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…

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…

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…

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…

The manual designed to accompany an orientation seminar for students concerning language learning processes and strategies and the design of their program includes materials for five sessions, in three sections. The first section covers language learning and acquisition in general and contains a survey of the participants' foreign language…

The formative evaluation of the curriculum, student attitudes, French achievement, and implementation of an elementary level core French program illustrates the usefulness of classroom observation and points to some general shortcomings in core French program content and teaching strategies. (MSE)

The Nanaimo (British Columbia) school district's French immersion program is evaluated. An introductory section gives background on the evaluation, outlines the evaluation process used, and offers brief comments on its outcome. The second section describes the immersion program's history and its current status in terms of enrollment, class size,…

The manual designed as a guide for trainers in a seminar for teachers concerning some of the central issues in contemporary foreign language teaching and learning presents notes on each of the five seminar sessions, including overall goals and goals for the prescribed session activity, time and procedural notes, and reading lists. (MSE)

A study investigated factors in the dropout and progression of students from 33 programs in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) in England and Wales. Data were gathered in student and teacher surveys. Results indicate a high level of student movement to and from ESOL classes. In intensive courses, more students were graded and more came…

The manual designed to accompany a seminar for teachers concerning some of the central issues in contemporary foreign language teaching and focusing on how adults go about acquiring language includes materials for five sessions, in three sections. The first section covers language learning and acquisition in general, and contains a survey of the…

A literature review, undertaken in preparation for a study of French regional needs for workforce English language instruction at the college level, covers research on this topic in areas of France and other non-English-speaking countries, student perspectives on language needs and motivation for learning English, linguistic issues in addressing…

The guide is one section of a resource kit designed to assist Peace Corps language instruction coordinators in countries around the world in understanding the principles underlying second language learning and teaching and in organizing instructional programs. This section focuses on design and development of pre-service language training programs…

Tucson, Arizona's Sunnyside School District pilot bilingual education program is described. The program was begun in 1985 to help prevent academic failure in limited English-proficient, high academic risk students. The pilot program offered sheltered immersion instruction in biology and United States history for language minority students with a…

This report presents the results of an evaluation of the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) programs in the Nanaimo (British Columbia, Canada) public schools. An introductory section gives background information on the history of ESL programs in the district, the origins and design of the study, and four principles (utility, feasibility,…