Studies show English language learners (ELLs) experience increased communication apprehension and foreign language anxiety more than primary English speakers. Strategies to better assist ELLs with their public speaking skills are needed, especially within communication centers. One way is to better understand the intercultural aspects of the ELL…

At the start of 2000 a new scenario emerged in Europe thanks to the Council of Europe and the European Commission who, in support of the Bologna Process (1999), laid the foundations for disseminating the value of multilingualism and multiculturalism. The aim was to create a framework of actions to make citizens more aware of respecting diversity…

An increasingly interconnected world requires people to become versatile communicators in a variety of different settings. Language centers have a critical role to play in this process by offering language and culture training in multiple languages to students, professionals and the wider community alike. They may do so from the perspective of…

In this paper, we explore how language centres can and need to seize the initiative in matters of internationalisation, language policy and supporting a multilingual and multicultural institutional environment. We identify and explore a number of challenges and opportunities, using the situation in the United Kingdom as our example, demonstrating…

This paper draws on two research activities to discuss the role of research at the Centre for Language Learning (CLL) at The University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus in Trinidad and Tobago. Established in 1997, the CLL introduced languages for all into this Caribbean higher education (HE) context. The CLL also introduced an expanded…

Today's language classroom is vastly different from that of the mid- to late 20th century. The study is a meta-analysis of recent research which provided the means to identify current and emerging trends in the field. Informed by this research, some identified trends that are shaping the 21st century language classroom are outdated practices such…

This article describes an experiment conducted at the University of Copenhagen's Department of Romance Languages with first-year students. It was concluded that the language laboratory could best be employed to improve aural comprehension and to permit a more direct approach to contemporary French civilization. (Text is in French.) (Author/POP)

THE PURPOSE OF THE LABORATORIES IS TO DEVELOP FOUR BASIC SKILLS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDY--AURAL UNDERSTANDING, SPEAKING, READING, WRITING, AND TO SUPPORT AN UNDERSTANDING AND APPRECIATION OF THE CULTURE OF THE COUNTRY STUDIED. THE LABORATORY PROVIDES INDIVIDUAL SEMI-SOUNDPROOF BOOTHS EQUIPPED WITH HEADPHONES, MICROPHONES AND TAPE RECORDING…

Discusses Travessia, a Portuguese language curriculum that emphasizes development of communicative competence by using printed materials, the language lab, and a series of video tapes focused on Brazilian culture. (SR)

Discusses the reasons for growing disenchantment with the language laboratory and introduces a novel approach to advanced listening comprehension exercises based on recordings of professional entertainers. Analyzes the sketches as examples of authentic discourse, as illustrations of different speech registers and regional variants, and as vehicles…

This report examines one aspect of a broad experiment in language instruction designed and implemented at 10 participating colleges of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest. Two types of language laboratories (recording and nonrecording) are examined to determine the effect of each upon the cultural-orientation scores of the students. The scores…

"Dimension" is the annual volume containing the selected, refereed, edited Proceedings of each year's conference. "From Practice to Profession" was the announced theme of the annual conference of the Southern Conference on Language Teaching (SCOLT), held March 1-3, 2007, at the Atlanta (GA) Renaissance Hotel, in partnership…

This collection of articles offers advice on concerns and decisions in planning or remodeling a language learning center, incorporation of satellite reception in the language lab, coping with different television standards and technologies in the language lab, testing language skills, and the role of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) in language…

A basic French course, intended to stress equally the audio-oral and spelling-reading skills, is described. Intermediate courses, specialized courses (in literature, phonetics, stylistics, civilization, and simultaneous interpretation), and the comprehension of scientific material are also discussed. Descriptions of these courses stress the use…