As an individual socialization initiative, informal mentoring has often been lauded as an effective tool to provide spontaneous and immediate social-emotional and career-related assistance to new teachers. Little is known about how informal mentoring is perpetuated in workplace. Through the conceptual lens of dynamic process theory of mentoring,…

Portal: Your Door to World Languages and Cultures was a series of public cultural events, in a variety of formats, created through a new partnership between the credit and continuing education (noncredit) foreign language programs at the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC). Portal was designed to cultivate interest in foreign languages…

Discusses the difficulties small community colleges face in including foreign languages in the courses taught each year. Offers suggestions for strengthening such programs, including using a textbook with a taped component; scheduling foreign films on campus; visiting ethnic restaurants, theaters, movies, and museums; and organizing trips abroad.…

In response to the growing Hispanic population in Dade County Florida and the resultant need for the English-speaking businessperson to be conversant in Spanish, Miami-Dade Community College (MDCC) developed and produced a non-traditional, conversational approach to Spanish instruction. In Miami, where Hispanics account for almost 60% of the…

Describes the City College of San Francisco, a two-year community college with a diverse student population, a large English-as-a-Second-Language department, and a large foreign-languages department. The paper explains how, in recent decades, the foreign-language program has revised its curriculum to meet the needs of its international city and…

In 1996, the City College of San Francisco (CCSF) established a Planning Task Force to prepare a plan that would address the establishment and strengthening of linkages between non-credit programs, especially those in English as a Second Language (ESL) and Transitional Studies (TS), and other CCSF and city programs. The task force used focus…

Although basic education and English as a Second Language constitute core components of adult education, older persons have not been a target for language programs until recently. Research indicates a great need for and interest in adult basic education among language-restricted seniors who seek the every day rewards of language fluency.…

The papers in this collection describe partnership programs and projects involving Kalamazoo Valley Community College (KVCC) in Michigan. The first paper, "The Arcadia Commons Partnership: The Community College and Economic Redevelopment," by Marilyn Schlack, describes the Arcadia Commons, a business-education park in downtown Kalamazoo,…

Since 1980, the percentage of ethnic minority students at Golden West College (GWC) has nearly doubled. To meet the English language needs of this rapidly growing student population, a speaking and listening course was introduced into the curriculum in 1982, followed by a pronunciation course in 1985. Both courses were part of the…

The "VCCA Journal" presents feature articles, abstracts, teaching strategies, book reviews and announcements. The first issue of Volume 3 includes the following articles: (1) "The Alliance for Excellence: A Model for Articulation between the Community College and the Black Church," by Ervin Griffin; (2) "Traditional and…

To better "internationalize" their curriculum, community colleges should: (1) require one academic year of foreign language study; (2) design foreign language curriculum to develop students' functional language proficiency; (3) develop language courses to serve the community's and students' unique foreign language needs and interests; and (4)…

The diverse population of a community college requires strategies that heighten motivation and reduce frustration of students trying to master complex foreign language grammatical structures. A "package approach" is described for teaching all object pronouns as extra material for students to enjoy. (Contains five references.) (Author/LB)

Reports on a study of international studies programs in two-year colleges. Presents survey findings regarding courses and programs in international trade, foreign arts and cultures, and foreign languages; college-community interaction; cross-cultural extracurricular activities; foreign students; outside funding; and government interaction. (DMM)

This digest presents an overview of English as a Second Language (ESL) curriculum, discussing various approaches and assessment efforts at community colleges, and examining some current issues facing ESL instruction. Although the general goals of ESL programs are similar, instruction within community colleges is not standardized. Different…

Three programs at Tulsa Junior College respond to labor force needs: (1) Aviation Education Alliance, an articulated program among universities, two-year colleges, and vocational schools; (2) International Language Center, teaching languages specific to the needs of client companies; and (3) Tulsa Training Center, focusing on workplace literacy…