Reviews research addressing the relationship between native language skills and success in learning a foreign language. Describes four components of a language-based model for diagnosing foreign language learning problems. Highlights three major intervention strategies for at-risk foreign language learners. (53 citations) (MAB)

This article describes the rationale for a first-year seminar for international students and reports the findings of a study examining its effectiveness. The seminar focuses on four primary objectives: (a) policies and procedures of the university's English as a Second Language (ESL) program; (b) university policies and American higher education;…

A questionnaire and interview survey of the coordinators of seven Texas institutions investigated the organizational structure and curricular focus of university intensive English language programs. The institutions included Dallas Baptist University, North Texas State University, Texas A&M University, Texas Wesleyan University, the University…

Recent writing theory, research, and pedagogy have aided in the development of several models for improving second language writing skills. Attention is focused more on writing as a process, the importance of practice in writing improvement, and the need to learn cognitive structures contributing to writing. Daily journal writing is one method of…

A study examined university students' beliefs about the availability and content of Spanish courses designed for heritage speakers. Subjects were 50 students in three classes at Arizona State University and the University of Arizona, who were administered a questionnaire on student demographics, prior Spanish language instruction or instruction in…

A Francis Christensen-oriented, "generative rhetoric" 12-step approach to sentence skills was used in two English-as-a-second-language composition courses at Wichita (Kansas) State University in 1980. The classes consisted of approximately 50% Middle Eastern students, 35% Southeast Asian students, and 15% African and South American students. Two…

Four papers presented at the conference on the applications of foreign languages and international studies to business focus on the use of German in international trade and the development of college German curricula for that purpose. The papers include the following: "Adding Business German to the German Curriculum: Obstacles, Strategies,…

The concept of equal educational opportunity is examined as it applies to recent Asian immigrants who are university students. It is proposed that recent immigrants, especially refugees, are deprived of equal education due to life circumstances and inadequate academic preparation. As such, many of them cannot be expected to compete with other U.S.…

The business communication course, required in most colleges and schools of business, may be the best place for language educators to begin to help globalize the curriculum. In these courses, students are taught communication theory, business writing, oral business communication, leadership, meeting participation, and various functions used in…

Evaluation for any internship experience, whether in the form of a complete internship "audit" or an appraisal of individual components of the experience, is a three-stage task for the academic supervisor: (1) finding out what happened and comparing actual results with predetermined goals; (2) finding out what specific factors in the…

New awareness of the need for foreign language proficiency and cultural understanding in international business means that closer links between language departments and business schools must be forged. The University of Wisconsin-Madison has established a foreign business internship program co-sponsored by the language department, business school,…

A longitudinal study assessed the progress of 271 students of English as a Second Language (ESL) who had entered Project SEEK at Brooklyn College (New York) in the fall of 1985. The goals of the study were to identify factors predicting success or failure in academic courses, and to study attitudes of the students toward their second language and…

The federally funded Piedmont International Business Program of Lynchburg College has begun offering conversational Mandarin Chinese for people whose business activities bring them into contact with Chinese speakers. The course has three phases: an 8-week fall session with an enrollment of 11 students; two 8-week sessions offered in winter and…

The English as a second language (ESL) programs at El Paso Community College, Texas, are described. The ESL curriculum focuses on speaking, listening, reading, and writing; and attempts to integrate ESL English, reading, and speech into comprehensive language development programs. The basic competence program of the ESL curriculum consists of four…

Part IV of the proceedings includes five presentations. They are: "Pitfalls in Teaching Business Language Courses and How to Avoid Them" (Margit Resch); "Achieving Active Student Participation in the Business Foreign Language Course" (John Holley); "Business Language Components for Various Levels of Foreign Language…