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)

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)

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 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.…

Discusses the work of Seiichi Makino, a scholar of Japanese, noting that his work in establishing the Japanese proficiency guidelines helped make it appear that Japanese language teaching was part of mainstream American language teaching. (Author/VWL)

Argues for the value of the history of language teaching as a corrective to embracing innovation. Suggests historical researching in the field shows professional continuity and promotes reflection on why concerns of the past resurface in the present. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the position of foreign language teachers who are nonnative speakers of the languages they teach and suggests that they can be cultural mediators challenging the rigid categories of identity to bring out productive discussion and unexpected understandings about the self and the other. (Author/VWL)

The Modern Language Association's committee on academic freedom has published this document for English and foreign language faculty on combating campus bigotry and fostering respect in the academic community. (Author/VWL)

Describes 10 years work as a foreign language department chair, 8 years of which were at the State University of New York in Plattsburgh and the other 2 years at East Carolina University. Focuses on five interrelated issues that have been dealt with at both universities: threats to the department, technology, resources, personnel, and constituency…

Discusses how study of French language and culture has increasingly become integrated into introductory language sequences and advanced undergraduate study. The study of the new France, with its cultural and linguistic diversity expands the possibilities for research, teaching, and learning. Interests in French-speaking cultures within and outside…

A review of the literacy crisis in U. S. education and of attempts to resolve it. Recommends three concepts that are important for language study: (1) language learning is hard work; (2) language is genuine knowledge; and (3) every language reflects the cultural outlook of the society that created it. (AMH)

Describes the rationale, careful development, and first offering of an ethics course in French based on the works of the Canadian writer Gabrielle Roy. The course encouraged students to read literature from a variety of perspectives and also helped them apply ethical theory and examples to their own situations and provided a way for them to…

Suggests that the study of foreign language literature need not cringe in the face of English and comparative literature but should be presented as a sophisticated discipline with important theoretical implications. (two references) (JL)

Suggests that insights from the discipline of literary theory can generate new agendas for the study of foreign literature. A detailed description is provided of a foreign language and literature program at Michigan Technological University, including its implications for intercultural studies and film. (JL)