This volume reports on innovative, useful evaluation work conducted within U.S. college foreign language programs. An introductory chapter scopes out the territory, reporting key findings from research into the concerns, impetuses, and uses for evaluation that FL educators identify. Seven chapters then highlight examples of evaluations conducted…

Suggests topics that require thorough consideration in the planning, implementation, and maintenance of a high-quality elementary school foreign language program, including a plan of action; program evaluation; program support; feasibility determinations; program philosophy, outcomes and goals, structure, and scheduling; curriculum and materials;…

A consensus has emerged on many issues in communicative language teaching, but one question that needs attention is the question of what ought to constitute the appropriate starting point in the design and implementation of a second language program. Two positions to consider are the following: first, the development of communicative methodology,…

Any employment-related English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) program, whether conducted on the job or as pre-employment training, results from five steps: conducting a need analysis of the language and cultural awareness needed to perform successfully in the workplace; developing a curriculum, based on objectives, that identifies and prioritizes…

This collection of research on curriculum and program development in languages for special purposes (LSP) contains the following papers: (1) "LSP Curriculum Development--From Policy to Practice," by Ronald Mackay and Maryse Bosquet; (2) "The Problem of Needs Assessment in English for Specific Purposes: Some Theoretical and Practical…

This guide to designing an effective second language instructional program in the public schools provides parents, community leaders, and school personnel with practical guidelines for reviewing current foreign language instructional programs and for introducing changes in the curriculum that are in line with the emphasis on communication. An…

The Australian Language Levels (ALL) Project offers a coherent model for elementary and secondary language curriculum design. Book 2 of the four-volume series elaborates on each of the major features of the ALL Project proposal for language curricula outlined in Book 1, focusing on the syllabus, suggesting possible content at different…

Since 1965, Amish children in Buchanan County, Iowa have been exempted from state requirements to attend centralized schools and, instead, are taught in small rural schools with a traditional curriculum through grade 8. More recent federal laws mandate provision of special services to limited-English-proficient (LEP) students in this group. Some…

Although basic skills and English language instruction are often viewed as real needs at the workplace, few companies provide this for their workers. Those that do are motivated by one or more of these factors: product quality improvement, commitment of top management to training and education, or the sales effort of an educational provider. Those…

This British collection of essays on intensive second language instruction is divided into four groups. A section on intensive courses outside Britain includes: "Intensive Courses in a German Youth Hostel"; "Intensive German from an Austrian Perspective: An LEA Initiative"; and "Integrating Intensive Sessions into the…

The foreign language education program in the department of curriculum and instruction at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville has worked with the Morgan County School System to develop a foreign language experience (FLEX) program in Spanish for that district. The program has three phases: (1) 1 year of in-service instruction in language and…

The University of Toledo's Spanish and Legal Assisting program provides two degree tracks, a twenty-five course program in the Community and Technical College and a coordinated bachelor's program in the College of Arts and Sciences. The shorter legal assisting program provides training allowing individuals to work under an attorney's supervision,…

The guide is one section of a resource kit designed to assist Peace Corps language instruction coordinators in countries around the world in understanding the principles underlying second language learning and teaching and in organizing instructional programs. This section addresses design and development of language curricula. An introductory…

A guide to program design and instruction for immigrants seeking permanent residency in the United States is based on the educational requirements of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act. It provides information for developing an amnesty preparation program to meet the requirements for proficiency and/or course attendance. Those…

In Switzerland, bilingual education models have existed for a long time. Some schools have a bilingual tradition that reaches back to the nineteenth century, as do informal models along the French-German language border. At the same time, exchanges between language communities led to bilingual learning, and the Raetoromania is a compulsory, though…