Pearson's Learning Foundations describe the optimal conditions for learning and reflect the learner experience Pearson hopes their products will create. Pearson does this by incorporating the Learning Design Principles. Each of the Learning Design Principles goes into detail about a key principle, supporting product design and marketing by…

In the high-stakes accountability English educational system, decisions made by government and agencies about curriculum, pedagogy and assessment drive school planning and actions. This paper analyses the drivers for the recent change to French German and Spanish GCSEs and highlights particular areas of the new specification which may damage the…

This study reports on how a heterogeneous mixed-ability large class (63 students) turned into a cohesive and functioning class. To promote learner autonomy, students were made responsible to identify their own needs and objectives. The participants of this study consisted of undergraduate chemistry students who had taken the English for General…

This article argues that recent changes in both users and uses of English have become so far-reaching that a major rethink of English language teaching (ELT) goals is called for. It goes on to claim, however, that this will first require a substantial overhaul of English language testing, given that teachers and learners alike will be reluctant to…

While a broad range of tests is available for second language testing, two of the basic approaches are developmental and non-developmental testing. The former is based on psycholinguistic evidence that language development is systematic, with all learners progressing through the same stages. The latter includes content selected in an ad hoc…

A final project report describing a five-year, curriculum program in Japanese for elementary and secondary schools is presented in this study. The instructional materials consist of three components: (1) textual materials, (2) audiovisual materials, and (3) evaluation instruments. For the elementary levels the materials include a series of eight…

The restructuring of the Romance language program at Howard University to improve oral proficiency involved modification of goals, syllabi, classroom activities, and testing. Goals were adapted to American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)/Educational Testing Service (ETS) guidelines for oral proficiency. Assessment of French…

Negative influences on teaching practices and objectives in modern language programs, caused by certain final examination practices in Sweden, are pointed out and criticized in this paper. The needs of the Swedish student of languages are determined to be related to the use of language primarily as a means of everyday communication. The…

The collaborative curriculum development process in a postsecondary language education program in Japan is described, looking specifically at the work of five curriculum development teams, or focus groups: needs assessment; curriculum aims, goals, and objectives; cognitive development and learner strategies; materials development; and learner…

The evolution of a British communicative language teaching project at the University of Leicester is chronicled. The project brought together local education agencies, examination boards, advisors, teachers, and researchers to develop three levels of graded instructional objectives across the ability range in grades 7-9 and a standardized test,…

A third volume of a highly articulated set of language materials defines achievement level 2 in the control of Spanish syntax while providing descriptions and interrelationships of vital syntactic structures and expected student performance. The noun phrase, predicate phrase, verbal aspects, adverbials, relativization, noun modification,…

The report summarizes an assessment of the extent to which Manitoba schools are meeting the learning objectives for speaking and writing skills specified for senior (secondary) levels 1 and 4 in the basic French curriculum for the province. For each level and skill area, a random sample of students representing urban and rural school populations…

The report, entirely in French, summarizes an assessment of the extent to which Manitoba schools are meeting the learning objectives for speaking and writing skills specified for senior (secondary) levels 1 and 4 in the basic French curriculum for the province. For each level and skill area, a random sample of students representing urban and rural…

The report, entirely in French, details an assessment of the extent to which Manitoba schools are meeting the learning objectives for speaking and writing skills specified for senior (secondary) levels 1 and 4 in the basic French curriculum for the province. For each level and skill area, a random sample of students representing urban and rural…

This volume on the general subject of foreign language curriculum deals with questions in the areas of program planning, implementation, and evaluation. The following papers are presented: (1) "Developing Foreign Language Curriculum in the Total School Setting: The Macro-picture," by Robert S. Zais; (2) "Identifying Needs and Setting Goals," by…