This article highlights findings from evaluation of a bridging program for international students at a large Canadian university. Designed specifically for the postsecondary context, the program moved along the continuum from a general, skills-based approach to English for Academic Purposes (EAP) teaching and learning, in which the focus may be on…

The last several decades have made clear that large numbers of immigrants still see America as a land of opportunity--and this influx of students has had a strong impact on the K-12 educational system. Most of the million-pupil increase in the public school population in the decade between 2001 and 2011 is due to the increase in English language…

A number of reports in the US have highlighted the country's need for improved second language skills for both national security and economic competitiveness. The Language Flagship program, launched in 2002, aims to raise expectations regarding language proficiency levels at the post-secondary level and to address structural gaps in the curricula…

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is currently implementing a program to improve the language proficiency of pilots and air traffic controllers worldwide. In justifying the program, ICAO has cited a number of airline accidents that were at least partly caused by language factors. Two accidents cited by ICAO are analysed in this…

The Family-Oriented Language Dynamics (FOLD) Program, a humanistic, goal-centered, home-directed philosophy of teaching foreign languages, is discussed, and a FOLD workshop at Middle Tennessee State University is described. FOLD is the result of research on the possible application of the Suzuki Talent Education of music instruction to second…

Discussion of multilingual education looks at three European models, each designed for a different population, and compares them with the Canadian immersion model. The models are: (1) trilingual education applied to the entire school population of Luxembourg; (2) multilingual education in the nine-institution, five-city European School network,…

The Carpinteria school district in California has developed a model preschool program to bring Spanish-dominant preschool children up to a level of readiness for school that compares favorably with that of English-speaking children in the same community. That goal is achieved by developing skills in four major areas: Spanish language, cognition,…

The processes used by the Defense Language Institute (DLI) Foreign Language Center to develop proficiency-based nonresident courses in Czech, Polish, and Russian for language maintenance is described. Based on needs assessment and analysis of Department of Defense endusers, DLI provided the concept and design for the Proficiency Improvement…

A proposed program in English as a Second Language (ESL) for limited-English-proficient students at California State University at Los Angeles (CSLA) is outlined. Eligible international students and recent immigrants and refugees would be identified and placed using a test of English for academic purposes. The proposed program would consists of…