The globalisation of higher education and the resultant increase in the cultural and linguistic diversity of the student body has cast the spotlight on English language proficiency as never before. How universities best assess applicants' linguistic suitability for their future degree studies, set appropriate proficiency thresholds, and put in…

This is one of two papers developed for an Ministry of Education funded project, Competencies in New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZC). This paper draws on archived policy discussion papers to document the provenance of the key competencies included in the "New Zealand Curriculum" ("NZC"). The second paper analyses…

This paper presents the development of reliable measures of fidelity that represent critical elements of the curriculum and its use in assessing teachers' delivering of the treatment curriculum and identifying the existence of program differentiation between the treatment and control conditions. In order to address several issues that arise when…

Language proficiency is a crucial factor for immigrants to integrate successfully in the new society in all aspects of life, especially in the labor market. As a result, there is great importance in acquiring the new language as quickly and effectively as possible. Several factors affect second language acquisition, including motivation, age,…

The article presents the rationale and structure for a functional curriculum sequencing model for teaching the severely handicapped. (Author/DLS)

Noting that the media can be powerful instruments in the hands of creative teachers, this paper explores the use of media as instructional tools to promote growth in thinking and language processes (primarily reading and writing). The paper views media form and applies it to the interrelationship of experience, thought, and language. It proposes…

Human development tasks have become an integral part of many humanistic curriculum models. When such activities are employed in the foreign language classroom, several prominent factors can be indentified: on a psychological (affective) level, integrative and transactional motivation; on a linguistic (cognitive/affective) level, active listening…

British editors and authors have applied Jim Cummins' creative ideas in various settings in British schools, by using a novel technique of curriculum related assessment with bilingual children. Articles in five chapters demonstrate the flexibility, promise, and limitations of this technique. Articles include: "The Development of a Model of…

This report discusses a project addressing the difficulties that Queens College has with English as a Second Language (ESL) students in the typical humanities classroom. ESL students represent 40% of the college's student body, and instructing them is a significant intellectual and pedagogical challenge. Despite training in English language and…

The processes used by the Defense Language Institute (DLI) Foreign Language Center to develop proficiency-based nonresident courses in Czech, Polish, and Russian for language maintenance is described. Based on needs assessment and analysis of Department of Defense endusers, DLI provided the concept and design for the Proficiency Improvement…

Intended for use as an inservice tool for elementary school teachers and as an independent study tool, this guide provides a framework for designing language experiences in the classroom. Following an introduction, the first section of the guide deals with language as communication, as thought, and as a series of interrelated skills. Three…

This document contains 123 papers from an international conference on vocational education and training (VET) for lifelong learning in the information era. The papers focus on the following themes: (1) societal and ethical issues; (2) human resource development and personnel training; (3) international issues; (4) information technology in VET;…