Presents an analysis of the various concerns that must be addressed in modern language syllabus design. A questionnaire on students' communicative needs is included. An attempt is made to differentiate among different syllabus forms. (AM)

Discusses the status of teaching culture in the Arabic language curriculum. Ten cultural learning objectives for students of Arabic are presented, and examples of how culture capsules and culture assimilators can be used in class are included in Appendices. Three difficulties in teaching Arabic culture are described. (Author/LMO)

An ESL reading efficienty course was designed to tackle "sheer volume," frequently the nonnative speaker's greatest difficulty with university courses. Using overhead transparencies coupled with tape recordings, and eventually proceeding to real textbooks, sufficient practice was accomplished in the immediate controlled situation, but…

To revive students' sagging motivation in French class at the end of the term, a four-week project was designed in which the class wrote and produced slide-tape shows and super eight films in French. (SJL)

Presents the major problems plaguing teachers of French literature: (1) the huge split between the methods of teaching language and the methods of teaching literature courses, (2) the gulf between theoretical interests and the reality of the classroom, (3) many students' disinterest in literature. Suggests recentering the teaching of literature…

"Communicative Competence" is today the avowed primary aim of foreign language teaching. This paper points out that communicative competence in this context differs from communicative competence between two native speakers of the same language. In the two cases the difficulties that appear are not the same. Various possible dialogue elements are…

Describes planning, writing, and putting into operation of an intensive course for personnel planning to work in the foreign department of a large commercial bank such as the Credito Italiano. A detailed account is given of compilation of the integrated grading test that is used at the beginning of the course to split up the students into…

A language school teacher explains some of his methods for teaching beginning French, including course content, use of drill and homework, pronunciation, and the use of choral speaking to teach stress and intonation. (SJL)

Discusses the use of the York Group Graded Tests in French programs in English Comprehensive, Middle, and Secondary Schools. Commercial materials that can be used with the tests are indicated. (AM)

Outlines a second language program that, over a period of three years, exposes the student to three languages and several teachers and stresses communicative competence. (AM)

This curriculum was completed during phase III of Project SEARCH, a nationally validated project designed to humanize elementary and secondary education by creating, developing and implementing innovative models in the curriculum through an integration of the humanities and the arts. Project SEARCH is an attempt to help students apply both…

Describes a rating scale designed to provide a valid and practical evaluation instrument for testing communicative competence in French. Evidence from the application of this scale to actual test data and an analysis of its validation by means of native speaker judgments show that this method of evaluating student performance is effective. (SL)

Linguistic oddities left behind by the historical development of German may be used to assist students in learning German and give them a clearer picture of both the German language and culture. Examples are given and suggestions are made on how best to integrate these oddities into the curriculum at the undergraduate level. (31 references) (LET)

Describes the use of a game, Grand Prix Wagon Racing, to prompt speaking in the foreign language and to provide visibility among parents and administrators of the foreign language program. (PMJ)

The initial phase of an intensive language proqram relying on emotional involvement and close, interpersonal teacher/student contact is described. For duplication elsewhere, an overview is provided of the curriculum, syllabus, Master/Apprentice teaching team, student input, teacher evaluations, and funding. (PMJ)