Canada, like many developed countries faced with shrinking birth rates, has come to rely on immigration as a way of building and maintaining a skilled workforce. For a majority of today's immigrants, English or French is a second language and, when their children start school, their education proceeds in one of these second languages. While many…

Encourages readers to look at traditional translation activities in a positive and innovative light. A detailed lesson plan is offered, showing how back translation can be exploited with a monolingual class, whether or not the teacher speaks the students' mother tongue. (Author/VWL)

Ways in which teachers can use the guidelines set out in "Standards for Foreign Language Learning: Preparing for the 21st Century" (Standards) to design classroom instruction are discussed. The Standards document is explained, some misconceptions about it are examined, its relevance for the classroom teacher is explored, and examples are…

This article seeks to contribute to the emerging body of research on learning to teach a second language (L2). Specifically, it examines the learning-to-teach experience of a preservice German language teacher from her own perspective illuminating the contextual, biographical, academic, and cognitive factors affecting her development (Freeman &…

National Standards in Foreign Language Education, a collaborative project of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, American Association of Teachers of French, American Association of Teachers of German, and American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, has developed basic standards for foreign language education…

The guide is designed to give teachers of second language reading a broad theoretical basis for developing effective teaching methods and a flexible curriculum. An introductory section looks at the process by which learners acquire, expand, and refine their knowledge as a learning spiral, a reference made throughout the text. Chapter one describes…

The guide is designed to address concerns of North Carolina second/foreign language teachers and school administrators as they plan and implement block class scheduling. The first section outlines the rationale and special considerations for block scheduling, and offers some typical schedule options. North Carolina's instructional time…

This manual presents the Foresee Approach for teaching English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) at the secondary school level in Manitoba, Canada. The name refers to four C's: Communication; Cognitive-academic language development; and Content instruction in the Classroom. An introductory chapter offers background information on purpose and rationale of…

This guide for teaching Tagalog as a second language is designed for training Peace Corps volunteers. It consists of 140 lessons based on cartoons from a Philippines newspaper. Each lesson contains a one- to three-panel cartoon in Tagalog with English translation, vocabulary and grammar notes, comprehension questions, and notes on related cultural…

A 4-day inservice teacher workshop, held so that teachers from a number of countries could share ideas and experiences about foreign language teaching at the elementary school level, is described. Speeches and events of each day are summarized briefly, and plenary sessions are chronicled in somewhat more detail. The latter include: a description…

Sample lessons and instructional materials from a Japanese bilingual/bicultural elementary school program are presented. The lessons are designed to integrate Japanese language instruction with content instruction, using thematic units related to the core curriculum. The ten lessons are organized by target grade (K-5), and describe classroom…

This guide was compiled of instructional materials designed by teachers of Spanish at the elementary and secondary levels. The materials consist of lesson plans and readings, each with a slightly different perspective, which collectively give a comprehensive view of the history and culture of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Many lessons…

An instructional unit for Spanish second language instruction, based on an original story "El Ano Neuvo en Costa Rica" (New Year's in Costa Rica) written by Maritza Sloan, is presented. An introductory section outlines briefly the process of planning a thematic unit and its outcomes, and suggests categories of activities to support…

The selection and use of authentic reading materials for Spanish instruction of graduate-level international management students is described. Focus is on materials used in the second and third semesters of a 3-semester language course designed to foster communication skills. In the early part of the second semester, students present oral reports…

The manual is designed as a reference on second language teaching and curriculum development for Peace Corps language trainers and language training coordinators. The first section, on language learning theory, introduces competency-based curriculum, describes the natural approach to language learning (the approach used throughout the manual),…