This study investigated the following research question: What is the landscape of medical Spanish offerings in undergraduate, 4-year universities in US states with large Spanish-speaking populations? Forty-four percent of institutions responded to the survey, which explored institutional characteristics, medical Spanish programs and individual…

This study introduces an evidence-centered approach to reverse design for languages for specific purposes (LSP) courses called domain analysis. The article describes the research framework and its potential to provide consistent empirical rigor to the necessarily decentralized field of LSP by reporting on one study using domain analysis in the…

A great deal of research has recognized the necessity of receiving proper predeparture training for being able to truly benefit from international internship experiences. However, few researchers have taken the next step by exploring how domestic programs could pedagogically and psychologically prepare students for their professional experiences…

This study investigates the effect of an instructional design for medical Chinese, which incorporates research findings from Conversation Analysis (CA) and uses authentic doctor-patient consultations in primary-care visits as teaching materials. The goal of the instruction is to develop students' interpersonal communicative competence in medical…

The present study examined the impact of a service learning activity on students' perceptions of language, identity, and community in an advanced Spanish for the Health Professions course. Forty-five advanced Spanish heritage learners (SHLs) participated in health fairs as assistants to health-care providers as part of the curriculum requirements.…

This article presents the quantitative and qualitative results of a nationwide survey of the perceptions of faculty, alumni, and students regarding the contribution to the undergraduate Spanish major curriculum of various types of courses and experiences. Quantitative results indicated that all participants valued the importance of study abroad as…

The demand for Spanish for specific purposes (SSP) university courses in the United States has prompted widespread curricular change in language departments over the last two decades (Klee, 2015; Sánchez-López, 2013). However, many instructors lack the tools and training needed to design SSP curricula that meet learners' communicative needs in…

Describes and reviews the progress of the Masters in International Business Studies program at the University of South Carolina. Approximately 93 percent of its graduates take positions with firms involved in international business, and 70 percent rated their foreign language ability as very important or important in obtaining their initial…

Presents the module course as an effective curricular innovation within the framework of a dual-degree program in German and engineering. Three modules are offered in a series within the curriculum of EUROTECH: An International Program in Engineering at the University of Connecticut. The module functions as a vehicle for content-based instruction.…

This article discusses French business letter writing, which is characterized by its convoluted and somewhat antiquated figures of speech and suggests that French for business courses offer students the opportunity to discover in such discourse a rich cultural tradition. (six references) (JL)

Problem-based learning (PBL) is an instructional methodology placing primary emphasis on students solving realistic problems in a team-oriented environment. In this article, authors discuss using PBL to integrate a language for specific purposes (LSP) track into an undergraduate biological engineering curriculum as a way to prepare students for an…

Recommends that foreign language courses in college be restructured to provide separate tracks for students pursuing language study for different purposes. The tracks are: (1) for language majors, (2) for students preparing for international professions, and (3) for students who need to fulfill foreign language requirements. (SED)

Discusses the use of prerecorded videocassettes in foreign language teaching. Suggests that video recordings are effective in reinforcing a foreign language and are especially useful in secondary technical education where teaching language for special purposes must concentrate on the most common situations for a particular use of the language.…

Describes the development of and the reaction to a course in Business French at the University of Hawaii. Its success, coupled with its recognition by state and academic officials, brought about the initiation of similar courses in other languages and the development of French for travel industry management majors. (SED)

Outlines five directions foreign language programs can take and makes the following recommendations for classroom teaching: (1) link foreign languages with international studies and (2) teach languages for career purposes, (3) for intercommunity understanding, (4) for insight into the process of communication, and (5) to serve as a key to…