The experimental use of computer assisted instruction (CAI) to replace conventional laboratory sessions for first-year German students at the State University of New York, Stony Brook, is described. Materials used in the program are outlined, including hardware, pre-text program, text program, student manual, and diagnostics. Pedagogical…

The new Arabic Proficiency Test for College Level is designed to serve the field of Arabic instruction in a number of ways. First, it will provide data on students' proficiency in Arabic. Second, it will aid in evaluating Arabic programs in American and Canadian higher institutions. Third, the results obtained from the users of the test will form…

This paper describes an experimental testing program in England which parallels a broader, 1967 study concerning second language acquisition in the United States. The earlier study, conducted by John Carroll, concentrated on determining proficiency of language majors in five foreign languages. This experiment limits the field of study to German…

An intensive elementary-level language course for college students, seeking to provide meaningful application of language skills and to improve student attitudes toward second language learning, is described in this report. The three-term course in which students work extensively with undergraduate apprentice teachers while living in language…

This course description outlines the general and specific objectives for a course on "Women in German Literature," which investigates the changing literary and social roles of women from the beginning of the 19th Century to the present: women as seen by man, by another woman and in introspection. This course description was successfully used in a…

This course of lessons in Arabic is intended for use in semi-intensive or intensive courses (6 to 8 hours a week) at the college level for Americans who want to learn the kind of Arabic used today throughout the Arab world for writing and formal speaking. This volume consists of eight lessons, about half of the full textbook as planned. The course…

Describes the Institute for Institutional Development in International Education created to act as agent for the Pennsylvania Council on International Education in the allocation of funds to postsecondary institutions for projects that promote both foreign languages and international study. Projects in two colleges and the state university are…

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…

An assessment plan to evaluate student outcomes of foreign language studies and four other disciplines at the State University of New York is presented. Measurement vehicles, including the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages rating scale, and assessment plan materials, such as the foreign language course handbook and portfolio…

Describes problems and attempted resolutions encountered in administering an effective study-abroad program in Paris, France, discussing program rationale, selection and preparation of students, academic life, and social life. (28 references) (CB)

The topic of minority groups is presented as a subject matter for a fourth-semester college German course combining culture with an introduction to literature. A course on Turks is described and textbook treatment of the topic is reviewed. A list of selected works on and by minorities suitable for German courses is appended. (18 references)…

Discuses the foreign language department chair's fractured time, department's space in the university, and the complicated action of putting a united front on the diversity of opinion and levels of involvement characteristic of faculty members in any foreign language department. (Author/VWL)

Offers inventive strategies to help foreign language department chairs encourage scholarly development in their colleagues and maintain a place of their own in the research community. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the foreign language department chair's role as middleman encircled by demands from students, faculty, and administration. Provides ideas about dealing with deans, especially in the use of part-time faculty; support for and lack of recognition of faculty research; and technology and the role of a good teacher. Decries the demand for…

Discusses the need to address the ambiguities regarding literature in the standards-based foreign language curriculum. Suggests that by allowing students to explore personal responses to language and literature, it will easier to forge crucial connections across the undergraduate curriculum and to reassert the usefulness of a coherent program in…