Like other anglophone countries, the UK is experiencing a language 'crisis', in that fewer and fewer students opt to study a foreign language (FL) beyond the compulsory phase, and that the UK's language skills do not match its economic needs. Despite strong statements of commitments to increase FL uptake, decline in FL uptake in the UK's four…

The development of opportunities for teachers' professional development in plurilingual and intercultural education is a key issue in language teacher education and "intercomprehension" (IC) can provide a potential portal for the development of teachers' intercultural sensitivity. Particularly relevant to this is the creation of powerful…

Discusses problems surrounding the teaching of Portuguese in the United Kingdom. The traditional low profile of Portuguese teaching has produced a vicious circle of scarcity of both material and human resources for this language. However, as satisfied students conquer the language at an advanced level, some will eventually pass on their knowledge…

This article reports on the practitioner research conducted by the English participants in a European Co-operation Programme project entitled "Lateral Language Learning." The project was based on the belief that there is much that teachers of a first foreign language can do to prepare their students to access other languages in the…

Discusses a case study of student diaries kept by second-year learners of Portuguese in a university Hispanic studies degree program. Diary entries reflected students' attitudes toward the course, the instructor, particular lessons, and to the Portuguese language in general. (15 references) (MDM)