Reports on the efficacy of interventions made to improve the attrition rates of students of Japanese as a foreign language at the University of Sydney, Australia. Specifically, the study sought to evaluate differences in outcomes between students with a background in a morphographic writing system and those without such a background. (Author/VWL)

This paper investigates the beliefs about language learning held by 53 first-month university students enrolled in Swahili compared to those of 113 students of French and Spanish. Based in part upon the research design and instrument of Elaine Horwitz (University of Texas-Austin), this paper isolates the results from a larger study of eight…

Ticonderoga High School (New York) has succeeded in increasing enrollments in foreign language courses beyond the college bound, Regents-level students who usually choose such courses. The school is located in the Adirondack Mountains, a region that, in the past decade, has seen increases both in prison construction and in tourism by…

The English Language Institute (ELI) at Alaska Pacific University provides an intensive academic program designed primarily to prepare foreign students for successful participation in undergraduate or graduate programs. Students from the local international community have also been admitted to the program. These students have motivations, language…

The development of a successful short-range forecasting model for predicting enrollment in a university intensive English course began with examination of the characteristics (nationality, enrollment patterns, persistence) of both course participants and no-shows; the resulting figures revealed consistent patterns for country of origin and for…

This paper analyzes the Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Area School District's foreign language exploration (FLEX) program's effectiveness regarding the students' decisions when electing a sequential program of language courses. The FLEX program in French, German, and Spanish was implemented in three middle schools in the years 1981-85 and was…

Michigan Technological University has introduced a program which awards a certificate in Foreign Language and Area Study to students completing two years of the same foreign language and three area studies courses. It was developed in response to the necessity of dropping 19 foreign language courses. A survey of freshman English students revealed…

Brigham Young University has implemented a policy of allowing non-language majors, often with limited second-language proficiency, to study abroad. A study examined the effect of a six-month study program in Vienna (Austria) on the academic achievement and post-reentry language registrations of 224 students. Study-abroad students were matched with…

The yearly task of the foreign language department is to seek new students and to retain current students by convincing them of the value of foreign language study. Therefore, a continuing public relations campaign directed at incoming and continuing students, parents, and administrators is of vital importance. A subtle change in methodology to…

The purpose of this report was to determine the changes that occurred from 1972 to 1976 in the field of Japanese study in the United States. The investigators compiled information from already published material and obtained data from questionnaires that were sent to all colleges and universities known to employ at least one specialist on Japan in…

This paper is designed to pinpoint the problems facing the teaching of foreign languages and suggests strategies that can be used in meeting these problems. The problems facing the profession have been assessed by observing foreign language teachers in the classroom and in conversations with them. Problems include the varying rate at which…

This paper presents a case-study of the successful nine-month plan with which Tulane University guaranteed the growth and continuation of its Italian program. The paper provides a blueprint for the teacher of Italian on any campus who wishes to strengthen the position of his Italian program in this era when dwindling federal, state and university…

Attention is focused on (1) the chronic failure to attract a larger percentage of the student population, especially male students, and (2) the perennially high rate of attrition in intermediate and advanced language courses in secondary schools. The merits of offering the teaching of contemporary foreign culture as an alternative to the…

The statistical data provided here were collected for the survey of foreign language registrations in institutions of higher education, fall 1974. the data were keypunched in 1975, and for this reason each page of the printout bears the heading "Language Survey 1975." However, all figures refer to language registrations reported for the…

To reverse the negative attitude toward foreign language study, it is asserted that professional classicists should organize and cooperate with the Modern Language Association/American Council of Learned Societies Task Force II. Emphasis is placed on the importance of the study of Latin and Greco-Roman culture by Americans. (EJS)