Experiential learning theory places experience at the center of learning. Kolb's four-stage cycle of experiential learning suggests that effective learners must engage fully in each stage of the cycle--feeling, reflection, thinking, and action. This research assesses the alignment of Kolb's experiential learning cycle with the week-long Summer…

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…

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…

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…

As East Asian countries continue to develop into major powers in the economic world, students come to Indiana University's East Asian Summer Language Institute to improve their chances for careers in those countries in international law, teaching, and business. Advice on proper etiquette is also included. (MLW)

The effectiveness of the Second Language Institutes, summer programs designed to instruct educators of limited English proficient children in languages, cultural awareness, and assessment methods, was evaluated. Data were collected through site observation and interviews, and questionnaires completed by institute participants and their…

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)

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…

This unit was created as a result of a summer institute sponsored by the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. The Center's goal is to improve student learning of foreign languages in kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12). To this end, the Center provides professional support for foreign language…

The motivation behind the curriculum design and evaluation procedures of the East Asian Summer Language Institute's Chinese school are discussed. Two instructional methods, learning model instruction and acquisition model instruction, are described. (23 references) (CB)

This report evaluates a 6-week intensive summer program for language teachers at the University of Hawaii. Thirty-two high school or college teachers and teacher trainees of Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese, and Spanish participated. Participants were led by master teachers who provided exemplary teaching, organized language-specific activities,…