Discusses the practicalities associated with the introduction of proficiency-based instruction into university programs and courses that teach Arabic. Some of the additional responsibilities that such innovations place on the language teacher are identified, and issues for further discussion, research, and experimentation are raised. (19…

Narrative and tabular data from the 1990 Modern Language Association survey are provided on the status of foreign language programs. Findings are reported for institutional and departmental characteristics, applicants, enrollments, plans for enlarging graduate programs, numbers of doctorates granted, courses offered in the target language, and…

Discusses a case of language program revitalization at a major metropolitan university. Results of a pilot study aimed at assessing students' needs and redefining the goals and objectives of a traditional French program are presented. (Author/VWL)

Traces the development of innovations and renovations in the graduate and undergraduate German-studies program at Stanford University. Examines the conceptual framework within which the faculty was operating, discusses the practicalities and specifics of three experimental approaches within the German-studies undergraduate curriculum, and…

Argues that, although it is worthwhile to teach literature in its original language, there is merit to teaching foreign language literature in translation. Most college-level language teachers have the language competence to teach literature in English, and if it's not taught in the language department, it may be taught in the English department,…

Demonstrates the dangers of an Americanized world expanding through the importation of American English. Suggests that linguistic sameness creates a loss of identity and deprives people of specific cultures and languages to call their own. (Author/VWL)

Language departments have a natural niche in undergraduate and graduate programs. The process of cross-cultural travel and conscious explorations of responses to difference constitute a unique contribution that foreign languages and literature departments can make to higher education. The article discusses implications of this contribution in…

A self-paced introductory French course sequence offered at Francis Marion College (South Carolina) was begun in response to nontraditional students' difficult study schedules and varied language backgrounds and knowledge levels. This program of individualized instruction has objectives identical to that of standard French instruction at the same…

The purpose of this report is to present work done in the language module projects of the English and German degrees at Roskilde University Center (Denmark). Project work is the essential structuring ingredient of foreign language degrees at the Center. The collection of papers included in this issue attempts to provide information on what has…

Writing samples of four Arab college freshmen students of English as a second language were analyzed. The objectives were to classify the lexical problems found, determine the causes of the problems, and examine the students' choice of certain lexical items in an attempt to determine whether the students were more attuned to the form or the…

Overviews the most recently published or revised version of North American second-year Italian textbooks. Notes that each of the six textbooks reviewed provides sound pedagogical materials designed to enhance instruction. (55 references) (CK)

Provides a reference base for teachers concerned with problems and issues of teaching foreign languages to Afro-American students in the United States. Cites 51 journal articles, unpublished documents, and doctoral dissertations that discuss rationales for foreign language study by Black students and describe teaching strategies and curriculum…

The 1987-89 survey represents the Modern Language Association's first effort to collect information from the stratified random sample of foreign language programs established in 1988. Topics include requirements, faculty characteristics, language coordinator functions, faculty role in governance, curricula, course offerings, enrollment, numbers of…

Argues for increased participation by college language departments in teaching intercultural communication to international business students, discussing the insufficiency of language training alone, the lack of intercultural communication training among language faculty, the low priority given to such programs, and specific case examples and…

Examines whether and to what extent differences exist between learners of French, German, and Spanish with respect to range of motivational or motivation-related factors and whether the factor time has any significant effect in this. Concentrates on general or institution-wide language programs in universities. (Author/VWL)