Discusses opinions toward foreign language (FL) departments on the college campus. Points out that while there is support for the learning of foreign languages, questions arise about whether knowing a language other than English is necessary, even in the climate of globalization and internationalization. Outlines steps for achieving excellence in…

This article focuses on the paucity of resources usually designated for rising numbers of students in Spanish courses as enrollments dwindle in other languages. Offers advice on how the strength of Spanish can be deployed to help other languages. (Author/VWL)

Suggests the need for incentives to help combat the resistance or indifference regarding implementation of the national standards for foreign language learning at the university level, especially in upper division courses at large research universities. (Author/VWL)

Summarizes research demonstrating advantages of using British Sign Language, Italian Sign Language, and American Sign Language (ASL) as a second language with young children. Reports a qualitative study to determine whether American kindergartners can achieve bilingual ability in English and ASL in one academic year through exposure to a native…

A pilot study was designed to examine student perspectives on the first two years of the foreign language program at an east coast college. The study addresses key areas of foreign language teaching and learning in terms of goals and objectives, effectiveness of instruction and instructional approach, and student suggestions for improvement. The…

This article describes the international program at Missouri Southern, which began 10 years ago and has expanded in both the number of students and faculty participating, and in the places to go for foreign study. The program affects students two ways, according to university president Julio Leon. While some students do foreign study as part of…

In Canada, education in French as a second language (FSL) offers students the opportunity to learn a second official language. Is such an opportunity appropriate for allophone students who are still in the process of learning English? This literature review provides a fourfold consideration of the issue. Section 1 examines the political response…

The present study expands the design of Warschauer (1996) surveying freshman foreign language students at a Turkish university. Motivating aspects of computer assisted instruction in terms of writing and e-mailing are explored through an exploratory factor analysis conducted on the survey developed by Warschauer (1996). Findings suggest that…

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 reports on two studies that investigated the effectiveness of a contrastive analysis type of pedagogical intervention, which aimed to promote interlanguage development in the use and understanding of English possessive determiners (PDs) among adolescent second language (L2) learners. The first research question asked whether explicit…

The guide to self-study of programs teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) contains a series of essays on aspects of the self-study process and products. "Part One: Insights into the Self-Study Process" includes the following articles: "The TESOL Self-Study Program" (Ann C. Wintergerst, Carol J. Kreidler); and "Undertaking a…

The formative evaluation of a new Malaysian secondary school language curriculum is described. Reasons for choosing formative over summative evaluation are examined, and implementation of the evaluation to date is detailed. In the first two phases, state education officials were trained in principles and procedures of program evaluation, including…

The piloting of a new English language curriculum in Singapore's lower primary and lower secondary school in 1992 is described in three sections: (1) reasons for revising the existing curriculum; (2) objectives and procedures of the pilot testing; and (3) findings. The existing curriculum, implemented in the early 1980s, was found to be too…

This paper presents findings of a case study that examined parent participation at Glen Katherine Primary School (Victoria, Australia). It focuses on parent participation in and attitudes toward the Language Other Than English (LOTE)-Italian program. A cooperative-research committee composed of a school administrator, LOTE program staff, parents,…

There is now a need, just like in industry, for quality assurance in education, for injecting systematically planned and formal processes, precise definitions, objectivity, and measurability in education. The demand for educational excellence in industry is "out there," and companies in more advanced countries are partnering educational…