This article presents a roundup of the Arabic language instruction offered in the Dearborn, Michigan, school district. Only one of the district's 22 elementary schools--Becker--offers Arabic. Pupils receive at least two 40 minute periods of Arabic a week. The school gave up a two-way immersion program, in which students were taught half their…

This digest discusses some of the practical implications of using alternative methods of assessing students in foreign or second language classrooms. First, assessment and testing are contrasted, and assessment is defined as an ongoing strategy through which student learning is not only monitored, but by which students are involved in making…

Recent studies by the Management and Coordination Agency of the Japanese government and the Japan Overseas Educational Services (JOES) reveal that Japanese students returning from overseas want to retain their foreign language, and that a majority undertake various maintenance activities. Maintenance classes are widely adopted. Research indicates…

This book addresses the problem of the future of Germanics as a field of study at colleges and universities in the United States. It is noted that the study of Germanics has been losing tens of thousands of students for the past 25 years, that this slide downward is no longer attracting enough attention from the Germanics community, and if it…

The first step in implementing an intensive language program is a publicity campaign to arouse student interest. The second step involves the employment of some device for pre-enrollment screening. Among screening methods, objective measurements of aptitude or ability have proven useful in the selection process. In addition, objective means of…

Trends in foreign language education in the United States have addressed themselves to the questions "Who?""What?""Why?" and "How?" In the period when the grammar translation method was in vogue, "Who?" was answered by the other three questions, since this approach to foreign language instruction was appropriate only for an intellectual elite.…

A DESIRABLE SEQUENCE IN LEARNING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE AT ANY INSTITUTIONAL LEVEL IS (1) THE AURAL SKILL, (2) THE LINGUAL SKILL, (3) THE READING SKILL, (4) THE WRITING SKILL, (5) CULTURE, AND (6) LINGUISTICS. AS EACH NEW SKILL IS ADDED, IT EMPLOYS AND PERFECTS PREVIOUSLY LEARNED SKILLS. THERE IS EVIDENCE THAT LEARNING A SECOND LANGUAGE FACILITATES…

BY STUDYING VARIOUS FLES PROGRAMS, CERTAIN PROGRAM PATTERNS EMERGE THAT ARE WORTHY OF RECOMMENDATION FOR GENERAL IMPLEMENTATION. FOR EXAMPLE, THE THIRD OR FOURTH GRADE SHOULD BE THE OPTIMUM STARTING POINT FOR FLES, 15 TO 20 MINUTE CLASSES SHOULD BE HELD EARLY EACH DAY, CONSCIOUS ANALYSIS OF GRAMMAR SHOULD BE DIMINISHED, THE THREE-FOLD INTERPLAY OF…

This annual report of the FLES-Bilingual Education Committee of the American Association of Teachers of French begins with a list of National FLES Committee publications. In the first article, C. K. Knop describes ways to publicize FLES and bilingual programs. E. Rainey discusses student produced television programming in her article "Rue Raisin -…

This article is a criticism of the NFER report, which evaluated primary school French in England. The following are discussed: factors not considered in the report, whether the conclusions were justified by the evidence, the validity of the tests, and whether the report really evaluates primary school French. (KM)

Native speakers of English entering kindergarten or grade one of the Cincinnati Public Schools are offered the opportunity to learn French, German, or Spanish. Not only do students learn a second language, but it is also used as a medium of instruction in later grades. (Author/SW)

The study and appreciation of literature should retain its traditional position at the center of foreign language study. A "problem-centered" model is described for teaching literature in the undergraduate foreign language classroom using texts organized around a series of complex critical problems. (CB)

A survey of college students' attitudes toward use of the language laboratory found that an initial positive attitude toward the laboratory in the first semester becomes more negative during the second semester, suggesting that new instructional materials are needed to maintain the initial favorable attitude toward the laboratory. (CB)

Discusses some problems experienced by doctoral degree foreign language graduates in seeking fulfilling career positions and suggests some aspects of the employment market and position search process that the graduate should consider when seeking a position. (CB)