This policy analysis will explore the prevalence and purpose of compulsory practical English courses for students across all faculties in universities in Japan. Special attention will be given to English courses taught in two non-English major colleges within a large private Japanese university in Western Japan, which since their inception have…

This needs analysis study sought to identify the contextual requirements to design and implement a blended learning program in English at a Colombian public university. Data on teachers' and administrators' perceptions were gathered through a questionnaire, interviews, and focus groups and analyzed using grounded theory. Findings revealed the need…

In this article, the authors describe the redesign of a first-semester Spanish course at the United States Air Force Academy due to the COVID-19 crisis and the subsequent transition from traditional, face-to-face instruction to fully online language teaching during the fall of 2020. More than 200 learners were enrolled across 11 course sections…

This paper proposes a curriculum design and suggests some evaluation processes of a bridging preparatory English programme for Chinese learners joining the international education system in a school in southern China. Taking into consideration the contextual educational background of the learners and the desired language and social skills that the…

Contemporary globalized society is characterized by mobility and change, two phenomena that have a direct impact on the broad linguistic landscape. Language proficiency is no longer seen as a monolithic phenomenon that occurs independently of the linguistic repertoires and trajectories of learners and teachers, but rather shaped by uneven and…

This essay reviews the Geographical section of the "International Handbook of Jewish Education" published in 2011. The differences between countries, their unique histories and cultures, are important, but their similarities are arguably more revealing. Indeed, on occasions when similar phenomena are examined in different places by different…

The specific purpose of education is to "prepare" children so that they are able to maximise their potential and participate in the society or community around them. In order for many Third World nations to access information technology, the provision of language programs, particularly English, has become necessary. However, in the…

Discusses issues in functional approaches to language teaching and describes two experiments on the social factors involved in the language functions of requesting, thanking, greeting, and taking leave. Considers what the data from the experiments mean for second-language learning and teaching in terms of syllabus design and teaching techniques.…

This article describes a prototype for articulation for Spanish-language programs in the elementary schools, along with examples of how it can be used to create an articulated Spanish-language program within a current elementary school curriculum. (17 references) (Author/CK)

Describes the use of problem-posing, an approach to teaching developed by Paulo Freire in the context of adult literacy programs, in an teaching English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) methods course and in ESL student teaching. The five steps of the problem-posing process are outlined and described. (14 references) (CK)

A discussion of the teaching and learning of English as an international language (EIL) makes two proposals. First, the teaching of EIL in Japan should not lead to premature replacement of native English with Japanese English as a model or goal of English education. The change should be in the direction of nurturing communicative competence, and…

Discusses implementation of computer-mediated-communication (CMC) and the language computing skills students need to acquire for cross-cultural e-mail exchanges. CMC syllabus design within the Japanese English-as-a-foreign-language university context and within a second language acquisition research framework is also discussed. (Author/VWL)

Defines and introduces four language planning terms (status planning, corpus planning, policy planning, and language cultivation) into the English for Specific Purposes (ESP) literature. The utility of these terms as descriptors for the language teaching problem-solving process is exemplified with reference to two language problems encountered by…

Questions the removal of a link between reading and writing tasks in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) examinations on two grounds: that this removal is prejudicial to those students whose native cultures may not provide the appropriate schemata to effectively write; and that it is unrealistic in terms of the measurement of…

Provides the theoretical underpinnings to a very successful project that involves high school teachers in the development of carefully sequenced student materials for the German video series "Deutschlandspiegel." (22 references) (Author/OD)