A generation or two ago, the achievement of children who came to school knowing little or no English was not a prominent national issue. Today, with the increased focus on school accountability and educational equity, it is. This comprehensive resource explores the research on promoting academic success among language-minority students. The…

A six-hour advanced level unit on French unions focuses on their role in French society, their origins, size, and comparison with those of other European countries, and also on more general topics of demography and the French school system. (MSE)

It is proposed that language instruction focusing more on sociocultural aspects would enhance commmunicative competence. Three broad objectives are discussed: (1) an understanding of certain basic sociocultural patterns expressed by the language; (2) awareness of the language's diversity; and (3) familiarity with certain fundamental…

French television commercials and news programs can be used effectively in the language classroom to explore the representation of groups and cultural patterns. (MSE)

The distinction between the culture of a country and the culture of an individual is discussed, and its implications for second-language teaching are examined, particularly in the multicultural classroom. This concept is illustrated through use of a French travel and for second-language instruction. (MSE)

This resource unit, appropriate for advanced students of French as a second language or for native speakers of French in a bilingual context, has two main topics: (1) the city of New Orleans, and (2) formation and use of the present participle. The grammatical explanations, readings, and exercises are completely in French. The readings give the…

Describes the method and the instructional materials entitled "Contacts," which were developed specifically for Nigeria. The discussion covers the use of audiovisual supplementary material, the essentially African sociocultural reference of the text, the methodology peculiar to the Nigeria plurilingual situation, and the goals for both…

Content and design of the videotape series FDM Video Classe, produced by the journal "Le francais dans le monde," are described and classroom uses suggested. The materials are from authentic television programs, selected to illustrate aspects of French culture. It is suggested that the teacher also provide students with supporting…

A discussion, in French, of second language grammar instruction looks at the differences between a traditional linguistic approach to grammar learning, used less and less with the advent of communicative language teaching methods, and a sociolinguistic approach, which focuses more closely on the sociocultural context of functional variants of a…

The teachers' guide to the "Intermediate Pashto" textbook (FL 019 797) contains notes for the teacher on each of the fourteen units and sub-sections of the textbook. Unit and section headings are in English and Pashto; virtually all text is in Pashto. (MSE)

A large number of middle aged and retired French-speaking Canadians spend time in Florida during the winter months. While most of them have some knowledge of English, they have a need for communicative competence in English in some business and social situations. This ESP (English for Specific Purposes) syllabus development project attempts to…

The article presents a format for intermediate, university-level German instruction called "global simulation" (GS) as the curricular manifestation of several recent trends in the literature on instructed second-language acquisition, in particular interactionist and task-based approaches, sociocultural theory, and the acquisition of intercultural…

The relationship between language and culture is examined briefly, and instructional approaches to developing cultural awareness in language students, particularly Chinese students of English as a Second Language (ESL), are discussed. It is noted that effective cross-cultural communication requires an understanding of culture's role in governing…

This handbook is designed to assist California's public school teachers of limited-English-speaking native Cantonese-speaking students in understanding this minority group. The first two chapters address general background factors concerning this language group: immigration history, educational background, and historical and sociocultural factors…

This publication is a discussion of what is known today about learning and teaching English as a second language, also known as TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages). The discussion is divided into three sections: (1) the historical development of the field in the United States; (2) the domains of TESOL; and (3) the teacher, the…