A curriculum is a form of politics (Apple, 1993). The politics of a curriculum defines what is legitimate and valued and what is not. In Taiwan, the objectives of vocational high school (VHS) education are to prepare students to acquire relevant professional knowledge and practical skills and to integrate them into their future career development.…

Any curriculum consists of several components: goals, disposition, duration, needs analysis, learners and teachers, exercises and activities, resources, ways of learning, skills to be acquired, lexis, language structure, and ability assessment. Before setting up a program or course of study, these components should be determined and described in…

An innovative high school curriculum in Finland is designed so that the year is divided into six 6-week periods. In an experiment begun in fall 1989, English second language instruction was provided to second-year students in the form of content-area instruction in computer science, chemistry, and physics at one of two levels. Each course lasted…

In Taiwan, in response to pressure from university administrators and teachers of subjects other than English, many university English programs for non-majors (EPNMs) have redesigned their curricula to include courses in English for special purposes (ESP). A survey of stakeholders in the 17 universities investigated (1) EPNM coordinator (n=18)…

In response to heightened awareness of the globalization of the world economy, and in reaction to curricular standards set by their primary accrediting agency, business schools have moved steadily in the direction of internationalizing their curricula. However, few business schools require their students to possess or acquire second language…

The guide is designed to give parents basic information about the French second language (FSL) program of Alberta (Canada) elementary and secondary schools, and to answer commonly-asked questions. Sections address these topics: the benefits of second language learning; choosing French as a second language; how the FSL program is structured; how…

A study of second language learning processes had three goals: to establish a grounded theory on the role of tension, both euphoric and dysphoric, in the formal language learning process; to provide a comprehensive ethnography of the 7-week intensive beginners' class in the French School of Middlebury College (Vermont); and to demonstrate how a…

A study at Chulalongkorn University (Thailand), in response to administrator and employer concerns about the quality of English second language instruction, investigated aspects of language program design. Concerns had been expressed about the level of English language skills among science and engineering graduates. The survey consisted of…

The Houston Community College (Texas) program (TOTAL ACCESS) designed in response to the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, is described and evaluated. The program offers classes to eligible aliens (97% Hispanic Americans from Mexico, El Salvador, and Guatemala) wishing to pursue the educational program required for legalization. Program…

The report describes the implementation and continuing documentation of a Japanese second language program in a laboratory elementary school at the University of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania). The structure of the curriculum and instructional strategies used are described for each of the program's 2 years, and results of student assessments and…