Presents a school board presentation on the benefits of early foreign language learning. The presentation included success stories of students who began learning foreign languages at the elementary level. (Author/VWL)

Describes the successful organization of 2 foreign language days for middle school students and provides a synopsis of why an immersion day is an important activity and what steps a teacher might take in order to attempt such an endeavor. Guidelines for planning an immersion day are included. (Author/VWL)

Provides an overview of early foreign language learning and instruction in Japan. Discusses the role of the Japan Association for the Teaching of English to Children (JASTEC). (Author/VWL)

Describes a Spanish-as-a-foreign language email project carried out with kindergartners through third graders from six elementary schools. The project involves a traveling Teddy bear named Tito. (Author/VWL)

Describes the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program. GLOBE is a worldwide network of teachers and students representing over 6,500 schools in more than 75 countries. It is an excellent vehicle for learning a foreign language while exploring science, mathematics, social studies, and technology, providing a…

Discusses a French immersion program in Louisiana, highlighting indications that students in the program are scoring higher on the state's mandated standardized tests than students in the district not participating in the program. Attempting to overcome deficits in language immersion research using testing and demographic data from a large sample…

Discusses a project that integrated French as a foreign language instruction and science through technology in Grades 1-4. (Author/VWL)

Describes the systematic planning and subsequent implementation and evaluation of a systemwide Spanish program at the elementary level in a small school district in suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Discusses active participation by all senior administrators, the ways in which the language program has been incorporated into the overall curriculum…

Describes upcoming events sponsored by the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center at Iowa State University and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). Entitled "New Visions for the Future," these activities include an invitational planning meeting, a national priorities conference, and the ACTFL conference in the…

Discusses language instruction in international schools, with particular focus on understanding the international school context, a typology of early language learners, and a typology of early-language-learning programs. (Author/VWL)

Reports on two studies on input enhancement used to support learners' selection of focus of attention in Spanish second language listening material. Input consisted of video recordings of dialogues between native speakers. Exact repetition and speech rate reduction were examined for effect on comprehension, acquisition of decoding strategies, and…

Examined the role of phonological memory and phonological awareness in foreign language word learning. Measures of phonological memory and phonological awareness were administered to 58 Chinese-speaking 4-year-olds four times over 2 years. Results suggest phonological memory may support foreign language word learning but phonological awareness may…

Reports on an investigation of listening strategy applications by Grade 7 students learning French. Examines types of strategies used and differences in strategy use by more skilled and less skilled listeners while they listen to authentic texts in French. (Author/VWL)

Questions the extent to which attention differentially affects different parts of language and how this differential effect interacts with increased linguistic knowledge. Subjects were native English speaking learners of Italian. (Author/VWL)

Argues that abstract, figurative senses of polysemous words are better retained when learners are given core senses as cues, because providing a core sense helps learners develop a "precise elaboration." Results of a series of vocabulary studies involving Dutch learners of English show that providing a core sense results in better guessing and…