Examines the implications for foreign language and literature teachers and teacher training programs of three recent major reports on teaching, highlighting the relevance of three centrally important themes: improved subject matter preparation; setting of standards; and minority recruitment. (10 references) (CB)

An overview of the place of modern Chinese literature in Western academic studies precedes suggestions about new texts to add to the established body of Chinese literature typically studied to expand understanding of the many facets of Chinese culture. (18 references) (CB)

Describes the second-year French program at the University of California, Berkeley, which attempts to bridge the gap between intermediate language courses and upper-division writing courses by incorporating such strategies as semantic mapping to promote higher-level thinking, help students to organize their writing, and foster the development of…

Focuses on the role of the foreign-language department chair at American institutions of higher education. The article encourages foreign-language chairs to assume their roles of fund-raiser, program developer, and entrepreneur and to view them as a blessing in disguise. (nine references) (CK)

Discusses a National Foreign Language Center survey of 240 randomly-selected higher-education Spanish programs on the availability and the nature of programming for heritage speakers of Spanish. The survey queried the need for such programming and challenges to meeting needs of heritage learners. Results are discussed. (Author/VWL)

Gives an account of the challenges, obstacles, and successes involved in the process of merging an English and a foreign language department at Mansfield University n Pennsylvania. (Author/VWL)

Asserts that students have high technological expectations which necessitate a reevaluation of teaching methodologies and a reinvention of the classroom. Explores some of the realities and hype surrounding the reason for and existence of technology in the college foreign language classroom. Focuses on the wiring of classrooms for technology,…

Investigated the effects of written input enhancement and text length on college students' second-language comprehension and intake. First-year Spanish students were exposed to one of four conditions with enhanced and non-enhanced short and long text. Exposing students to short authentic reading materials facilitated reading comprehension but not…

Seeks to guide language program coordinators in the creation of a teaching assistant (TA) handbook on logistics and administrative duties in second and foreign language programs at the university level. (Author/VWL)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe how and why Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMUQ) has developed a system aiming to effectively place students in freshman and developmental English programs. The placement system includes: triangulating data from external test scores, with scores from a panel-marked hand-written essay (HWE),…

The foreign language teaching situation in community colleges is discussed. Foreign language teaching in community colleges tends to be demanding due to the limited curriculum of such institutions, limited enrollment in foreign language courses, and the heterogeneity of the student population in terms of career goals, educational preparation, and…

THE REPORTS OF THE WORKING COMMITTEES OF THE 1964 NORTHEAST CONFERENCE ON THE TEACHING OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES RELATE TO THE PRACTICES INVOLVED IN IDEAL ELEMENTARY, SECONDARY, AND HIGHER EDUCATION LANGUAGE PROGRAMS. INCLUDED IN THE REPORT ON FLES PROGRAMS, DEVELOPED BY CONRAD J. SCHMITT AND HIS COMMITTEE, ARE DISCUSSIONS OF FLES MATERIALS AND…

This study conducted at the University of Kentucky in 1967-68 tests the theory of interaction between discrimination and pronunciation through a field test. After a brief review of previous research in phonemic discrimination as related to foreign language learning, the procedures and results of the test are presented. The text used was "Basic…

The 62 selections in this volume, all written since 1963, describe the latest developments in modern language teaching at both the elementary and secondary school level. The book is designed for both preservice and inservice personnel. Individual chapters include essays on the trends and issues and the linguistic, psychological and organizational…

The papers included in this collection attempt to provide a comprehensive overview of the situation confronting the Russian language-teaching profession and a picture of the status of the teaching of Russian in the U.S. today. The papers are: (1) "Trends in Enrollments in Russian in U.S. Colleges and Public Secondary Schools," by Richard I. Brod…