This digest focuses on foreign language instruction at the middle school level. In general, middle school foreign language programs have received relatively little attention. However, the increased emphasis within the field on longer sequences of instruction, combined with the conversion of junior high schools to middle schools has necessitated a renewed vision of how foreign languages are taught at the middle school level. This digest focuses on this view to the future by considering the following: (1) middle school philosophy and organization and the foreign language program; (2) interdisciplinary units and the foreign language curriculum (thematic units, curricular connections, thinking skills development); (3) middle school foreign language learners; (4) middle school strategies; and (5) curriculum and materials for the middle school. (VWL)