In 1984-85, Project BLAST provided English as a second language (ESL), native language arts, and bilingual instruction in social studies, mathematics, and science to 275 students of limited English proficiency (LEP) at Walton High School in the Bronx, New York. An important feature of the program is its emphasis on career orientation, the…

The oral proficiency interview, a one-to-one conversational interview structured to elicit the best performance the student can sustain, is based on a scale and test developed 30 years ago by the Foreign Service Institute. Interest in it has increased substantially in recent years, and further research and development of the measure for use in a…

The laboratory manual for a course in basic Pashto is designed to accompany a series of tapes and other instructional materials. It contains a variety of written exercises the student is to perform in response to material on the tapes, which provide listening practice on material presented in parallel textbook lessons. An answer key follows each…

A Hungarian teacher of English as a foreign language (EFL) chronicles her research on the use of the cloze procedure in her native country's EFL classes. The research began as an effort to convince other teachers of the test format's usefulness, and ultimately led to further study of the factors affecting responses and scoring and the…

This booklet outlines the instructions for 10 games that have proved to be effective in English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) courses. The games presented are divided into four categories: dialog games, vocabulary games, structure focus, and pronunciation practice. "The Chain Game" calls for students to take turns asking each other…

The curriculum guides for foreign language and intercultural education programs in United States dependents schools overseas provide instructional ideas designed to promote learning about the language and culture of the host nation. The series, covering kindergarten through eighth grade, was written by host nation teachers, classroom teachers, and…

One teacher's experience in developing and teaching a college-level business Spanish course is described. The discussion contains information about the choice of content, level, cultural content, and objectives, and includes examples of instructional activities and class projects. The course was designed to focus on business correspondence and…

Intended for English and foreign language instruction at the junior college, university, or high school level, this textbook aims to help students "crack the code" of English in order to become better speakers and writers. Part 1 contains 25 lessons on roots, prefixes, and suffixes from Latin, and Part 2 contains 25 lessons on word…

The Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, whose stated objective is to provide bilingual French-English services, has established a training program in French as a second language for health care professionals. The program was designed to provide health care providers with a minimum level of communicative competence in specific job-related…

A commercial Spanish course offered at Marywood College (Scranton, Pennsylvania) serves both Spanish majors and majors in international business. In addition to language proficiency activities common to most commercial language courses, students have identified two projects as most functional and challenging: (1) a "carpeta" or file into…

A teacher's guide for Wolof is designed for Peace Corps volunteer language instruction and geared to the daily language needs of volunteers. Instructions are written in both French and English. It consists of six chapters, each containing sets of phrases for specific situations, supplementary expressions for use in rural areas, a dialogue on the…

A sizeable and convincing body of research continues to indicate that children gain competence and confidence in using the English language when it is situated within a context that is at once purposive and pleasurable. Both empirical and anecdotal evidence suggest that exposure to a wide variety of good children's literature provides an effective…

A second language program developed at Wilson College (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania) with a federal grant uses the Rassias Method of theatrical, dramatic language saturation. In the first application of the program at the college, peer tutors (who would be assistant teachers in the subsequent immersion program) were trained in a three-day workshop.…

Park West High School's Vocational and High School Equivalency Bilingual Program's purpose was to help limited-English-speaking students develop English skills while receiving occupational training after school through bilingual content-area instruction. The program was funded as a mini-school within the high school, providing the same overall job…

Results of a 1983 survey of Texas foreign language teachers reveal their views and concerns about a new state law requiring all prospective language teachers to pass an oral proficiency interview for certification beginning in 1986. Of the 142 respondents, most were Spanish teachers, high school teachers, and teachers with more than 10 years…