Transformative learning has been widely used in the field of adult education for over twenty years, but until recently has received little attention in the field of world languages. Drawing on best practices and the research of distinguished international world language experts, this volume provides theoretical and classroom-tested models of…

Son and daughter metaphorical expressions are common in general as well as technical languages. This study explores the similarities and differences between English and Arabic ibn (son) and bint (daughter) expressions, and the difficulties that student-translators have with them. A corpus of English and Arabic general ibn (son) and bint (daughter)…

The renewed national focus on teacher quality and effectiveness has resulted in more rigorous standards that describe the knowledge and skills required of teacher candidates across all disciplines. In the area of foreign languages, three sets of professional standards address the oral proficiency of teachers in the target languages they teach…

On 19 May 2010 data on second majors, beginning in 2001, were added to the online database for the degree completions component of the US Department of Education's Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), available on the National Science Foundation's WebCASPAR Web site (https://webcaspar.nsf.gov/). This paper offers selected…

The College English Test-Spoken English Test is a nationwide spoken English test designed to assess the oral communicative ability of Chinese university and college students who have undertaken compulsory English study at a Chinese university. This article describes the test and evaluates it in terms of reliability, validity, authenticity,…

Discusses opinions toward foreign language (FL) departments on the college campus. Points out that while there is support for the learning of foreign languages, questions arise about whether knowing a language other than English is necessary, even in the climate of globalization and internationalization. Outlines steps for achieving excellence in…

College second language programs offer more to students than knowledge of the language. Language study can challenge students intellectually and creatively and contribute to their academic and social development, even when language study is begun at this level. Value is found in the substance, process, and outcomes of language study. (Author/MSE)

This paper presents a field study carried out with learners who used a grammar checker in real writing tasks in an advanced course at a Swedish university. The objective of the study was to investigate how students made use of the grammar checker in their writing while learning Swedish as a second language. Sixteen students with different…

A collection of papers concerning cultural studies within college and university second language programs, particularly for foreign students, includes program descriptions from a variety of countries and discussions of cultural education and cultural conflict. Themes include the nature of cultural teaching, cultural education as a discipline,…

The importance of teaching culture in foreign language programs has long been recognized. The most exciting and promising new development in the teaching of culture is the appearance of introductory culture courses taught in English. The use of such courses has been advocated to lure reluctant students into language classes. If this is the primary…

Examination of ways college second language teaching must adapt to new student needs looks at changing characteristics of students, their new educational goals and expectations of higher education, effects of these shifts on the classroom, new time considerations, the need to find creative ways to meet diverse student goals, and use of technology…