The University of San Francisco developed a certificate program in Western European area studies covering French-speaking countries, and subsequently a Latin American area studies program for Spanish-speaking countries, in response to uneven language enrollments and as a means of increasing intermediate-level enrollment. The French program begins…

The Learning Support Center (LSC) at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana, has developed the Three R method--resources, retention, and renewal--of helping high risk students understand the material in their classes and remain in the university. The first method, resources, involves four types of resources--state-of-the-art equipment, qualified…

Although ability partly explains why some students are eager to learn in school whereas others are disinterested, motivation is another significant factor. This newsletter discusses factors that affect students' motivation to learn, considers techniques that can increase motivation, and identifies schools that have developed activities to enhance…

This handbook brings together a variety of resources for the implementation of strategies and programs to promote self-esteem in children/students of all ages. The book begins with an explanation of the principles of motivation which facilitate learning, and a discussion of responsibility, structure, motivation, and persistence as functions of…

In the twentieth century, both the need and the opportunities for acquiring a foreign language have greatly increased. However, even today, foreign language instruction has not been firmly established worldwide as an essential element of basic education. In Great Britain, enthusiasm for foreign language instruction has risen and fallen repeatedly.…

Designed as a resource for persons interested in improving the quality of teaching and student learning, this book covers aspects of the teaching-learning process that can be altered with relative ease. Practical suggestions are given in chapters focusing on concepts known to have a strong influence on student learning. The chapters include: (1)…

Methods, their rationale, and exercises for Open University tutors are presented. The book is divided into two parts, the first concerning practical issues of how to actually teach students to learn and the second dealing with theoretical issues and the rationale for the teaching methods described in Part I. Part I, "A Student-Centered…

Teachers and teacher educators seem to be little aware of some major concepts about instruction that provide important insights into the central requirements for learning. A common misconception is that motivation has to do with wanting or desiring. It is instead attention to stimuli that is influenced by two powerful agents--(1) suspense,…

This module on enhancing motivation is the eighth of 11 modules in the set, Introduction to Teaching Adults. Designed to meet the learning needs of part-time continuing education instructors, these modules can be used as resource materials for local workshops or study-discussion groups, as self-instruction (each module takes approximately two…

This study attempts to make a broad appraisal of the needs experienced by students of foreign languages in the schools. The object of the study is to draw up a methodology and offer a set of didactic tools which will help to progress toward the overall educational objectives of the Modern Languages Project of the Council of Europe. The starting…

Ten papers are presented dealing with the rationale, theory, methodology, development, and teacher-training in the suggestopedic systems of second language instruction. The papers are as follows: (1) "The Bulgarian Experience," by Georgi Lozanov; (2) "Swedish Commentary on Suggestopedia," by Christer Landahl; (3)…

THIS STUDY INVESTIGATES THE POTENTIALLY FACILITATIVE AND INHIBITORY EFFECTS OF SOCIAL INTERACTION DURING PROGRAMED INSTRUCTION. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES WERE (1) TO IDENTIFY THE PARTICULAR ASPECTS OF SOCIAL INTERACTION CRITICAL TO FACILITATING OR INHIBITING PROGRAMED LEARNING, AND (2) TO DETERMINE THE METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING WORK GROUPS THAT OPTIMIZES…

This article reviews some of the research literature dealing with factors which contribute to success in acquiring second language speaking skills. Language attitudes, cognitive style variables (i.e., field dependence and independence; overgeneralization and negative transfer from the native language), personality variables (tolerance of…

IN 1965, THE TASK FORCE ON TEACHING ENGLISH TO THE DISADVANTAGED TRIED TO IDENTIFY THE PROBLEMS IN THE FIELD OF ADULT BASIC BY VISITING 35 PROGRAMS IN 15 STATES AND COLLECTING SOME 1,300 PIECES OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL. AMONG THE PROBLEMS OBSERVED WERE THE LACK OF WRITTEN OPERATIONAL OBJECTIVES DESIGNED AROUND THE STUDENTS' GOALS AND NEEDS, BROAD…

Basic emotional and intellectual factors in motivation can help to stimulate the learner to acquire the five major literacy skills: listening, speaking, thinking, reading, and writing. Contagion, or the spread effect in psychology, is reflected in the readily communicated attitude of the teacher toward students and teaching itself. Similarly,…