The Learning and Teaching about Japan Project was begun in Indiana in 1987. Since that time, it has involved 16 school corporations in an ongoing program to internationalize the K-12 curriculum and implement Japanese language programs in the schools. This guide has been developed as a record of the activities conducted by the 16 participating…

A study surveyed parents (n=329) of 1989 and prospective 1990 first-year primary school entrants in Scotland's Western Isles concerning Gaelic-English bilingual education policy. Results indicate only 39% of 4- and 5-year-olds had two native Gaelic-speaking parents, although attitudes toward the language were very positive. Half the parents read…

In a discussion of the needs of English-as-a-Second-Language learners, it is suggested that the best approach to identifying needs is at the local level. Specific suggestions are made for classroom teachers, drawing on research techniques in second language learning and English for special purposes. Teachers are told to: (1) expect some mismatch…

A study of distance teaching of modern languages in institutions around the world is reported. An introductory section provides an overview of the status and role of distance education in modern language learning, including an examination of related linguistic and educational theory, the objectives of distance language instruction, the behaviorist…

This performance guide is the result of work conducted at the University of Virginia's National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute, 1989, on "Spanish Literature in Performance," in which 25 secondary school Spanish teachers studied Spanish texts from the perspective of classroom performance to deepen knowledge of the texts and…

A federally funded project to develop Spanish for Agricultural Purposes, a set of instructional materials for agricultural specialists planning to work in Latin America, is reported. The materials are intended for use by individuals with at least a year's college-level study of Spanish. They include: a series of authentic readings, each with an…

The Transnational Spanish Language Project curriculum is a set of instructional materials designed to enhance intercultural business communication between North American and Spanish American cultures. The curriculum covers three areas: office procedures; banking; and import/export business. Lessons, all in Spanish, are intended for…

A summer intensive English language course is described that is offered by the Chulalongkorn University Language Institute (CULI) in Thailand to university instructors and government officials. A writing program, which constitutes one-fourth of the entire course, consists of 10 units incorporating main functions and topics of English use found in…

This paper recounts how two university colleagues, a business faculty member and a foreign language faculty member, benefited from their interdisciplinary contact as student and as teacher. Mutual anxieties, new language learning techniques using computers, and culture are discussed in a stylized dialogue between the two faculty members. From the…

The use of formative evaluation in a new set of materials for French language instruction is discussed. The materials, entitled "In the French Body," use videodisk technology to teach both verbal and nonverbal aspects of communication. The technical and pedagogical design of the materials are described, difficulties of using controlled…

This packet contains sample DACUM (Developing a Curriculum) materials developed for two companies (The Hibbert Group and Trane Corporation). For the Hibbert Group, materials include the following: job and task descriptions for data services, inventory control, planning, and quality services personnel; a curriculum for those employees in reading,…

In a discussion of language teacher education, specifically that of native English-speakers to teach English as a Second Language, it is argued that a balance must be found between process-oriented and product-oriented training. It is suggested that this sector of language teacher education has been heavily conditioned to a product-centered…

This paper attempts to survey some of the activities that fall under the umbrella of "debate" at Hong Kong University by focusing on a variety of disparate practices across the university, ranging from one-to-one argument to legal moots, from informal classroom discussions to departmental and cross-faculty debating events and…

This article reviews the research on the simplification of reading materials for second language (SL) learners and reports on an experiment of the effects of text simplification and elaboration on the reading comprehension of SL learners. Elaboration can improve the comprehensibility of texts without removing new linguistic forms that students…

This article examines the concept of simplification in second language (SL) learning, reviewing research on the simplified input that both naturalistic and classroom SL learners receive. Research indicates that simplified input, particularly if derived from naturally occurring interactions, does aid comprehension but has not been shown to…