Considers implications of widespread and growing multilingualism (including English as second language) among students in Great Britain and the rest of the world. Schools can build on the strengths of those students' linguistic diversity and should offer a range of language experiences and languages for all students. (CB)

The English section of the Canadian government's advanced language training program uses andragogy through such activities as an authentic weekly review and planning meeting, where French-speaking managers and professionals practice their language skills while participating in the management of their own learning. (Author/CB)

Describes advantages and disadvantages of computer-assisted foreign language testing, including unique capabilities of the computer, types of tests possible, limitations, problems, and language skill testing. The Spanish Computer Adaptive Placement Examination, developed at Brigham Young University (Utah), is described. (CB)

Discusses the outcomes of an investigation into the motives and appreciation of autonomous language learners among students and staff of the Department of Individual Foreign Language Studies at the University of Amsterdam. The results showed so much variety that any conclusions or correlations were hard to make. (Author/SED)

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)

Affirms the advantages to the child of early immersion second language learning programs. The second language proficiency of English-speaking Canadian students who received all instruction in French and English-speaking American children who received all instruction in Spanish surpassed that of students in more traditional language programs. (PMJ)

Canada's Summer Language Bursary Program is a joint national-provincial effort providing immersion in French- or English-as-a-Second-Language to Canadian students. Despite 18 years of success and the benefits gained at small expense, the program is not well-known and risks losing funding. Self-promotion and lobbying are necessary. (Author/MSE)

Reports on the views of 73 secondary school Japanese students toward the United Nations. Finds that most tend to think of the UN as relevant to conflicts. Describes how the hunger issue was used in an English-as-a-Second-Language class to teach about the United Nations. (CFR)

Analyzes answers to a questionnaire given to British secondary school children who had opted out of foreign language study. Identifies reasons why the students chose not to continue language study. Concludes that enjoyment of the subject and opportunities for contact with the country of the target language are factors motivating students to…

Early childhood classrooms characterized by a predominance of second-language learners have emerged in unprecedented numbers. This article examines a model of peer collaboration to take into account how children's evolving social relationships served as an impetus for talk in English. Implications for research and practice are discussed. (Author)

The Foreign Language Standards of Learning identify essential content, processes, and skills for each level of language learning in Virginia's secondary schools. Included are specific standards for levels I through IV of French, German, Spanish, and Latin, as well as generic standards adaptable for levels I through IV of other modern languages,…

This paper presents a field study carried out with learners who used a grammar checker in real writing tasks in an advanced course at a Swedish university. The objective of the study was to investigate how students made use of the grammar checker in their writing while learning Swedish as a second language. Sixteen students with different…

The developments of new technologies over the last decades provide some answers to the limited exposure imposed on second/foreign language (L2) learners, who study a target language in an academic setting in countries where that language is not actively used. Not only are such learners restricted in their exposure to the L2 in the formal academic…

Drawing on a 1993 study of four students in a late French immersion program in Australia and findings from a 1991 study, the report looks at three areas: students' response to the learning context, including its more and less helpful characteristics; the experiences students consider most important for learning the language, including those…

This study examined the language and cultural attitudes of 45 bilingual Spanish/English adolescents of Spanish, Peruvian, and Chilean background enrolled in Saturday Spanish programs in Sydney, Australia. Each student had at least one parent whose first language was Spanish. A 60-item questionnaire designed to elicit information on factors…