The report details the fourth year (October 1996-September 30, 1997) of a Trinity College (Ireland) program to offer second language learning modules to students who are not language majors. The modules' objectives are to develop students' communication skills for study, travel, or work abroad during undergraduate years, and to enhance their…

Analysis of error patterns in a test taken by 698 Finnish university students shows errors are made in this declining order of frequency: grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, and use. More talkative students were proportionately more proficient per utterance, and higher proficiency also correlated with sex (female) and high matriculation test…

Issues and arguments leading to reestablishment of a foreign language requirement at Iowa State University are outlined, and the role of foreign language faculty in the process is discussed. Some personal predictions are made about the role of foreign languages in the college curriculum and beyond. A memorandum to the faculty senate is appended.…

Methods used to rectify imbalances in student proficiency levels within and between courses are described. One year after changes were made in promotion and placement procedures, examination development, and course and program objectives, course enrollment patterns improved, and there was evidence of improved student achievement in higher level…

A course combining English in the workplace, information seeking and job application skills, occupational safety, and other workplace skills conducted by a community college and a major industrial union is described. The very successful program will be continued and developed based on the initial experience. (MSE)

Describes factors influencing growth in demand for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction in German higher education since 1989, and describes how Dresden University has designed a curriculum to meet the need. The Dresden program includes courses in generic scientific English required in a number of disciplines, elective English courses…

An exploration of the effectivenes of college overseas study programs on improvement of foreign language skills addresses student motivation, academic expectations, curricular changes, language pledge requirements, communication with native speakers, and the purpose and image of study abroad programs. Suggestions are made for improving…

In 1976, small special sections of English A (basic composition) were initiated within the English Department of the University of California at Davis to teach university-level writing skills to students in the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), seventy-five per cent of whom speak English as a second language. This paper describes the design…

This volume contains the second part of the proceedings of the twenty-sixth annual meeting of the Pacific Northwest Council on Foreign Languages. The focus is on second language teaching, and relevant linguistic research is included. The proceedings are divided into six major sections. Following the major addresses, which concern audiolingual…

Issues related to the use of academic English by foreign students in the United States are discussed, and two college programs are presented as examples of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) preparatory programs available to these students. The programs are the American Language Program at Columbia University (New York) and the ESL Program at City…

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,…

This directory presents the results of a national survey of Canadian colleges and universities concerning faculty's use of computer-assisted French language instruction. The listings, arranged alphabetically by province or territory, and within these by institution, contain the responding faculty member's name, address, e-mail address, fax and…

In recognition of a need in the Buffalo area, the State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY-Buffalo) established the Japanese Language and Culture Program for Business People and Students (JLCP) within the university's Center for Critical Languages. JLCP is a 3-year, 6-semester certificate program open to anyone with at least a high school…

A graduate level course offered to foreign medical graduates (FMGs) at Wayne State University in Michigan was developed after a needs assessment indicated the desirability of improving the speaking fluency, pronunciation, and cultural understanding of FMGs. It was found that weaknesses in those areas, which are not assessed in the Test of English…

The decade of the 1980s saw a shift in paradigm in American trade and commerce, the serious beginning of a movement away from anachronistic and unwise ethnocentrism and nationalism and toward a more practical globalization of American business consciousness. The notion of business conducted in English and according to American norms began to yield…