Foreign Lan Research Articles

M?glichkeiten und Grenzen verstehenden Erkl?rens am Beispiel sprach- und kulturwissenschaftlicher Ann?herungen an Auto-/Biographien

Rita FRANCESCHINI has edited a book that deals with various elements of autobiographical and mul ticultural studies. Most of the authors' arguments draw on linguistic, literary and ethnological approaches. In several chapters attempts are made to exemplify the interdependen cies between biography and culture, specifically between individual and collective constructions of reality. In addi tion, various chapters focus on biographical structural ef fects resulting from speakers' experience with foreign lan guage challenges in bilingual or even trilingual contact sit uations. The review of the volume is framed by a cultural heuristic of an understanding explaining concept (Max WEBER); the reviewer's criticism is supported by qualita tive standards of socio-pragmalinguistic and textlinguistic work. From this point of view evidence is provided that ex plains why literary studies' approaches tend to employ indi vidual sampling procedures as well as other default proce dures in gaining methodically controlled insights into properties and dimensions at issue. The linguistic contribu tions are discussed at length because of their efforts to con

Spanish and the Multilingual Department: Ways to Use the Rising Tide

There are many ways to conceive the dramatic changes that foreign lan guage departments have undergone in the last twenty years, but the tidal metaphor of my title seems particularly appropriate?and suitably ominous. On the one hand, the rising tide refers to the good fortunes of Spanish, which might serve?if the proverb is true?to float the boats of its sister lan guages. But the metaphor also suggests the possible ephemerality of this suc cess. For the moon that rules the languages' tide?the humanities?is clearly waning. The figures are eloquent: in 1966,21% of BA degrees in the United States were in humanities; in 1993, that had dropped to 13% (Kernan 248). In 1960, 16 of every 100 college and university students took a foreign lan guage; in 1995, only 7.6 students of every 100 did so (Brod and Huber). Looked at from this larger perspective, the thoughts outlined in these pages may seem a version of rearranging the deck chairs on a certain ill fated ship. But we cannot predict the future, and nothing is to be gained by assuming the worst will happen. It seems more useful for us to work to gether in a proactive attempt to shape the shortand medium-term future of our languages. To be effective and realistic, such planning must take Spanish into account, searching for ways to capitalize on its strength for the benefit of other languages.

We Can Help Today's Students Become Tomorrow's Global Citizens

Too often, U.S. students are at a dis advantage when language fluency and cultural understanding are need ed to compete in the world arena. Intensive instruction in foreign lan guages and culture can help to meet this challenge.

The Fast Track a Self-Paced Approach to Learning French

Today's heterogeneous college students are well aware that a career in communications, in ternational law, or hotel management may take them anywhere in the world. Home, for the students of the 1990s, is a global village where customs, lan guages, and cultures mix and reconsti tute themselves within the timeframe of a CNN broadcoast. Tight budgets, larger classes, and fewer faculty members do not diminish these stu dents' needs for acquiring foreign lan guage competency and cultural knowl edge. Unfortunately, the fairly standard set of practices used to teach foreign languages in college do not easily apply to today's student. Instructional mate rials consist of a textbook and work book. Typically, teachers introduce the four language skills (listening/speaking, writing/reading, and cultural knowl edge) to a class of thirty students. Choral repetitions, communicative ac tivities with partners, questions and responses, and substitution and trans lation exercises fill the class hour in a prescribed sequence and pace. Instructors and students alike want a program in which these activities can be performed with an awareness of in dividual interests and abilities. Individ

Adventures in Foreign Languages: A FLEX Experience

Adventures in Foreign Languages: A FLEX Experience * Virginia B. Levine, State University of New York, College at Cortland When I was invited to teach Spanish to my fourth genes-al. grade daughter's gifted class, I was at once FLES helps in the development of a firm foundation in pronunciation at an optimum time for achieving flattered and challenged. As a professor of colsuccess in this skill.2 hege-hevel Spanish and foreign language methods, I was already somewhat aware of the numes-In addition, FLES often results in establishous types of FLES in existence. In addition, I had ing a positive attitude regarding the pus-suit of b e interested in teaching foreign languages to con-tinued study in foreign languages at a hater chil ren for several years, having develop d and age. Moreover, a FLES experience can emphaimplemented a bilingual program fos-pre-kindersiz the impo ta ce of learning a foreign lan garten and kindergarten children in Miami, guage to promote global understanding in a Florida, when my own children were politically changing world. preschoolers.t This wonderful opportunity had left me with a genuine appreciation of the caBackground and Course Objectives

