This study examines the perceptions of employers, university authorities, English teachers and students concerning needs to promote English achievement in a Mexican university. By drawing on data collected from focus groups and questionnaires, the evidence suggests that there are several needs which hinder the attainment of English objectives in…

Translation as a business is a service. The concept of translation competence is a term covering the various skills and knowledge that a translator needs to have in order to translate functionally. The term which is often studied as a multi-componential concept in literature may not cover the necessary skills if it is taken from an organizational…

Research on heritage language (HL) development and education has characterized the unique linguistic, sociocultural, and affective profiles of heritage-language (HL) students, yet foreign-language (FL) education has only begun to understand HL students in relation to non-heritage students (Carreira & Kagan, 2011; Felix, 2008). To deepen our…

On-going bilingual programs without regard to needs analysis; little research on the actual effects of CLIL in Colombia and vague awareness or knowledge about the necessary considerations for effective CLIL programs, underpin the need to address a particular issue of curriculum as it is summative assessment. This small scale study takes place in a…

This is a set of generic proficiency goals in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and culture developed for all languages and for French, German, and Spanish specifically. Both the common and specific goals are being field tested to determine their utility for college and university language instructors. In addition, a questionnaire has been…

Responding to the growing need to foster communicative abilities in English, many Asian countries where English is taught as a foreign language have recently introduced English at the elementary school level. However, the majority of elementary school teachers in such countries might not be adequately prepared to teach English; improving their…

This bilingual program quality review instrument is intended as a guide for school district personnel to design and improve bilingual education programs. It can be used for the following purposes: as an on-site review instrument to provide formative evaluation input about language-minority group programs; as a device for collecting information at…

This program was developed and implemented to increase adult ESOL students' chances to participate in conversations with each other, thereby increasing both their fluency and their confidence. Additionally, a target group with both low language levels and low confidence was separated from the higher achievers in order to decrease their…

A discussion of language proficiency in college-level African language programs begins with a review of the literature in the broader field of foreign language learning concerning notions of language competence, proficiency, and proficiency goals. This section examines linguistic competence, communicative competence, communicative syllabus design,…

The report on the status of Japanese language teaching in Australia gives a broad view of Japanese study and discusses current educational issues in some detail. An introductory chapter offers a brief overview of the history, objectives, and issues of Japanese language instruction in Australia. The second chapter details features of instructional…