To determine perceptions of school board members, teachers, and principals in rural schools about the quality of their educational programs, the type of preparation they had received in preservice programs, and the inservice opportunities available to them, responses to questionnaires from 2,028 teachers, 119 principals, and 113 school board…

Drexel University's undergraduate major in International Area Studies is described. The program has an interdisciplinary curriculum including required coursework in the departments of foreign languages, history and politics, sociology and anthropology, and business administration. All languages offered start with beginner level courses and…

A review of research on the cognitive, linguistic, and scholastic development of mainland Hispanic-American children paints a dismal overall picture. Hispanics are the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States, 11% of the population in 1986; about 75% have Mexican ancestry. Less than half of Latin adults speak English well enough for the…

A guide for Kansas foreign language teachers contains general information about language teaching techniques, materials, and needs, and specific proficiency-based objectives for three instructional levels (novice, intermediate, and advanced). It is not language-specific and does not advocate a particular methodology, but is designed to answer…

This publication presents the Adult Language Levels (ALL) Management System as a curriculum and programmatic framework to assist administrators and teachers in implementing a competency-based English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) program. Chapter 1 presents theoretical investigations of adult learning and adult second language development…

This collection of 10 selected conference papers report the results of language testing research. Titles and authors are: "Computerized Adaptive Language Testing: A Spanish Placement Exam" (Jerry W. Larson); "Utilizing Rasch Analysis to Detect Cheating on Language Examinations" (Harold S. Madsen); "Scalar Analysis of…

Formal definitions are one example of "decontextualized" language use, in which reliance on background knowledge shared with the interlocutor is minimized, and use of conversational devices is avoided. Definitions of English nouns by 137 second- to fifth-grade children, about half of whom were non-native English speakers, were analyzed…

The purpose of this study was to develop and test the effectiveness of a program in which activity-based science was used as a conceptual basis for language instruction. A series of four instructional units were adapted for bilingual use. Students' written and oral observations were used in experience charts and other language development…

This paper presents the results of the evaluation of the North York French immersion program at kindergarten, grade 1 and grade 2. The evaluation included the pupils enrolled in the first class established at each grade level, and focussed on the following four questions: (1) Are pupils developing competence in the French language; (2) Is the…

This report describes and evaluates Project Impact, a magnet program that provided instruction in English as a Second Language and in Italian language skills, and bilingual instruction in science, mathematics, social studies, industrial arts, and secretarial studies to Italian speaking students of limited English proficiency. The program, as…

This report describes and evaluates Project At Your Service, a basic bilingual secondary education program with a vocational focus for Spanish speaking students and students from other minority language groups. As implemented in 1980-81, the program aimed to enhance the acquisition of the English language and to promote academic achievement among…

Discourse analysis has provided a methodology for the study of conversational interactions between language learner and native speaker. This study examines the verbal and nonverbal strategies that native speakers use when communicating with second language learners in natural, non-academic, "survival type" settings. The areas discussed include:…

Issues related to the enrollment and education of foreign students in American graduate schools are examined. Most of these students come from developing countries and are often sent to the United States to acquire skills and training needed in their countries. Engineering is the field with the greatest concentration of foreign students. Although…

A study examined the extent and nature of the services provided to in-school limited English proficiency (LEP) youth who were enrolled in Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA)/Youth Employment Training Program (YETP)-vocational education linkage programs in four areas of Illinois. Included among data collection instruments and…

This paper discusses the theory and practice of the notional syllabus, three specific problems arising from it, and an experimental course proposed as one way of implementing it. Basically, a notional syllabus aims to organize language teaching in terms of the purposes of communication. Its foundation is a system of notional categories and the…