Curricular Issues and Language Research: The Shifting Interaction

A comparison between research in second language acquisition from the mid-sixties to the late seventies and that research today sheds light on the dynamic between what we teach and the new directions in our curricula. The biggest problem facing all of us in the sixties and seventies didn't need any statistical analy sis to clarify its implications: the raw facts spoke for themselves. Enrollments in second language programs were declining, and language requirements had vir tually disappeared. In a pragmatic society, the tradi tional role of foreign language learning as the hallmark of a humanist education, the elite scholar, had little cogency. Higher education in America was in transition. It seemed as though one half of our au dience wanted to be engineers or business executives, and the other half were seeking gurus in the Far East or the Arizona mesas. For either group, foreign lan guages, indeed, humanist studies as the heritage of Western thought, were suspect. Liberal arts colleges looked like an endangered species. Foreign languages were in particular jeopardy, be cause they were at odds with themselves. After World War II the advent of audio-lingual approaches to lan guage learning seemed to change our mission. But only in appearance. No audio-lingual program gave rise to an advanced student who represented an al ternative to the elitist scholar, to the high culture goal of language learning. There were still plenty of senior faculty members who saw an emphasis on speaking skills as contrary to our academic aspirations. As a result, an uneasy compromise was made to main

On Constituting and Institutionalizing a Foreign Language Discipline: The Example of Rhetoric and Composition in Departments of English

educational settings is viewed from an international perspective, we find that the language component of the language and literature of the respective mother tongue consists of education in written discourse. The language component of languages and literatures other than the native tongue consists of what we familiarly call foreign languages. Whether the combination is literature and composition or literature and a foreign language is a function not so much of a course of study as of the educational system in which one operates. In the context of American higher education, departments of language and literature have consisted of a recognized discipline of literature, subdivided by language of access, and afield, traditionally less recognized, of discourse education or foreign lan-

Apples and Pommes : The Combined English and Foreign Language Department

THE present configuration of academic departments in American colleges and universities owes its existence to a series of organizational reforms in higher education begun in the 1840s and completed for the most part by the year 1900 (Duryea 24-28, Dressel and Reichard 392-94). The structure that emerged from this period of evolution was by and large geared to the expansion of student population (graduate as well as undergradu ate), increasing numbers of faculty, and relatively sta ble institutional resources. During this same period the administrative separation of English from foreign lan guages became common, though even today some in stitutions (mostly small to medium-sized colleges and universities) retain departments whose titles suggest that these fields are still considered a single academic unit.l My paper discusses the rationale for the combined En glish and foreign language department, describes the cir cumstances under which this form of academic organization might constitute an administrative unit su perior to separate departments, and suggests ways in which such a union of related disciplines could offer than just administrative convenience and efficiency. To begin, the combined English and foreign language department of today is not without precedent or pat tern. The rise of comparative literature programs has generated some movement toward such a union of lan guage disciplines,2 while the traditional classics pro gram (Greek and Latin) illustrates the way in which diverse academic fields can be amalgamated successfully. A program in classics typically includes courses in his tory and art as well as offerings in languages and litera ture. In an article on the interdisciplinary nature of classics programs, Karl Galinsky has characterized the decline in these programs during the 1960s and 1970s as a felix culpa from which the field has emerged in a form more resourceful, imaginative, and than ever (29). Galinsky is right of course, and in a sense his description of classics programs has always been right. They have traditionally been among the most imagina tive and versatile academic fields in curriculum develop ment. The problem of classics programs in American colleges and universities stems in large measure from the failure of these programs to consolidate and extend their curricular advances into the realm of academic politics and policy making. This fact, along with shifting tides of student interest, explains the origin of the programs' woes during the last two decades, woes so great that it is only very recently that the field has shown signs of reviving. Let me quickly add that I believe English and foreign languages should support the cause of classics Paul F. Reichardt

Foreign Language Enrollments: Why Are They Declining? What Can Be Done?

Despite renewed emphasis on the importance of foreign lan guages, enrollment in these classes continues to decline. This principal believes the reason is faulty marketing. With the help of a survey, she describes what other principals believe.

"Cultivons notre jardin": Strategies for Building the Foreign Language and Literature Program

THE reinstatement and/or strengthening of the for eign language component of the undergraduate cur riculum offers an exciting challenge to foreign lan guage faculty.1 Awareness of the findings of the President's Commission on Foreign Language and International Study, as well as growing concern over students' literacy levels, may encourage building a program in language and literature or even restoring a foreign language requirement in many institu tions. While administrators, colleagues, and perhaps students and their parents will all be involved in deliberating these issues, we, as the faculty, bear a special responsibility for leadership. Our leadership will benefit from our preparedness to meet the questions and concerns of these con stituencies. Clearly each institution has its own needs, and each foreign language department will develop its own method of reassessing the role of foreign language and literature study. The strategies suggested below are designed to support the process of strengthening the foreign language program, whether or not language requirements are at issue. The process includes gathering information, es tablishing a rationale, clarifying needs, developing resources, and sometimes changing institutional pol icy. The order of the suggestions below does not suggest a fixed modus operandi. In some situa tions, for instance where there are only two foreign language teachers, securing outside help in the form of a consultant might precede collection of relevant data on foreign language study in the college. In other circumstances, when student enrollment and faculty staffing patterns permit, a department chair man might offer a faculty team released time to develop the statistics, bibliography, and other rele vant data needed to support the reassessment pro cess. Where nearby institutions have particularly successful foreign language programs, a college con sidering reinstatement of foreign language require ments might regard visits to these departments as a sensible first step in reassessment. Each department should develop its own plan. The logic of steps within this plan will, of course, be determined by internal departmental and institutional factors.

