Many teachers of foreign languages struggle with finding alternative ways of exposing their students to the target language. At Kent Gardens Elementary School (KGES) in McLean, Virginia, many students participate in an immersion program from first grade to sixth grade. These students spend half of every school day immersed in French while learning…

Target language as the sole medium of instruction mimics the environment of first language acquisition and immersion programs. There are no short cuts when teaching a toddler to follow instructions. It takes many tries, but each effort at communicating is a learning opportunity. Early language learners are very amenable to immersion settings.…

From 1969 to the late 1980's, most French programs in schools were based on a traditional foreign language instructional model, usually offering 30 minutes a day of French language instruction in elementary grades, increasing to 50 minutes a day in middle school. Contingent on funding and political swings over time, programs expanded from…

Discusses a French immersion program in Louisiana, highlighting indications that students in the program are scoring higher on the state's mandated standardized tests than students in the district not participating in the program. Attempting to overcome deficits in language immersion research using testing and demographic data from a large sample…

Summarizes a study on block scheduling for second-language programs among Canadian middle school students. Results show that students studying French on a block schedule (e.g., one-half day instruction over a 10-week period) performed better on standardized tests than did control students who received standard 40-minute per day French instruction.…

The American Council on Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) annually presents the Melba Woodruff Award to an exemplary foreign language program in the nation. This year at the ACTFL conference in Baltimore, MD, the Eisenhower International School received this award for its outstanding immersion programs. International student exchanges at the…

These three journal issues contain the following articles: "Japanese at Mimosa Elementary School" (Azusa Uchihara); "A Successful Keypal Project Using Varied Technologies" (Jean L. Pacheco); "Promoting a Language-Proficient Society: What You Can Do" (Kathleen M. Marcos and Joy Kreeft Peyton); "Journal Reflections…