-secondary level and to address structural gaps in the curricula…

An interaction of processes (e.g., design, implementation) and elements (e.g., curriculum) form a matrix for language teaching programs. The concept of stakeholders within this program matrix is elaborated: learners, teachers, administrators, and controlling authorities. A worksheet is appended. (Contains 56 references.) (Author)

Discusses the role of foreign language studies in middle school reforms. Considers how foreign language instruction works with the middle school curriculum to integrate learning through an interdisciplinary approach that connects meaningful experiences in school to the students' community and understanding of life outside school. (JPB)

A report is presented of work in syllabus construction and language planning in Finland from the middle of the 1960s to the present. An introductory chapter describes Finland's parallel educational systems, which provide for speakers of the two official languages, Finnish and Swedish, and for instruction in the other national language as well as…

This report on model learner outcomes for world languages education is divided into five sections. The first describes the values, philosophy, mission, and goals of the Minnesota State Board of Education. The second section provides an introduction to and information on the goals of world languages education. Section three presents a range of…

A discussion of innovation in college and university intensive English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) programs uses a systems approach to analyze program elements (constituencies, decision-makers, purpose, performance measures, environments, resources, subsystems, and boundaries) and describes new program initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania.…

Describes the Multidimension Curriculum Model for developing a language curriculum and suggests a generic approach to selecting and sequencing learning objectives. Alberta Education used this model to design a new French-as-a-Second-Language program. The experience/communication, culture, language, and general language components at the beginning,…

Describes a curriculum development research project that took place in the French section of the Department of Modern Languages of the University of Salford in the United Kingdom over a 10-year period. The curriculum is motivated by three interacting theoretical perspectives on how languages are learned at an advanced level.(Author/VWL)

Designed for teachers, supervisors, administrators, and community advocates, this book provides practical advice on how to establish, maintain, and improve foreign language programs at the primary and middle school levels. Foreign Language in the Elementary School (FLES) options are explored, ways to evaluate existing programs are explained, and…

The Center for Applied Linguistics and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction conducted a 3-year teacher training project that aimed to improve the training of elementary school foreign language teachers at institutions of higher education. The components of the training model were based on the principle that, in order to be…