Every year, around 120 students of French at the University of Manchester (UoM) prepare to go on their compulsory Year Abroad (YA). They are free to choose between different options: studying in France and the French-speaking world, working in diverse sectors throughout the French-speaking world, or becoming a language assistant. This wealth of…

An experimental program to individualize intermediate French instruction through specific, personalized work emphasizes oral language in the classroom, and reading, listening, and writing in its individualized portion. (MSE)

The Summer Language Houses (SLH) in French, German, and Spanish at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln have been extremely effective in teaching language skills and encouraging students to continue language study. The five-week intensive language programs at the second-year level emphasize oral communication but provide practice in all language…

Research suggests that the learner is the only one who knows, intuitively, the relationship between the objectives of the evaluation and his or her actual knowledge at any given time. Experience shows that students use some form of self-assessment in the normal classroom setting. The University of Ottawa's Centre for Second Language Learning…

The University of Pennsylvania's foreign language requirement self-study resulted in re-evaluation of the existing language program. It revealed that most freshmen were not exempted from college second language study by standardized test scores and that the university's required courses were not producing the desired results. These findings…

Explains Beloit College's 10-day program, designed to interest entering freshman in study of foreign languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Russian, and Spanish) and cultures. The program was successful in teaching the basics of the foreign languages and in eliminating anxiety about the study of those…

One of the challenges facing many foreign language programs today is maintaining high quality instruction despite increased enrollments and teacher shortages. One strategy for meeting this challenge is collaborative teaching. Collaborative teaching can occur in various settings and for different purposes. Studies of team-teaching have shown its…

The foreign language faculty at College of Saint Scholastica Minnesota) developed and implemented 10-day Spanish and French immersion programs based on Peace Corps methodology as a means of affording students time for intensive study of those languages, improving students' fluency, and instituting a change in teaching methodology. The first…

To address the special second language learning needs of deaf college students, a project was undertaken at Gallaudet University (District of Columbia), the world's only four-year liberal arts university for the deaf, to create 36 videotaped lessons in grammar, signed in American Sign Language, for first-year French and Spanish instruction. The…

This report details the third year (October 1, 1995-September 30, 1996) of a Trinity College (Ireland) program to offer second language learning modules to students who are not language majors. The modules' objectives are to develop students' communication skills for study, travel, or work abroad during undergraduate years, and to enhance their…

The report details the fourth year (October 1996-September 30, 1997) of a Trinity College (Ireland) program to offer second language learning modules to students who are not language majors. The modules' objectives are to develop students' communication skills for study, travel, or work abroad during undergraduate years, and to enhance their…

The Northeast Campus of Tarrant County Junior College (TX) experienced a foreign language enrollment increase of 196% between 1973 and 1983, compared to a collegewide enrollment increase of only 91%. The program's success is due largely to the number and variety of curricular offerings. In addition to a 6-course sequence of 3- and 4-hour courses…

The evolution of a 2-week summer honors program in French for high school students, inaugurated in 1980 and conducted on a university campus, is chronicled. The program was designed to offer enriching experiences in language review, new skill building, French culture, understanding of French phonology, and conversation on topics of interest to…

This paper reports on an innovative five-day training program for foreign language teaching assistants (TAs) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW). The program developed out of a perceived need to train graduate students better for the teaching profession and to develop colleague support. In the UW program, the French and Italian, German,…

Student replies to a questionnaire evaluating the use of the language laboratory revealed positive attitudes regarding the effectiveness of the individual practice the lab provides. They emphasized the need for a language lab monitor. Cross tabulations examined attitudinal differences among old and new users, professorial encouragement, and…