Discusses reasons for enrollment growth at institutions of higher learning, including instructional quality, departmental diversification, instructional innovation, and publicity and recruitment. (AM)

Five papers on the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Linguapax program, established to explore how foreign language education can promote peace and understanding, are included. "UNESCO Linguapax at JALT96" (Kip Cates) describes the Linguapax-related speakers, events, and workshops at the 1996…

Sets out the advantages of a functional/notional syllabus as opposed to a grammatical syllabus. Presents topics around which to build a functional/notional syllabus in teaching college-level French. Makes suggestions, based on students' perception of their communicative needs, for the sequencing of these materials. (PMJ)

Supports the idea that second language teachers should "teach the test," provided that such tests meet the criteria of authentic assessment. Authentic assessment focuses on constructivist learning and communicative tasks; the integration of teaching, learning, and assessment; quality and coverage of content; and quality and fairness of standards.…

Discusses the benefits of incorporating African-Caribbean contributions to U.S. history and culture at the level of higher education, such as promoting global interconnectedness, correcting misinformation about African Americans, recognizing and profiting from knowledge acquired by ancient civilizations, and strengthening economic competitiveness.…

Reviews trends in second-language instruction in England during the late 1800s. Maintains that classical languages were considered "boy's subjects," whereas modern languages were taught to girls. Asserts that educational reform of both all education resulted in the redefinition of modern languages as curricular subjects. (CFR)

Examines British national examination results and related trends in the declining level of performance in modern languages relative to other subjects, suggesting that this trend to underperform in modern languages may be due in part to the relative difficulty of the examinations. The paper proposes strategies to help teachers become more rigorous…

In this article we contrast two distance foreign language programs developed at two European institutions of higher education (the Modern Languages Program at the Open University, UK; and the English Program at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain) as instances of two pedagogical models used to address the many challenges posed by teaching…

Designed for teachers, supervisors, administrators, and community advocates, this book provides practical advice on how to establish, maintain, and improve foreign language programs at the primary and middle school levels. Foreign Language in the Elementary School (FLES) options are explored, ways to evaluate existing programs are explained, and…

This guide for language teachers offers a developmental approach to curriculum design for second language learning. The approach suggests a progression of tasks at various difficulty levels, geared to the gradual development of language knowledge, concepts, skills, and attitudes. Ten levels of attainment, or stages of learner development, are…

The system of standardized second language tests administered to Swedish junior and senior high school students is described. The tests are used to give teachers an idea of the performance levels of their entire classes, not individual students, for comparison with national norms. They are administered more than a year before the students leave…

This issue of the OMLTA Journal includes the following papers: "Helping Teacher Teach: A Foreign Language Collaborative in Southeast Ohio" (Barry G. Thomas); "Bilingual and Group Poetry in the Foreign Language Classroom" (Evelyn F. Brod); "So You Want To Be in Pictures: Videotaping in the Foreign Language Classroom" (Connie L. Bowman); "Theatre as…

Films can contribute a great degree of authenticity to the foreign language classroom. The University of Oregon has found very enthusiastic reactions to the BBC Spanish language program "Zarabanda" among both students and instructors. "Zarabanda" consists of 25 episodes, each approximately 30 minutes long, available in video…

A survey is presented of modern language teaching in Great Britain since the establishment of their Modern Language Association in 1893, with particular emphasis on developments during the past 20 years. The following topics are addressed: the influence of linguistic research on methodology, the situation in higher education and the schools,…

A SURVEY OF 45 SUPERVISORY PERSONNEL FROM 22 STATES AND ONE FOREIGN COUNTRY ATTENDING THE 1967 NDEA FOREIGN LANGUAGE INSTITUTE HELD AT CENTRAL WASHINGTON STATE COLLEGE PROVIDED A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO ANALYZE NATIONAL THINKING ON THE PROBLEM OF UNSTABLE ENROLLMENT TRENDS IN SECONDARY SCHOOL RUSSIAN PROGRAMS AND, CONSEQUENTLY, TO SUGGEST WAYS OF…