The Language Resource Centers (LRC) program provides grants to institutions of higher education to establish, strengthen, and operate resource centers that serve to improve the nation's capacity to teach and learn foreign languages. Eligible applicants are institutions of higher education. Duration of the grant is four years. Center activities…

In order to help teachers negotiate the changing contexts of foreign language education, the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center (NFLRC) at Iowa State University began offering summer institutes in 1994. The authors were surprised at the intense interest in the institutes focused on technology. Since then the NFLRC has offered 36…

Describes special summer course attended by 18 Ontario German teachers at the Goethe Institute in West Berlin in 1971. Speech delivered on October 2, 1971, at the German sub-section of Ontario Modern Language Teachers' Association, Ottawa, Canada. (DS)

As the fortunate participants in the National Endowment for the Humanities summer institute entitled La Realidad Mágica de Oaxaca, the authors designed interactive ways to share their rich and colorful learning experiences with their students and colleagues. This article discusses how the authors presented their Oaxacan adventures in an all-day…

Describes a summer institute for 56 French, German and Spanish teachers in Idaho, Oregon and Washington, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities as a prototype.

The Modern Language Association's summer institute model for foreign language professionals focused on interchange among state and local school program supervisors and college program coordinators. To further strengthen links between mandates and implementation, the institute must recognize participants' disparate expectations, institutional…

Describes the activities and objectives of an intensive summer institute on language awareness for elementary school teachers. Evaluation of the institute included home school visits and found two benefits of the institute: (1) increased awareness and tolerance for language and cultural differences, and (2) significant practical applications of…

Describes the projects of the Alabama Commission on Higher Education's (ASHE) Foreign Language Consortium, established through federal funding in 1985 to enhance teacher training programs. The impact of the Consortium on foreign language instruction in Alabama is discussed. (Author/CB)

An institute in oral proficiency and teaching effectiveness for practicing secondary Spanish and French teachers is described. The spoken language classes of the institute took place daily, 4 hours per day for 4 weeks, using a modified Foreign Service Institute (FSI) method of small group instruction. Native speaker tutors were used who were…

College language departments have an important role to play in the professional improvement of foreign language high school teachers. A summer conference held for high school French teachers by a university's French department was greatly appreciated by the participants. Emphasis was placed on French language and culture and teaching methodology.…

Describes the various steps taken to organize and implement a five-week French summer institute for secondary teachers of French, involving a three-week stay in France. The article details program objectives, course content, administration of the Institute, budget considerations, participants' progress, the evaluation process, and the…

The origins, development, and results of a summer institute for middle school foreign language teachers held at the University of Arkansas during summer 1983, and re-funded and extended for the next 2 years, are described. The project originated from several needs in middle school foreign language instruction: the challenges in teaching to the…

This paper describes an intensive, four-week summer institute for foreign language teachers that focused on the Thai language. The institute emphasized a six-point mantra of teaching methods: (1) task-based instruction; (2) learner-centered instruction; (3) contextualization; (4) authenticity; (5) spiraling; and (6) balance between skill-getting…

The development and results of a program designed to meet the inservice educational needs of teachers of foreign languages in the elementary schools (FLES) and to coordinate with a previously developed preservice program are described. The 2-week summer institute for inservice teachers was designed to correspond in content and emphasis with the…