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ERIC Number: ED285423
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1987
Pages: 13
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Foreign Languages in the Middle School: Exploration, Enrollment, Excellence.
Sherer, Victoria E.; Biemel, Jeanine S.
The Upper Arlington, Ohio school reorganization, in 1983, to include a middle school resulted in the development of a seventh-grade foreign language exploration course. The course provides nine weeks each of French, German, and Spanish, and relates the languages to content areas using an interdisciplinary approach. The fourth nine weeks would be spent in a reading course not taught by the foreign language teachers. Four academic areas (social studies, science, English, and mathematics) are team-taught, and the teachers relate their individual disciplines to the target language and culture. The course emphasis is oral communication, vocabulary is limited to high-frequency expressions, grammar is limited to basic concepts, culture is a significant portion of the content and includes high-interest items, every day the class includes a game or other fun activities, and the course content is easy enough that every student can experience some success. Student evaluations of the course have been positive, parents are enthusiastic, and sixth-graders show eagerness to participate. The eighth-grade language courses are identical to the high school courses, enabling the students to begin serious study immediately and study languages continuously until graduation. Language and content-area staff continuity has been maintained and the administration is supportive, both of which contribute to the increasing enrollments and overall program success. (MSE)
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A