Reform in language and literature programs requires faculty to teach a mix of basic and advanced courses in language, composition, and literature to assure students access to the best teacher-scholars the college offers. The humanistic element in graduate education would also benefit from this improved undergraduate training. (MSE)

College language department heads are encouraged to become proactive in responding to change in higher education by: undertaking departmental planning; ensuring good teaching; emphasizing collegiality; thinking creatively; becoming part of any college restructuring process; identifying allies on campus; staying informed about institutional…

A survey of 58 higher education institutions revealed that 74 percent had a foreign language admissions or graduation requirement, and 75 percent used placement examinations for incoming students. Schools cited problems of students with previous study enrolling in beginning classes, and of a lack of placement options for students with prior…

Explores governance problems, caused by conflicts between political and academic demands, within foreign language departments. The broader philosophical, pedagogical, and professional contexts of governance resulting from an expanded view and definition of foreign language study are considered, highlighting the situation in West Germany. (39…

To nurture diversity in the German classroom, information is needed to stimulate intellectual curiosity of minority group students who fail to see its relevance. This article reviews African and German interaction in Germany between 1500 and 1992 and offers a brief bibliography of related source material. (40 references) (Author/LB)

A Swedish university program in which French language students played parts in a series of Moliere plays is described. The activity integrated linguistic, cultural, and literary objectives, and included text analyses, pronunciation instruction, and development of oral expression. (MSE)

Teaching foreign-language literature in translation, within the foreign language department, has intellectual and pragmatic justifications. Intellectually, it is a source of joy for language faculty to share target language literature, and it is the thematic components, not language, that offer richest discussion. Practically, students don't have…

Discusses growing enrollments in foreign languages at Spelman College, a small language arts college for African American women in Atlanta, Georgia. Attributes the growing enrollments to the willingness of faculty to attend to student needs, interests, and specific black heritage. Suggests strategies for attracting students of color to languages…

This essay describes the development of an English coursebook that drew upon environmental education for the content. The book was designed to assist Indonesian university students in learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The three authors of the present essay served as the book's three editors. The authors of the individual lessons in the…

This report presents the development and results of a 1-year foreign language module program of 15-weeks duration for university students in the arts, commerce, science, and engineering. The project's central concern was to develop and test a general model for the delivery of foreign language teaching to students of other disciplines. The program…

A study at Brigham Young University (Utah) investigated the feasibility of computer-assisted language placement testing in higher education. Benefits and problems of this approach for test administration, individualization of item selection, and recordkeeping were examined. Four steps were followed in production of a test for Spanish placement:…

The development of high school Japanese language programs (JLPs) in Oregon has been remarkable since the 1980s. However, high school students educated in Japanese face problems of articulation as they enter the JLP at the University of Oregon. Because little attention has been paid to the problem of articulation, a study of these students'…

The Fluency First in English as a second language (ESL) project at City College (New York) began as a result of the high failure rate among ESL writing students at the college, and the fact that this kept many students from entering the regular college courses. Revision on the ESL reading and writing curricula, beginning in 1987, focused on…

A new major at the University of Scranton (Pennsylvania), International Language/Business (IL/Bus), is described that first accepted students in 1986. This foreign language major of 27 credits, with a concentration in business was modeled on two cooperative programs between the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Management that were…

The role of the language laboratory in current language teaching and learning is discussed. Four main aspects of audio technology and its relationship to language learning are covered: (1) the technological aspect: what a language lab is and what kinds of labs are available in Ireland; (2) the research aspect: what kind of research is being…