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Language Programs (language + program)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Humanities and Social Sciences92%

Kinds of Language Programs

  • foreign language program
    		•

    Selected Abstracts

    Impact of the Proficiency Scale and the Oral Proficiency Interview on the Foreign Language Program at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center

    FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS, Issue 4 2003
    Martha Herzog PhD
    Both are closely related to actual language tasks identified as critical for government employees. Over time, the scale has been expanded to include four skills, a system of levels, and the testing needs of numerous organizations. At the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC), analyses of the proficiency levels into afunctional trisection consisting of task, content, and accuracy have fostered use of the OPI and ILR scale in teaching as well as testing. The article begins with a backgound discussion of the OPI and the ILR scale, then focuses on the trisection and its implications for instruction. [source]

    Thinking Globally, Acting Locally: Selecting Textbooks for College-Level Language Programs

    FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS, Issue 3 2008
    John Angell
    Abstract: This article examines the process by which college-level foreign language programs evaluate and select instructional materials for beginning level courses. A review of the relevant literature reveals an ambivalent relationship with textbooks, often the default curriculum for language courses. Despite textbooks' apparent key role in language programs, there is a surprising lack of cohesive recommendations from the field on evaluating and selecting textbooks. Results of an informal survey illustrate how the textbook selection process, individuals involved, and individuals' satisfaction with the selection process varied across programs. Respondents with established selection processes involving more stakeholders tended to be more content with process and selection. The authors conclude that there is a need for greater transparency and a broader professional discussion of this critical matter in language learning and teaching. [source]

    The Practicality and Efficiency of Web-Based Placement Testing for College-Level Language Programs

    FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS, Issue 3 2004
    Elizabeth B. Bernhardt
    A key component of the articulation process is an assessment of student language abilities. On college and university campuses this process is usually conducted via a placement test. As developments in proficiency research have progressed, it is clear that programs need information about a student's grammatical command of a language as well as about their integrative use of the language specifically in speaking. This article examines the process of having students test online before their arrival on campus and provides insights into efficiencies brought about by such testing. The data for the article were generated by 679 learners of Spanish and 78 learners of German as well as by their 14 instructors and 2 language program directors. [source]

    The Impact of National and State Policy on Elementary School Foreign Language Programs: The Iowa Case Study

    FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS, Issue 5 2002
    Marcia Harmon Rosenbusch
    ABSTRACT: This article reviews selected national policy recommendations and examines their impact on state policy making in Iowa, specifically in terms of the number and quality of Iowa elementary school foreign language programs and teacher qualifications from the mid-1980s through the 1990s. Understanding the effect that these policies have had on early language programs in Iowa may help the profession determine the impact of national policy on state educational programs. This study suggests that future research on the impact of national policies in other states can help professionals design strategies for shaping policies in support of foreign language programs that begin in the early grades and continue through secondary school, building skills across levels. [source]

    The Importance of Program Evaluation in Collegiate Foreign Language Programs

    MODERN LANGUAGE JOURNAL, Issue 4 2006
    JOANN HAMMADOU SULLIVAN
    First page of article [source]

    A Diachronic Coherence Model for Language Program Evaluation

    LANGUAGE LEARNING, Issue 1 2003
    Steven J. Ross
    Language programs often generate complex date providing a rich source of comparative information about changes in curriculum policies and learning. Historical program archives often reveal how curricula and assessment methods evolve to include increasingly varied components of achievment. This article presents a novel quantitative methodology for assessing the construct of "program coherence" in an English as a Foreign Language context. Revolving panel studies demonstrate criteria for evaluating program coherence and its influence on proficiency gains. Thirty,three panel cohorts are included in a series of six 1,year longitudinal studies relating program,internal assement of achievement to program,external measures of language proficiency. Differences in panel coherence are analyzed in a hierarchical model that gauges the influence of coherence independently individual differences at the learner level. [source]

    Turning Professional: Content-Based Communication and the Evolution of a Cross-Cultural Language Curriculum

    FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS, Issue 6 2000
    Gisela Hoecherl-Alden
    Furthermore, the increasing demand for professional language classes makes it necessary to adjust the overall undergraduate program so that these courses fit meaningfully into the mainly humanities-oriented curriculum. If students are to bridge the gap between form and meaning, courses need to move from communicative training at the elementary level through an intermediate stage that combines communicative and content-based instruction. Finally, training students successfully for future careers in a global economy means that courses cannot focus only on content and form, but also must include a thorough development of cultural awareness. Applying ethnographic intercultural training methods to the language classroom ensures that the students attain not only linguistic but also cultural proficiency. The course structure presented in this paper demonstrates that professional school students can be trained alongside humanities majors by making minor but far-reaching adjustments to the elementary and intermediate language program, and without placing undue constraints on departmental resources. [source]