Multiple Prediction of College Graduation From Pre-Admission Data

THE PURPOSE of this study was to investigate the practicality of predicting graduation of college students on the basis of information available prior to acceptance and matriculation. The subjects in the study were 659 men entering the University of Geor gia in September, 1959, without previous college ex perience. The data used included SAT scores, high school average, third of high school graduating class, number in high school graduating class, and the num ber of high school units earned in English, m at he matics, science, social studies, and foreign lan guages. The criterion used was whether or not the subjects graduated within five calendar years, that is, by August, 1964. Also used in a supplementary phase of the study were three variables which would not be obtainable until some time after the student entered college. These variables were first quarter grade average, first year grade average, and pro bationary status. The fact that the University of Georgia bases freshman admissions upon a predicted average ob tained through a multiple regression equation utiliz ing as predictors SAT-Verbal score, SAT-Mathema tics score, and high school average suggested to the writer the desirability of investigating a similar ap proach using probability of graduation instead of pre dicted first quarter grade average. The writer is not aware of any published studies which utilize the mul tiple correlation technique to predict college gradu ation or non-graduation. Ikenberry (4), Prediger (8), and Vorreyer (10) have carried out discriminant analysis studies in college level prediction. The ma jority of the predictive studies reported in the liter ature, however, deal with: either the prediction of college grade averages (1, 3, 6, 11); or a compari son of means or proportions of persisters and non persisters in which the predictor variables are dealt with one at a time (1, 5, 7, 9). There would be strong arguments in favor of ad mitting students at least partly on the basis of like lihood of graduation, if such could be done with rea sonable accuracy. This is not to suggest that grad uation or non-graduation represents complete attain ment or failure of attainment of personal or institu tional goals; then on the other hand, grade average at any particular point often tells us much less than we would like to know about a student's educational development. Any dichotomous criterion has certain disadvan tages including the inevitability of large errors in prediction. However, college graduation is a factor which influences both educators and students in an either-or fashion. For example, the person who al most graduated may find that society ascribes to him roles and status more closely resembling those of the person not attending college than those of the col lege graduate. A degree serves as a union card for many positions.

TV versus Classroom Instruction in Foreign Language

SOME RATHER unexpected finding s were re ported in a study which sought to determine whether different learning conditions influence children's feelings about foreign language l. The findings sug gested that studying FLES (foreign language in ele mentary school) by TV had produced negative atti tudes in pupils toward foreign language, while a classroom experience had developed more positive reactions. It was also found that pupils who did not study a foreign language had better at titudes than TV students. Briefly summarizing this study, the attitudes of several groups of elementary-school pupils toward foreign language were compared0 Three groups were involved: 1) the TV'groupwas composed of fifth-grade classes which studied French three times a week by TV and had follow-up sessions with their classroom teacher; 2) the two-language group, located in the same schools, consisted of sixth graders who took French by TV and Spanish from a language teacher; 3) the no-lan guage' ' group contained fifthand sixth-grade classes in different schools where no foreign lan guage was studied. Questionnaires were administered to the three groups to determine the pupils' attitudes toward foreign language. Results showed that the two lan guage group had the most favorable attitudes toward foreign language, the no-language group was next, followed by the TV group, which had very negative attitudes and differed significantly from the other two groups. Because children who had not studied foreign language had better attitudes than TV stu dents, it seemed that TV lessons were contributing to negative attitudes toward foreign language. Fur ther support for this conclusion was that the two language group held such favorable attitudes, mak ing it appear that the live language lessons had off set negative feelings which might otherwise have developed because of the TV lessons.

Foreign-Language Fluency

M t ,/[OST graduate schools require that candidates for the doctoral degree demonstrate their fluency in one or more foreign lan..MD.. guages. Although a variety of reasons have been given for this requirement, the commonest justification appears to be that knowledge, if not mastery, of one or more foreign languages is an essential research tool.' Some investigators have demonstrated that members of graduate faculties consider knowledge of a foreign language to be a necessary scholarly skill,2 whereas others have demonstrated that scholars-many of whom are members of graduate faculties-give only minor attention to foreign-language sources in their own postdoctoral scholarship.3 This ambiguous state of affairs results, in part at least, from the methods used to conduct the studies. In the main, investigations of the utilization of foreign languages as a research tool have been based upon questionnaires administered to holders of the doctorate. One is not unjustified in suspecting that responses to questionnaires of this sort are confounded by the notoriously inaccurate memories of the scholarly set, if not by their personal appetites for foreign literature. Investigators in this area, then, must seek some less contaminated source of data. If foreign languages represent an essential research tool, one would expect to find the tool widely used in research. Scholarly writing should reflect this use. A survey of scholarly journals would supply data on the actual use of foreign-language sources independent of