To meet graduation requirements, public school students in Florida must participate in and pass any statewide, standardized assessments required for a standard diploma or earn identified concordant scores or comparative scores, as applicable, for the cohort year in which they entered in ninth grade (M-DCPS, 2024). One of the statewide assessments…

Presents a brief history of the status of foreign language instruction from 1953 to 1984. Summarizes research on effects of foreign language study. Describes the foreign language education program at the University of Tennessee--Knoxville, providing an overview of the organization, curricular content, and methodology. Evaluates Knoxville's unique…

To investigate the status of foreign language studies at the middle school and high school levels in Tennessee, 1000 questionnaires were sent to Tennessee Foreign Language Association members and to foreign language departments. Information obtained from the 156 valid responses emphasized funding as the critical issue in foreign language programs.…

Describes how one university's change from a seat-time to a proficiency-based foreign-language requirement affected foreign-language programs and instructional approaches, and focuses on the reasons for the change, student and instructor attitudes, and administrative changes. (CB)

An overview of the foreign language requirements in the new Part 100 of the New York State Commissioner's regulations for public schools is presented to aid local school personnel in designing foreign language programs and advising students regarding the new statewide requirements. The summary first defines the terms used, and then outlines: the…

Proposes, on the basis of a host of curricular factors, a stratification of foreign language programs in U.S. institutions of higher learning into two graded and curricularly distinctive phases. The initial phase would be comprised predominantly of nonmajors who enroll in beginning courses to satisfy a language requirement. The professional phase…

Language is important in the public life of the United States because of four factors: globalization; the global diffusion of democracy and self-determination; the wave of immigration to the United States from all corners of the world; and the unique role America plays as the sole military and economic superpower. These conditions make it…

Trends in college foreign language requirements and enrollment are reviewed, and the experience of Carleton College is outlined. The college's efforts to strengthen languages' role in the upper division curriculum have included special efforts to create interesting courses and incentives for further study, extracurricular activities, study abroad,…

A survey of 58 higher education institutions revealed that 74 percent had a foreign language admissions or graduation requirement, and 75 percent used placement examinations for incoming students. Schools cited problems of students with previous study enrolling in beginning classes, and of a lack of placement options for students with prior…

This paper outlines the New York State School Boards Association's position on the New York Board of Regents' policy concerning international studies and second language instruction in New York public schools. It contains a summary of association policy recommendations concerning internationalism and languages in the curriculum, staffing,…

The task for those recognizing the importance of foreign language and international studies is to demonstrate to Americans why it makes economic and political sense to invest part of the defense budget in the tools necessary to help Americans talk to, understand, and trade with the rest of the world. (MSE)

The University of Pennsylvania's foreign language requirement self-study resulted in re-evaluation of the existing language program. It revealed that most freshmen were not exempted from college second language study by standardized test scores and that the university's required courses were not producing the desired results. These findings…

An evaluation report on foreign language activities in the 39 state-supported institutions in Virginia is presented. After an overview of the state of the foreign language discipline, extensive information is provided for the state's two- and four-year institutions on foreign language offerings, enrollments, degrees, class size, state aid,…

The trend toward the development of functional communication skills and a longer sequence of language study has been hastened by an awakened public interest in modern foreign languages and by the emphasis given to language development in the National Defense Education Act. Both the immediate and the long-range objectives of foreign language study…

In 1980, Oregon State University began a program going beyond the usual procedure for students of English as a second language (ESL), which involved putting them in intensive English programs until they could pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language and then sending them on to a regular academic program. It was found that this traditional…