    Improving Thai students' understanding of concepts in protein purification by using Thai and English versions of a simulation program,

    BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY EDUCATION, Issue 5 2007
    Somkiat Phornphisutthimas
    Abstract To support student learning in biochemistry and related courses, a simulation program, the Protein Purification Program, offers an alternative multimedia-based tool. This program has now been translated to produce a Thai version. However, translation from the original into the Thai language is limited by the differences between the language characteristics of English and Thai. Therefore, use of the program with Thai students had a twofold purpose. It helped their understanding of the concepts of protein purification by allowing code switching between the languages, but it also improved their understanding of, and competence in scientific English, which is a vital skill for functioning as a modern biochemist. According to the results of the questionnaires, undergraduates using the Thai/English program scored significantly higher than those using only the English language program (p < 0.05). In addition, the interview data suggested that the Thai/English program had improved student understanding of the concepts of protein purification to a greater extent than a single language (English) program. Students' overall preference in terms of their learning using the Thai/English program was 4.15 on a 1,5 Likert scale. [source]

    Thinking Globally, Acting Locally: Selecting Textbooks for College-Level Language Programs

    FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS, Issue 3 2008
    John Angell
    Abstract: This article examines the process by which college-level foreign language programs evaluate and select instructional materials for beginning level courses. A review of the relevant literature reveals an ambivalent relationship with textbooks, often the default curriculum for language courses. Despite textbooks' apparent key role in language programs, there is a surprising lack of cohesive recommendations from the field on evaluating and selecting textbooks. Results of an informal survey illustrate how the textbook selection process, individuals involved, and individuals' satisfaction with the selection process varied across programs. Respondents with established selection processes involving more stakeholders tended to be more content with process and selection. The authors conclude that there is a need for greater transparency and a broader professional discussion of this critical matter in language learning and teaching. [source]

    The Impact of National and State Policy on Elementary School Foreign Language Programs: The Iowa Case Study

    FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS, Issue 5 2002
    Marcia Harmon Rosenbusch
    ABSTRACT: This article reviews selected national policy recommendations and examines their impact on state policy making in Iowa, specifically in terms of the number and quality of Iowa elementary school foreign language programs and teacher qualifications from the mid-1980s through the 1990s. Understanding the effect that these policies have had on early language programs in Iowa may help the profession determine the impact of national policy on state educational programs. This study suggests that future research on the impact of national policies in other states can help professionals design strategies for shaping policies in support of foreign language programs that begin in the early grades and continue through secondary school, building skills across levels. [source]

    Sociocultural Strategies for a Dialogue of Cultures

    MODERN LANGUAGE JOURNAL, Issue 4 2002
    Sandra J. Savignon
    There is often a lack of learner opportunity for beyond-the-classroom interaction in school foreign language programs. This lack of opportunity places learners at considerable disadvantage when confronted with the inevitable psychological, linguistic, and sociocultural obstacles in second language communication (Savignon, 1972, 1983, 1997; Sysoyev, 1999a, 2001). In this article, we report the findings of a study that attempted to operationalize the concept of sociocultural competence for classroom learners and explore the benefit to learners of explicit training in strategies for coping with certain social and cultural situations. The goal of our study was to promote learners' sociocultural competence with a view to preparing them for a dialogue of cultures (Bakhtin, 1981, 1986; Bibler, 1991) essential to intercultural communication. Our report includes 3 sections: (a) a taxonomy of sociocultural strategies, (b) the description of a method of explicit strategy training developed for use in a Russian high school English as a foreign language (EFL) program, and (c) the outcome of an experimental program in explicit instruction in sociocultural strategies with a class of 11th grade EFL learners. [source]

    "Our Beloved Cherokee": A Naturalistic Study of Cherokee Preschool Language Immersion

    ANTHROPOLOGY & EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2007
    Lizette Peter
    This article contributes to our knowledge of endangered language revitalization by offering a case study of a Cherokee Nation (CN) preschool immersion program named Tsalagi Ageyui, "Our Beloved Cherokee." A naturalistic inquiry into the micro- and macrosociocultural dimensions of reversing Cherokee language shift reveals that, of all CN language programs, Tsalagi Ageyui holds the greatest potential to increase intergenerational, mother-tongue transmission in the home, family, neighborhood, and community. [source]