Suchergebnisse

The goal of foreign language planning should be the development of a comprehensive, integrated public policy on foreign language education. Such a policy should focus on the architecture of the system, how the parts are put together. It should seek to remedy discontinuities, take into consideration the planning experience of other countries, and be keyed to various levels of the system. It should address issues of language choice, including the learning of more than one foreign language. It should balance the general education goals of language teaching with learning for adult use, and it should develop a much more specific notion of what those uses are and might be. Next steps in the development of plans are suggested.

The American educational system is unusual in that a substantial portion of basic foreign language instruction takes place in higher education. This requires that foreign language policy planning deal with that level; however, pan-institutional planning in higher education is especially difficult. A foreign language agenda devised by a set of college administrators is presented in this article. A number of more fundamental architectural topics are also discussed. These include the lack of articulation between the various levels of the system leading up to collegiate foreign language instruction; the heavy emphasis on low-level courses and the lack of a carefully developed system of upper-level skill instruction; the need to orient foreign language instruction to eventual adult use; and the importance of rationalizing overseas language study, particularly for the acquisition and utilization of advanced language skills. An agenda for action growing out of these conditions is proposed.

Issues related to foreign language planning in higher education, secondary and elementary schools, teacher education, and study abroad; US; 15 articles. Papers from a conference sponsored by the National Foreign Language Center, Johns Hopkins University, Sept. 20-22, 1993.

Distance education in foreign languages in the United States has grown in a piecemeal, uncoordinated fashion, and it remains marginal to both distance education more generally and to the bulk of foreign language instruction throughout the country. One handicap, arising from very limited demand in business for foreign language skills, is the lack of the innovative development in the corporate sector of the kind that advances other distance learning. A major national need for adult-oriented, individual language-learning facilities remains unmet, particularly materials and facilities for remediation and maintenance of decaying language skills. Within the formal education system, distance education reaches a small fraction of all language learners and has less impact on current instructional practice than might be expected. To remedy this situation, attention must be given to upper-level skill instruction, the production of flexible modules of less than full course length, extension into the less commonly taught languages, the provision of opportunities for interactions rich in cultural context, and the adoption of a common research agenda.

Problems in distance education regarding foreign languages are examined. It is suggested that distance education is fragmented, & due to business's limited demand for foreign language facility, there is a lack of innovation in the corporate sector. It is also argued that adult-oriented programs are virtually nonexistent. Upper-level skill instruction, extension into uncommon languages, & opportunities for cultural interactions are cited as ways to address the lack of attention on foreign language instruction. Adapted from the source document.

American business is constantly being urged to employ more executives who can operate successfully abroad in one or another foreign language. Nonetheless, the employment prospects for Americans with foreign language competences remain relatively low. To both meet and stimulate that limited demand, several business schools have instituted programs that combine general business courses with foreign language training and international studies. This article reports on a survey of 600 graduates of three of the best-known international business programs of this type. The purpose of the survey was to determine the importance of a foreign language competence in the careers of these specially trained business school graduates.