Developing proficiency and intercultural competence are goals promoted by the Modern Language Association and widely shared by postsecondary second language programs across the United States. Although the development of proficiency has been studied extensively in this context, comparatively little is known about how intercultural competence…

The ability to think critically is considered an important component of a college education, and postsecondary institutions typically include critical thinking in student learning outcomes, particularly in the general education curriculum. Foreign language has traditionally been a staple discipline in general education. However, college foreign…

This volume presents a selection of eight papers presented at three symposia on English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and English for Academic Purposes (EAP) that were held at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy. The experiences detailed in the chapters offer a representative sample of the diversity of approaches to teaching and assessing…

The purpose of this study is to explore the existing effect of gloss conditions on reading comprehension and vocabulary understanding of learners in the context of English as a foreign language. The study composed of 72 male students aged between 19 and 21 years selected from Qassim University in Saudi Arabia. The participants were divided into…

This study investigated the types of language learning strategies used by 73 English majors from the School of Humanities in Universiti Sains Malaysia. Using questionnaires adopted from Oxford's (1990) Strategy Inventory of Language Learning (SILL) and focus group interviews, the study also examined the English major students' perceptions of using…

Exploring students' perspective on feedback is high on the research agenda following the comparatively lower satisfaction scores for assessment and feedback in the National Student Survey. However, limited research examines how teachers and students perceive the same feedback events in the post-secondary context. This case study fills the gap by…

Any attempt to define English language proficiency can never be divorced from the theories that describe the nature of language, language acquisition and human cognition. By virtue of such theories being socially constructed, the descriptions are necessarily value-laden. Thus, a definition of language proficiency can only, at best, be described as…

Sixty-six descriptions of notable programs and promising practices related to specific problems, practices, and goals in American postsecondary education are presented in this study, a continuation of Volume I. The programs are the result of searches made by the staff of the National Commission on Excellence in Education, although neither the…

Those in America are confronting a stark alternative: either open themselves to an appreciation of human plurality and the diversity of cultures around the globe or limit themselves to a narrowly normative culture. Will American schools and colleges provide students with opportunities to learn to understand other voices, or will the educational…

This paper gives an overview of issues related to language assessment of prospective bilingual education teachers who are enrolled in postsecondary institutions. The review indicates that, generally, little has been done on the establishment of entry/exit level criteria for language assessment. Where criteria exist, they are viewed in terms of the…

Reports a survey of postsecondary institutions in the United States. Questionnaires were sent to foreign language departments. A 79 percent response indicated that 60.1 percent of all enrollments were in elementary courses. Information reported concerns languages offered in various types of institutions, institutional factors affecting enrollment,…

Describes two programs for adult learners, Weekend College and Learn and Shop. Weekend College offered credit courses on Saturdays and Sundays; Learn and Shop used employee training rooms at five major shopping centers. Statistics on both programs are given as well as a description of the Spanish Department offerings and reactions. (AMH)

Four short-term British Council Key English Language Teaching (KELT) tertiary education projects in South India were evaluated. The resulting evaluation model incorporated four outcome criteria for success and four input indicators. Recommendations for future policy are offered. (three references) (Author/LB)

This guide, an update of two previous versions, is designed to provide information about what is currently taking place at the college level in relation to foreign language entrance requirements, degree requirements, and other trends. The introductory material provides information on: (1) statistics on foreign language entrance and degree…

This course was developed at Lansing Community College in order to allow students to study beginning Spanish at their individual learning rate. The materials consist of an orientation packet, student record sheets, quarter-term syllabi, tape lists, and nineteen lesson packets for Elementary Spanish. The materials were designed to accompany…