The paper reports on the findings of a PhD study exploring the implications of the separation between language and content in Modern Languages for students' development of intercultural competence and criticality across four universities -- two in the US and two in the UK. In particular, it exposes the diverse views students developed on the…

The School of Languages and Applied Linguistics at the Open University (OU) radically re-designed its modern languages curriculum in 2014, launching its first suite of new modules in 2017. The institution as a whole has since also developed a new employability framework. Our paper describes the principles underpinning the design of the new…

A decade ago, Klapper (2003: "Taking communication to task? A critical review of recent trends in language teaching", "The Language Learning Journal" 27: 33-42) created the opportunity to reflect on the assets and limitations of task-based language teaching (TBLT) in comparison with more established communicative language…

While learners' attitudes to Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) and to Physical Education (PE) in the UK have been widely investigated in previous research, an under-explored area is learners' feelings about being highly able in these subjects. The present study explored this issue, among 78 learners (aged 12-13) from two schools in England, a…

This paper explores the apparent contradiction between the valuing and promoting of diverse literacies in most UK HEIs, and the discursive construction of spoken native-speaker English as the medium of good grades and prestige academic knowledge. During group interviews on their experiences of university internationalisation, 38 undergraduate…

This paper considers the case of Intercultural Understanding (IU) as a component part of foreign language learning and teaching in the upper stage of primary schools (roughly ages 7-11 years) in the UK. It is set within a specific context of curriculum innovation, namely recent policy changes which have introduced IU as a key part of primary…

An examination of Great Britain's declining language enrollment focuses on the disproportionate decline among boys taking languages. The literature and public policy decisions concerning equal educational opportunity for the sexes and students' curriculum choices are reviewed. The extent of the enrollment imbalance at the levels of secondary,…

Selects the major demands in the new general syllabus for second-language learning in the United Kingdom and suggests ways in which teachers and learners can successfully fulfill them. These criteria center around vocabulary requirements and writing, speaking, listening, and reading tests. (10 references) (Author/CK)

The Graded Objectives in Modern Languages (GOML) approach has contributed to the reform and development in the teaching of modern languages in the United Kingdom during the past 10 years. The introduction of shorter-term goals has revolutionized the way in which large numbers of teachers think about what should be taught to their students, and how…

An overview of the modern language teaching situation in the United Kingdom--and by extension in English-speaking countries--is presented. The record of achievement in foreign language education for the last two decades is viewed as a move from euphoria about the possibilities for imparting second language skills to disenchantment over the failure…

The Graded Objectives in Modern Languages (GOML) approach has contributed to the reform and development in the teaching of modern languages in the United Kingdom during the past 10 years. The introduction of shorter-term goals has revolutionized the way in which many teachers think about what should be taught to their students, and how it should…

This study, undertaken to assess the feasibility of the integration of a multimedia learning provision into a university language curriculum, reports results from a questionnaire of 107 undergraduates' attitudes toward the use of a multimedia program. Implications are that multimedia can play a beneficial role in the curriculum and may facilitate…

This guide for language teachers offers a developmental approach to curriculum design for second language learning. The approach suggests a progression of tasks at various difficulty levels, geared to the gradual development of language knowledge, concepts, skills, and attitudes. Ten levels of attainment, or stages of learner development, are…

This guide, designed for British modern language teachers, explores the potential of informational technology (IT) to help educators meet the objectives of the National Curriculum. An introductory chapter discusses the role of IT as specified in the curriculum, including both instruction in use of IT and use of IT to enhance classroom instruction.…

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a…