This article discusses principles involved in developing course materials for technology-mediated Chinese language learning, with examples from a new course designed to take into account the needs of distance and independent learners. Which learning environment is most efficient for a given learning activity needs to be carefully considered. It…

The role of the syllabus in second language teaching is described, distinguishing six major types of syllabi and how they might be implemented in various teaching situations. The foreign language teaching syllabus involves both the integration of subject matter (what to talk about) and linguistic matter (how to talk about it). Choices of syllabi…

The structure of a course designed to teach oral communicative competence is outlined, and the approach to evaluation is discussed. Evaluation includes both a criterion test and a specific oral task that students must accomplish. (MSE)

The stages of development of an adult communicative course in French are outlined, including the principles used in course content selection, structural progression, and the means found for encouraging student participation. The primary influence for the course came from the Council of Europe and experience with adult students. (Author/MSE)

A college course in American culture, designed for students of English as a second language as an introduction to both American culture and university content courses, is described. The course was developed based on the philosophy and techniques of ethnography and foreign language pedagogy, and requires a combination of student participation,…

A course on modern France designed for presentation in English at the college level uses four books to approach an understanding of the country through autobiography, philosophy, sociology, and history. Students with reading ability in French are assigned readings from French-language periodicals and others read from English-language periodicals.…

Discusses a program outline for French language instruction covering the first four years of study and five levels. The GLAFLL program (Graded Levels of Achievement in Foreign Language Learning), under study at the Education Center of Edinburgh, is based on the communicative competence approach and stresses student participation. (MES)

The University of Rhode Island's business Italian course is an advanced language course whose focus is the Italian business world and its reflection of values, customs, and traditions. The course begins with presentations on salient features of contemporary Italian, such as syntactical simplification and nominalization, and how the social,…

A college-level composition course in English as a second language uses a "freewriting" technique and de-emphasizes rules and structure to emphasize writing strategies. The course is divided into three major segments: drafting, revising, and fine-tuning. In the first segment, students are encouraged to develop fluency by trying a number of topics,…

This packet of materials describes and documents an integrated curriculum of Spanish second language and art instruction offered to freshmen at St. Charles High School (Illinois). The model is the first step in development of other interdisciplinary programs in the school district. The course is designed to improve students' international…

This article discusses the development of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) curricula that are consistent across course levels. The article argues that to maintain consistency, teachers must cooperate to form an ongoing, systematic development of subskill-based course guidelines in the skill areas of speaking, listening, reading, writing, and…

In a discussion of language teacher education, specifically that of native English-speakers to teach English as a Second Language, it is argued that a balance must be found between process-oriented and product-oriented training. It is suggested that this sector of language teacher education has been heavily conditioned to a product-centered…

A curriculum for intermediate composition for students of English as a second language is presented based on the use of levels of specificity as an organizing principle. The course objective is for students to write well-planned, coherent paragraphs acceptable to the American academic audience, within limited formats. Two additional fundamentals…

One approach to teaching business letter writing skills in German to second-year students with limited German language skills is described. The letter-writing material was integrated into a business German course sequence. Students were introduced to the general purpose of business correspondence and to several different letter types. The first…

The development of an intensive Italian course for science students attending Somalia's National University is described. The historical background for this project, sponsored by the Italian Government and staffed by Italian teachers, is outlined. Course objectives, methods, and organization are illustrated by samples of instructional materials,…