Eastern Michigan University's program in language and international trade has three features that distinguish it from other attempts to address the role of world business or language education: (1) the spirit of cooperation evident in the interdisciplinary or joint degree, (2) the equal importance given to foreign language and business education,…

The development of commercial foreign language courses by colleges and universities would help to satisfy the need for language enrollments and the expressed need of the international business community for foreign language skills in American business employees. Three major problems inhibit commercial language course development: limited…

Problems encountered by one small liberal arts college foreign language department in gaining and maintaining academic acceptance and support for business/foreign language courses are discussed. The initial challenge was to persuade the administration of the suitability of specialized business courses in a subject field (languages) viewed largely…

In response to requests of adult students for foreign language instruction for their kindergarten and elementary school aged children, and after researching the availability of such instruction in the area, Tarrant County Junior College developed a series of nonsequential courses of 12 lessons each on common topics such as parts of the body, the…

A federally funded project was undertaken at the University of New Hampshire to: (1) determine the feasibility of incorporating specific techniques of oral proficiency evaluation in college-level foreign language courses, (2) create a network of foreign language professors in northern New England colleges and universities trained in the use of…

The commonly-occurring mismatch between second language student and course level, resulting in student boredom or intimidation, is due to overreliance on standardized language tests. These tests emphasize passive skills, such as recognition of grammatical structures and translation, and they ignore the element of communicative competence. As a…

A counselling service to facilitate foreign language instruction for students desiring it was undertaken as an experiment at Cambridge University during the 1980-81 academic year. Its aims were twofold: (1) to provide a mechanism whereby students could be heard and their needs responded to, and (2) to insure that alternatives to the already…

A survey was conducted of businesses in Michigan and adjoining states to investigate employment opportunities in international trade for bilingual graduates of Eastern Michigan University's Language and International Trade Program. Eleven hypotheses were formulated regarding the need for entry-level bilingual employees, the types of positions…

The program, curriculum, and materials needed to provide business Spanish training are described, and the available instructional materials are reviewed and listed. In developing a business Spanish program, decisions must be made regarding goals, content, structure, instructional format, evaluation procedures, and target population. The content of…

Two approaches to college second language instruction are described. One, an on-campus option, gives students a classroom opportunity that is similar to the intensive/immersion program, which is a ten-week intensive language course followed by a ten-week program in Mexico, France, or Germany. The on-campus option, called "Super," is a…

Describes the participation of five Pennsylvania colleges in a summer study program at the Akademie Neiderberg in Bonn, West Germany. The program offers an integrated approach to language instruction and cultural studies that is tailored to fit the specific needs and preparation of its participants. (CB)

Describes a commercial Spanish language program for postgraduate students of business administration that attempts to fulfill the immediate professional needs of all students. The content of intermediate and advanced courses is discussed, and a list of textbooks for Spanish commercial correspondence is included. (TR)

Analyzes the objectives of foreign language teaching at the higher education level from the perspective of languages for specific purposes (LSP) and suggests that specifying the purpose of language teaching objectives in foreign language degree programs can contribute both to the practical relevance of graduates' proficiency and to the inner…

Information-structuring courses offered at the Asian Institute of Technology (Bangkok, Thailand) present concepts, patterns, hypotheses, and procedures for discussion on the basis that their consideration can contribute to better idea organization, text production, and text interpretation for engineering and other technology students learning…

Reviews the history of classical linguistic studies in the United States. Cites many of the important American classicists from the nineteenth century to the present. Also gives the history of some scholarly organizations, including the Linguistic Society of America and the American Philological Association. (LMO)