Underlines Seiichi Makino's pivotal role as a scholar of Japanese language, through the publication of two dictionaries of Japanese grammar and two pioneering textbooks and through an exemplary teaching career. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the work of Seiichi Makino, a scholar of Japanese, noting his professional accomplishments parallel the growth and successes of the field of Japanese studies. Shows how Makino encouraged Japanese teachers to collaborate with professionals in other languages. (Author/VWL)

Praises the work of Claire Kramsch and her ability to sensitize educators to the great intellectual and cultural experiences of linguistic foreignness and her effective advocacy for the intellectual weight of foreign language pedagogy in the academy. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the political involvement of the foreign language profession. Describes some of the bills or programs currently in Congress that affect the profession. (EKN)

Discusses the challenges that a return to full-time teaching research, and service entails. Offers advice to foreign language and literature department chairs about their futures after their chairmanships. (Author/VWL)

Emphasizes the importance of incorporating into critical discourse, knowledge about sexual identity, desire, and choice, as an integral part of the process of cultural production. (Author/VWL)

In celebration of the work of Claire Kramsch, this article affirms her promotion of the literary text "to enrich and enliven the classroom, making the act of reading reflective and self-reflective, and creating a common culture of interpretation and debate within each classroom." (Author/VWL)

Discusses changes observed from the foreign language and literature deportment chair over the last decade that pose the greatest opportunity and risk for department leaders in the first decade of the new millennium. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the predominance of English in the world, but suggests that while more and more people are speaking English, a greater number of people around the world are learning other languages, leaving Americans behind. Points out that academics need language to move beyond a narrow context for intellectual exchange. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the diversity of the foreign language (FL) department, apparent both in its subject matter and its teaching corps. Suggests FL education must recognize the tendency to view diversity from a distance and correct the shortsightedness responsible for it. If the FL department is kept at a distance, FL faculty suffer the consequences and so…

Discusses what the main task of foreign language teachers is and emphasizes the importance of remembering philology. Suggests that remembering languages in all their specificity and differences is the most effective way to expose students to a world in which shifts in politics, economics, and culture are producing radical new effects, while also…

Discusses the lack of motivation in the United States for learning foreign languages. Suggests that starting second languages earlier will produce more people both proficient in a second language and sensitive to other cultures. (EKN)

The author argues that foreign language instruction in the United States is generally begun too late and that it must be started at the elementary school level. (CFM)

This article discusses an alternative method of teaching literature in a foreign language class using a humanistic approach. (CFM)

Discusses the design of a traditional Japanese house to clarify the importance of the "uchi"--the inside of the house--equation. Deals with key cultural concepts tied closely with "uchi/soto" (outside of the house), then shows that the use of the spatial notion in Japanese grammar reflects how culture and language are part of an integrated system.…