Reports an investigation into possibilities of using word processors and text analysis software with English as second language (ESL) students to determine (1) if foreign students can learn to use computer equipment, (2) if students feel time invested is worthwhile, and (3) if ESL students' problems with writing American academic prose can be…

Reviewing the President's Commission recommendations, urges language departments to: make language teaching, rather than literary scholarship, their top priority; make intensive or immersion language courses part of the regular curriculum options; develop common standards of proficiency assessment; foster interaction among themselves; support…

Discusses the teaching of French language, literature, and culture in light of the experiences and observations of Gustave Lanson, a professor of French at the University of Paris who taught as a visiting professor at Columbia University in 1911. It is argued that French studies as a discipline needs to emphasize the pluralistic, multicultural…

The culture of the United States has been based on assimilation, in which new immigrants tend to put aside their past, including their linguistic past, and merge with the rest of society. As the United States economy becomes more intertwined with that of the rest of the world, these patterns are changing, and there is now a greater recognition of…

An anthropological study of the American Deaf Culture points out that its members do not merely constitute a subculture and that study of American Sign Language, like many other foreign languages, offers knowledge of not only a natural language but also the culture in which it is used. (CB)

Presents an overview of activities in field of computer-assisted language learning at the University of Dundee (Scotland). These include: (1) use and testing of a self-instructional teacher's package, (2) development of the computer-controlled tape recorder, (3) cloze-type gapping exercises, and (4) projects aimed at the word processing component…

Reviews factors in modern language programs' declining enrollments, pointing to attendant failures of Americans to communicate on the international level. Describes efforts to counter this trend through interdisciplinary, internationally oriented curricula with a strong foreign language component. (MES)

Presents an overview of the language teaching situation in Canada's universities, and makes suggestions for its improvement. (AM)

Discusses the dichotomy between foreign language and literature instruction, arguing that the objectives of the language curriculum are at odds with those of the literature curriculum; many students are not proficient enough to cope with many of the belles lettres texts without additional linguistic support; and students deserve linguistic support…

Discusses the emphasis that many American universities place on multicultural and international education, focusing on how this emphasis has affected German language and literature departments. Argues that greater classroom emphasis needs to be placed on non-canonical texts, writers, and modes of communication. (15 references) (MDM)

Outlines the procedures used to identify, analyze, and organize components of an American Sign Language curriculum, based on processes used to develop second-language curricula. Students are encouraged to develop communicative competence and cultural awareness in a classroom environment, allowing for natural language learning. (CB)

Considers several challenges evolving in the field of foreign language instruction, including unity of foreign language teachers, teaching objectives, the importance of listening comprehension, compulsory foreign language education, language tests, speech skills, and curriculum. (CB)

Questions the prevalent attitude of English as a second language teachers regarding the teaching of writing skills. Weaknesses in syllabi and teaching strategies are cited, indicating deficiencies in the teaching of discourse analysis--the manipulation of words, structures, and ideas--all skills necessary for the development and production of a…

Presents some suggestions for improving and expanding present curriculum frameworks for teaching English to deaf students. Of major importance to the deaf student is an understanding of the rationale for learning the language in the first place. In addition, a knowledge of the students' needs is stressed, in relation to understanding those…

This paper offers a current overview and a commentary on the current state and future directions of research in second language learning. It begins by outlining the ways perceptions of the world influence research and teaching. It then explores the contexts in which one individual has explored learning in second languages. Then an opinion is…