The purpose of this article is to contribute to the professional development of teacher-trainers worldwide, with practical applications for instructors and curriculum developers who work to improve English proficiency in the professional/vocational training realm. The goal is to address situational language use during professional training so that…

The present study aims at investigating some English speaking problems found by the students of English language education department at State Islamic Institute of Kudus and exploring some implications for speaking curriculum development of English language education department. This study used a descriptive qualitative approach and the data were…

This study uses a cohort model--a combination of a study group, with readings and discussion, and collaborative curriculum design as a professional development tool--as a context for investigating a group of middle and high school world language teachers' beliefs about effective curriculum. The study explores whether this model could shift…

Immigrant students' school success is often hampered by limited second language (L2) proficiency, yet the effectiveness of different approaches to L2 support is unclear. Using a summer camp setting, we tested effects of (1) implicit support focusing on meaning of language by engaging students in language-intensive activities without drawing their…

Although course assignments require English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher candidates to design activities, performance assessments, and lessons that balance the teaching of the English language and academic content, the ESL teacher candidates remain perplexed as to how to teach without a prescribed curriculum. The answer is challenging, given…

Despite the impact of communicative approaches to language teaching methodology, most of the world's second language learners continue to learn from materials in which organization and presentation are grammatically based. Language testing research has contributed greatly to understanding the role of grammar in language proficiency. This research…

This study evaluated one professor's teaching of English as a Second Language courses at three Japanese universities. Instruction was modified to make the courses similar communicatively to one another. The professor administered a test, found in a journal, at the three universities, comparing results to evaluate the appropriateness of his own…

Discusses the design of a course in Mandarin Chinese developed by the US government's Interagency Language Roundtable after President Nixon's 1972 visit to the People's Republic of China and its implications for vocabulary choice, the teaching of grammar, the use of dialogues, achievement tests, listening comprehension, and classroom activities.…

This study of the notional-functional approach to second language teaching reviews the history and theoretical background of the method, current issues, and implementation of a notional-functional syllabus. Chapter 1 discusses the history and theory of the approach and the organization and advantages of the notional-functional syllabus. Chapter 2…

It was found that the seemingly greatly increased oral fluency of Middlebury College seniors who had studied in college-sponsored junior year abroad programs did not carry over to written skills or to comprehensive grammatical knowledge. In the oral proficiency interview for Spanish, many returning students had no control of the subjunctive, a key…

This chapter argues that a detailed, grounded understanding of classroom literacy practices as well as of learners' writing is crucial to begin to change the ongoing and patently unequal educational outcomes that schools often produce. It is impossible to intervene realistically and effectively in an evidential vacuum. The 1955 "Brown v.…

The Texas framework for modern and classical language programs in the elementary and secondary schools is intended to (1) establish a philosophy for a proficiency-based sequential language program; (2) outline the overall language program as specified in state rules and legislative mandates; and (3) describe expected student proficiency levels and…